When you begin mindfulness training, you may encounter some difficulties that need to be addressed early on so you can make progress during therapy. Over the next few days, we will post some strategies for dealing with potential difficulties
ADHERENCE TO TRAINING (Part 1/7)
Poor adherence to mindfulness training is the greatest cause of failure to progress in MiCBT. However, if you maintain your commitment to the exercises during the program you are very likely to gain significant results. Conditions such as stress, anxiety and depression can make you feel tired and sometimes people complain that they cannot get up early enough to practise the mindfulness exercises. Sometimes people feel too tired to practise in the evening too. As you may have already learned, mindfulness training will help you to become less reactive and calmer and thereby better equipped to deal with stressful areas in your life. Consequently, this will have a positive impact on your energy levels, reducing tiredness and the need to sleep for the usual number of hours.
Try practising for a week, twice a day, morning and night, and see how energised you can feel! Time pressures affect all of us. We never seem to have enough time to get everything done, let alone meditate for half an hour twice a day observing our body sensations. Think about how you use your time and you will probably find that there are various activities and tasks that you could eliminate from your daily routine – at least for the short term. Sit down and write out a plan for your day and try to use your time wisely, eliminating time wasters and low priority activities.
If you are having difficulties with time management, talk to your therapist for some assistance. You have come to therapy because you want to experience change in your life. Begin by changing your daily routine and make time for what is important to you. The effort will pay off and you will be empowered by your effort and notice a significant change in the way you feel due to the skills you will develop.
Next: Lost in Thoughts….
