The Value of Mindfulness within Cancer Care

I have been proud to work as a volunteer reflexology practitioner and mindfulness teacher at The Mary Stevens Hospice in Stourbridge.  There is a growing volume of evidence supporting the benefits of mindfulness for patients, their families and those working in the end of life care environment.

The Trish Bartley  book, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Cancer: Gently Turning Towards, explores a Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy for cancer care. This eight-week course has been tried and tested over ten years of clinical use. Bartley believes

“mindfulness is a way of being more present and aware. This offers us many opportunities to appreciate life more. It also enables us to respond more gently to what we find difficult, and by doing this we often find that we experience changes”

A study in 2008 (Chadwik et al) found that mindfulness was beneficial to people with terminal cancer both physically and emotionally.  An analysis of the research available in 2005 concluded that mindfulness based intervention in cancer care had positive results, including improvements in mood, sleep quality and reductions in stress. A further review of studies in 2011 supported this finding. They found significant improvements in anxiety, depression, stress, sexual difficulties and immune function

Christopher Johns in his book, Being Mindful, Easing Suffering: Reflections on Palliative Care explains

"Mindfulness is a quality of mind that notices what is present without judgment, without interference. Being mindful guides me to see things as they really are rather than as a reflection of myself. Mindful practice is being aware of ones experience as it unfolds in its unpredictable and unique way.”

In 2005 the use of mindfulness in hospice care was examined from the perspective of the nurses. For many of the staff the changes were very significant

“Mindfulness makes me alert to what is happening……I see things that I didn’t see before, I begin to notice. For example when there is a lot of chaos in the room…..is this what she is seeing all day?”

“I think that in itself to be mindful that someone is afraid and not to reject it, not to sugar it over with something but also not be freaked out, but to really be with that feeling and to embrace it….then it seems the person can usually relax”

Mindful presence enables the nursing staff to be totally aware and focused on the circumstances she finds in the here and now, regardless of what has gone before or what will follow. It is a valuing of “being” over “doing” in the belief that compassionately being present allows the nurse to respond with empathy to the needs in that moment.

When I worked on a hospital ward during my nursing days I was often guilty of not being truly present but more concerned with my list of jobs to do. I felt that truly experiencing each moment would be overwhelming as many situations were difficult and challenging, but mindfulness has taught me that being present in the moment without trying to be in control of it is actually a great relief. To experience the moment for just what it is allows choices to be made from a place of awareness rather than habit or panic. Removing the “what should I do” and replacing it with an understanding of what is needed in that moment is very liberating. I know life is often unbearably busy on the wards and nurses are pulled in so many directions, introducing mindfulness is not easily done, but this does not mean it can’t be done. The staff at Mary Stevens Hospice are working hard to introduce mindfulness to their clients and to their own work. I truly commend them for their commitment to constantly move forward to provide the very best care.

Mindfulness, as all holistic therapies, is not a replacement for medical care but it can be included within the home, hospice or hospital setting.  For more information please visit: mindfulness explained.

You may also enjoy reading : Mindfulness in a busy Kidderminster carpark

                                                 Mindfulness Explored

                                                 Meditation and pain

Why Breathe?

My reflexology and hypno birthing clients often ask me why I chose the business name “Breathe Holistic Therapy”.

A number of things have popped up this week making it seem apt to take this opportunity to write here and explain the name. I use this blog to share information that may benefit my reflexology and hypnosis for birth clients or fellow therapists, I shy away from writing very personal blogs and only occasionally do. This entry however does go along a more personal path, lets hope it’s still a useful and interesting post!

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"Breathe. You’re going to be okay. Breathe and remember that you’ve been in this place before. You’ve been this uncomfortable and anxious and scared, and you’ve survived. Breathe and know that you can survive this too. These feelings can’t break you. They’re painful and debilitating, but you can sit with them and eventually, they will pass. Maybe not immediately, but sometime soon, they are going to fade and when they do, you’ll look back at this moment and laugh for having doubted your resilience. I know it feels unbearable right now, but keep breathing, again and again. This will pass. I promise it will pass."
— Daniell Koepke

I was browsing pinterest a couple of days ago, I don’t tend to spend too much time on social media but I love skipping through the images, especially as I’m looking for inspiration for my new home in Kidderminster. I do get lots of quotes in my feed and one titled “Breathe” unsuprisingly jumped out at me.  This really summed up for me one of the reasons I chose breathe as a title for my work. I wanted to express how powerful breath is as a constant in our lives. How sometimes when life feels intolerable there are moments when all we need to do is breathe, when just breathing seems to be all we can do and that is enough.  

Hand in hand with this is my belief that taking time out to simply breathe when we are busy with our lives has benefits far beyond brief relaxation. When I started Breathe Holistic Therapy I was passionate about providing my clients with time and space to enjoy and embrace the experience of taking time out: time to breathe.

Many years ago I realised that I needed to be kinder to myself, and allowing myself to simply stop sometimes was key to that. I have always been goal driven, as so many of us are, and constantly searching for some form of perfection. I wrote a few words maybe 25 year ago that for me express this clearly and strongly, and while packing up for the house move I found them again.  It can be odd sometimes can't in when a number of things turn up that all get you thinking along the same lines!

Slow down, I need to breathe… taste the present… In those lines I hear myself talking about my desire to discover exactly what mindfulness meditation gives us. It took me another 20 years to discover mindfulness but the idea had certainly taken seed. I now find the three minute breathing space meditation incredibly valuable for myself and my clients. This short meditation provides for me the foundation of that wish to slow down and taste the present.

All the therapies I work with aim to fulfill my goal to give people time to breathe, to be present in their lives and to find resilience in that presence. Reflexology and mindfulness combined are for me especially key to this intention. Hypnosis for childbirth training also has the power of breathing at its core.  As my work grows and develops I am even more sure that Breathe was the right name for me!

For more information on anything here please do contact me.

Kidderminster Mindfulness Fundraising Day

At Breathe Therapy, Kidderminster’s hypnotherapy practice I am using my Mindfulness training skills to raise funds to support local carers.  Worcestershire Association of Carers (WAC) gives vital support for adults providing unpaid care for their relatives or friends.

Worcestershire Association of Carers is a registered charity. They act as an independent source of information, advice and support for carers.  The charity provides many services such as carers groups, help lines and training.  I was able to meet the Stourport Carers group last week and learned of the value of the meetings, both practical and emotional.

There are at least 63,000 unpaid carers in Worcestershire, as a therapist and volunteer at a local hospice I see both the value of caring but also the difficulties experienced by carers and their families.  Many carers experience high levels of stress, anxiety and depression. Mindfulness can encourage a sense of calmness and resilience, giving individuals some peace in a frantic world.

I will be holding a fundraising day on Saturday October 17 at Breathe Holistic Therapies Kidderminster Treatment room.  Individual “Introduction to Mindfulness” sessions will be available and all donations will go towards WAC’s valuable work.  Those attending will be able to find out about how mindfulness can help them and experience a mindfulness meditation.  After the Introduction to mindfulness everyone who attends will have access to a series of meditations to make it easy to use mindfulness in everyday life.

If you feel meditation is not for you because you have a busy, hectic mind then the session will help to dispel those concerns. Meditation really can be enjoyed even by people with the most anxious, worrying minds. The benefits can include increased feelings of calm, improved resilience, well being and happiness.  There are many myths about meditation and the introduction to mindfulness will help to explore these.

You don’t need to be a carer to take part, the fundraising day is open to everyone.

If you would like to know more please please contact me :  e-mail or call 07531121199

More on mindfulness and hypnotherapy

Breathe Kidderminster's Chosen Charity for 2015:

I am planning a Mindfulness fundraising day at Breathe Kidderminster later this year to raise funds for the Worcestershire Association of Carers.  This fantastic charity work tirelessly to support carers all across the county.  I attended their annual conference this week to learn more about the work of this local charity and most importantly to meet the people whose hard work makes it all possible.

The conference was both informative and incredibly moving. Speakers included Professor David Green, Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive of the University of Worcester, Clare Marchant, Chief Executive, Worcester County Council and Sarah Dugan, Chief Executive, Worcester Health and Care Trust. All three speakers explored a different perspective of caring but the resounding theme for me was that carers save the country millions of pounds while caring can have rewards but also immeasurable costs for those involved.  

I was shocked to learn that "Carers save the UK economy 119 billion every year" ( State of Caring report 2015) and even more shocked to learn that this figure is higher than the total spend on the National Health Service.  The financial impact of carers on the national and local economy was far beyond my appreciation.

More significant than any of these figures was the opportunity to hear first hand  personal experiences of caring. 'The Value of Caring' film launch clearly portrayed the reality of caring and without making any efforts to pull at the heart strings it still bought tears to the eyes of many in the room. I will hopefully be able to share this film with you on a later blog post.

If you are caring for a relative or friend, even if you do not consider yourself as a carer, please do take a look at the Worcestershire Association of Carers as they may well have something to offer you and your family. I will let you know when I have planned the fundraising day where I will be offering one-to-one sessions of Mindfulness Meditation at my Kidderminster treatment room.  You can learn more about mindfulness here.