For the past four weeks, Dr Sandra McCutcheon, mindfulness practitioner and consultant, has been running free Mindfulness Skills 4 Life workshops at Lincoln and District Indoor Bowls Club.
This is the third in a series of creative mindfulness sessions. As they continue to grow in popularity and success, there are discussions to bring the sessions back (once again) in 2023.
Each workshop is different and combines creativity with focus techniques, through activities like Creating Calm with Clay and ‘Zentangling’ or doodling.
Talking to members of the group, it’s clear the sessions are more than just another mental health fad.
For Alan and his wife Amanda, the workshops bring a ‘’bit of normality’’ to life.
Alan has a brain condition that means most of his day is spent in a wheelchair.
He said: ‘’ It allows me to forget all my issues and focus on something and take my mind away.’’
Amanda added they are bringing the skills and activities from the sessions into their home.
‘’The weather’s really miserable. When it’s wet it’s difficult to get out with Alan in his wheelchair. His brain injury makes motivating himself quite difficult but having different things we can get involved in and do together to keep our minds busy is a fantastic thing.’’
Mindfulness is the practice of learning to be more present and focused in the moment, finding ways to relate to life’s challenges through growing in self kindness- free from distraction, worry, criticism, and judgement.
The sessions are also focused on developing warm, meaningful connections, in what Dr Sands described as a ‘’family.’’
For Heather and her husband Philip, attending the workshops has helped distract them from Heather’s arthritis and the recent loss of their dog, Toby.
Heather said: ‘’It’s been really hard to get over that, so coming here helps us forget about it, and take our mind off things.’’
‘’Being here is a form of relaxation. It gets me out because I suffer from severe arthritis, and it gets me talking to other people.’’
The mindfulness workshops are in partnership with the Boultham Park Restoration Project, which is funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Dr Sandra McCutcheon, or Sands, takes inspiration from the park and nature in all her sessions.
I got my hands dirty with the rest of the group, making clay Christmas decorations and bowls inspired by leaves.
Sands told me: ‘’Being in nature is wonderful for our mood, and our mind, and our wellbeing.’’
‘’Each of our sessions, like the doodling and now the clay work, has involved some element of either being in nature or bringing nature into sessions so it absolutely makes perfect sense to bring mindfulness, nature, creativity, and a wee bit of science into it as well.’’
To find out more about the workshops, visit https://www.mindfulness-skills4life.co.uk/