Introduction
The Scottish NHS Mindfulness Network supports and co-ordinates the delivery of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) for patients and staff throughout mainland Scottish NHS Health Boards. It has been supported by NHS Education For Scotland since it first started. There is a pathway for therapist training. The training is particularly focused on people suffering recurrent depression but also offers courses for people with stress, chronic pain, anxiety and other mental and physical health conditions. Training in Mindfulness is also offered to Scottish NHS staff for their own personal use. Following this, clinical staff have the option to train as Mindfulness Therapists and thus be able to use Mindfulness with NHS patients, provided this is supported by their service management. The Scottish NHS Mindfulness Network is a member of the British Association for Mindfulness-Based Approaches (BAMBA). The Network consist of 2 National Co-ordinators, and up to 2 Mindfulness Leads for each of the 11 mainland Health Boards
‘Simply put, mindfulness is moment-to-moment, non-judgmental awareness. It is cultivated by purposefully paying attention to things we ordinarily never give a moment’s thought to. It is a systematic approach to developing new kinds of agency, control, and wisdom in our lives, based on our inner capacity for paying attention, insight, and compassion that naturally arise from paying attention in specific ways.” (J. Kabat-Zinn, 2013)
Mindfulness can be described as:
If we were to describe what mindfulness means to us, we might use words such as “present moment awareness”, being fully awake to our lives, being more “embodied”, having the capacity to feel more gratitude, inner peace with a richer sense of connection with life, perhaps being more in charge of our “minds” and less lost in unhelpful thought patterns (such as depressive thinking or worry) or reactivity. We may also relate to the development of mindfulness qualities, which strengthen over time (patience, curiosity, trust, non-judging, non-striving, acceptance, letting go), enriching our lives.