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Hello, my name is Jane O’Rourke. I’m a Child, Adolescent and Family Psychotherapist, and I’m a yoga mindfulness teacher.

This is an opportunity to find the resources that are always there for us within side ourselves. The breath is an incredibly helpful way to find space and steadiness, to find a connection to our true selves.

So finding a comfortable seated posture, or you can remain standing if that feels better. And allow yourself to feel the contact with the floor if you’re standing, perhaps with your contact with your feet on the floor, or if you’re sitting then finding your sit bones so you can rise nice and tall.

Allow the shoulders to drop. Allow the face to soften, so the jaw to unlock, the root of the tongue to soften, the space between your brows to soften and just starting to notice where you feel the breath most prominently. It might be at the tip of your nose, perhaps feeling the soft breath touching your nostrils, or it could be in the chest gently rising or maybe in your belly.

And just for the next couple of minutes, we’re going to be focusing on that, just where you feel the breath most prominently. And of course your mind will wander off as minds do, it is their job to be curious about what’s going on around you. But the practice is just to gently, when you notice your mind has wandered off, to bring it back. Gently bring it back to this focus of your breath. Giving yourself permission to not be distracted by anything else just to do this for the next couple of minutes. I’m gonna be mostly quiet I might just give a little reminder or two. But for the next minute or two, just leaving you in quietness with your breath.

Gently bringing your mind back. If it’s wandered off, back to your breath.

And then becoming aware again of my voice. Feeling how your breath is now, perhaps it’s steadied a little… and staying here for longer if you need more time to study. Otherwise, whenever you’re ready, gently coming back into the room in your own time.

Being able to use the breath is a good way of finding an anchor when storms arise in our lives or if we just need some steadying. Jane O’Rourke leads us through a short practice to help us find a resource that is always with us, our breath. Jane is a Child, Adolescent and Family Psychotherapist, and Yoga and Mindfulness teacher. She teaches Yoga4Trauma in the Trauma Service at the Tavistock Clinic.

Wellbeing Quiz Profile: #MoreFrantic #RelivingTrauma

Hi, my name is James and I’m a registered mental health nurse. For the past year I’ve been working across three wards in an acute mental health setting just outside of London. Initially I was working on an all female ward, but the strain that Covid put on the NHS caused on resources and staff, forced us to reduce our capacity. As such we’ve now condensed to have two mixed gender wards.

In mental health nursing, one of the first concepts that we learn about is unconditional positive regard. Put simply, this is the belief that anyone is capable of positive change. Our patients frequently don’t see any light at the end of the tunnel, any hope that things could change for the better. Which is why it is so essential for Nursing Staff to keep this glimmer of hope alive for them when they aren’t capable of seeing or believing it for themselves.

Recent global events have made staying true to this value so much harder, for staff and patients alike. We’ve all faced disruption in some form or another, as staff we’ve been separated from the ward and teams that we know and trust. Our patients have endured further constriction in a setting that is already fraught with restriction. Visits by family’s and loved ones have only just begun to return for those unable to leave the ward due to their status under the mental health act. Even these visits are few and far between and heavily regulated. Any capacity for leniency or making exceptions has disappeared.

Life on the ward is very different now. Many workers deemed unessential, like activity staff, chaplains or even advocates are unable to come and visit, to break the monotony of life within a small ward. New patient are confined to their bedrooms for the first few days of their admission while staff wait for Covid results to come back. Most importantly, the staff members who are interacting with them in their time of crisis are often wearing face masks, losing the most important form of communication, facial expression.

Further to this, patients who are recovered to the point of being ready for discharge are faced with impossible choices to make. Housing associations and step down placements are at capacity, community services are severely limiting face to face visitations and family homes they could have returned to have become unviable due to loved ones shielding.

Our patients who experience psychosis or delusions of another nature have been influenced by the events unfolding on the television each day. Many tearful individuals have told me that they believe that they are to blame for the pandemic, and that the guilt is killing them. Similarly, patients with religious, conspiratorial or outright racist tendencies have openly expressed their support for the virus in the communal areas of the ward, claiming that it will purge the world of sin, or that this is the first step in an apocalyptic plan

So how do overstretched and under resourced staff members hold hope that their working conditions, and more importantly, their patients can improve now? It is entirely unclear when we will be able to get back to “business as usual” or whether what we considered to be normal will ever be a state we can return to. I wish there were easy answers to these questions. For their part, hospital management have attempted to be as transparent as possible about ongoing plans for the unit, and what support staff can expect to receive, but we are all aware that there is no magic wand to fix these problems. As would be expected, the already high turnover of staff has increased further, and long-time staff have elected to take an early retirement.

For my part, I have been truly inspired by the students who continue to come and work diligently on the ward in these difficult times, who continue to care and develop their skills despite not being paid to be here. Their courage and commitment gives me hope the next generation of nurses.  As for the permanent members of nursing staff, it’s undeniable that a tole is being taken on us. The policies we work with change on what feels like a weekly basis, each time we enter the ward it feels as if we’re walking into the unknown and the inevitability of staff burnout feels close at hand. But through all of this, we have rallied together to take care of each other. No matter how overwhelmed we feel, we still turn up on time and leave our personal baggage at the door. We take the time to look after each other, whether that be a debrief after a bad shift, covering duties for each other to make time for our breaks or bringing in a coffee round and treats to share in the morning. No amount of pressure will stop us from trying to bring laughter, smiles and love onto our ward each day.

As hard as it gets I still hold on to my fundamental principle, my belief that all my patients are capable of making meaningful recoveries and improving their lot in life. This past year has made an already difficult job feel impossible to achieve, and while I’m still hopeful, achieving a good standard of care in services as they’re currently structured becomes harder and harder each day.

James Ollerenshaw is a Mental Health Nurse working in acute inpatient care. Here he discusses how life on the ward has changed during the Covid crisis, and how staff maintain hope for their patients, and for themselves.

Wellbeing Quiz Profile: #FeelingHopeless

One of the complicated things about the current and ongoing situation created by the global pandemic, and maybe especially at the moment,  is that it both creates new strains and challenges for us, but also may subtly magnify strains and challenges that were there already. And equally, while some of our responses to what has been and is happening may be new, for the most part they will connect to   who we are already and  our particular ways of processing and responding to things. Some responses to a potentially traumatising experience may seem more obvious and understandable; sadness, shock, tiredness. But what do we do if we are someone, or work closely with someone, whose particular way of responding to the challenges posed by the pandemic is to be more irritable, grumpier, more prone to anger? It’s hard enough at the best of times to remember that when somebody is angry or bad-tempered it may be that there is an underlying anxiety, fear or sadness, but just at the moment it may be even more difficult when there is so much strain around for so many, and where, if remote working is part of the mix, it’s harder to read some cues that might help.

As with so much that can happen to us at a time when there is so much stimulus to take in, and much of it potentially very unsettling, one of the most important things to be able to do is to notice what you are feeling. Just that. It is easy to settle into being fed up and grumpy, and in a modern NHS or social care setting to find lots of reasons to explain it that are outside yourself, but it may be very helpful just to pause, and notice if you are more short-fused than usual, or that anger is harder to step away from. And at that moment to ask yourself whether it’s possible that your state of mind might be in some way related to the extreme situation that is unfolding, even if you are not aware of being specifically angry about that. This isn’t a pass to behaving unkindly to colleagues, or to allowing yourself to get really filled up with anger, but it is a way of just reminding yourself of the context, and of the need for compassion.  There can sometimes be a bit of a luxury in getting filled with righteous irritation, but the cost to working relationships can be high, so taking that moment to see whether there might be something happening beyond the immediate apparent cause of your anger can be an important break in the cycle.

There are of course practical things you can do. Taking a few minutes out, a walk, a conversation with a colleague, or if you need something more focussed, a breathing exercise or calming technique. But of course, sometimes when we feel filled up with something, it’s hard to do what we know would be helpful or good for us, and so it might also be that one of the most helpful things we can do is after the fact; some recognition of the strain we are under, and some leeway in the expectations we have of ourselves – so basically, it won’t help to beat yourself up if your usual calm manner  isn’t sustainable, and the important thing is to pause and go forward.

Of course, the thing about grumpiness rather than more obvious distress, is that it can have an impact on how we feel about each other; the email that gets sent too quickly, the impatient tone that we wouldn’t normally have. So while it is still reasonable   and important to expect basic standards of courtesy between colleagues, it may also be helpful to use a little imagination if someone is less patient than usual, more prickly. Ideally, this won’t just mean suffering in silence and   sympathy but might mean an opportunity to check in with each other, but sometimes that won’t be possible or the right space, and then it might be enough just to pause before getting too stuck in a view about someone to think about where their irritation is coming from, and whether some of it, even if it doesn’t feel justified, is just coming from the wider situation.

 I think it can be particularly hard, if you are the person feeling angry, if you aren’t aware of having had an experience over the past 6 months that has been obviously a source of upheaval, so you haven’t been ill, haven’t been working in an acute context, haven’t lost anyone close or had your livelihood threatened – and yet you are still stirred up in this way. But you are also a member of a society that has and is going through experiences collectively that are a source of sadness, powerlessness and fear. So it may well be that at moments, some of this gets into you, in an ordinary way but still in a way that can feel really uncomfortable unless you find a way to understand and forgive it, in yourself and others.

That isn’t to say that there aren’t things to  be angry about, to claim justice for, and to raise with your organisations if they need challenging – and we have seen that in relation to the inequities highlighted by Covid-19 as well as by the issues re-exposed through Black Lives Matter. But taking the time to sift through anger that can be useful and creative in making change where it’s needed, and anger that might get in the way of good working relationships and your own ease of mind is really important at the moment, and is likely to continue to be for the foreseeable future.

Lydia Hartland-Rowe is a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist and Portfolio Manager for Psychological Therapies for the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust. Here Lydia discusses something we are recognising about where we are in relation to the pandemic and in the face of what is coming, an increased tendency towards irritation and anger, or as the podcast say, grumpiness. Feeling that way at times, at the moment, makes sense and while it might at moments make things difficult, grumpiness is known to be something that shifts and lifts and that we may need to make space for in ourselves and others at the moment.

Wellbeing Quiz Profile: #MoreIrritable

Hello, my name is Jane O’Rourke, I’m a Child, Adolescent and Family Psychotherapist and a yoga and mindfulness teacher.

So let’s begin by getting a nice, comfortable posture, so where you can find your sit bones, so maybe putting a cushion underneath what you are sitting on, whether you are sitting on the floor, and sitting nice and tall if you are in a chair. So allowing the shoulders to slide down the back and keeping your neck nice and long. And then begin to soften the face, releasing any tension in the jaw, allowing the route of your tongue to relax, and allowing your hands to soften in your lap. And then begin to notice your contact with the floor, feeling the steadiness that is there for whenever we need it, and if you like on the next in breath drawing up that steadiness all the way through your body, and then on the out breath a releasing and letting go back down to the earth. So breathing in steadiness and breathing out and letting go, releasing any tension. Doing this a couple more times, filling the belly on the in breath and then a slow releasing and letting go on the out breath.

And now start to connect your attention to the breath where you are most feeling it in your body, so that could be in your belly, in your chest, or maybe at the tip of your nose. And your attention might wander off lots of times, our minds often keep us very busy and distracted, so just gently bring back the attention whenever this happens. And just focussing your attention on the physical sensations around the breath, so the rising and falling of the belly over the soft texture of the breath at the tip of your nose and all the while keeping a steady connection to the earth, keeping us anchored…

Keeping your attention on each flow of the breath, on the in breath and then on the out breath, noticing the little pause before you draw the breath and the little pause before you breath out. And noticing the cycle of the breath, perhaps give us a little extra gratitude for our life force, for the life we have been given. Our breath is our constant companion from the day we are born until the day we die, and just cultivating appreciation for this very simple thing, this very essential thing, our breath. It can be a wonderful practice to help us be in the moment and to give gratitude for our lives, and so before we leave this practice it might be that you want to draw attention to anything else that you are grateful for in your life alongside this breath. And just noticing how you feel as you bring attention to maybe some very small things in your life, or maybe some big things, some special people, or any aspect of your life that you are grateful for…

And just taking a few breaths here in this practice before we finish, a few extra moments to ground and settle… And stay here for as long as you wish, or gently opening your eyes and coming back into the room in your own time.

Jane O’Rourke offers a breathing practice to help relaxation and gratitude. Research shows that cultivating gratitude is helpful for stress and anxiety and for appreciating the good things we have in our lives, whatever the difficulties. Jane O’Rourke is a Yoga and Meditation Teacher, and a Psychodynamic Psychotherapist with Children, Young People and Families. She teaches Yoga4Trauma within the Trauma Service at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust.

Wellbeing Quiz Profile: #MoreFrantic #RelivingTrauma

Hello, my name is Neelam Solanki and I’m an Assistant Psychologist working at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust. I work primarily within the National i-THRIVE Programme Team, however, I was redeployed at the beginning of lockdown to work on a few different projects within the Trust, one of which was here at Together in Mind.

I started at the Trust in February 2020 and was working in my role for about four weeks before we went into lockdown, and my experience from there on has been a little bit “all over the place” to say the least. I found that I was only working for about two sessions (a day) per week in terms of my actual job role, and otherwise I found that I was being asked to help whoever needed it for whichever project, whenever they needed it. Initially this was really exciting and it meant that I got to know a lot of people within the Trust who otherwise I may not have met, but after a while it became exhausting and anxiety inducing as I felt more and more that I did not really have a place, a purpose, or a defined role.

Over the last 6 months, I have been reflecting on what it means for me and others in a similar position as a relatively junior member of staff, and the unique tasks and asks we’ve had which we may unlikely have the experience, the training or the foundation of knowledge to prepare us for. But then, there’s the catch-22, because the fact that we’re not particularly tied to a job role and don’t have a particular job to do that no one else can do, we can be more flexible about supporting other teams and projects. COVID has enabled me and so many others to become sort of a ‘jack of all trades’ but of course the other half of that phrase is ‘master of none’. I am so grateful and genuinely excited about the new experiences that have been presented to me, but it has been difficult to feel settled or like I fully know what I’m doing. And I’m certain that this isn’t just the case for more junior members of staff, COVID has meant that everyone has felt unsettled and lost at some point.

Another consideration is that as an Assistant Psychologist who intends on applying for clinical training later this year, everything that I do in my job is for the purpose of giving me the relevant experience and skills and knowledge and confidence to be an attractive candidate. Although there is some safety in the knowledge that all of the other hopeful assistants in the country are likely feeling the same way, there is still that feeling of dread that we don’t have a safety net. Developing my psychological skills hasn’t been a focus over the last period, so then what do I talk about in my application? What does this mean for my future?

It’s hard not to think about the 5,500 final year medical students who had to graduate early to join the workforce, as the need to manage COVID was, and still is, so high. I cannot begin to imagine what the impact of suddenly transitioning from student to doctor would be, particularly on their confidence and feelings of preparation, and what a hit their mental health and wellbeing could have taken.

During these times, things like inductions, training, support, and supervision have understandably taken a backseat because there are more pressing issues, however the impact of this is that the more junior workforce lack the confidence in themselves and the feeling of ability to do the tasks we are being asked to. For me, and in particular after taking the wellbeing quiz on Together in Mind, my profile came out as ‘More Frantic’ which made complete sense. The panic of feeling displaced, not particularly useful but also feeling as though I’m giving 110% to multiple teams all day every day took its toll.

But it is not all doom and gloom. The opportunities have been amazing and truly insightful, and although it might have taken a few months, the relationships that I’ve been able to build with such a huge range of people from different teams, divisions, disciplines and organisations feel positive and strong. I do not think that I’m particularly qualified to advise anyone who may be feeling this way at all, but to keep to the trends of the last 6 months I’m going to do it anyway: always ask for feedback. Talk to your line manager when it feels like too much. Say no if it’s not manageable. Resist the urge to want to prove yourself at every opportunity – it’s exhausting. Take breaks! Take that FULL lunch break away from your screen.

The point of being a junior member of staff if that eventually we hope to be senior members of staff. It’s hard to forget our goals when everything is so unsettled but the one main take away I’ve learnt is to use every experience to my advantage and learn, learn, learn. And to have frequent pet breaks. And to never run out of milk for tea. And have a really well-stocked snack cupboard.

Good luck to everyone and well done for coping as well as you have. Thank you for listening.

Neelam Solanki is an Assistant Psychologist working within the National i-THRIVE Programme Team at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, and has also been working on Together in Mind. Neelam shares her experiences of being a relatively junior member of staff through periods of great change and uncertainty, and its impact on her wellbeing and future.

My name is Dominic O’Ryan and I am Lead Psychologist with Substance Misuse Services at Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust.

There are times when we might feel that everything is running away with us …

We feel lost and distressed.

At these times it’s helpful to pause for a moment, to drop anchor…

Dropping anchor won’t make any storms go away, but it may allow us to notice what is happening, gather our inner resources and make steps towards self-care and action.

Our mind might tell us that it is not worth pausing because the risks are too great. If we stop even for a minute, we might become even more lost. We might discover something that we couldn’t bear, or we couldn’t manage.

Notice these thoughts and be kind to them. They are there to try and protect us from harm.

And then we can sit up or stand, plant our feet firmly on the ground, adopting a posture of someone being attentive. And alert. And kind.

Acknowledge what other thoughts are here? Are there thoughts about being overwhelmed? About not being able to cope. Maybe thoughts about never being good enough.

Maybe there are no thoughts in particular.

And rather than trying to change the thoughts or push them away or chase after more worthy thoughts, just notice what is here now.

And notice the feelings that are present alongside them. Maybe give these feelings and emotions words that describe them for you. Notice worry. Notice fear. Notice sadness. Notice anger with ourself or others. 

And just connect with and notice what is here in the body. Become aware of what’s happening in the body.

Perhaps notice a heaviness. Or the breath being short or shallow.

Notice the heart racing. Notice tension or holding or bracing.  Or stillness.

And be aware of immediate behaviours, perhaps avoidance, procrastination, perhaps too many biscuits, being snappy with colleagues or giving too much of ourself to others without attending to our own needs.

And then at that moment, allow the thought that maybe, just for now things are okay.

Bring to mind purpose, intention, values.

And then bring to mind just one or two behaviours that map onto those intentions and values. Behaviours that can be started and embodied straight away.

Perhaps taking a break, going for a short walk, sitting quietly for a little while longer. Or maybe there’s an email or a brief report that could actually be finished in a relatively short period of time, if only it could actually be started.

Perhaps something about turning towards a colleague. Asking them for something or offering them some kindness.

Whatever it is, whilst it may only be a small action it can still be a valuable action.

And maybe it is important to drop anchor a few times each day. And that’s alright. It’s okay to pause. And it’s certainly alright to check in on our intentions and values and sense of purpose.

And it’s always alright to turn to friends, family and colleagues to make connections, offer help and ask for help.

To be human. 

Dominic O’Ryan, Lead Psychologist with Substance Misuse Services at Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust. Dominic contributes some thoughts and practical guidance about how to find ways to pay the necessary attention to how we are in the context of a global storm that has in some ways come to feel like just the way things are.

Hello, my name is Jane O’Rourke, I’m a Child, Adolescent and Family Psychotherapist and a yoga and mindfulness teacher. Today we are going to be practicing triangular breathing. It’s a way of helping us to slowdown in our day, just finding a few minutes for ourselves to slow the breath so that we can slow our minds, a feel a little bit of steadiness and calm.

So finding a comfortable posture so you can be standing if you like, or maybe if you would like to sit in a chair, find a cushion and sitting on the floor, making yourself comfortable. Softening the jaw, relaxing the shoulders, softening the space between your eyebrows so there is no tension being held in your face. And then just noticing how you are feeling in this moment, I like to call it an internal weather check. So noticing how you are feeling physically, any tension being held in the body and noticing how you are feeling too. It can be really helpful to name what those feelings are.

And then, begin to imagine a triangle in your mind. So let’s start at the bottom corner of the triangle and breathing in for 1, 2, 3, hold the breath as you imagine in your mind’s eye coming up to the top of the triangle for 1, 2, 3 and then breathing out for 1, 2, 3 as you come back down to the bottom of the triangle. Breathing in, 1, 2, 3, holding the breath for 1, 2, 3 as you come up to the top of the triangle, then breathing out for 1, 2, 3 as you go back down to the bottom of the triangle. Breathing in 1, 2, 3, hold the breath for 1, 2, 3, as you come up to the top of the triangle and then breathing out 1, 2, 3. Breathing in 1, 2, 3 holding the breath for 1, 2, 3, and then breathing out 1, 2, 3. Breathing in 1, 2, 3 holding the breath 1, 2, 3, then breathing out for 1, 2, 3. Last time, breathing in for 1, 2, 3, hold the breath for 1, 2, 3 and then breathing out for 1, 2, 3.

And then just allow the breath to go at its own pace, so not forcing anything, giving yourself a few moments now just to ground a little more, feel the steadiness of the earth beneath you… and lets finish by doing this internal check-in once more, just noticing how you are feeling in this moment physically, what emotions are arising for you, everything included, nothing excluded. Just noticing how the breath is now, just taking the last few final breaths here doing this exercise and you can stay a little longer if you need or whenever you are ready coming back into the room in your own time.

This four-minute triangular breathing exercise is for when you want to feel more rested and rejuvenated. Jane O’Rourke is a Yoga and Meditation Teacher, and a Psychodynamic Psychotherapist with Children, Young People and Families. She teaches Yoga4Trauma within the Trauma Service at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust.

Wellbeing Quiz Profile: #MoreFrantic

Hello, my name is Jane O’Rourke. I’m a Child, Adolescent and Family Psychotherapist and a yoga and mindfulness teacher.

So start by finding a comfortable posture. It might be that you want to sit on a cushion or in a chair or perhaps lying down, whatever you feel you most need in this moment.

And start to take a few slow, easy deep breaths, just to let go of whatever you’re carrying around with you today, any emotional baggage. And then either closing your eyes or, just gently lowering the eyelids and then start to bring your attention to your breath. The intention here is to bring a friendly attention. So noticing where you’re breathing most easily. It might be that you can feel the breath most at the tip of your nose, perhaps as a cool breeze on your upper lip. Maybe you’re most aware of your chest, or your belly rising and falling. So bringing a gentle curiosity to the sensations of the breath. Just feeling your breath here for a while. And then when you notice that your mind has wandered as minds do, just come back to feeling your breath again…

Just let your body breathe you. So no holding of the breath or trying to change it in any way. And now put your hand on your heart reminding yourself that you’re bringing a kind attention to your breathing. Our breath is with us from the moment we are born until the moment we die. So our lifelong companion. So allowing yourself to appreciate this breath that sustains us. Wherever we go, whatever we’re doing, it’s always there, it’s there to help us when times are difficult, if we need to slow down, if we need to ground and steady ourselves.

So bringing curiosity and enormous gratitude for this, this breath that gives us life and then exploring how it feels by perhaps putting the other hand on top of the hand that’s already there, on top of your heart. And feeling this as a compassionate gesture for yourself, looking after yourself. Bringing a tender awareness to your breath, be really present to how you are in this moment, looking after yourself.

Not worrying about how many times your mind might wander, just gently returning it back to the feeling of your of the breath underneath your hands. And then gently resting your hands on your lap, just noticing how your breath is now.

Give yourself a few moments to experience the sensations in the whole of your body. A curious observer of what’s happening in your body in this moment. And staying here for as long as you like and then whenever you’re ready, coming back into the room in your own time.

Needing more self-care? Jane O’Rourke leads us through a self-compassion breathing exercise to help nurture and steady ourselves. Jane is a Yoga and Mindfulness teacher and a Psychodynamic Child, Adolescent and Family Psychotherapist. She teaches Yoga4Trauma at the Tavistock Clinic.

Wellbeing Quiz Profile: #MoreFrantic

Hello, my name is Jane O’Rourke. I’m a Child, Adolescent and Family Psychotherapist, and I’m a yoga and mindfulness teacher.

So, come to a sitting posture, where you can find your sit bones on whatever you are sitting on, whether it is a chair or a cushion, so you can sit nice and tall, so a strong erect spine. And if possible closing your eyes or just lowering your gaze.

And then start to bring your awareness to your inner experience. So this is like an internal weather check, so asking yourself what’s your experience in this moment… what thoughts are coming up for you… perhaps even putting it into words, what your thoughts are and acknowledging what feelings there are here in this moment. And in this way we are turning towards whatever it is that we are feeling, so any sense of discomfort or unpleasantness, and maybe some pleasant thoughts too, just acknowledging whatever it is you are experiencing right now. And then what body sensations are here right now, perhaps just scanning through the body, picking up any sensations of tightness or discomfort, just acknowledging your experience.

And then just starting to direct your attention to the breath, focusing on the physical sensations of the breath itself… moving in to the sense of the breath in your abdomen, noticing the contraction of the breath and the out breath and the expansion of the abdomen on the in breath. And in this way we are using the breath as an anchor to the present moment. A smooth in breath, a smooth out breath.

And now expanding your awareness to the whole body, perhaps imagining in your mind’s eye your body here, your posture, noticing your facial expression, and if you become aware of any difficult sensations, breathing in, on the in breath to any discomfort, and breathing out on the out breath, a releasing and letting go.

And then whenever you are reading, coming back into the room in your own time.

Jane O’Rourke guides us through a 3 minute Breathing Space. By turning towards our experience we can release and let go of tension. Jane is a Yoga and Meditation Teacher, and a Psychodynamic Psychotherapist with Children, Young People and Families. She teaches Yoga4Trauma within the Trauma Service at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust.

Wellbeing Quiz Profile: #MoreFrantic

Hello, my name is Jane O’Rourke. I’m a Child, Adolescent and Family Psychotherapist, and I’m a yoga and mindfulness teacher. Today we are going to do a really simple practice for when you don’t have much time but you would like to steady and calm.

So coming to a seated comfortable posture, so it might be on a chair or maybe you can find a cushion to sit on on the floor. And the aim is to try and get a nice straight back, so find your sit bones, so your spine can rise nice and tall and your shoulders can slide down the back, and your neck can be nice and long. And I invite you to put a hand over your heart, and the other hand, the finger tips just touching the floor, or maybe on your lap so you can feel the steadiness of the support of one hand and the other hand is in touch and supporting yourself. And then start to allow the breath to settle and relax, and just being in touch with how you are feeling in this moment.

And then I am inviting you to bring your focus to the breath at the tip of your nose. This is a really simple exercise, just being aware of the breath as it enters the nose, the in breath, and as it leaves the body through the nose on the out breath. Noticing the texture of the breath as it comes in and the slight warming on the out breath. Each breath a new breath of life, bringing oxygen to every cell in the body and a releasing and letting go on the out breath. And don’t worry if your mind wanders off as minds do, just gently bring back the focus to this next in breath coming in at the tip of your nose. Feeling the rise and fall of your chest on the in breath and the out breath and the steady rhythm of your heart. And then when you have taken your last out breath, placing both of your hands on your lap and just taking note of how you are feeling in this moment, and stay here for longer if you like, otherwise gently taking your time to come back into the room in your own time.

Jane O’Rourke guides us through a breathing practice for when you do not have much time but would like to relax and calm down. Jane is a yoga and mindfulness teacher and a Psychodynamic Psychotherapist working with Children and Families. She teaches yoga4trauma in the Trauma Unit at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust.

Wellbeing Quiz Profile: #MoreFrantic

What are podcasts?

Podcasts are regular, short messages from wellbeing and mental health practitioners within this network. They will be directly responding to what we are hearing from you through both the Wellbeing Quiz and the ‘How Are You Today’ survey, as well as offering more specific presentations for targeted staff groups, for example social workers.

Once you have completed the Wellbeing Quiz, keep an eye on the hashtags underneath each of podcasts to help identify those which might be most helpful for you.