Seeking calm, clarity and companionship: Butler Mindfulness Group

Once a month for the last three years, a small but dedicated crew of people living with neurological conditions have gathered at MSWA Butler to learn about and experience a variety of mindfulness practices. 

Facilitated by MSWA Counsellors Ian Sampson and Eve Parsons, the Butler Mindfulness Group is a safe space for peer support and sharing of psycho-education experiences to encourage mindfulness practices in our daily life. Our coffee breaks are also a time where we can swap practice tips and music recommendations!

Mindfulness doesn’t take away MS. It doesn’t magically fix everything. But what it does do is give you tools to help steady yourself when life feels overwhelming,” Bernie, MSWA Client 

Research has found that mindfulness meditation has a positive effect on physiological and cognitive signs of stress, which makes it an important approach in helping to manage chronic health conditions such as MS (Goleman & Davidson). 

Mindfulness is paying focused attention to whatever is happening, right now, without judgment. It sounds simple. However, we all know how our ‘monkey mind’ can get caught up with plans, thoughts and feelings about the past and the future. 

Many of us engage in mindfulness without even recognising it – we call it ‘flow’, ‘getting into the zone’ or chilling out. 

The Butler Mindfulness Group learns mindfulness in a simple, secular (non-religious) way according to the guidance of modern techniques. Benefits from mindfulness includes, stress reduction, increased work/life balance, better emotional regulation, lower pain levels, increased self-compassion and improved mood and resilience. 

The short answer is no! When learning mindfulness, it is useful to start with ‘anchors’ for our focus to concentrate on. Inevitably the ‘monkey mind’ wanders off, and the practice of mindfulness means noticing our attention has strayed and gently bringing it back to our anchor. This may happen multiple times in five minutes! With practice, we get better at staying focused on our anchor. It is unrealistic to ask ourselves to think of nothing, but we can try to think of one thing. 

For me it’s all about the ‘delivery’ of the monthly subject or material. You can stop worrying about things you can’t control and use the techniques given to us as a group, that can help change the ‘perspective”, Nick, MSWA Client 

References: Goleman D and Davidson, R. 2018. The Science of Meditation: How To Change Your Brain, Mind and Body. UK: Penguin Random House.

We meet once a month on a Tuesday morning at MSWA Butler. Similar group gatherings happen at MSWA Kelmscott and occasionally elsewhere. If you’d like to see whether we’re a good fit for you, get in touch!