Supporting young people through the end of the school year
The last few weeks of a school year have a particular feeling to them, there’s excitement and the promise of summer, with lighter days and a break from routine. But for many young people, this time of year also means navigating endings. For some school pupils the end of term might mean moving up a […]
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Taking action, one mindapple at a time
Mental Health Awareness Week draws to a close this weekend. This year’s theme is Take Action, and it’s one that feels close to what we do every day at Mindapples. We all have mental health, and the things we do each day affect it. The Mental Health Foundation offer us three ways to think about […]
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Winter Warmers for Your Mind
The winter days are getting shorter and many of us find ourselves slowing down a bit. Darker mornings and shorter afternoons can leave us feeling more tired, the shape of our days might be different, and our minds might also be feeling a bit different too. Many people find that spending even a short time […]
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Wellbeing in lockdown
Everyday mental health is a more pressing issue than ever. Those of you who have been following Mindapples’ activities during the COVID-19 pandemic will know we’ve been putting more of our material into the public domain to get people talking about we can all do to look after our minds. (Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, […]
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Drink water! What dehydration does to your mind
We all know water is good for us, and it’s certainly easy to get hold of it, but we don’t often stop to think about how beneficial it can be, not just for our physical health, but for our minds too. Recent research shows that dehydration not only affects our physical wellbeing, but also our […]
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Why taking care of our feelings matters
“Positive emotions are worth cultivating, not just as end states in themselves but also as a means to achieving psychological growth and improved well-being over time” – Barbara L. Fredrickson Broaden-and-Build Theory of Positive Emotions, 2001 According to recent psychological research, the experience of positive emotions such as joy, interest, contentment and love, not only […]
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Why having fun is good for you
We all know that leisure time makes us feel good, but now scientific evidence shows that taking time out and engaging in activities you enjoy really does lead to both psychological and physical wellbeing. It’s a well-established fact that physically healthy actions such as eating well and getting enough sleep make us feel better, it […]
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The missing middle of modern meditation
I have a lot of conversations about meditation. And over the last few years, as the mainstream interest in meditation has grown and I’ve met more and more people wanting to learn the practice and the theory of meditation – and in particular mindfulness-based meditation – the supply to satisfy the demand of that interest […]
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A brief history of mindfulness
Hang out around mental health circles either side of the Atlantic at the moment and soon enough you’ll hear someone talking about mindfulness. And here in the UK, the status of mindfulness as official flavour of the psychotherapist’s month was secured this year when the Mental Health Foundation launched its Be Mindful project. With its […]
Continue reading Exercise Builds a Calmer Brain
We’ve known for a long time that exercise reduces stress … but new research on rats described in The New York Times is showing that exercise actually builds calmer brains. “It looks more and more like the positive stress of exercise prepares cells and structures and pathways within the brain so that they’re more equipped to […]
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