Meditation, Mindfulness, Anxiety & Stress Reduction

Some great resources from Plum Village, the retreat founded by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh who is a renowned global spiritual leader, poet and peace activist, revered around the world for his pioneering teachings on mindfulness, global ethics and peace.

Evidence based daily guidance designed for anyone suffering from anxiety delivered to your smartphone or tablet. In around 10 minutes a day:

• Uncover what triggers your anxiety
• Identify your “Anxiety habits”
• Break the cycle of worry & panic
• Learn specific anti-anxiety tools

A mindfulness course available on Udemy which is a gentle introduction to mindfulness by Katie Sheen, specifically to help to reduce anxiety. Organised in short chunks of separate videos so even if you have just a couple of minutes each day, you can easily find time to do this.

Psychologist, Dr Pippa Grange discusses fear and how it holds us back in all aspects of our life in this podcast with Dr Chatterjee. “Fear is one of our body’s natural early warning systems. It alerts us when we’re under threat and need to take action. A bit like stress or inflammation, it’s something that’s useful to us in certain circumstances. But not when it becomes chronic and disrupts our entire sense of wellbeing.”

With self-compassion, we give ourselves the same kindness and care we’d give to a good friend. A link to the wonderful Dr Kristin Neff’s meditations for self compassion.

If you are looking for a practical, relatable, and easy-to-read book that will teach your teen how to cope with stress and anxiety, this is it! A free downloadable resource. Not yet explored other things on this website, but there are bound to be some more gems to find!

HRV is linked to your autonomic nervous system (ANS) and the balance between the parasympathetic (rest-and-digest) and sympathetic (fight-or-flight) branches. By balancing the two forces, the ANS helps you respond to daily stressors and regulate some of your body’s most important systems, including heart rate, respiration, and digestion.

HRV is the most effective way of estimating your ANS balance, as it directly impacts your heart’s activity. This free app allows you to measure your HRV using your Android phone without any other equipment.