When we're living with an eating disorder, anxiety, depression or simply the stresses of everyday life, it's easy to spend much of our time worrying about the future or replaying things that have already happened. Mindfulness invites us to gently return our attention to the present moment. For me, developing a mindfulness practice became one of the most important parts of my recovery from anorexia. It helped me become more aware of my thoughts, emotions and behaviours, allowing me to pause, reflect and make choices that supported my recovery rather than my eating disorder. That said, when a therapist first suggested mindfulness, I was resistant and actually asked her who had time for stuff like that in their lives! I'm so glad I was willing to give it a try.

Mindfulness means being fully present so that we know what is going on inside and outside ourselves, moment by moment.  Becoming more aware of the present moment can help us enjoy the world around us more, understand ourselves better and to experience things that we may have been taking for granted in a new way.

Mindfulness also allows us to become more aware of the stream of thoughts and feelings that we experience and to see how we can become entangled in that stream in ways that are not helpful, especially when we are trying to recovery from an eating disorder or break unhealthy habits and coping skills we may have been using for many years. 

Mindfulness helps us to stand back from our thoughts and start to notice their patterns and how those patterns impact on our behaviours.

Gradually, by using Mindfulness, we can train ourselves to notice when our thoughts are taking over and realise that thoughts are simply 'mental events' that do not have to control us and are, instead, just temporary experiences. As I often remind myself and my clients, “We can’t control the thoughts that pop into our head, but we can choose what to do with those thoughts”.

Mindfulness helps us to recognise more quickly when unhealthy thoughts arise and offers the opportunity to pause and decide what to do next rather than automatically reacting so practicing regularly can help people to become more aware of their thoughts and emotions in a way that helps them notice signs of stress or anxiety earlier so that they can deal with things in a healthy, productive way rather than let them build up and feel overwhelming and unmanageable. After all, it’s often the overwhelm and resulting discomfort that cause us to default to the eating disorder behaviours.

Below are some of the mindfulness practices that I’ve used over the years of my recovery. Some may work for you, some might not. Lean into curiosity and remember that just because one practice doesn't work for you, it doesn't mean none of them will. And remember, mindfulness doesn’t have to be a formal practice, we can choose to be mindful at any time in any place simply by tuning into our senses and paying attention.

Mindfulness is often described as a practice, and that's exactly what it is. There's no perfect way to do it. Every time you pause, notice your experience and gently bring yourself back to the present moment, you're practicing.