While our first approach to our mental health should come from lifestyle adjustments - focusing on our food, sleep and movement - we may also need extra support.

We may not want to take medication because we don’t feel our symptoms are bad enough, we’ve tried medication in the past and didn’t find it helpful or we simply want short-term support to help us get on top of things.

Meditation is often promoted to be a cure all treatment for all sorts of issues; anxiety, depression, sleep problems, chronic pain etc etc. But there is a 'deeper' aspect to meditating which is often glossed over by the modern attitude for a quick fix. Sometimes meditating doesn't change a lot, but instead brings us deeper in touch with ourselves

We all have times in our lives when we struggle with an overactive mind - it won’t shut off at night, it’s stuck on an old memory or trying (over and over) to figure out a solution to a problem that may not be able to be solved. Sometimes it’s just re-hashing a hurtful or painful event over and over for no apparent good reason.

Sometimes our problem solving mind just needs to stop ‘trying to work it out’ so we can get some peace and quiet, get off to sleep, focus on what we need to do in the here and now or simply to allow some calm to help reduce an anxious state.

Below is a super simple and super effective way to interrupt negative repetitive thoughts and reduce ruminative thinking - those times when a thought continues to go around and around in your mind.

Have you ever suffered from butterflies in your stomach? A feeling of dread? Sweaty palms? Feeling that you are struggling to get a breath? Feeling nauseous? Or a general feeling of being on edge, startling easily?

Most of us have experienced this feeling at some point in our life. Usually brought about by being asked to speak publically, awaiting a job interview or waiting for life changing good or bad news. It's normal, it serves a function and we wouldn't be human without it.

But what do we do when it's seems to stay? When the feeling appears to come on for no reason and then doesn't leave us?