Apricity - It's All About Mindfulness

By Alice O'Brien

Churchview Psychotherapy, Millstreet

Winter is over according to the calendar, and we are entering Spring. It would be easy to look back over the last three month and recall all the wet and windy days, the cold, the snow, the icy roads. But, have you heard of apricity? Bet you experienced some moments of apricity over the winter, you just didn’t know it. Apricity is the feeling of warmth from the sun in winter. So, if you were out for a walk on Christmas day and you turned your face to the sun, feeling the warm rays, then you experienced apricity. It’s interesting how we don’t notice these moments when we are busy, when we are so immersed in our routine of getting on with the day, we don’t have the time to notice these small moments of pleasure. Mindful moments are so important. They can help us to regulate stress, reduce anxiety and lessen our worry. Mindfulness is also very beneficial for our physical health, with research showing us that mindfulness reduces blood pressure, heart disease and helps with chronic pain.

So, how do you have a mindful moment?

• Start by paying attention to your surroundings, the sights,

sounds and smell around you.

• Focus your attention on your breath, when your mind wanders bring it back to your breath.

• Accept yourself- be kind to your wandering mind, do not be critical of yourself- just come back to the present moment.

Remember, if you are new to mindfulness, then it takes practice, so find ways of being mindful throughout your day, weave it into your routine, maybe when you are stuck in traffic or out walking the dog.

Jon Kabat-Zinn, the founder of mindfulness based stress reductions describes our thoughts are being like waves, we can’t control them, but we can learn how to surf. So, treat mindfulness like your surfboard.

L-R: Alice O’Brien, Sharon Bailey and Claire O’Leary

Churchview Therapies

Alice O’Brien and Sharon Bailey of Churchview Therapies are celebrating one year in business this month. They are delighted to announce the re-branding of their business to Churchview Therapies and to welcome Claire O’Leary of ‘Thrive Wellness’. Claire is a Kinesiologist and will be providing Kinesiology sessions from Churchview. Alice and Sharon would like to thank Claire for joining them, they would also like to thank their families for all the support, their clients for choosing their business and Alice would also like to especially thank Discover Duhallow for the opportunity to write her regular column. All three ladies are excited for what their business has in store and look forward to many more years working together.