More and more people are discovering the benefits of practicing Mindfulness for anxiety. In this guest blog, Julie shares her experience of living with mental health problems and how mindfulness helped her to become a more positive, calmer business owner.
Julie’s story…
Looking back, although I was unaware of it for a very long time, I have lived with anxiety/depression for most of my life.
As a child I was very sensitive and anxious, and still am. Throughout my school years and teens, I had very low self confidence and this coupled with anxiety and clinical depression was debilitating.
Suicidal Thoughts
My social/generalised anxiety disorder (GAD), at the age of 18/19 pulled me into a deep depression. I became that ill I was unable to hold down my nursing course at university, or my job, so I gave them up and became more or less house bound.
I hit a real low point in my life, to the point where I found myself feeling suicidal and was admitted to hospital for a short period.
Recovery
Fast forward 19 years, I am no longer suffering from depression, but most days I have anxiety. But that’s okay because my journey living with anxiety & depression means I am very aware of my triggers and I have implemented some great coping mechanisms.
Having worked on myself for many years, and I now know that anxiety is part of who I am, and I know how to deal with it.
Helping Others

I now run my own Pilates & Yoga business, with Mindfulness being the new addition to the timetable of classes.
I embarked on a Mindfulness Practitioner Training Course in 2018, with Mind mental health charity. I decided to study mindfulness to help me and to then go on to help others.
Using Mindfulness for anxiety has been particularly useful for me.
Becoming a Calmer Person
Mindfulness has helped me enormously to feel calmer, reduce my stress and anxiety, and to change my mindset to negative to more positive. I’m generally a happier person and my mood has definitely lifted since those difficult times in my teens. With Mindfulness aiding me to manage my anxiety levels, I have been able to reduce the dosage of my anti-depressants, which I have been taking for 20 years now.
My new found neural pathways developed through mindfulness has helped to improve my mental well-being tremendously.
I recommend Mindfulness to everyone, especially those who struggle with anxiety, stress, depression. It has changed my life for the better.
Mindfulness in Schools

In the future, I hope to take mindfulness sessions into schools because if I had been introduced to Mindfulness at a younger age, maybe I would have been saved the many years of suffering.
BE MINDFUL ?
Guest post from Julie Thompson, Pilates, Yoga & Mindfulness Teacher at www.jt-healthmatters.co.uk
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