Take Notice – you can grow your brain!

It’s Mental Health Awareness Week so Take Notice – you can grow your brain!

Media Release

8 October 2012

It’s Monday – are you already running on autopilot? Maybe the weekend is replaying itself over and over in your head and it’s hard to concentrate?

Today is the dawn of this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week and the theme is Take Notice. Instead of your thoughts and moods being affected as you ruminate on the past and worry about the future, practise taking notice as the benefits are amazing.

This week (8-14 October) we are encouraging people to take time, take a breath and take notice of what’s happening to them right now. This is called “being mindful” and there’s an entire international push behind it and what it can do to make life more enjoyable.

Research has shown being mindful can actually grow your brain, reduce anxiety and depression, increase positive emotions and sense of calm and boost your immunity!

[http://www.mentalhealth.org.nz/file/Newsletters/In-Touch/intouch-summer-2012-web.pdf]

Mindfulness is not about sitting in the lotus position in a quiet room chanting “om”, although that can be beneficial if done correctly. It’s about the myriad of ways you can take notice. To help you understand ‘mindfulness’ better, we have put together a series of YouTube videos and audios featuring our mental health promoter and mindfulness tutor Grant Rix.

[http://www.mentalhealth.org.nz/page/1236-mindfulness-videos-audios]
[http://www.mentalhealth.org.nz/page/1220-mindfulness-activities+mindfulness-training-map]

In the five videos, Grant explains what this buzz word – mindfulness – actually means, and how you can use it to savor the moment and really engage in your life. The subject matter ranges from the meaning of flow and teaching mindfulness to children, to going for a mindfulness walk and getting the best from technology.

In the three audios, Grant takes us through some mindfulness practices.

Visit the Mental Health Awareness Week website to watch and listen to the series; you can also find a mindfulness teacher in your area. The site also has a national What’s On calendar so you can see how the rest of New Zealand is taking notice this week, and beyond. There’s a list of good reads and suggestions for other ways to get involved and be more mindful.

[http://www.mentalhealth.org.nz/page/995-home]
[http://www.mentalhealth.org.nz/page/1220-mindfulness-activities+mindfulness-training-map]
[http://www.mentalhealth.org.nz/whats_on/view/browse/]
[http://www.mentalhealth.org.nz/page/1191-recommended-reading-list]
[http://www.mentalhealth.org.nz/page/1259-mindfulness-activities]

One last thing – we are asking people during the week to tweet what they have noticed each day; you can do that directly from our site. There’s a whole bunch of tweets already at #takenoticenz

[http://www.mentalhealth.org.nz/page/995-home]

ENDS

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