Mind Matters More: Recent Episodes
Dr Andrew Maleknia
I am Dr Andrew Maleknia and I am a senior counselling psychologist with years of experience working for a variety of mental health services within the NHS and also charity organisations. These services include but not limited to primary care, secondary care, crisis, acute inpatient service as well as chronic pain service. The primary aim for my podcasts is to help others and address some of the difficulties that most of us may have to face on a daily basis. I believe that a healthy mind matters more than anything else as without a healthy mind nothing else has meaning or purpose.
Another free meditation episode from Mind Matters More to help you to calm your mind, to ground you and to bring you back to the present moment. You could practice this in the mornings, evenings before bed or throughout the day at any time that you feel distressed, distracted or overwhelmed.
Losing a loved one is one of the most devastating events that any of us would have to face in our lives. It is also confusing with no guidelines or instructions of how to deal with grief so most of us find our own way of grieving for our loved ones, everyone goes through a different bereavement process. this episode explains the process we go through during bereavement and although it may not be exactly the same for every individual, the stages are very similar.
In this episode I would like to talk about mental well being and what steps we could take to look after our minds better.
This is a guided body scan meditation to help you prepare for sleep as you do the meditation. You may find yourself drifting off to sleep. This is fine, so you can allow the meditation to turn off on its own. If you notice thoughts such as worries or concerns arising that take your attention away from the meditation, this is also normal. See if you can redirect your attention back to the body scan, gently letting go of these thoughts.
In this episode I cover what is it about something as simple as sitting still and watching our breath that evokes panic, fear, and even hostility? No matter how many reports there are proving the mental, emotional, and physical value of being quiet, there seems to be an even greater number who refuse to give it a try. Of course, meditation can be challenging, and even more so if we are uncertain as to why we are doing it. It can seem very odd to sit there just listening to the incessant chatter in our head, and we easily get bored if we do nothing for too long, even if it’s only 10 minutes.
In this mindfulness meditation I use guided imagery which involves each of the five senses to ignite positive healing messages throughout the mind and body. This meditation is interchanged with visualization, self-hypnosis and guided meditation and it has its own set of techniques. The benefits of guided imagery are endless and research has shown that mindfulness practice not only can reduce fear and anxiety, but also has a major impact on reducing the impact of chronic pain which in turn can reduce the psychological distress experienced for the person who suffering from worries, anxieties and physical pain.
In this guided meditation, the focus is on recognition and development of our inner strength. By using Mountains as our guided imagery we could relates to its strength, having stood the test of time for hundreds of thousands of years, mountains don't sway, they go through life being subjected to harsh and unpleasant weather changes, subjected to rain, snow and extreme levels of heat as well freezing temperatures and yet they sit still, they sit through the changes and they remain solid, grounded and strong. They don't care what people think of them or what image they should uphold. We could learn from this and build on our own resilience and strength to cope with difficulties and pain.
Anxiety has an impact on all of us, Mindfulness Meditation is an effective way to build resilience against anxiety and help calm our mind in difficult situations. In this episode I guide you through a mindfulness meditation with specific intention to reduce anxiety levels.
This is an episode about seven attitudes towards mindfulness and also ten strategies that can help build better practices.
In this episode I explore the nature of anxiety, the causes and also possible solutions which are available to overcome our anxieties. Our anxieties may stop us from enjoying life or even functioning on an everyday basis. Therefore, it is very important to understand this concept better and learn ways to tackle it.
This episode is about mindfulness and where it came from as well as its benefits and advantages. I also discuss the 7 main principals when practicing mindfulness.
In this episode I am covering a more general topic of mental health and why it is so important. I discuss why and how it effects us and how the stigma attached to mental health difficulties can have a devastating and long lasting negative impact on our lives. I also challenge everyone, employers, service providers, mental health professionals and also individuals to do more, to be better ad to d better as we all have a responsibility towards one another.
In this episode I am covering a more general topic of mental health and why it is so important. I discuss why and how it effects us and how the stigma attached to mental health difficulties can have a devastating and long lasting negative impact on our lives. I also challenge everyone, employers, service providers, mental health professionals and also individuals to do more, to be better ad to d better as we all have a responsibility towards one another.