Pam Ebsworth has been attending a Mindfulness course – here are a few tips from that which could be applied to ringing.
Photo by Erik Mclean on Unsplash
- Don’t forget to breathe.
- Strange to say, in any form of ‘meditation’ breathing does seem to be the most important part of learning to relax. In mindfulness we were taught to be more aware of our breathing.
- Breathing out for longer than we breathe in, to make sure that our lungs are empty. Feel the cooler air coming in and the warmer air going out. A deep breath in and a long sigh out seems to work well for me.
- Forgive yourself.
- We were taught to let ourselves just be in the moment and to enjoy it; not to think about what has happened or what might happen. Most important is to forgive yourself, and others, for past mistakes!
- Be kind to yourself and to others, to create an atmosphere in which we can all achieve without stress.
Stress? Or excitement?
I have read that feelings of stress can be converted into excitement. When I learnt to ring at 16 years old I did find it exciting and the adrenaline was my friend. Nowadays I try very hard to turn my feelings of stress into excitement.
This learning tip appeared in the April Edition of Tower Talk – the free quarterly e-magazine for new ringers. To subscribe for future editions, please sign up here (you can unsubscribe at any time)