I have never been able to meditate.

‘What?’ I hear you say. ‘I thought all psychotherapists practice and encourage quiet mindful contemplation, body scans, doing deep belly breathing, grounding etc’. Well, yes and no.

You see, for me, an invitation to sit still and go into my body is one of the scariest things I can be asked to do. Closing my eyes at the same time? Hell, no! It just does not feel safe and never has done.

If you feel similarly about meditation or other similar exercises, you may want to look up why meditation is a contraindicated for some people. But in case of doubt, you are not strange. I suspect that you are actually highly attunded to listening to your body’s cues.

So no, if you are my client I will not make you sit there quietly trying to work out what is going on inside you. But yes, I may invite you to consider whether there is any messaging in your body that wants to be heard, and whether your body, brain, and heart are working together or against each other. This can be done in many ways and, if you want to, we will work out what way works for you rather than you being given a ‘right’ way out of a textbook, a training course, or from the latest influencer.

For me, my meditative practice has nothing to do with the therapy room at all. In fact, I am at my most mindful and most connected body, brain, and heart when I am outside walking in nature with my phone camera at hand. Nature, flowers, animals, birds, whatever the time of year, in the local park or common – it all works for me. Focusing on taking a photo helps me calmly move from whatever is on my mind to how to capture the colour of the leaves, the personality of the robin looking at me, or the shimmering water in the pond.

All the images on this website are mine taken on these walks.

If you are interested in working with me to understand your responses to sitting quietly, to meditation and grounding techniques, or want to find out what form of mindfulness works for you, then please get in touch.