Simon Barnes

When I broke my back in an army accident 30 years ago it seemed like I had two options; either get on with it or give up. I wasn’t aware of making a conscious choice at the time, I just knew that I wanted to keep enjoying life, albeit in a wheelchair, and that’s what I did. We all have a choice with life’s challenges, we just don’t always see it. I believe a calm, balanced mind gives us space to see experiences for what they are, whether pleasant or unpleasant, and to move forward with acceptance and authenticity - why would we want to be anything else? This attitude might be called ‘seeing the glass as half full’ but whatever it is, I believe it leads to greater sense of happiness and contentment, which in turn cultivates awareness of the simple things in life. Life is happening no matter what our situation so we might as well be present for it. I set up Being Mindful as part of the study and learning requirement for a Masters in Mindfulness at the Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice, Bangor University. I chose the longest, hardest training route and I am proud to be a properly qualified mindfulness teacher with a masters degree in teaching mindfulness. One of my ambitions is to teach mindfulness to people with acquired disabilities, and help develop a mental toolkit to manage difficult thoughts, feelings and emotions before they turn into problematic rumination. This is a helpful skill for us all because we all face challenges and it has been an honour and privilege to work with people in and around Bristol in recent years. I am also trained to teach the Mindfulness in Schools .b curriculum and often work with teachers and young people too.

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