Awareness of stressors and early warning signs

“I now notice more when I’m getting stressed and try and do something about it rather than just letting it be there and I am better at knowing what kind of things stress me out”

New relationship to automatic negative thoughts

“I realised I was always exploding everything into a global thought, creating a big story and stressing myself out...the course has changed my mindset, how I think of myself, how I react to situations, before i would be sitting doing some work, thinking 'oh my god this is so hard,  i don't understand it, i'm not going to do well,  i'm going to fail my exams'. [now] as soon as those thoughts start, I recognise them, and can cut them off, instead of wasting my time stressing,  i think 'ok, what can i do differently?”

Improved Concentration & managing workload

“when  I used the three minute breathing space during the day I found that was quite a useful tool to refresh myself, allow myself to regain concentration & get back to work”

Less stressed and more in control

“in terms of me as a health practitioner, mindfulness has helped me be less stressed, be more on top of things, more aware of the bigger picture I suppose and I can imagine that can only be beneficial”

Acceptance (of vulnerability and limitations)

“Well I think accepting that things are difficult. You can’t do everything...everyone finds things difficult and it’s okay to find it difficult. So I think I took that [judgement] away, just that things are hard and it’s okay to say ‘oh I can’t do it now and I need to do this and this before I can do it”  

Nourishment for self and others

“when I’m stressed I have a tendency to withdraw and not socialise but now I invest in relationships, spend some time with friends... when I started medical school I cut off from everyone, saying ‘I don’t have time, I just need to work’, I had to make the conscious effort of pushing myself, saying, 'building relationships is important, it’s part of self care and having people supporting you'.  Now, when I’m socialising with people, instead of sitting there and thinking, ‘oh, I could be at home doing work’, I am now saying, ‘you’re looking after yourself, time out is good', allowing me to enjoy that instead of feeling guilty about it”

Empathy

“I’m mindful of my own reaction towards patients and their stories and the hospital situation and thinking about patients conditions and their suffering... I'd like to say that it's improved my ability to empathise with patients and what's going on with them.”

Communication skills

“Its not necessarily something that would be acknowledged as a communication skill under the traditional framework but [mindfulness leads to ] feeling more confident in talking about feelings... the approach of the [mindfulness] sessions was an open, friendly, exploration of thoughts and feelings and maybe that’s helped me give patients the space to express themselves”