top of page

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Developing  mindful self compassion gently supports our well-being

​

Lifting the emotional burden, softening our approach and understanding how to respect our needs and live more gently, helps us to re-invest in our innate value as human beings. The more we are resourced, the greater our ability to find creative responses to life. If we are able to acknowledge our distress and lessen the "struggle" this will allow us to gain clarity and insight into those areas of our experience that we may be able to gently influence.

 

​Together we will look at life from a different perspective:

​

  • Bring a kinder attitude to your experience, finding supportive ways to live in balance

  • Improve overall life management, finding an awareness of what might harm your health and what might support your wellbeing

  • Work towards alleviating emotional distress and disruption 

  • Find ways to live with fewer struggles and feelings of overwhelm

  • Access relaxed mind and body states, quietening the damaging stress response. 

  • Develop creative ways to soothe the pain reaction and capture energy​​

​

​

Feeling 'good enough' is something many of us struggle with, comparing ourselves to others and believing our lives (or more fundamentally ourselves) fall short. However alone you may feel in this view, it is shared by many. Distress, inadequacies, shame, embarrassment and unworthiness are all part of the human condition: crucially how we befriend and respond to our experience is what makes the difference.

​

The role of compassion and mindfulness practices and the support they offer can feel empowering, helping to place us in a stronger position to deal with these challenges and to find more ease in our experience.

​

 

​

​

Developing a Gentle, Mindful, Compassionate Approach 

​

  • Empowers us to be emotionally resourced and increases our choice and agency.

  • Supports the development of a compassionate self -view. We can step towards valuing ourselves and life in all of its complexity.

  • Improves the window of tolerance, giving ourselves the potential to create kinder, less reactive responses.

  • Allows us to access the self-soothing system and promotes feel good hormones.

  • Supports the growth of positive neural pathways in the brain which in turn improves our well-being.

​

Hi, I'm Helen Potts.

​

Gentle Health is guided by my professional training, many years of practice in Mindfulness, Compassion and Meditation and my love of Poetry and Literature.

​

We are really all the same. We want to feel well, live good lives and be valued; love and be loved and contribute to the world in which we live.

​

I spent many years feeling my lack of well-being was my fault. I have lived with auto immune conditions causing pain and difficulty and have had to find creative ways to navigate my life. It took a seismic shift to accept that treatments may fail but not people. It is so easy to internalise feelings of upset and disappointment and the pressure to recover can become a heavy burden.

​

I am fortunate in the last decade to have gained health and equilibrium. It was a slow journey yet I honour those years for the wisdom, insight and understanding they gave me. We don't always choose our paths, we can only do our best to support our lives and find ways to create joy and ease in living.

​

I am self employed and have run a small business for ten years, this gives me more agency and control over my work/ life balance and I feel fortunate that I have this choice, I appreciate not everyone does. 

 

I have experience supporting people who are carer's,  people managing illness or navigating loss and difficulty. I currently lead mindfulness & poetry for wellbeing sessions and co-ordinate and lead a weekly meditation group for Mindfulness UK. I continue to attend relevant CPD courses, I am a member of the Community of Practice at Mindfulness UK (Affiliated Teacher Training Organisation BAMBA registered - British Association of Mindfulness - Based Approaches) and enjoy attending Retreats to deepen my practice.

​

I try to travel gently and lightly through life. I read poetry, write & drink tea. I enjoy the company of animals and the soft tread of feet on earth, ordinary delights. Friends, family and connecting with people are very much part of my world.

 

The way society is structured increasingly seems to separate us from care, connection and support. Isolation and exhaustion are ever present in everyday lives and keeping ourselves afloat can be very challenging. Simply knowing this is important as it helps us to reconnect, reconsider and question: how might my life be lived with more ease and fulfilment? It's not always large, fundamental changes that are needed.  Sometimes we can be effective in finding answers by considering what is already here and how we might respond more kindly to ourselves and our experience.

 

I make no bones about being 'Ordinary' it is a sort of blessing to realise that I am in no way special. My Blog 'Celebrating the Ordinary' perhaps explores this more fully.

​

https://www.gentlehealthpractice.co.uk/post/celebrating-the-ordinary 

 

Life is filled with ups and downs, it's unavoidable. I only hope that my experience and skills continue to guide my life and might be of some benefit to others. It's never too early and it's truly never too late to consider our self worth! 

​

​

​

​

 

 

IMG_20211025_115844114_HDR.jpg
MUK Trained Teacher Logo.jpg

Qualifications

  • Integrating Mindfulness & Compassion in Professional Practice - Counselling & Psychotherapy Awarding Body. 

  • Compassionate Mindful Resilience Teacher- Mindfulness UK BAMBA & EAMBA recognised course.

  • Professional Relaxation Therapist - NCFE Distinction

  • Advanced Inquiry Skills CPD

​

Mindfulness UK CMR teacher Logo.jpg
bottom of page