ZenInfo

Mindfulness — or “Ενσυνειδητότητα” in Greek — is a form of meditation that in recent years has gained wide popularity among the general public as well as in applications for improving mental health.
 

Although it’s considered to have its roots in Eastern traditions, we can find various forms of it in Western culture too.

As a meditation practice for better stress management, it was first introduced by Harvard Medical School professor Jon Kabat-Zinn and was later adopted by clinical psychologists at Cambridge (John Teasdale) and Oxford (Mark Williams, Willem Kuyken) for the treatment of depression and anxiety disorders.

Today it is applied to many groups — clinical and non-clinical — including in the workplace and, over the past 10 years, to young children in schools (ages 5+).

As a meditative practice, mindfulness aims to train individuals to use their senses to “anchor” themselves in the present moment. It strengthens acceptance and non-judgmental thinking and helps develop psychological flexibility and psychological resilience.

One immediate and basic “side effect” is relaxation and a sense of well-being. But as an experiential practice, its deeper goal is to gradually train the mind to better manage anxiety and stress and to cultivate the flexibility needed to remain resilient under emotionally challenging conditions.

You can watch these intro videos or a more detailed introduction to mindfulness.
 

Of course, the best way to learn it is to experience it yourself through an individual or group session.

Mindfulness is intended for everyone — both children and adults.

The ZenKids.gr program is designed mainly for children and parents who do not have mental health difficulties.

If a child is experiencing such difficulties, however, it is essential that they first be evaluated by a child psychiatrist from our team and then, if needed, work with one of our team’s psychologists.

Mindfulness helps children from a very young age learn to recognize their emotions and manage them more effectively.

It teaches them to develop strong stress and anxiety management skills early in life and to cope better with challenging emotional situations.

It builds psychological flexibility and resilience from an early age — resources that will support them through all of life’s difficult stages.

Mindfulness helps adults in the same way it helps children.

Of course, parents often have to face the rigid patterns and difficulties they’ve developed over the years of their lives.

Still, mindfulness can become a powerful family activity and practice, giving the whole family strength during challenging times and periods of stress.

Parents learn to teach their children better ways of managing stress and emotions in the best way possible: by example!

If you’ve ever wondered why your children react the way you do, you’ll start to understand how, through mindfulness, they can begin to learn from you new and more effective ways to handle difficult emotions, conflicts, and challenging situations.

Mindfulness as a practice on its own cannot resolve practical problems or even work as an individual therapy for physical illnesses or mental health problems. 

You may read many claims about its magical effects however the truth is that it cannot do all the things many mindfulness wizards claim to do. Nevertheless, it has many benefits and positive side effects and it can be helpful to our overall well being and mental health. 

For people who have a diagnosable mental health disorder, then mindfulness can be integrated within an evidence based CBT treatment and can be combined with medications. 

However, on its own will not work, especially when it is practiced and applied by practitioners who do not have a background in psychology and/or psychiatry. 

It is however, a very useful experiential practice that can enrich our lives. 

You can simply call us to have a chat +30-6971-813232  

If you like what we do then you can complete our registration form and book your initial session.

We aim to put together a programme for each participant that it is helpful to all. 

If you simply wish to try this out then just book session  social - group or one to one!