Relevant websites Hope Not Hate (2019) Societal attitudes towards islam and muslims report. [ONLINE] Available at:
https://www.hopenothate.org.uk/research/ islamophobia-hub/societal-attitudes-islam- muslims/. [Accessed 14 September 2019]. National Public Radio Inc. (2019) How Much Does A Terrorist Attack Cost? A Lot Less Than You’d Think. [ONLINE] Available at:
https://www.npr.org/sections/ parallels/2014/06/25/325240653/how-much- does-a-terrorist-attack-cost-a-lot-less-than-you- think?t=1576845555672. [Accessed 7 December 2019]. The New York Times (2019) Pentagon Says ‘Jihadi John’ Was Probably Killed in Airstrike. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.nytimes. com/2015/11/14/world/europe/jihadi-john- mohammed-emwazi-david-cameron-
statement.html. [Accessed 7 December 2019]. NewStatesman (2019) Why we should stop fi xating on what Muslim women wear. [ONLINE] Available at:
https://www.newstatesman.com/ politics/feminism/2019/02/why-we-should- stop-fi xating-what-muslim-women-wear. [Accessed 7 December 2019]. The Washington Post (2019) I’m a Muslim, not a terrorist. So why did the NYPD spy on me for years? [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.
washingtonpost.com/gdpr-consent/?destinat ion=%2fposteverything%2fwp%2f2016%2f02 %2f04%2fi m-a-muslim-not-a-terrorist-so-why- did-the-nypd-spy-on-me-for-years%2f%3f. [Accessed 7 December 2019].
Dr Strangeloop or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love
Mindfulness Davy Evans
I would like to share a story. In one way of telling it, this story is about my commitment to theoretically coherent systemic practice. T en again, it could be heard as an ode to self-care; as a dance between the domains of theory and practice; or as a coming-of-age story in which my previously confl icting positions have reached some resolution. Whichever narrative thread grabs you, you will meet the main protagonist: a particular technique from mindfulness practice called the internal weather report. So, on another level, this story is an invitation for you, the reader, to engage with this mindfulness technique and explore the opportunities it may aff ord you in your own work.
Mindfulness and me I always held conflicting positions
Nasif Nijabat has over 18 years’ experience working with children and families in a social care setting. He is a systemic psychotherapist and social worker and works for NELFT as their exploitation lead within CAMHS. He is due to start his doctorate in 2020, with a particular interest in ‘engaging hard to reach people’ from a systemic perspective and in the context of exploitation. He is also a visiting lecturer in addition to having a small private practice in his local community. He is an avid marathoner and ultra-runner too! Email:
Nij1980@hotmail.co.uk
Context 170, August 2020
regarding the practice of mindfulness. My inner self-critic would tell me it’s a technique I’ve never got to grips with. I find it exceedingly hard to enter purposefully into a mindful state: I am very easily distracted by making connections, drawing distinctions and theorising, and find it almost impossible to stick with direct experience. My inner scientist would go on to remind me that mindfulness has been shown to be a very powerful and effective intervention for a range of problems. My inner cynic would then point out how, actually, mindfulness has become an increasingly populist movement that has moved a world away from its careful scientific integration of eastern philosophies into western cognitive therapies. This cacophony of voices made it difficult for me to find ways of authentically using mindfulness in my practice. Then came what W. Barnett
Pearce might call a “critical moment” (Pearce, 2007) in my relationship with mindfulness. I was attending an away day with a clinical team I had recently joined. I arrived at the venue in the grip of a foul mood, fuelled in equal measure by the apprehensive nerves of a ‘team newbie’, heart-sink memories of previous away days, and a slowly ebbing road
rage from cycling through the centre of Birmingham. The day started with a brief mindfulness exercise, the internal weather report: Sit down comfortably somewhere, close or half close your eyes, and take some time to determine how you are feeling right now. What is the weather like inside you? Do you feel relaxed and sunny inside? Or does it feel rainy or overcast? Is there a storm raging perhaps? What do you notice? Without really thinking about it too much, summon the weather report that best describes your feelings at the moment. Once you know how you are doing right now, just let it be… just as it is…; there is no need to feel or do anything differently. You cannot change the weather outside either can you? (Snel, 2013, pp. 54-55). My irritability that morning, along with
my ambivalence about mindfulness, provided a strong invitation for me to zone out and maybe even have a quick doze. However, the context of social conformity proved to be more influential than my ideas about the activity. I decided to give it a go. As I directed my attention to physical
sensations, a very vivid image came to my mind of a sky full of glowering, oppressive green-grey clouds, heavy with the metallic taste of an impending
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Dr Strangeloop or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Mindfulness
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