Mindfulness is not just about sitting still in awkward poses for hours on end. It is about being present, as much as possible, in everyday activities. This might be in conversation, brushing your teeth, or eating.

A few years ago, I realised I had stopped singing and laughing. When I say ‘singing’, I mean singing in the privacy and safety of my kitchen or shower. I had essentially lost my voice. It was a gradual process, so I didn’t even notice it had happened, but I knew why it happened. I was in situations where I felt I couldn’t express my true desires, thoughts and emotions, mainly for fear they would be rejected or for disrupting the status quo.

A cascade of events then unfolded starting with enrolling on the Cranio-Sacral Therapy training. I had received Cranio-Sacral treatment for several years before this, but the training provides a very different aspect to healing and I was forced to confront the fact I couldn’t hear myself. Laughter, and singing in a similar vein, is a universal expression of joy. Joy is not a transient emotion or experience, it is an internal state of being where you are present, grounded and contented. In contrast, happiness is much more dependent on our external world and what is happening around us. If we get that new pair of shoes or if we win an argument with our partner, we will be happy. I had a roof over my head, I had a job, I could buy good food, but I wasn’t able to express an internal joy.

As many of us have, I have been indoctrinated with the mindset that work has to be gruelling, monotonous and stressful, and anything that deviates from that is wrong.

Work patterns, habits and locations have changed significantly in recent years, but has our conscience followed suit?