Alan White We are well into a new school year and normally for me this represents a time of new hope, fresh ideas and renewed energy and enthusiasm. It can also be a very difficult time however, for many students as well as teachers. For some students it can be a time when anxieties about […]
Tag Archives: mindfulness
The Conflict Within
BlogAlan White We all know what it’s like to experience conflict in our lives. Whether it’s with the important people in our lives or within, unfortunately conflict is an inevitable part of life. However it’s how we handle conflict that can determine the effect that it can have on our well-being. If we don’t learn […]
The language of Well-Being
BlogAlan White I have always been fascinated by language. It’s a very powerful thing. Depending on how we choose to use language, it can insult, hurt, criticise, and devastate someone. Or if used in a compassionate way, it can create meaningful relationships, positive interaction and even change someone’s life. Most of the time we never […]
A Criticism of Criticism
BlogAlan White Life gives us many reasons to be critical. We regularly criticise others quite easily if we perceive that they are not conforming to our expectations. We seem to be always ready to criticise. There is a good reason why criticism come so naturally to us. When we criticise someone or something outside of […]
Meeting our needs helps improve our well-being
BlogAlan White This week I have been asked to give a class on Developing Mental Well-being in young people, as part of the Cork Lifelong Learning Festival. Preparing for this, I had to look at the question of how to do this in a different way, as I will be talking to adults about how […]
Crossing the line – Fun vs distraction
BlogAlan White We all have an innate need for fun. Sometimes we can forget this, especially during busy times in life. Fun means something different to each of us and the things we do for fun can be as varied as reading to parachuting out of an aeroplane. However no matter what we do for […]
The Mindfulness experiment
BlogAlan White Although I am passionate about well-being and I believe that all young people need to learn key skills to take control and care for their own well-being, I have, in the past, been resistant to mindfulness. Why? Because I am the type of person that finds it difficult to sit still for any […]
Sometimes we just need to stop
BlogAlan White “Beware the bareness of a busy life – Socrates. Life is becoming more and more hectic for all of us. I’m finding it hard recently to remember when I last had nothing to do. Don’t get me wrong, I believe it is important for our well-being that we have goals and are motivated […]
Listening to understand
BlogAlan White “Loneliness doesn’t come from having no one around you, but from being unable to communicate the things that are important to you.” – Carl Jung How many times have you had a conversation, and after it finished, you struggled to remember what you spoke about? More importantly, how many times have you struggled […]
Self-Evaluating & Goal setting! Why over committing to our resolutions can be damaging to our well-being!
BlogAlan White It’s that time of year again when many of us have set out our new year’s resolutions and promise ourselves that this time things will be different. We are declaring aloud for all to hear, the monumental changes we intend to make in our lives. Whether it’s losing weight, quitting smoking, learning a […]