MINDFULNESS FOR CAT LOVERS’ BY CAROLE BOSANKO
Cats
are great just as they are .They become super special when we consider the
positive effects they have on our health and wellbeing.
Cats
can calm us, lower our stress level and offer companionship. They provide a
structure to the day and a sense of purpose and responsibility. Cats foster our
compassion as we care for them, think about them and want to make their lives
pleasant.
As
cats live in the present moment and have a soothing influence, they make the
perfect pet to demonstrate the principles and benefits of mindfulness. Cats can
make it easy to be mindful and also can show us how to be more self-caring and
self-compassionate. Cats can share their mindfulness qualities with us and
already bring them into our lives. The purring of a cat brings calm and
reassurance.
A
2019 Cats Protection study found that 93.7% of cat owners said that their cat
was beneficial to their mental health. ‘Pets at Home’ have said that pets were
lifesavers for people during the lockdown in 2020. With a growing number of
people feeling isolated owners are finding even more comfort in their cats.
‘Mindfulness
for Cat Lovers” is informed by a long career as a Psychologist and teacher of
Mindful Self –Compassion and a love and respect for cats and how they enrich
our lives.
‘Mindfulness
for Cat Lovers ‘ provides structured ‘ cat related ‘exercises that will
show how our cats can help us bring more mindfulness, self- kindness and
happiness into each day.
The
book is divided into 4 sections: – ‘Mindfulness and Relaxation’; ‘Gratitude,
Appreciation and Happiness’; ‘Self – Care and Self – Compassion’; ‘Cats and
Resilience’. Each section has within it exercises that are short (up to 5
minutes), medium in length (5-10 minutes) and long (10 – 20 minutes). In
addition each exercises has a relevant quote and photograph of cats to enhance
the whole experience. There is also a section on ‘How to Get the Most from this
Book’ and an extensive resource list of websites, books and apps.
The
simple, guided, mindfulness and self –compassion exercises can help us find
peace in our day and help build happiness and gratitude into life. They take
very little effort, not much time and can generally be done anywhere, at any
time. Most are done with the cats and some are done without, but always more
pleasant with. This is the purrrfect gift for cat lovers!
Mindfulness
and self –compassion can help reduce stress, manage ill health, help
depression, improve sleep, increase happiness ,boost the immune system and make
life feel better …… so what’s not to love ?
A
bit about me: I worked as
a clinical psychologist in the National Health Service for over 30 years and I
am also a mindful self –compassion teacher .I have run many courses, workshops
and events on approaches to psychological problems and also mindful
self-compassion .
I
love the simplicity yet powerfulness of mindfulness and self-compassion and I
am passionate about developing approaches that help people improve their health
and wellbeing. With retirement came the space and time to look at new ways of
sharing my knowledge and my enthusiasm.
I
want to make mindfulness and self-kindness more easily accessible … to find a
way that invites people to find out a bit more about them, in a way that is fun
and that naturally fits with things they love and already have in their lives.
Maybe even in a way that simply shines a light on what they may already be
mindfully doing without realising it!
This
is the first in a series of books that show how mindfulness and self-
compassion can enhance our daily lives.
The
book is available hardback, paperback and as an E-Book. It can be ordered from
all main book suppliers (e.g. WHSmith’s, Amazon, Waterstones, Barnes and
Noble), all independent book shops and Austin Macauley publishers.
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