Its, Saturday, rainy and cold outside if you living in the UK. You have lit a nice warm fire, you have your cup of coco or glass of red wine, and trying to read a new novel. Frustratingly you have read the first paragraph five times because you keep getting distracted by those stressful thoughts!!!

Your mind keeps wandering to whether you made a fool of yourself at the last board meeting, or what you should make for Christmas dinner this year….

What if there was a way of managing those distracting thoughts that keep drifting you off course? What if you could gently nudge your thoughts back into the present so you could enjoy reading your book by the fire?

This is not a quick fix, but a start to building mindfulness and mental resilience. The exercise suggestion that follows should be done once a day. It is like going to the gym. If you go once you are not going to develop that body and fitness you envision. You need to work out daily and over time you will see those bulging muscles and six-pack stomach take shape.

Chose a single object. Set your timer for 5 minutes. Keep focusing on that object. I would chose my much loved dog. Notice aspects about the object you have chosen. For me, focusing on my dog, I could notice how smooth her fur feels when I stroke her, the colour of her eyes, her ginger eyelashes, how her chest moves when she breathes, her mood…..

Every time you thoughts start straying, notice that. Don’t get all down on yourself, just turn your thoughts back to your focus.

Good luck, I’d be intrigued as to how that felt for you? What object did you chose to focus on?