Are you the master of your mind?

In actual fact, not all of us are.
Ruby Wax is known as a comedian, writer and mental health campaigner. She uses her recent Masters in Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy to show how our minds can jeopardize our sanity.  In Sane New World she explains how our busy, chattering, self-critical thoughts can drive us to anxiety and stress. She argues that, in order to break the cycle, we need to understand how our brain works, rewire our thinking and find calm in a frenetic world. This, she argues, will help you to become the master, not the slave, of your mind.
Rook Tree’s Executive Coach, Lesley Cave, put her own sanity to the test (for the sake of research) at the Ruby Wax Sane New World show at the Watford Colosseum. This is her experience,
“We  all knew that what Ruby Wax was telling us was true. The 500+ audience bought into her messages with laughter and applause, they clearly recognised themselves. Yet how often, do we individually stop and deploy the skills of Mindfulness and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) in our own lives?
“For five minutes before the interval Ruby led a short mindfulness exercise with the audience. You could have heard a pin drop in the quiet and stillness of the room. For me, it served as a very important reminder of just how powerful mindfulness can be when practiced and used regularly.
“I wonder how many of us in the audience were actually suffering from a mental health issue? A few brave folks posed questions of Ruby Wax. According to the Kings Fund, more than 4 million people in England with a long-term physical health condition also have mental health problems, and many of them experience significantly poorer health outcomes and reduced quality of life as a result, I wonder how Ruby Wax’s learning could help them?”
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton (6 Jun 2013), ISBN-10: 1444755730, ISBN-13: 978-1444755732