Blog: COVID-19 and mindfulness

Published 8 Dec 2020

Written by

Rachel Blackwell

Metropolitan Police Service

Reading time

10 mins

Rachel Blackwell talks about how she got into mindfulness and why she thinks it is a useful part of any police officer’s kit both in our professional and personal lives. She has also included some short mindfulness sessions that you can try at home.

I am a DC working in the Metropolitan Police Service. My career has taken me from response in Hammersmith and Fulham in London to working with victims of domestic abuse and rape across London.

In 2013 I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I was 41. My diagnosis and treatment really did challenge everything I had ever known about myself and the world. When I was told the news at Guy's Hospital, it felt like my whole world had fallen apart. It’s a familiar story told many times, but it really did feel like a giant crater had just opened up from underneath me and I was free falling into it.

I received neo-adjuvant treatment at Guy's & St Thomas’. My breast cancer was triple negative (TNBC) and oestrogen positive (ER+), which I was told was “quite unusual”, not a phrase you want to hear from an oncologist. I worked through my treatment with the support of my line managers at the Met and took time off after each chemotherapy session. This was a tough time. I remember when I was losing my hair, a nurse telling me, ‘this is only temporary, it will grow back.’ She was right, it did.

During my treatment, I was referred to a charity for people with a diagnosis of breast cancer. I had a variety of complimentary therapies including acupuncture, massage, Qigong and mindfulness. I completed an 8-week mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) course, which wasn’t easy, but really helped me reframe how I saw my life following breast cancer. I had to find my ‘new normal’, which is another familiar thing you hear people say following grief. It gave me permission to ‘just be’ with the good and the bad things.

Mindfulness has really helped me come to terms with uncertainty in my own life and I want to share the techniques of mindfulness with everyone through Oscar Kilo. We can still help people who need our help, but also give ourselves some care and compassion in this uncertain time. This pandemic will also prove temporary, so as we cross this difficult terrain, why not give yourself some time and space and try some techniques that have really helped me.

I have delivered some Mindfulness taster sessions to colleagues. We sat in a meeting room at work and I guided two meditations; one short breathing exercise and one longer practice called the body scan.

The feedback I received was pretty positive. One participant said that they “hadn’t realised how stressed they were” and how they wanted to use the techniques I had taught to good use “for myself and my 10 year old son.” Another likened the practice to “stepping out of a sauna and feeling really refreshed.” One participant also said, “This should be part of our working lives and should be encouraged by bosses.”

I see mindfulness as a tool or a new language to use when you are facing uncertainty or feeling a little fragile, vulnerable. Paying attention on purpose in the present moment without judgement teaches you to see how you can respond effectively to challenges that life throws at you and not just react to them.

Since my diagnosis and my return to work and my new normal, I decided to get a qualification in Mindfulness. In 2018 I started a post-graduate qualification in teaching Mindfulness at Bangor University. I hope to complete the final year 2022-2023.

Mindfulness is a kind of mental exercise for your brain. Based on meditation, it helps you to focus on the present moment. All you will need for it is a pair of headphones or speaker and a device to connect to the internet. There are plenty of online resources to listen to, but this is something I wanted to share with everyone working in the police, in whatever capacity: police officers, police staff, anyone.

I suspect we can all benefit from a moment just to notice how we are feeling and how we can look after ourselves alongside colleagues and the communities we serve. [Updated 19/04/2022].

Try one of Rachel's mindfulness sessions

Space to breathe

This short two-minute breathing exercise, by Rachel Blackwell, can be done anywhere and at any time. If you are feeling overwhelmed or things are getting a bit much it will help you to calm down and refocus.

Video transcript

A space to breathe. This will take about two minutes and something that you can focus on when things get a bit much, when you’re feeling frustrated or fearful or alone, or you feel aches or pain in your body this space to breathe will help calm yourself and allow you to feel your breath and notice what is here for you right now.

So where you are just stop for a moment and let your body relax, either sitting or standing, and close your eyes if you can, if not then just soften your gaze, notice gravity and how it makes your body feel. Can you sense where there is tension? It might be in your shoulders or across the back of your neck, or it could be that your mind is racing trying to get things done or worrying about things to do. Or you might notice nothing, noticing that nothing is here for your right now. Whatever it is you just need to notice it, that’s all.

Then focus your attention on your breathe, your in breathe, your out breathe, just noticing your breathe here for a few moments. The cool air as you breath in, the warm air as you breath out. You could notice a breathe at the nostrils or the back of the throat or at your diaphragm as it expands as you breath in and relaxes as you breath out.

Use this as a way to calm your mind or focus your attention to anything that has arisen for you as you listen to this space to breathe. And then start to expand your awareness from your breath to the rest of your body just here.

Open your eyes, move your body, whatever it is you need to do to start to re-engage with the world around you. And just remember that this practice is here for you all you need to do is notice your breath.

Breathing in the body

This 12-minute mindfulness session, created by Rachel Blackwell, is designed to help you ground and anchor yourself, through breathing techniques and relaxation.

Video transcript

Graphic: Breathing in the body - Mindfulness

Breathing in the body.

This mindfulness practice is designed to help you ground and anchor yourself. You can be sitting or lying down, so long as you have a comfortable position. If you are sitting down, take an upright posture with your back away from the chair, so your body is self-supporting. A posture without slouching or feeling sleepy. And if you can, try to stay awake and alert. If you are sitting down, make sure your feet are flat on the floor and your hands on your lap. Palms facing up if you can, or just resting on your lap is fine. And if you’re lying down, lie on your back, if that’s possible, with your arms by your side and your legs relaxed, falling away from your body.

Now as you sit or lie here, notice where your body’s making contact with either the seat or the floor. Maybe notice that your feet are making contact with the floor. Or if you’re lying down, how the back of your head is making contact with the floor. It might seem a little silly or obvious that your feet will be making contact with whatever you’re standing on or if you’re sitting down. You’re very likely to be making contact with the seat. But just spend a few moments noticing what parts of your body are making contact and what do you notice? Is there any pressure here? Is there any discomfort? If you need to move or make yourself more comfortable, then please take this time to do so.

Now, as we sit or lie here, try to focus your attention on your breath, noticing the sensations that are here. The feelings as you breathe in and the feelings and sensations as you breathe out. Just noticing your breath for a few moments, and maybe place your hand on your abdomen for a few breaths and feel the belly rise as you inhale, and the belly fall as you exhale. There’s no need to change anything as you breathe. Just allow yourself to breathe freely.

As you sit or lie here, you might notice other sensations that become more intense. Perhaps tightness or stiffness you feel in your upper back. This is where a lot of our attention is stored if we’re feeling stressed or worried. You might feel pain or discomfort. Perhaps feeling as if you’re in a brace position, waiting for something to happen or to have an impact. Whatever you are feeling now, just notice what it is, and where is that sensation?

Wherever the sensation is, just notice it and acknowledge it. Whether it’s pleasant or unpleasant, whether it’s comfortable or uncomfortable. Is it welcome or unwelcome? Whatever’s here, just noticing it and gently return your focus back to your breath and try resting your awareness in the breath, for the whole of the in breath and the whole of the out breath.

Your mind might already be wandering around and away from focusing on the breath. You might already be writing the lists in your head about what you need to do or where you need to be. Maybe asking yourself why you are doing this or telling yourself you haven’t got time for this. Whatever your mind is doing, this is normal. This is what minds do and everyone’s mind does it. Whatever it is, your mind is telling you, just notice where your mind has gone. And in the moment you become aware of where it’s gone, you just simply return your focus to your breath. Breathing in, breathing out. No doubt, you’ll have to do this many, many times. And whenever you notice that your mind has wandered away from the breath, just where your mind has gone, and then bring it back to your breathing, over and over again, bringing the wandering mind back to the focus of the breath.

There’s no need to criticise or judge yourself, because your mind doesn’t want to focus on the breath. Minds are built to wander and you will no doubt need to bring the wandering mind back to the breath countless times. This is not a mistake or a failure. All you need to do is, when you notice it’s wondered, just bring it back to the inhale of the breath and the exhale of the breath. Now might be a good time to take a few deeper breaths here. Breathing in, breathing out and just do it in your own time for a few breaths.

It might help also to notice where the breath comes into your body and feeling the cool air as you inhale through your nostrils, or through your mouth, and as it passes the back of your throat, down to your lungs. And feeling your diaphragm moving as it takes in the breath and as it releases the warmer air as you exhale your breath.

Maybe choose an area to focus on, what’s more or where’s more a place to focus. Whether it’s your nostrils or your diaphragm or lungs or throat. Wherever you think is most vivid, where you can imagine your breath coming into the body, and just be with that for a few intakes.

Now as you’re with your breath, start to expand your awareness to the rest of your body. Notice how your body is. If you start from the toes and the feet, what do you notice here? Move up to your legs and your calves and shins, your knees and thighs, up to your hips and your pelvis, your abdomen and torso, protecting all your vital organs. Your neck and spine, up across your shoulders to your head and your face, your arms and hands and fingers. What do you notice? Is there any stiffness or tension? Do you notice any discomfort? Or do you feel rested and restored? What is here for you?

And expand your awareness now to the whole of your body. Notice the whole body sitting or lying here and what is around you. Are you warm or cold? Comfortable or uncomfortable? Whatever is here for you right now.

And you might want to open your eyes if you had them closed. Maybe do a bit of a stretch or feeling a bit like you’re coming back round to reality. And just remember, when you come back round to being with yourself here, just remember to find a place where you can be with yourself, your whole self, and use your breath to act as an anchor whilst we all weather this storm.

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