Today Helen and Alex are joined by Quintin Beer to discuss Inner Calm, in particular through the methods of Meditation, Nature and Therapy.

Quintin talks openly about not necessarily searching for calm, but instead attempting to achieve a state of balance. Helen and Quintin talk about how they take medication to manage their anxiety and how they find it beneficial to stabilise the extremes of the condition.

Meditation

Quintin began meditating in January 2020 through a mantra-based practice course recommended by a mutual friend. In the first lockdown he meditated for twenty minutes twice a day and admits that he has lapsed a little in recent months. He tells us how the more one meditates, the easier he finds it to achieve a sense of calm within the practice.

He tells us that he can find meditation difficult so on a daily level if he needs to find calm he’ll opt for a quiet night in where he turns off his digital devices, tidies the flat and reads.

Helen shares how in 2015 she first started meditating through the HeadSpace app, and after HeadSpace she moved to Insight Timer, a free directory of meditations. Helen now practices Shakra meditations, in particular she likes how the Shakra meditations require us to listen to our bodies and what they’re saying, as opposed to doing something that is so directly thought and emotion led.

Nature

Interestingly, both Quintin and Alex discuss how they find nature slightly overwhelming, in particular the size of the sea and the stars. Alex would much rather walk through a beautiful city as opposed to the countryside. He does enjoy the sound of the sea, and finds it calming to synchronise his breath with the waves.

Helen shares how for her, being a part of nature makes her feel calmer. Whether it’s a walk in the countryside, an exploration in a forest or some time by the coast, all of these experiences have a positive effect for her. She finds something settling about being reminded that she’s just a tiny part of this big big planet.

Therapy

Quintin shares how he loves the combination of meditation and therapy. On many occasions he finds that issues will come up during a meditation practice, after which he will consider whether to raise them in a therapy session.

Quintin started with Relate, after which he went to the counselling service at the Royal Academy of Music and now he has weekly therapy sessions which he’s done for the last 2 years. Quintin describes therapy as the best form of self care.

Alex and Helen discuss how important it is to have a good relationship with your therapist and how it’s crucial that there’s trust present. Helen feels that for her therapy is one of the places we gain self-knowledge which is so important for each and every one of us as we go through our lives.

Quintin and Helen strongly advocate therapy for all. As Quintin says, you don’t need to be in crisis to go to therapy.

Episode edited and produced by Daisy Grant Productions.

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