Case Studies

Becoming A Mindfulness Practitioner

We speak to Dr Reena Kotecha, founder of My Mindful Mind and mindfulness practitioner, about her work and incorporating mindfulness into her life.

I had the pleasure of speaking to Dr Reena Kotecha recently who is the founder of My Mindful Mind and mindfulness practitioner. She spoke passionately about the work she is doing and how mindfulness has been incorporated into her life.

Mindfulness meditation is a series of techniques that aims to improve, physical, mental and emotional wellbeing…

REENA KOTECHA

Reena qualified as a doctor during 2010 and subsequently completed the foundation programme after which she went on to take a year out of training. Due to personal circumstances she spent most of the year working and never really felt she had time to focus on herself. Nonetheless, she returned to training and started working as a GP registrar. However, due to the immensely stressful nature of the job she developed ‘burn out’. She described feeling as though she was never really helping her patients completely due to the restricted consultation times and pressures in General Practice.

This led her to re-evaluate her circumstances and this is when she discovered what ‘mindfulness’ was.

She decided to take some time out and spent a few months in Coimbatore, South India, where she undertook training in Pranayama and mindfulness meditation.

It was then that she realised she wanted to be a doctor that “helps to heal rather than just treat”.

She went on to train further in mindfulness mediation and now delivers a series of talks, events and programmes for those, (including medics) who want to know more.

WHAT IS THE MINDFUL MEDITATION PROGRAMME?

Reena teaches Pranayama breathing in conjunction with mindful meditation to achieve the above benefits. She went on to explain that there are ‘formal and informal’ techniques which are of extremely useful for everyday activities such as eating or walking.

She wanted to emphasise that her meditation program – Mindful Medics – is not exclusively for doctors but includes all medical professionals seeking help.

THE IMPORTANCE OF MINDFULNESS MEDITATION AND PRANAYAMA

Reena explained that mindfulness is important now more than ever; we live in a “digital age” where we “never really switch off”. This, in addition to the immense pressures at work due to lack of funding and resources plus an ageing population means that doctors are at an increasing risk of suffering with mental health issues. NHS workers are now taking more days off of work due to stress. Reena went on to say that doctors are “so good at looking after others, it is ironic that we cannot look after ourselves…stress is like a badge of honour.”

MORE INFORMATION

For further information about becoming a mindfulness practitioner and Reena’s work, you can visit her website.

The following two tabs change content below.
Avatar photo

Sara Sabin

With a solid corporate background, Sara specialises in advising doctors in how to prepare a non-medical CV and how to prepare for a non-medical interview. She is also the Co-Founder of Medic Footprints.

Also in Wellbeing

View all
Start your journey here

Browse hundreds of articles and guides to discover more!