Dawn Schooler, director of clinical services at Jericho Counselling, says that mindfulness-based techniques are an increasingly effective way to treat anxiety, depression and other ­emotional and psychological ­issues. Because of the current trend towards a frenetic daily pace, Schooler says that we often find ourselves "not fully paying attention to anything."

Mindfulness techniques, whose roots can be traced to Buddhism, incorporate taking time throughout our day to be fully present in the moment by "paying attention to breath, slowing down and increasing awareness" of ourselves and our surroundings. Being mindful, Dawn says, is also about understanding that "while we cannot control our thoughts, we can decide which thoughts to pay attention to," which can bring great relief.

Using an analogy of comparing your mind to an email inbox, ­Schooler states that "spam will always be there. We just need to learn how to recognize that it's there without becoming upset, then delete it and move on to the more positive thoughts in the inbox." By "intentionally shifting focus" to positive thoughts and feelings, and "disengaging" from the ­negative ones, along with taking a few minutes a day to be fully present and aware of our breathing, we can build better habits not just in our own lives but in society as a whole.

Dawn Schooler, Jericho Counselling, www.jerichocounselling.com, (604) 434-5727

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