Hi and welcome to Easy Now Mindfulness!

I’m on a mission to make happiness easy for everyone! And I’m doing this simply, one kind word, one workshop, and one training at the time, using mindfulness.

Why mindfulness? Because science!

The last 15 years there has been a growing interest in mindfulness and its benefits, resulting in thousands of research papers.

Based on studies we now know that mindfulness

• is effective in reducing stress
• increases resilience, and emotional intelligence
• raises levels of self-awareness and awareness of others
• increases interpersonal sensitivity and communication skills
• leads to increased concentration and extends the attention span
• it reduces impulsivity
• improves your capacity to hold and manipulate information
• lowers psychological stress
• raises levels of well-being and overall work- and life satisfaction

It is said that happiness, wellbeing, flourishing is having the right balance between pleasure and purpose. Between enjoying material  stuff and inner peace (self-acceptance, meaning, positive relations etc) Mindfulness helps in gaining inner peace, regardless of the things you have accumulated. Happiness depends for 50% on genetics, 10% on material gain and 40% on peoples choices. Happiness improves with meditation, mindfulness and moving.

From the field of neuroscience we know that:

• after 8 weeks of MBSR: increases in grey matter in brain regions involved in learning, memory processing, emotion regulation, self-referential processing and perspective taking.
• after 8 weeks of MBSR: greater activation in the brains left prefrontal cortex and a stronger antibody response to a flu vaccine.

That is why I have chosen mindfulness as my main focus in helping others like you, improve their wellbeing.

I was born in the Netherlands and have also lived in the UK and the USA. Happy to have moved to New Zealand four years ago.

I got my psychology degree in the Netherlands and  that is also where I used to work. First in private practice, and in my last job I was working as a psychologist within a large mental health care organisation, working with adults with ADHD and/or Autism Spectrum Disorders. This is where I learned mindfulness and I also trained in EMDR.

Having moved to New Zealand means I can not practice as a psychologist, or even  call myself a psychologist, even though I am still registered in the Netherlands. I do not do individual or group psychological work at all, until I have my NZ registrations.

Married and proud mum of three teens, we share our home with our doggy and three adopted cats.

I am also part of the online crochet and colouring crowds. Creativity is relaxing and a great outlet. I find the members of the online communities are always supportive of each other, which builds resilience and can be a big help to people.

And furthermore, as much as I can, I like to help out Little Sprouts in Whitby. Where I am a member of the committee. I help pack boxes for babies of mums in need, help out at the yearly fundraiser Easter Fair and also help to collect the donations and mums’ gifts.

I love giving my classes and getting feedback. Hearing how people have learned to make positive changes in their life is the best reward!

Monique

🌷Healthy Mind, Happy Heart

“Happiness depends on inner peace, which depends on warm-heartedness. There’s no room for anger, jealousy or insecurity. A calm mind and self-confidence are the basis for peaceful relations with others. Scientists have observed that constant anger and fear eat away at our immune system, whereas a calm mind strengthens it. Changing the world for the better begins with individuals creating inner peace within themselves.” Dalai Lama

For questions you can always email monique@easynowmindfulness.com, or phone or text 021 134 7541, happy to help.

Find me on Facebook here www.facebook.com/easynowmindfulness/ , where you can pm me on facebookmessenger.

Twitter @easynowmindful and Instagram https://Instagram.com/Easy_Now_Mindfulness

Thanks for following and any likes and shares!

My family <3

I was happy to be on the panel in the Little Treasures Magazine!

Our crazy dog, that moved with us from The Netherlands.

On her first birthday in New Zealand, my daughter only wanted one present: A cat! We got our Jeanie from the Cat Protection League.

And on her second birthday in NZ she wanted just one thing: Another cat! So we got Eve, from the Kitten Inn. You can see her testing out a blanket I was putting together for Little Sprouts. 🙂

And we just couldn’t resist getting another furry baby this year, we welcome Freya from the Kitten Inn!