Ailsa’s story – ‘How Mindful Photography helped me’

Hello there

I hope that you’re enjoying the day. This post is all about what it is like to do a Mindful Photography Course with me.

Ailsa Brims, whose story follows lower down, enrolled on my first Mindful Photography email course a few years ago. Her story is a great illustration not just of how much you’ll learn with me but also how it will change your photography and you!

Do have a read – and by the way the photos are Ailsa’s too.

Ailsa Brims

In January 2015 I suddenly found myself redundant from a career I loved and I was rather lost and depressed. I used some of my redundancy payment to buy a small Canon camera and signed up for Lee’s course. I’m so glad I did!

I really enjoyed the step by step, week by week approach. The Mindful Photography Practices were challenging but I threw myself into the tasks and was amazed at the pictures I was able to create. Until then, I had seldom taken a picture that I was really happy with, I’d see something, snap away and then be disappointed. Lee taught me to stop and slow down and to really focus on what it was about the scene that had appealed to me. I started creating abstract shots that were far more ‘me’ than the landscapes I had always attempted before.

The feedback from Lee and the other class members was invaluable in giving me support and encouragement to carry on.

After the course I continued to take mindful pictures and develop my style but I also wanted to learn more about mindfulness. I read widely and started to do mindful meditations and found benefits in many areas of my life.   Mindfulness in general has had a huge impact on my life, I am less stressed, more grounded and more in touch with the real me, I am much more confident.

An example came a few months after completing the course.  I had just completed the excellent mindfulness course by Mark Williams and I was photographing at Brighton Station. After a few minutes a security guard came up to me and asked me to stop (he actually had no right to do that, I was not doing anything wrong) but I happily stopped and got on my train.  Sat on the train I reflected about what had just happened.   The old me would have been aghast that I had been singled out to be ‘told off’ in that way, I would have sat on the train embarrassed and angry, I would have fumed all the way home. The new me was mildly amused – a much more relaxing way to live!

Soon afterwards I had the opportunity to study for an MA Fine Art which was a complete change from me (I’m a scientist!) but my work for the year ended up being around what mindfulness feels like and included a lot more mindful pictures.

I am now working as an artist and about have a solo exhibition of mindful photography and I am always grateful to Lee for setting me off on this path.

I highly recommend his course to anyone!

Visit www.peppermintsea.com for more information about Ailsa and her work

Don’t miss out

I am launching ‘The Ultimate Mindful Photography Course’ – Photography for Well-Being on 11th October 2021, but you can enrol now and get 50% off in September 2021. If you head on over there now you can pick up a FREE 7 Day Email Mindful Photography Course. Get a free daily taster of what it is like to combine Mindfulness with Photography.