One of the major things we have all learned by living through the global Covid-19 pandemic, is that we ARE able to change our behaviours and routines; especially when our lives depend on it.

Transformational change adviser Lorna McCallum helps companies successfully manage change, improve internal communications and engage employees.

In this blog, Lorna shares her experience of using Your Virtual Mind Trainer and how it has helped her get into the right mindset to help others during these uncertain and changing times.

Lorna explains: “Even though it appears that the world is very slowly getting on top of things regarding Covid-19, there is still an awful lot of underlying stress because we are not in control. One minute we're in lockdown, the next minute we're not. With these feelings of things not being quite normal, it doesn't take much for us to tip over if something unexpected happens.”

“When I am helping people to deal with change, my role is to motivate and support. If you face change with courage, then it doesn't mean that you're looking forward to it, but you're more willing to listen to different perspectives.”

“One of the best things about Your Virtual Mind Trainer is that it takes you out of your immediate surroundings and can give you peace of mind in just six minutes. You can alter your mindset over something that's maybe upsetting you and allow you to recalibrate.”

“Certainly, from my perspective, if people within organisations are in a state of high anxiety or high alert, then that’s not the best frame of mind to be in when talking about change because it means you’re less likely to be actively listening."

In the YVMT ‘Observe the Mind’ audio we address the skill of noticing what is going on in the mind rather than being caught up in it.

For Lorna, this ability to take a step back is crucial.

“I can't be a great change adviser if I don't know what it feels like to learn as I go through change myself. As a change adviser, I also have to continually learn how to change and adapt and YVMT has really helped me with this.”

“There’s been a lot to deal with over the past six months – the stress of being out of work, family issues, etc and it’s always at the back of my mind that I am susceptible to depression Around 11 years ago, I was diagnosed with clinical depression and I was off work for nearly eight months.”

“Since then I occasionally have to remind myself to be objective about what's happening in the here and now, because it can be easy to get caught up in a spiral where it’s not just one thing that is going wrong I’ll keep adding more and more into the mix."

“With YVMT, I have the ability to step back and no matter what's happening in my head, it breaks the cycle of thinking that all these thoughts are real and I have to react to them. It's like you're looking at a problem and you're thinking, well, that's interesting, but you're protected from the really bad feelings that can often come with problems.”

“I often compare it to sitting on the edge of a motorway and there's lots of traffic going past. But I'm just sitting observing the scene, I've got no desire to actually go out and play in the traffic. That really helps me as a change adviser as it helps get me into the right frame of mind because I've got to be an enabler and a facilitator, I can't afford to go into contracts when my head's just too full with my own personal stuff. The compartmentalisation really does help.”

So, what makes YVMT stand apart for Lorna? 

“For many years I have listened to meditation apps, such as Headspace, but the thing that I really liked about YVMT is the fact it combines audio and visual and I've never seen anything like that before. It also gives me a sense of choice that I've never really felt I've had with other services.”

“I was a little bit sceptical at first because I thought, well I can do really good visualisations of my own. If somebody describes a picture to me, I can generally visualise exactly what's happening. I was really surprised because the video and the audio work together and it had such a dramatic effect on me within six minutes.”

“Even better though YVMT also actually made me much more conscious about wanting to go outside, get fresh air and be in the moment. That definitely was an unexpected benefit.”

"I'm just sitting observing the scene, I've got no desire to actually go out and play in the traffic"

Now it's time to listen to our 'Observe the Mind' audio with your choice of nature video. Why not try our Woods & Stream nature video.