Posts by Rachel

Have you ever considered how change collecting could benefit your mindfulness?

We all know the joy of building up a coin collection, but it’s also worth considering how checking your change could improve mindfulness…

This was brought to our attention when a Change Checker wrote in to tell us about how he started coin collecting after it was recommended to help with mindfulness.

As today is Mindfulness Day, we thought it would be a good idea to share these ideas with you and get your take on the benefits of change collecting.

What is mindfulness?

Mindfulness encourages people to reconnect with their bodies and the sensations they experience to become more aware of the present moment.

This has been said to help us enjoy the world around us more and understand ourselves better.

Mindfulness is strongly connected with emotional awareness. An awareness of this kind could also help us notice signs of stress or anxiety earlier and deal with them better.

How does change collecting relate to mindfulness?

Mental Health Charity, Mind (2018) suggests setting aside regular time to practice mindfulness in some way.

There are many different mindfulness techniques, such as practising yoga, meditation or deep breathing, but you could also consider finding a hobby or activity which you find relaxing and gives you a sense of achievement to help create a mindful state of being.

Change checking involves patience.

I’m sure we’ve all been there, diligently checking through the change in your piggy bank to see what you can find. The repetitive practise of checking through coins could help you to focus on the present, and I don’t know about you, but I certainly find it relaxing.

In fact, even watching others check through change seems to promote feelings of positivity.

Just take a look at the amount of YouTube coin hunt videos to see how many people resonate with this.

Learning is key

Research shows that learning throughout life is associated with greater satisfaction and optimism and can give you a sense of achievement and a new confidence.

This can come from starting a new hobby (such as coin collecting) or setting new targets e.g. completing a specific collection.

But it could also involve learning about the different coins in circulation. Put your knowledge to the test in our 50p quiz or learn about the designers behind your favourite 50p coins to expand your knowledge.

Strengthening relationships

Remember, learning often involves interacting with other people. It’s been suggested that this can increase one’s wellbeing by helping us build and strengthen social relationships.

The Change Checker social channels and our Facebook community page provide a space for novice, intermediate and the advance coin collectors to talk about their shared interest and swap with one another.

Set your goals

If you’re new to coin collecting, think about setting yourself some achievable goals.

Perhaps you could start collecting a series such as Beatrix Potter, Paddington or the Olympic 50ps.

For the more advanced collectors, perhaps think about different ways to collect, such as joining the Definitive 50p Collecting Challenge, or starting a date run collection.

However you choose to further your hobby, the important thing to keep in mind is that you are taking part in something you love, which brings you happiness, and can hopefully improve your mindfulness.

Have you felt the benefits of coin collecting? Let us know in the comments below.

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If you’re interested in coin collecting, our Change Checker web app is completely free to use and allows users to:

– Find and identify the coins in their pocket
– Collect and track the coins they have
– Swap their spare coins with other Change Checkers

Sign up today at: www.changechecker.org/app