COMMUNITY groups from across Islington were invited to take some time out this week as the “Zen Den” arrived.

Housed in an old American school bus, the Zen Den travels up and down the country running mindfulness sessions and on Monday was stationed outside the Jean Stokes Community Centre on Caledonian Road.

One of the social enterprise’s founders, Kay Smith, told the Tribune: “We’re all about bringing mental health support to people who might not normally have access to it. By being able to rock up, drive into spaces, it’s removing one of those barriers of accessibility.”

The team run 15-minute guided mindfulness sessions and hand out zen tip packs that outline practices and breathing techniques people can use in their day-to-day lives.

“There are ancient techniques, they’ve been around thousands of years. They are straight­forward, it’s just that we’re so busy that we forget, it’s about having that interjection in your day just to cut through the noise,” Ms Smith said.

Members of staff from the community centre and the Bemerton Children’s Centre were among those participating in the sessions.

Wendy, who works in the Bright Start team at the children’s centre, said: “It needs to be here every week. We talk about looking after our wellbeing, and mindfulness, but it is really tricky sometimes.

“We are always giving advice to parents, but sometimes we forget about ourselves.”

Ms Smith said she also wanted to thank their sponsor, property developer Delancey.