The next online 8 week mindfulness course will start in May 2025. Contact me to register your interest.
Are you looking for something that can help you feel more at ease, less stressed and calmer; something that helps you make better decisions, be less reactive; something that promotes selfcare whilst at the same time be more present with others; something that supports healthy behaviour and relationships? Try mindfulness!
Mindfulness has become a buzzword. Open any magazine or newspaper and you are likely to find an article that describes the benefits of mindfulness for physical and mental health and wellbeing. Increasingly, medical studies support the addition of mindfulness in the treatment and management of a wide range of conditions. So, these days you are as likely to find a mindfulness class offered by a health care provider as in a yoga studio. But what exactly is mindfulness, how do you start and then maintain a regular mindfulness practice and how can mindfulness help you live better and feel better?
Mindfulness means that we are fully present. When we think of mindfulness, we normally think of a person sitting down to meditate. That is an important part of training our mind. Most of all, however, mindfulness is a trait, an attitude to life, that we can all learn, a trait that fosters wellbeing and helps us live more fully and with wisdom and compassion.
Our busy lives fuel stress and anxiety. Mindfulness quietens the mind and heals the heart. Studies have shown how mindfulness can relieve stress, promote a sense of calm and wellbeing, bring balance to our lives and foster positive states of mind. Mindfulness, however, is not just a relaxation technique. Being more present does not just help us to feel calmer, mindfulness helps us to be fully present. We start to recognize patterns of our mind and behaviour. We become less reactive and make better choices. We learn to meet events in our lives with wisdom and compassion.
When we practice mindfulness in a systematic way, we nourish positive qualities like kindness, generosity, steadiness, and love. We discover how these states of mind are our true self. We learn how we can nurture and strengthen the positive qualities to lead a more gracious life.
Mindfulness has been shown to be so effective that the NHS promotes it for anxiety and depression, chronic pain conditions and insomnia. It is also increasingly taught to help reduce unhelpful behavioural patterns, such as comfort eating, social media, shopping or other addictions and to increase social confidence. Studies also indicate that mindfulness is helpful in menopause, reducing many of its mental and physical challenges, and that it supports immunity, cardiovascular, digestive and even reproductive and intimate health.
Whatever your reason to practice mindfulness and whatever level of experience - whether you are completely new to mindfulness or have been practicing for a while and would like to understand the practice and its benefits for you a little more, the Mindfulness Based Living Course (MBLC) is that systematic training in mindfulness. The MBLC is an eight week course that introduces a variety of meditations and practices and guides you towards more awareness, ease, choice and grace.
Why eight weeks?
Why eight weeks?
Many people dip into mindfulness these days. There are many apps and You Tube clips with short daily practices. This is wonderful as even a small amount of practicing mindfulness can help to create space in our mind and life, reducing stress and reactivity. However, if we are looking for a deeper sense of underlying peace beyond the daily turbulence of overthinking and unsettling emotions, we need a longer, systematic and more in-depth training in meditation. The eight week Mindfulness Based Living Course is such a training.
In addition, eight weeks of regular mindfulness practice has also been shown to offer long-term benefits. The eight week long Mindfulness Based Living Course can therefore be a stand-alone course. However, it is also designed to give you all the tools you need and understanding to continue independently with your mindfulness practice once you have finished the course.
What can you expect from the course?
What can you expect from the course?
The Mindfulness Based Living course is designed to guide you from any level of mindfulness experience towards a deep understanding and experience of mindfulness. The course consists of eight live two hour sessions in which you will be guided through a variety of meditations, find out more about the benefits of these meditations, have a chance to learn from others and share your experience. You will also get access to a library for your guided home practice.
Studies have found that mindfulness needs to be practiced for 10-15 minute at least six times a week for eight week to create lasting change. However, practicing regularly without guidance can be difficult. So with the Mindfulness Based Living Course, you will receive guided home practice: audio recordings of two or three meditations each week that you can practice at home, in your office or wherever you are as long as you have internet connection, as well as audio recordings of some of the talks from the live sessions (in case you want to revisit them) and a chapter of the manual. You will also learn mindfulness practices that you can slot into your daily life. These can help you slow down briefly whenever you have to face a stressful situation or an overwhelming emotion arises.
The next eight week online (on zoom) Mindfulness Based Living Course is planned to start in May 2025. Cost £120 (join-with-a-friend rate: £90). Week-by-week themes are:
Start Where We Are
The Body as a Place to Stay Present
Introducing Mindfulness Support
Working with Distraction
Exploring the Undercurrent
Attitude of the Observer
Self-acceptance
A Mindfulness Based Life
The Body as a Place to Stay Present
Introducing Mindfulness Support
Working with Distraction
Exploring the Undercurrent
Attitude of the Observer
Self-acceptance
A Mindfulness Based Life
If you would like to find out about my next group Mindfulness Based Living Course or how you can take private mindfulness or mindful movement classes with me, contact me by clicking on this link. Please note, you will not automatically be added to an email list if you contact me. If you want to be added to the mindfulness email list, fill in this form
Now quite sure about mindfulness yet? Try the meditation below or read my blogs on mindfulness
*Please note that whilst mindfulness can help with numerous mental or physical health conditions, it does not replace conventional treatment offered by your medical team.
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