With life becoming more demanding by-the-day, there is a growing tendency to preoccupy ourselves with thoughts of what happened in the past, or worry about the future. And in this process, we lose out on what we can control, enjoy, and experience – this moment.
Ask yourself – when was the last time you did something with so much presence, that the experience really stayed with you? When was the last time you really sat with, and enjoyed your meal, savouring and ‘being’ with every bite? Or enjoyed that walk in the park, really relishing the colours in the sky, and listening to the neighbourhood sounds around you.
If you can’t remember and wish to change that, then mindfulness can help!
What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness originates from traditional wisdom. Although many definitions have been provided, the most quoted definition in mainstream science is:
“Mindfulness is the awareness that arises from paying attention in a particular way;
on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally” – Jon Kabat-Zinn
A mindful state is a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while acknowledging one’s feelings, thoughts, bodily sensations and surroundings, ‘as they are’, ‘for what they are’, without judgment, with compassion.
The goal of mindfulness is to increase self-awareness
and to cultivate a sense of calm and clarity
By practicing mindfulness, we train ourselves to hit ‘pause’ and ‘observe’ our experience in the moment. And the very act of being able to hit pause and ‘be with’ the moment becomes the tipping out of empowerment. Once in the moment, we can consciously make skillful choices to respond to our thoughts, feelings, and/or sensations in a way that benefits our wellbeing (as opposed to mindlessly react in ways we may later regret).
Benefits Of Mindfulness
The practice of mindfulness has been known to deliver numerous benefits.
Mindfulness can:
- Help reduce stress, anxiety and depression
- Increase relaxation and feelings of wellbeing
- Help lower blood pressure and improve your immune system.
- Improve memory, attention and enhance creativity
- Improve communication, relationships and increase feelings of connection
Over time, practitioners of mindfulness report a greater sense of self-acceptance, self-compassion and resilience, leading to a greater sense of wellbeing.
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space,
is our power to choose our response. In our response lies
our growth and our freedom” – Viktor Frankl
Got any questions?
Qualifications
After years of experience as a student myself, I have undertaken formal teacher training in mindfulness from the Oxford Mindfulness Foundation (a collaboration between the Oxford Mindfulness Centre and the University of Oxford). I currently teach the courses in healthcare, corporate settings and the general community. I have now started offering courses online. Click here to know more
Course Offerings
Currently I am offering the following courses:
- Information & Taster Sessions
- The Mindfulness for Life Course
- 1-1 Mentoring
Information & Taster Sessions
This two-hour online session will introduce mindfulness and will include brief tasters of mindfulness exercises, provide information about what mindfulness is (and isn’t) and detail the courses I am offering. You will have the opportunity to ask questions and decide if a mindfulness course is right for you.
The Mindfulness for Life Course
The Mindfulness for Life course (sometimes referred to as MBCT-L) is an 8-week, evidence-based course, developed by the Oxford Mindfulness Foundation, in the light of research undertaken at the University of Oxford and other leading research centres. Its key intention is to help participants develop the skills to better respond to all of life’s inevitable ups and downs.
On this course you will:
- Attend 8 weekly sessions lasting approximately 2.5 hours.
- Attend a ‘day of practice’ (5 hours) after session 6 – which revisits the practices introduced in the course since, and introduces some new practices.
This is a structured course where each session builds upon what has been introduced before. This is why it is important to attend all the sessions. Each session will have guided and structured meditation practices and exercises drawn from modern psychology.
Each practice or exercise is followed by a review of what you and/or other participants experienced or discovered in that practice/exercise. Every week, suggestions will be given for personal home practices to undertake during the week. We will also review the participants’ experiences with these practices every week.
Participants will receive learning resources. These include meditation recordings to practice at home alongside the reading materials for participants to deepen their understanding.
Learning outcomes:
On this course you will learn the following skills:
- How to ‘stabilise the attention’: to recognise mind wandering and ‘autopilot’, and bring the attention back to where we want it to be
- Learning to recognise our patterns of reactivity and how trying to get ‘rid’ of distress may actually keep us stuck
- Bringing a sense of care and kindness to ourselves in those moments of distress and reactivity
- Using mindfulness to respond skilfully, not react – in ways that support the wellbeing of ourselves and of others around us
- To ‘step back’ a little from our direct experience so that we can see it more clearly, and so choose a kinder response
- Building what we have learnt into our everyday lives
Pre-requisites:
You are eligible to attend this course if you are:
- Committed to attending all sessions of the course
- Willing to dedicate up to 45 minutes of personal practice each day. While not on obligation, home practice is at the heart of mindfulness.
- Have access to suitable technology, internet capacity, safe space, and privacy to join an online training programme via Zoom
- Willing to participate with video on (for online courses) for safety reason of sufficient English language skills to attend the course without needing additional translation support.
I will also help you assess your readiness and suitability for the course during our initial consultation, to ensure you derive the optimum value.
1-1 Mentoring
One-on-one mentoring is also provided to participants who wish to streamline the mindfulness syllabus to meet their core needs. Post a consultation, I will personalise the session(s) as required to suit your learning priorities.
