Mindfulness and compassion courses
What happens on a Mindfulness Course?
Courses are delivered both online and in person. I work with groups and also individuals.
Mindfulness courses are taught over at least 8 weeks so participants can establish a mindfulness practice and gain benefits. Mindfulness is for everyone, whatever background, age or ethnicity, all participants are made really welcome and classes are friendly and supportive. During a course, participants learn mindfulness meditation practices and theory including how our minds tend to exacerbate stress and unhappiness and how to use mindfulness, kindness and compassion to reduce stress and unhappiness. Group discussions are an important part of courses, they deepen understanding and give participants a sense of our common human experiences. However, contribution to discussions is voluntary, if participants are more comfortable just listening, then that is absolutely fine.
Skills taught include:
· Awareness of the body, the breath, thoughts and emotions
· How to work with difficult thoughts and emotional and physical difficulties in beneficial ways
· A range of mindful and kindness meditations
· Ways to integrate mindfulness, kindness and appreciation of good things into your life.
Home practice is an important part of a course. Participants are asked to practice meditations at home and are given mini practices they can build into their lives. Recordings of meditations and course handbooks support learning. Different people have different starting points and different lives, everyone is encouraged to work and progress at their own pace.
What happens on a compassion course?
Many people struggle to be kind and compassionate towards themselves, they tend to speak harshly to themselves when things go wrong. A compassion course can help you develop greater self-kindness and self-compassion as well as compassion for others. Compassion courses build on mindfulness skills so work best as a follow on from a mindfulness course. You learn to support yourself when you are struggling by accessing qualities such as warmth, kindness and strength. Practicing compassion cultivates greater resilience, more ease with ourselves whatever happens, and greater wellbeing.
Specific skills learned on a compassion course include:
· How to bring compassion to difficult emotions,
· How to cultivate a deep-felt sense of stability and safety
· Ways to cultivate a sense of joy
· Ways of reducing self-criticism
· Cultivating compassion for others
· A range of compassion meditations
Courses taught
I teach courses that are approved by the British Association for Mindfulness-Based Approaches (BAMBA), who oversee the quality of mindfulness based training and teaching in the UK
Mindfulness for Stress
An 8 week mindfulness course developed by Breathworks-mindfulness. This course has a focus on reducing stress and improving wellbeing.
Mindfulness Based Living Course
A 9 week mindfulness course developed by the Mindfulness Association. This course focuses on developing a mindful and compassionate approach to living in the modern world, alleviating stress and low mood and reducing the power of rumination.
Compassion Based Living Course
A follow-on course from a mindfulness course. This course aims to further reducing suffering and improve wellbeing by supporting participants to cultivate a more kind and compassionate approach towards themselves and others.
Courses, workshops and sessions for charities, businesses and in education
I am experienced in delivering inhouse mindfulness taster sessions, workshops and courses. I have worked in schools, universities, charities and businesses. If you are interested in a session or a course, contact me and we can explore what would suit your organisation.
In addition to my mindfulness and compassion training and MSc, I have trained with the Oxford Mindfulness Centre and the Mindfulness in Schools project to deliver courses specifically developed for Business, Organisations, Teachers and School Pupils.