This is a new 8 week course delivered on-line, developed by the Oxford Mindfulness Centre.
Mindfulness for Life will teach how to apply mindfulness to the whole spectrum of life. By training ourselves to focus our attention mindfulness can help us cope better with emotional challenges; change and befriend our relationship with difficult thoughts and feelings; experience a greater sense of appreciation, calm and well-being and a shift towards savouring what is good, nourishing and resourcing in our lives.
This is an in-depth programme and designed to create sustainable change. Through guided meditations, group discussion, individually tailored instructions and home assignments, you will learn the essential principles of mindfulness and techniques to build your personal home practice and access the wide-ranging benefits well beyond the course.
The 8 week course will give you everything you need to develop a mindfulness practice and/or or re-establish your practice if it has fallen away. It is therefore suitable for those who are new to mindfulness and for those seeking a refresher (including any graduate of any other 8 week course).
The course weaves together evidence-based mindfulness approaches, cognitive behavioural therapy and discoveries in neuroscience.
By training ourselves to focus our attention MBCT- L can help us:
cope better with emotional challenges;
change and befriend our relationship with difficult thoughts and feelings;
experience a greater sense of appreciation and movement towards savouring what is good, nourishing and resourcing in our lives.
increase a sense of calm and well-being.
The course includes:
A one to one pre-course orientation call to check the course is suitable and will be helpful to you.
Workbook to practice in-between sessions
Guided instructions of various mindfulness meditation practices taught in an entirely secular way
Inquiry exercises to enhance awareness and application in everyday life
Monthly top-up-sessions
Cost: 95.00
The 8 week programme:
Session 1 - Waking up from automatic pilot – A recent Harvard study shows that our minds are not present in the moment and tend to wander about 47% of the time. This equates to a large majority of our time being spent lost, in time travel. Week 1 we learn how to step out of ‘doing’ mode into ‘being’ mode of the present
Session 2 - Another way of being: keeping the body in mind – With greater awareness, we begin to notice how often we are lost in our thoughts and feelings. Mindfulness of the body and breathing helps us learn to recognize our thoughts, emotions, sensations, and impulses, gather the scattered mind, and return with appreciation to the here and now.paying attention in each moment without judgement
Session 3 - Gathering the scattered mind – reconnecting with mindful presence through the breath and body. We learn various ways of bringing mindfulness into everyday movements as a way to ground ourselves and anchor us in the now!
Session 4 - Recognising reactivity and challenge - learn how to stay present and develop steadiness, insight and care allows us new choices on how we might respond mindfully in the face of challenge and stress
Session 5 - Allowing and letting be – by developing the skills of friendliness we find we have greater capacity to work towards developing acceptance and kindness towards our experiences.
Session 6 - Responding skilfully: thoughts are not facts – From thoughts come actions, and from actions come all kinds of consequences. Mindfully understanding that thoughts are not facts (even the ones that say they are) helps us to see them clearly so we can choose which ones to act upon.
Session 7 - How can I best take care of myself? H What we actually do with our time, from moment to moment, from hour to hour, from one year to the next, can very powerfully influence our general well-being. This week we explore activity and aligning our lives with our values.
Session 8 - Mindfulness for life – planning for a new way of living!
You will need:
Zoom/Computer Requirements: (please note you can use zoom for free).
A PC/Laptop/Macbook or Tablet. You can check the operating requirements of Zoom here but I can assist with this if you are unsure or have any questions: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362023-System-Requirements-for-PC-Mac-and-Linux,
A stable internet connection.
A private space where you can be undisturbed.