This is a new 8 week course developed by the Oxford Mindfulness Centre delivered in person at Pavilions, Teignmouth, Devon.
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. Mindfulness for Life is suitable beginners and anyone seeking a refresher.
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.
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 a personal home practice and access the wide-ranging benefits well beyond the course.
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 in everyday life
FREE monthly top-up-sessions
Cost £95.00
The 8 week course programme:
Session 1 - Waking up from automatic pilot – A recent Harvard study shows that our minds are not present in the moment and wander about 47% of the time. Week 1 we learn how to step out of ‘doing’ mode into the ‘being’ mode of the present! We explore a body scan practice, mindful eating and mindfulness of everyday activities.
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 recognise our thoughts, emotions, sensations, and impulses, gather the scattered mind, and return with appreciation to the here and now. We introduce you to mindfulness of breathing.
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 - Befriending experience, allowing and letting be – in this session we deepen our capacity and skills of friendliness. In doing so we find we can meet experiences from a place of steadiness, balance and ease. We explore even more how to bring mindfulness, presence and friendliness into relationships with others ourselves. We practice compassion practices and mindful walking.
Session 6 - Responding skilfully: 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? 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