In a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) or Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) course, participants meet together as a group with a mindfulness teacher for 8 weekly 2 – 2 1/2 hour classes, plus one all-day session between weeks 6 and 7.
The course is educational and experiential, with time for discussion. The course is not group therapy, however it can be very therapeutic. Participants learn a different way of being with experience, bringing attention to what is happening here and now, rather than to what may or may not have happened in the past.
The skill of mindfulness is taught through formal and informal mindfulness practices. Formal mindfulness meditation practices include the body scan meditation, mindful movement, sitting meditation and the 3-minute breathing space. Informal mindfulness meditation practice involves integrating mindfulness into everyday life.
In each class, participants have an opportunity to talk about their experience of the home practices, the obstacles that inevitably arise, and how to deal with them skilfully. Each class is organised around a theme that is explored through mindfulness practice, group inquiry and other relevant exercises.
As mindfulness training is primarily experiential in nature, the main ‘work’ of the course is done at home between classes, using guided meditations that support participants developing practice outside of the group. A commitment to daily practice is an important aspect of the course, and it is useful to allow 30-45 minutes per day for home practice. It is through personal experiencing of mindfulness that we come to understand the possibilities it opens for us in our daily lives.
Effects of developing mindfulness may include;
Over the eight weeks of the program, the practices help you to:
To book onto the next course, please click here
The course is educational and experiential, with time for discussion. The course is not group therapy, however it can be very therapeutic. Participants learn a different way of being with experience, bringing attention to what is happening here and now, rather than to what may or may not have happened in the past.
The skill of mindfulness is taught through formal and informal mindfulness practices. Formal mindfulness meditation practices include the body scan meditation, mindful movement, sitting meditation and the 3-minute breathing space. Informal mindfulness meditation practice involves integrating mindfulness into everyday life.
In each class, participants have an opportunity to talk about their experience of the home practices, the obstacles that inevitably arise, and how to deal with them skilfully. Each class is organised around a theme that is explored through mindfulness practice, group inquiry and other relevant exercises.
As mindfulness training is primarily experiential in nature, the main ‘work’ of the course is done at home between classes, using guided meditations that support participants developing practice outside of the group. A commitment to daily practice is an important aspect of the course, and it is useful to allow 30-45 minutes per day for home practice. It is through personal experiencing of mindfulness that we come to understand the possibilities it opens for us in our daily lives.
Effects of developing mindfulness may include;
- Lasting decreases in physical and psychological symptoms
- An increased ability to relax
- Reductions in pain levels and an enhanced ability to cope with pain that may not go away
- Greater energy and enthusiasm for life
- Improved self-esteem
- An ability to cope more effectively with both short and long-term stressful situations.
- Enhanced interpersonal relationships
- Increased ability to manage anxiety and depression and/or low mood
- Reduced tension
- Better sleep
- Greater sense of meaning and purpose in life
Over the eight weeks of the program, the practices help you to:
- become familiar with the workings of your mind, including the ways we avoid or get caught up in difficulties.
- notice the times when you are at risk of getting caught in old habits of mind that re-activate downward mood spirals or increase anxiety levels.
- explore ways of releasing yourself from those old habits and enter a different way of being.
- get in touch with a different way of knowing yourself and the world.
- notice small beauties and pleasures in the world around you instead of living in your head.
- be kind to yourself instead of wishing things were different all the time, or driving yourself to meet impossible goals.
- find a way of being so you don’t have to battle with yourself all the time.
- be able to exercise greater choice in life
To book onto the next course, please click here
