1. Mindfulness: Finding Peace in a Frantic World

This programme is based on the best-selling book, Mindfulness: Finding Peace in Frantic World. It is a highly accessible, engaging and practical introduction to mindfulness. We have developed a 6-session programme that teaches mindfulness skills and how to use these skills to improve mental health. It has been found to be effective with adults in workplaces, University students and school teachers. We offer online and in-person classes.

The course’s themes include: Waking up the life you have; turning towards difficulties, and, trapped in the past or living in the present?

This course is for anyone who wants a structured, practical, and highly accessible introduction to mindfulness. It is appropriate for people new to mindfulness, anyone who has tried mindfulness apps or perhaps read a book and wants the structure of a course led by an experienced teacher.

2. Mindfulness for Life

This programme offers mindfulness practices and cognitive-behavioural techniques that can be used in everyday life. This is so we can cope better with distress and difficulties, but also savour life and develop much more of a sense of flourishing. There is an emphasis on how to use the learning in everyday life. It is made up of 8 two hours sessions, with a full day of practice towards the end and involves about an hour of home practice per day. The Mindfulness for Life course has been found to be effective with adults in workplaces and school teachers and has been shown to create large changes in well-being. We offer online and in-person classes.

The course’s themes include: gathering the scattered mind; recognizing reactivity, and; responding skillfully. The course covers many of the same themes as the Finding Peace in a Frantic World Course, but this course intentionally goes further to support greater change. This is in terms of:

• Putting some space between ourselves and our reactions, stepping out of and unlearning habits that don’t serve well.
• Living with greater awareness, kindness and compassion.
• Learning to apply all that is learned in everyday life in ways that support mental health.

This course is for anyone who wants a structured, practical way to learn mindfulness. It asks more from participants, but potentially also offers more change. Mindfulness practice is like physical exercise, if we do more we tend to get more benefit. It is appropriate for people new to mindfulness, anyone who has tried mindfulness apps or perhaps read a book and wants the structure of a course led by an experienced teacher.

3. Mindfulness: Taking it further

“It changed me in just about every way possible; but what can I do next?”

This quote is not untypical of what people say following a Mindfulness-based Programme. What does happen next? What sustains people beyond the programmes? How can we help people maintain their mindfulness practice? How can we support people to live with greater wisdom, balance and responsiveness in the myriad different moments of their real lives? Many people graduating an 8-week programme would like to continue what they have started. This course offers that guidance and support.

This new programme is for graduates of 8-week mindfulness programmes to:

• Reinforce and deepen their mindfulness practice.
• Deepen and broaden the learning of the key themes from the 8-week curriculum
• Support participants in applying all that is learned in their lives, in ways that are consonant with their values.
• Provide a shared community of practice.
• Develop participants’ capacity and confidence to deepen and extend learning independently.

The programme comprises twelve themes. Examples of the themes are: attention!; inhabiting our bodies; appreciating the life you have; how can I best take care of myself and others?; cool head, warm heart: the art of balance and equanimity and; being the change you’d like to see in the world.

This programme is offered in several different formats (weekly over 12 weeks, monthly over a year, or in blocks of residential retreats).