Who am I?

I am a freelance mindfulness teacher, trained and competency assessed by the Oxford Mindfulness Foundation (OMF) and listed with the British Association for Mindfulness Based Approaches (BAMBA), https://bamba.org.uk/.

In addition, I have completed introductory cognitive behavioural therapy training at the Oxford Cognitive Therapy Centre and also training in Mental Health First Aid and non-violent communication (NVC).

In order to teach on-line, I’ve completed a masterclass in ‘Teaching mindfulness on-line live.’

As well as teaching mindfulness, I am an award-winning writer with an MA in Dramatic Writing and twenty years’ experience writing, directing and producing drama in school and community settings.  My particular interest is Forum Theatre (interactive drama for social and political change) and I’ve created drama pieces in collaboration with people with lived experience of mental illness and also mental health professionals.

I live for the moment in East Oxford, UK.

What do I do?

I teach 8-week courses on-line or in person (when permitted). The courses I teach are:

Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT),

Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy for Life (MBCT-L)

Finding Peace in a Frantic World – based on the book ‘Mindfulness – a practical guide to finding peace in a frantic world’ by Mark Williams and Danny Penman

I am also trained to teach ‘Mindfulness for Creativity’ (based on the book by Danny Penman).

I teach the general public and university students and when the opportunity arises would like to teach mindfulness to parents (I have 3 adult children).  I also run half day retreats and together with a colleague, provide a weekly Mindfulness Drop-in on Tuesday evenings in Headington, Oxford (now on-line). In the summer of 2020 I became part of a team of teachers providing on-line free 30-minute meditations every week day.

For more information about me please visit my website and Facebook page – www.susiestead.com  & https://www.facebook.com/mindfulnessinoxfordshire

One of my favourite ‘mindfulness’ poems is by R D Laing:

The range of what we think and do
is limited by what we fail to notice.
And because we fail to notice
there is little we can do
to change
until we notice
how failing to notice
shapes our thoughts and deeds.