Mindfulness Courses

This short session provides an introduction to mindfulness that combines access to the most up-to-date research and experiential learning opportunities and it is delivered by a qualified and experienced mindfulness teacher.

The delivery of the course is underpinned by the good practice guidelines developed by the UK Network of Mindfulness teachers.

Delegates will be taught simple mindfulness practices:

• as a way of having a direct experience of mindfulness so that they are better able to understand what it is
• as an approach they can use to help them to stop and to respond rather than react to situations
• as an approach to help them to develop a greater present moment awareness of bodily sensations thoughts and emotions.

Learning themes
This is a practical and hands-on introduction to mindfulness that explores the following themes:

•  What is mindfulness?
• How does it work (drawing upon neuroscience)?
• What are the misconceptions that people have about mindfulness?
• Where is mindfulness being used?
• What are the universal benefits of being mindful?
• What are the benefits of mindfulness for specific groups of people
• How do you learn how to be more mindful?
• What are the barriers to living mindfully and how might these be overcome?

Target Group
Anyone who wishes to understand how mindfulness can have a positive impact on your mental and physical wellbeing.

This 8-week programme has been designed to help you to cope with the pressures and challenges of modern living. The programme uses mindfulness and compassion to help you to understand how your mind works and to train the mind.

It will provide participants with fresh insights into how our minds work. How can train the mind to respond to life and relationship challenges?

This experiential programme takes participants through a range of mindfulness practices.

Through group discussions and teacher input developing a greater understanding of how we can work towards Mindful Living.

Learning Intentions

The aim of the course is to provide participants with the awareness, understanding and skills needed to integrate mindfulness practices (formal and informal) into their lives)

By the end of the course participants will be able to:

• Explain what is meant by mindfulness and describe the benefits of mindfulness by drawing on their direct experience
• Understanding the Stress Reaction Cycle and explaining how mindfulness impacts upon it
• Identify stress indicators and helpful and unhelpful responses
• Develop the ability to respond rather than react in a stressful situation
• Identify and describe the experience of paying attention to pleasant events, unpleasant events and stressful communication
• Demonstrate Mindful Communication
• Be able to demonstrate and practice 3 core mindfulness practices
• Be able to identify a range of informal mindfulness practices and outline strategies for integrating them into their day-to-day lives
• Develop a strategy for self-care to sustain mindful living.

Resilience is the ability to recover quickly from setbacks and from adversity. Resilient people stay committed and increase their efforts when things get tough.

It used to be thought that people were born with resilient attributes, but we now know that anyone can increase their resilience through effective training and development.

This course has been designed to help you develop the knowledge and skills needed to handle pressures and challenges both in your professional and personal life. The activities are designed to help
you to embed the concepts, tools and techniques introduced during the course.

Learning Themes
The course aims to help you develop skills useful to create sustained resilience.

• Understanding what you think and feel
• Understanding how your thoughts and feelings influence what you do and the decisions you make
• Learning how to handle difficult emotions
• Improving focus, concentration and creativity by listening
• Being able to set yourself goals and deal with setbacks
• Being able to solve problems and think about how our actions affect ourselves and understand how other people think and feel
• Learning how to respond rather than react
• Being able to connect with other people, deal with conflict and negative peer pressure
• Use mindfulness practice to continue to sustain your resilience.

Understanding our own mental health is key to our own well-being.

Our mental well-being is dependent on what is going on in our lives at that time whether at home or work. It is constantly changing because we live in a world that is in a rapid state of change. It is our ability to cope with these changes that determine our mental wellbeing. Our relationships and working environments are also in a constant state of change ranging from little disagreements to big blowouts in our relationships. In our workplace, this could be large-scale organisational changes imposed on us to small changes like getting new members of staff or moving office. When we are in a good state of mental well-being, we are content and have a good level of satisfaction with all aspects of our lives.

Learning Outcomes
Encouraging good mental health and well-being to enables us to maintain healthy relationships in our personal and professional lives.

• Understanding what is mental health?
• Mental health problems and their symptoms
• Stigma and how to normalise conversations
• Responding to stress rather than reacting
• Creating a resilient mind
• Specialist support and how to access it
• Create an environment where people can talk openly and honestly about mental health
• Cope better in times of change and uncertainty

Target groups
Both professionals and public

This programme has been designed to give people knowledge, skills and tools to experience the benefits nature on improving our mental wellbeing.

Learning Intentions
The aim of the course is to provide participants with the awareness, understanding and skills needed to integrate mindfulness into their lives through nature.

By the end of the course participants will be able to:

• Explain what is meant by mindfulness and describe the benefits of mindfulness by drawing on their direct experience.
• List stress indicators and helpful and unhelpful responses.
• Identify and describe the experience of paying attention to pleasant events, unpleasant
  events and stressful communication.
• Outline the Stress Reaction Cycle and explain how mindfulness impacts it.
• Listing formal and informal mindfulness practices and outlining strategies for integrating them into their day-to-day lives. (Using nature to become more mindful)
• Demonstrate Body Posture, Mindful Breathing, Mindful Movement, and informal mindful nature activities and describe the experiences
• Demonstrate Mindful Communication. (Learning through nature)
• Develop a strategy for self-care that incorporates formal and informal mindful practices.
• Tools sustain the mindful practice

Who is the programme for:
Anyone who is finding life a bit of struggle and/or wanting to boost their resilience. If you feel stressed or anxious why not take this opportunity to gain skills and knowledge to better respond to stress and anxiety and take control of your life again.