MINDFULNESS BASED STRESS REDUCTION
cheshire_mindfulness@outlook.com
What you will learn Course Content
About Me Monthly Meetups Testimonials
Introduction
The 8 week course was developed 30 years ago at The University of Massachusetts Medical School by a team of doctors including Jon Kabat-Zinn. The MBSR 8 week course is an internationally recognised approach to stress and stress related illness, it is now taught in hospital, health, business and education settings as well as to the general public. The course has proved useful for a wide range of people including those living with chronic pain, helping them to transform their relationship with pain in everyday life and reduce their suffering. Before joining the course it is necessary to have a telephone interview with the tutor to check the suitability of the course for your needs.
What you will learn on the 8 week MBSR course
- Formal meditation practices to support you in developing your capacity to be mindful
- A range of practices to help you integrate mindfulness into your everyday life
- Skills to reduce stress including how to recognise the difference between primary stress (that is unavoidable) and secondary stress (our emotional reaction to the original stressor) enabling us to make informed choices
- Support to develop the skill to listen to and value yourself with kindness, curiosity and compassion
- We will explore our ability to relax, improve self confidence and strengthen your emotional resilience with mindful awareness
- Our learning is enriched by practicing once a week as a group, learning that we are not alone in our challenges in life or in learning to practice mindfulness
Content and study materials
- You will receive 8 weekly lessons
- All day silent retreat on a Sunday
- Instruction in mindfulness meditation and gentle movement meditation
- Learning support to empower you to work in the group and communicate your experiences with others
- Guidance and support tailored to your individual learning needs
- Take home assignments to encourage the integration of mindfulness into your daily life
- Guided practice meditation CDs to support practice at home
About me
I work as an independent mindfulness teacher with both the general public and school communities in the Cheshire area.
My mindfulness experience started when I joined the weekly Practical Philosophy course provided by the School of Economic Science.
I have been practising Vipassana meditation as taught by S.N Goenka after attending a 10 day silent retreat in 2009.
I have the MSc in Mindfulness degree from the Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice at Bangor University.
Monthly Mindfulness MeetUps
Anyone who has completed the MBSR or MBCT (or equivalent) course is welcome.
They are designed to support daily meditation practices and cultivate the attitudinal foundation of mindfulness practice in our daily lives: non-judging, patience, beginner's mind, trust, non-striving, acceptance, letting go, commitment, self discipline and intentionality.
General structure of the meetups
- Welcoming
- Grounding meditation (5 min)
- Teaching about the theme of the evening (10 min)
- Walking meditation/movement meditation (10 min)
- Sitting meditation (30 min)
- Group reflection (5 min)
Future Dates for the Mindfulness Meetups
Wednesday 27th April 2022
Wednesday 25th May 2022
Wednesday 29th June 2022
Testimonials
‘Thank you very much for the lesson you gave us on breathing and meditation on Student Development Day. We really enjoyed it!'
By M, Y8 Poynton High School, March 2022
‘Thank you so much for our lovely MBSR course. I’ve really enjoyed & benefitted from our mindfulness journey together as a little group. Your guidance, support & wise words have been so helpful & inspiring. I couldn’t have wished for a better guide at the start of my mindfulness odyssey.’
By AC, 2021
‘I would like to say a big thank you to you for a wonderful experience during the course; I have learnt so much from you, and as you acknowledged, from all the participants in the group. I feel that I now have great grounding to develop from and I'm looking forward to continuing my new mindfulness and meditation journey. I feel after your encouragement with home practise, that I will now have always that in my life going forward - and there is so much to explore! On a personal note, I feel your patient, open, warm and non-judgemental approach has inspired me in many ways and I have so much enjoyed hearing your guidance each week, and your gentle questioning that has brought about some challenging self - exploration that has been a really wonderful experience for me. I will miss the weekly sessions for a little while, as I soon came to look forward to our Thursday evenings!’
By MB, 2021
‘Thank you very much for your session with us about Mindfulness. It was very engaging and helpful. We all learnt lots about how to be kinder to our mind and concentrate well.’
By H, Y10 Poynton High School, September 2021