What is mindfulness?
“Mindfulness is awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally” (Kabat-Zinn, 1990). In simple terms it refers to the ability to pay attention to what is happening, right now.
This is something that we are not always very good at. We are brilliant at overthinking, ruminating and worrying about the future (does any of this sound familiar?) People often have a natural negativity bias that leads us to notice dangers in our environment and focus on those. Evolutionarily speaking, this is a useful skill and great for survival, however, in the modern world, there is the tendency to over-focus on potential “threats” instead of what is happening in the present.
My experience as a mindfulness practitioner
I formally began my mindfulness journey in 2013, with an 8 week MBSR course, taught by the fantastic Viv Moore. It fit into my life and was an approach that matched my professional values. I also learnt how to be kind to myself and understand my emotions in a healthier way. Subsequently, my doctoral research focused on mindfulness with students who have ASD. I was lucky enough to shadow a fantastic EP delivering, then gathered views from the students. Most of the students engaged well and some reported lower levels of anger and anxiety.
I am trained to deliver a range of courses for both children and adults. The most recent course is the gold standard MBSR teacher training programme. I am currently compiling my portfolio and will submit this to BAMBA (The British Association of Mindfulness Based Approaches) when complete. It is an area in which I enjoy keeping up to date with the research and evidence base and I have recently contributed to the upcoming BPS (British Psychological Society) document on delivering mindfulness interventions.
Mindfulness for children and young people
I trained with the Mindfulness in Schools Project and can now deliver their Dots curriculum and Paws b curriculum. I teach Dots to children aged 3-6 and Paws b to Key Stage 2 age children (7-11). The Dots curriculum provides children with 10-15 minute sessions and can last for up to 30 weeks. The Paws b curriculum runs for 8-12 weeks for roughly 40 minutes per session. I will deliver the course within your school alongside classroom teachers or assistants. If required, preparation for this work can also include information sessions for staff and parents.
Mindfulness for adults
The MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction) course is a gold standard mindfulness course, based on Jon Kabat Zinn’s programme. I will teach delegates weekly (for 2-2.5 hours) for 8 weeks and participants are expected to engage in daily practices in between sessions. I will also guide delegates through a half or full day silent retreat. Please contact me for upcoming dates and venues, or if you wish to commission a course for your organisation.
Mindfulness for adults
Retreats are a fantastic way to deepen your practice, and to give yourself a welcome break from a busy life. Most of my retreats are silent in nature (I will lead the meditations but delegates will be silent) and I prefer to lead this in natural settings (weather dependent) See below for my upcoming mindfulness retreats.
Dates tbc