Joining us for the autumn 8 week mindfulness course?
Working as a psychologist with mindfulness informed models of psychotherapy is deeply satisfying work. Working in dialogue with people towards finding their own internal resilience against repeated episodes of those all too common, human challenges: of depression, anxiety, stress, and addictive self-defeating patterns of behaviour is rewarding and it is a privilege to be in a position to help.
But I also get great satisfaction – of meaning and purpose – in offering the 8 week mindfulness training groups to members of the public, and to professionals interested in learning more about the power of mindfulness in promoting health and well-being. I have been teaching these eight-week courses in the Suffolk coastal District since 2004 and currently offer two courses running in parallel; one from Framfield house medical centre in Woodbridge, and the other from Quay place in Ipswich (see details below) They run three times a year: the New Year, spring, and autumn – following the pattern of the school terms. We are currently recruiting for the September courses.
Since the publication of the “Time”, January 2014 in the U.S. led with a front-page cover of a blissful looking young woman meditator and the phrase “the mindfulness revolution” in heavy block capitals, it has been becoming abundantly clear that this as a form of mind training and personal development has caught the public imagination – and is becoming part of our big institutions and corporations hopes to keep their workforces content and productive.
Whether or not this generation of adults will take the initiative to seek training – or stumble across it perhaps as a component of their treatment for a mental health condition – the next generation will have some familiarity as they step forwards into the chaotic, driven competitiveness of contemporary adult life. Mindfulness programs are being made available at both primary and secondary level as well as in higher education and I suspect it will not be long before mental health and well-being education takes its place in the curriculum alongside P.E.
It is vitally important, – as we grow as communities of people who have learned to observe and manage better their inner experiences – that we turn our mindful attention to our institutions, corporations, – indeed our very systems of political and economic exchange – in order to create working and living environments that are less toxic, more nurturing. So – that’s the prize in the longer run, not just a means of patching us up to better cope with toxic conditions. Mindfulness taught holistically will encourage greater sanity at both personal and collective perspective.
So – seize the day, taste the coffee, smell the roses – all that, and much more. Consider – you, or someone you know – joining us this time? I’d be pleased to hear from you?
Filed under: Uncategorized on July 18th, 2017