Courses
Eight week course
There are a number of 8 week mindfulness courses that have been designed and adapted from the original MBSR (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction) course created by Jon Kabat-Zinn in the 1970s. You can find out more about the development of MBSR and other mindfulness-based courses in the section on ‘research and theory of mindfulness’.
The MBSR 8-week course is the most established mindfulness-based course and is taught widely by mindfulness teachers in the UK and across the world. Originally developed within a clinic supporting patients with chronic pain, it now has a long history of research evidence to support its therapeutic benefits in helping individuals to cope with pain, manage stress, depression, anxiety and a range of other mental health concerns.
I also offer Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy which was originally developed for working with individuals who have experienced clinical depression but can be adapted for non-clinical groups. Most of the curriculum is similar to MBSR but with a greater focus on the role of relating differently to thoughts.
The 8 week mindfulness based courses introduce you to a range of experiential mindfulness practices that are also supported by periods of inquiry, where we explore what those experiences were actually like. In particular we look at the relationship between bodily sensations and other thoughts and emotions. We also combine this with other more traditional teaching elements regarding the evidence base of mindfulness as a support mechanism for overall wellbeing.
Each week of the 8 week course has a different focus and we work together to build up mindful skills to help support your learning as you go. You will also receive a workbook to help you track your progress and provide some additional background material about the practices and theory behind them should you wish to explore this further. There are also audio recordings of the different meditations too to help support your practice and these will be provided to you throughout the course itself.
A key component of the course are the homework exercises and the development of a regular (daily) mindfulness practice, so this is definitely something to think about before committing to the course. You would also be expected to attend at least 7 out of the 8 weeks to complete the course effectively so you may need to delay joining a group until that is possible. You’ll find that by developing your mindfulness practice over time that you do start to notice a difference in how you respond to certain events and perhaps even find more mindful moments throughout your day.
We undertake the classes in small groups, and this can be a really positive experience, to share how practices are going and to learn from each other. If anyone finds that group work is really not for them, we can discuss the option of a possible one-to-one session but there is limited capacity for this at the present moment. See upcoming dates for next course and costs.
Drop in sessions
I also run weekly 45 min drop-in sessions that combine one or two mindfulness practices with some short discussion and are a great way to introduce yourself to mindfulness. You don’t ned any previous experience and you are free to ‘drop-in’ as you wish. This is also a great way to maintain your practice if you have already completed an 8 week course previously. At the moment all classes are on line via zoom and you get a FREE first ‘taster’ session when you book. When we can, live classes will be held at The Space, Burston, Norfolk. See upcoming dates for next course and costs.
Workplace and Sport
Bespoke sessions for groups or workplaces:
It might be that you run a business or belong to a sporting group that might benefit from some mindfulness training. It is possible to offer a range of mindfulness practices, from one off sessions, to exploration of key aspects such as self regulation, what stress looks like, interpersonal mindfulness, to an embedded program. Please get in touch with Kate directly if you would like to discuss this further.
Retreats and Workshops
During the year there will be range of small-scale workshops and retreats (half day to full day) to embed your mindfulness practices. These can be a wonderful way to totally invest yourself in the process with other participants and to deepen your existing practices. It also forms an essential component of the 8 week courses.
Silent retreats are run as either half (3.5 hours) or full day (6 hours) experiences where the practices are led by me whilst you immerse yourself in your own experience without the need to socially or verbally interact with others. It can be an intense experience and does require some previous knowledge to be able to maintain that level of concentration. We engage in a variety of mindfulness practices from stretching, walking, sitting, body scans, breath awareness, and movement. If you have already undertaken at least 6 weeks of an 8 week course, or have a long term mindfulness or meditation practice, then this could be a useful option for you.
Mindful movement workshops are designed around bringing awareness to the present moment though movement. Here we practice mindfulness through connecting to the body in a direct experiential way and learning to notice our general behavioural patterns e.g. resistance, competition, avoidance, striving etc in and through a range of different activities. We focus on gentle stretching, some hatha yoga movements, walking, and Qigong. If you like the idea of meditating but not too sure about sitting in silence, this could be a great introduction for you. Workshops are generally 3 hours long and you don’t need any additional experience to try this out.
Keep an eye out for full details of these in our upcoming courses.
Taster Sessions
These sessions are free and at the moment are part of the inbuilt provision of the 45 min drop in sessions. Each session lasts for 45 mins and will provide a couple of brief mindfulness practices. These will be delivered live on zoom and you can access how to download the free zoom app here. These will be offered throughout the year so see upcoming dates for next series.