Mindfulness Meditation
Stress Reduction
through Awareness
The kind of moment to moment awareness
invoked by tuning into your breath and to
every other aspect of
your life is called MINDFULNESS. It is developed by purposefully
paying
attention in a non-judgmental way, to what is going on in your body and
mind,
and in the world around you. Staying in touch in this way from one
moment to the next
creates a shift in awareness which may lead to seeing
things somewhat differently,
perhaps to feeling less stuck, or to a sense of
having more options, more strength,
more wisdom and clarity and more
confidence in your possibilities.
The
Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction Course was designed and developed in the
1970’s by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn (author of “Full Catastrophe Living”)
and his colleagues in Massachusetts, USA, in order to help people cope better
with stress, chronic pain and long-term illness. It was further developed into
the Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy for depression (MBCT) by Williams,
Teasdale and Segal, and is promoted by the Centre for Mindfulness, Research
and Practice at the University
of
Wales, Bangor.
The course that I teach is based on both of these
Mindfulness
approaches.
Considerable
scientific evidence-based research has demonstrated the success of these methods
in promoting change and working with difficulties. MBCT is now included in the
guidelines of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE).
For
further information on the research please see the website of the Centre for
Mindfulness Research and Practice: www.bangor.ac.uk/mindfulness
Who can benefit from
mindfulness training?
Stress
Headaches and other long-term
illnesses. Stress Reduction
through Awareness 8 - Week Course More...
have times in our lives when we experience
difficulties, stress and struggle, and for
some of us this is our daily
experience. The problem or illness itself may not change,
but the way we
relate to and cope with the difficulty may shift, making it feel significantly
easier and creating space for new possibilities to arise. We can see how
often we are
missing the moments of our lives and how our habitual and
reflex reactions to events
often add layers of difficulty for us on top of
the original problem! The course is therefore potentially open to any of us who
are at a point in our lives where we wish to, and are ready,
to look deeply
at ourselves.
People also come to mindfulness courses to
gain skills in dealing with particular conditions such
as
Depression
Chronic Pain
Anxiety and Panic Sleep Disturbance
Chronic
Fatigue Eating Disorders
Cancer Skin
Disorder
High Blood Pressure
Heart Disease