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Monday Mindfulness  Class  
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8 Week Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and Self-Compassion 
 
  • Learn to listen deeply and with compassion to your inner world
  • Live fully in your joy and "follow your bliss"
  • Take action rather than be stuck in habitual repetitive behaviour
  • Recommended by NICE for treating depression
  • Explore waking up your senses to experience more through your body
  • Commit to daily practice for 8 weeks to create a healthy routine
  • Discover and let go of autopilot behaviours that do not serve you
  • Make peace with difficult emotions
  • Recognise that "thoughts are not facts" and free yourself from unhelpful patterns of thinking. 
  • Shift your attention into the present rather than being caught in rumination about the future or regret about the past.
The first week starts by introducing the theme of autopilots and this weaves through the course as we explore the ways our happiness can be sabotaged by unhelpful patterns of thinking, acting and relating to experiences.

Over the course there is a chance to have your own insights into your patterns as each week contains home practice designed to encourage you to stay engaged with the material from the evening sessions. Each week has its own theme and associated meditation, so by the end you'll have a tool box of approaches and meditation practices to draw on. 

Each evening starts with a guided meditation, then the rest of the evening provides time for conversation, instruction and for participants to share in pairs and with the group - offering an opportunity to learn as you explore your own experience and to hear from others and gain from their insights. As the course progresses it is often the participants who teach each other as much as me passing on information, as people bring to the session their learning and insights from applying the practice during the week. 

Here's what one previous participant had to say about the course:

"This course was very powerful and has been life changing. It has really helped me to focus on the ‘Here and now’ rather than getting caught up in ruminative thinking. I have a tendency to worry about the future and about events which have not yet occurred and this was making me feel very stressed. Applying the techniques and mindfulness strategies I learnt on the course I feel better able to cope and although I still feel anxious this tends to diminish more quickly."

Unlike Monday night this is a closed group of up to 16 people. Particpants commit to attending all of the sessions so we quickly build up a sense of trust and connection.  There is much more enquiry and group discussion which brings the focus to what people are experiencing and learning.  Through this shared exploration there is a sense of living the material rather than it just being information.  Each course is different as the participants on each course bring their unique experiences, learning and insights to the sessions. 

The Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) course is a very powerful tool for self-awareness. Designed by Mark Williams of Oxford University and based on the pioneering work of Jon Kabat-Zinn who developed this approach of mindfulness as a secular intervention for well-being through his work at the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Centre and the 8 week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) programme that Mark Williams used as the template for developing the MBCT course.




 
Thursday evenings
 
May: 3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th, 31st
June: 7th, 14th, 21st

Silent practice day. Date to be confirmed.
 
Time: 7.00 - 9.40 pm


Venue:

Chadswell Healthy Living Centre

Lower Ground Floor, Chadswell
Harrison Street
London
WC1H 8JE

MAP


Nearst tube: Kings Cross

£295 (£200 concessions for unwaged, students and those in need)

Booking confirmed on receipt of full payment. 

To book email: nick@evolvingminds.org.uk

Call: 07910 224 560
 
 


I have been teaching this course since 2012, below are a few testimonials from previous participants:



‘Throughout the course, Nick provided participants with a series of meditation tools including body scanning, guided meditation and group discussion, all of which are very useful for applying in everyday life.

I found Nick’s mindfulness course to be exceptionally beneficial for helping me to manage my anxiety.  Given my positive experience,  

I have been recommending this course to anyone who is looking to slow down, focus and regain balance in their life’

Ashley (Autumn 2015 course participant)
 


"For me you made Mindfulness real and human, related to the pain, feelings of not belonging , of isolation or inadequacy that we may feel in life and then taught me how through Mindfulness I could have a choice and freedom from suffering.   My thoughts or the emotions they stir within me do not have to control me or dictate who I am, or have become, I have the choice to see them for what they are just passing thoughts that come and go like sensations in my body, I can notice them but from a distance and not let them consume me and all that I could be in life.
 
Meeting you and having you for my tutor in Mindfulness has been hugely life changing for me.

Sandra (2016 course participant)
 


This course was very powerful and has been life changing. It has really helped me to focus on the ‘Here and now’ rather than getting caught up in ruminative thinking. I have a tendency to worry about the future and about events that have not yet occurred and this was making me feel very stressed. Applying the techniques and mindfulness strategies I learnt on the course I feel better able to cope and although I still feel anxious this tends to diminish more quickly.          

Kensington Council 8 week course participant, 2016
 

 

I have become more aware of my surroundings and am really noticing the world. I feel that I have clearer vision and am appreciating the little things in life. I have really slowed down and realise how much I missed by rushing.
                                             
Kensington Council 8 week course participant, 2016
 

Course Summary

Apart from week 1 each evening starts with a guided mindfulness of breathing meditation.  The summary below shows what additional meditations are taught each week. This format is subject to slight changes and alterations

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Week 1

Meditation:Body scan meditation – learning to place our attention in the body.

Theme: Auto pilot. The mind often follows habitual routes of thinking. Through practicing mindful breathing we can start to notice thoughts and learn to disengage our attention from those that are repetitive and lead to negative moods.

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Week 2

Meditation: Body scan and Mindfulness of Breathing

Theme: What is mindfulness? A discussion drawing on your experience form the previous week.

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Week 3

Meditation 1: Meditating on sounds – rather than letting noises be a distraction in this meditation they are made the focus of your attention, observing them as volume, pitch and duration rather than allowing the mind to label them as pleasant or unpleasant.

Meditation 2: Mindful movement. Gentle movement exercises that allow you to practice bringing mindfulness to your experience as you move. This is important as it allows you to learn how to bring mindfulness in to an activity rather than see it as something you only do sitting with your eyes closed.

Theme: approach system versus avoidance system. We can approach a task in one of two ways and how we approach it has been found to have an effect on our creative abilities and sense of well being within the task and after it. An approach based attitude leads to more energy and problem solving abilities, whereas the avoidance mode shuts down creativity and even if the task is completed leaves you feeling depleted. The discussion this week looks at these two modes and how to use mindfulness to cultivate the more creative approach.

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Week 4

Meditation 1: sounds and thought. Just as sounds arise and fade away in the same way thoughts can be allowed to arise and pass away. This meditation reminds you to hold lightly to thoughts rather than allow them to dominate in the meditation.

Meditation 2: breathing space meditation.  This is a short meditation which may be no more than 3 minutes long. It is often one that participants find most useful as it can be used at any point in the day as a a way of stopping and punctuating the flow of experience.

Theme: Fight, flight or freeze – a short discussion about the ancient mechanism that evolved to keep us safe at times of danger but that left unchecked can lead to ill health anddisease. Mindfulness is the means of turning this fear based survival instinct off when it is not needed and instead initiating the rest and recover mode which supports good health and recovery.

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Week 5

Meditation: Exploring difficulty meditation. Previously in the mindful breathing meditation the instruction was to gently guide attention back to the breath whenever you noticed it was caught up in thinking.  This week we look at what to do when we notice we are caught up in difficult or fearful emotions or thoughts. Rather than analyzing or trying to find a solution, this approach encourages simply noticing what you are feeling in your body associated with the difficult thought or emotion. You can then imagine breathing into this sensation and allow the breath to hold it. This allows you to change your attitude to a difficult experience from wanting it to go to being willing to witness it.

Theme: Acceptance: being with difficulty rather than running from it or fighting it.

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Week 6

Meditation: Loving Kindness. This powerful practice enables us to explore relating to ourselves and others with an attitude of patient and loving attention.

Theme: Thoughts are not facts – seeing how thoughts can be like rumors: repeated often enough we may believe them even if they hold no truth!

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Week 7

Meditation: Walking meditation. Learning how to bring mindfulness in to a daily activity.

Theme: The exhaustion funnel. How negative thinking leads to a downward spiral and a discussion of CBT methods for engaging with thought so that you can regain control.

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Week 8

This week there is no new meditation or set theme. The time is used to meditate and discuss anything arising from participants experience of the course. The last part of the evening focuses on how to maintain practice after the course. Participant discuss in pairs what practices they found most helpful and how they intend to create a meditation routine away from the support of the 8 week course.
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