Introduction to Mindfulness
Mindfulness is essentially an evidence-based training programme for the Mind and Body where we can learn some practical skills to support a happier life and to respond to challenges in more helpful ways.
This 1 hour session will give you a taste of what Mindfulness is and has been designed for those with no or limited knowledge of Mindfulness, as well as those who may have some experience but would like to reconnect with Mindfulness.
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The session will explore some of the key themes of the various 8 week Mindfulness courses that Tenterden Mindfulness Group offers.
Mindfulness Taster Course
​Join us for a 3 week Mindfulness Taster Course and explore some of the key themes of the various 8 week Mindfulness courses that Tenterden Mindfulness Group offers.​ The three sessions will give you a taste of what Mindfulness is and have been designed for BOTH those with no or limited knowledge of Mindfulness, as well as those who may have some experience but would like to reconnect with Mindfulness.
Session 1 - Connecting Body & Mind
In this session you will explore how recognising and connecting with sensations in your body can help you let go of your often busy mind, and steady yourself in the moment during turbulent times. Increased awareness of bodily sensations can also help us recognise our stress responses more quickly and therefore enable us to prioritise our self-care when it is most needed.
Session 2 - Gathering the Busy Mind
In this session you will explore the tendencies we all have to get carried away and lost in thoughts and worries, often without even knowing it!, which can lead us to feeling anxious or stressed. You will learn how to notice this and, through focusing on the sensations in your body, begin to develop the tools to give you a bit more head space and so be more empowered to help yourself.
Session 3 - Opening to Mindfulness in Everyday Life
In this session you will explore how Mindfulness can become a part of everyday life - whether through moment-to-moment awareness of our experience, or more consciously developing an approach of gratitude and kindness towards our experience, however it presents itself to us. Opening out to the good and stepping out of automatic pilot can empower us to live our lives more fully and to thrive and flourish.
Finding Peace in a Frantic World
Do you sometimes feel that your life is defined by frantic busyness, anxiety, stress and exhaustion? If so the Finding Peace course may be for you! The course is designed to help participants to settle their minds and enhance their natural happiness and contentment using mindfulness meditation.
The course is delivered in 90-minute sessions over eight weeks and introduces participants to mindful awareness through a range of practices that encourage us to bring curiosity to our experience and befriend the body. Throughout the sessions we:
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develop mindfulness in everyday activities
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pay attention to our thoughts and feelings
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explore how we react or respond to difficulties
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consider how we relate to ourselves and others
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review how we can develop a healthier balance in our lives.
The sessions are a mix of mindfulness practices, input from the teacher and opportunities to share in small groups and the group as a whole.
MBCT - Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy Course
This 8 week course consists of weekly 2-hour sessions led by a fully qualified and professionally accredited mindfulness teacher. The sessions involve a variety of Mindfulness meditation practices, information sharing, discussions and other exercises.
There is no requirement for to share or discuss your personal circumstances or reasons for coming to the course, and this is actually not encouraged. In fact some people can take the whole course without saying anything, yet gaining a great deal from it.
There will be a pre-course orientation session and it is important and most helpful to attend all components of the course, though it would not preclude you from doing the course if you needed to miss one of the sessions. You will be provided with a course booklet as well as links to guided meditations for the home practice. Although there is some reading involved in this course, by far the most important component of the course will be spent doing the meditation practices, both in the sessions and as part of the daily home practices which will be set each week.
Participants are expected to dedicate time each day to the home practices. This sounds challenging, and can be with the busy lives we all lead, but there are usually solutions to be found which will be discussed at the pre-course meeting. For many of us there can be a sense of not enough time in the day and so trying to find time to meditate can create even more anxiety.
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Our experience, and that of previous participants, is that mindfulness practice can somehow result in a sense of there being MORE time in the day. As with the learning of any new skill, it takes a certain amount of dedication and time. It is only 8 weeks of your life, so what have you got to lose?
There is no getting away from it…meditation can sound a little bit strange! But if you can get past this, and are willing to try for yourself something radically different, and yet something for which there is an increasing evidence base, you may open a door to a different way of being. We hope that if you choose to commit to a course you will find out, for yourself that it was worth it.
MBSR - Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Course
What will you learn?
Course Structure
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The skill of meditation
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Mindfulness and self-compassion skills in your daily life
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Greater concentration and focus
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How breath and body awareness can transform stress
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Supportive mindful movement practices
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The art of taking joy in simple pleasures
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How to overcome your ‘negativity bias’
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The many health benefits of mindfulness
The course consists of:
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A 1 hour orientation session
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8 x 2hr sessions held weekly
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Full day retreat (additional charge)
This 8-week course, taught by an experienced teacher in a supportive and friendly group setting, will teach you how to boost your happiness and well-being, find new sources of resilience, joy, and calm in your life, and to cope with stress, anxiety, fear, and depression.
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You will learn the foundation skills of mindfulness, compassion, and meditation, and how to apply them in your life in a way that really makes a difference.
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The course is designed to help people suffering from stress associated with work, family and relationships, loss, depression, chronic generalised anxiety, social anxiety, and those who simply want to boost their resilience, learn mindfulness and meditation, or find greater joy and well-being in their lives.
MBLC - Mindfulness Based Living Course
The course consists of 8 2-hour sessions, weekly. An introduction session is also held prior to the actual course and participants are also given the option to attend a full day retreat towards the end of the course.
The sessions will consist of Mindfulness meditation practices and some discussions arising from these as well as some other exercises. There will be no requirement for any discussion about your own personal circumstances, and this is actually not encouraged.
The weekly themes are:
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Introductory Session – What is Mindfulness and Why Practice It?
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Week 1 – Start Where We Are
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Week 2 – The Body as a Place to Stay Present
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Week 3 – Introducing Mindfulness Support
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Week 4 – Working with Distraction
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Week 5 – Exploring the Undercurrent
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Week 6 – Attitude of the Observer • Day of Practice
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Week 7 – Self-acceptance
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Week 8 – A Mindfulness Based Life
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Follow Up – The Rest of Your Life
Our experience, and that of previous participants, is that Mindfulness practice can somehow result in a sense of there being MORE time in the day. As with the learning of any new skill, it takes a certain amount of dedication and time. It is only 8 weeks of your life, so what have you got to lose? We hope that if you choose to commit to a course you will find out, for yourself that it was worth it.
The Present
The Present is an eight-week Mindfulness course for adults who are interested in finding out how Mindfulness may help them in their busy everyday lives.
The course is a gentle introduction to traditional Mindfulness practices which have been demonstrated to improve both mental and physical wellbeing in the midst of busy and/or stressful day-to-day life.
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The course is suitable for both those with no or some knowledge of Mindfulness, as well as those who may have attended an 8 week course in the past.
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For further details about the course, please visit the THE PRESENT Courses website: http://www.thepresentcourses.org/
MBCL - Mindfulness Based Compassionate Living
This course is suitable for people who have done an 8-week Mindfulness course, have maintained some form of regular practice and would like to explore and deepen Mindfulness and Heartfulness more. It offers practical ways of deepening mindfulness skills with compassion.
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The course is designed to alleviate suffering, one’s own and that of others, and to enhance physical, psychological and social well-being by offering a science-based training in self-compassion, building on mindfulness skills. Many of us tend to overlook ourselves while trying to be compassionate. The focus in this course is to develop a kinder and warmer relationship with ourselves, to find a healthy balance between caring for others and caring for ourselves and to find ease with life’s inevitable pain and dis-ease.
More specific aims are:
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Acknowledging pain and suffering as part of human life
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Understanding that our brain has evolved to help survive, and that the imperfect design is not our fault
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Gaining insight into the three basic emotion regulation and motivation systems
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Understanding how influences from outside and also from inside, such as the ‘inner critic’ can easily cause imbalances.
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Learning practices in self-compassion, such as soothing breathing, kindness meditation, compassionate imagery, compassionately dealing with inner difficulties, and cultivating ways of support through the ‘inner helper’ and appreciating and ‘taking in the good’.
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Cultivating a sense of common humanity.
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Integrating what has been learned in daily life.
The course format was developed by Erik van den Brink and Frits Koster and draws on the work of Paul Gilbert, Tara Brach, Christopher Germer, Rick Hanson and others. Many of the practices are based on traditional Buddhist meditation practices which focus on the cultivation of compassion.
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The course runs over 8 weeks with a two and a half hour class each week, and may include one silent practice day. In the group sessions you are introduced to the practices and exercises. We then explore our experiences and reflect on them and put them within the context of neuroscience and some basic psychological principles.
Going through the course can be challenging at times and it is important that you are willing and ready to explore difficulties and personal patterns at your own pace within the safety of the group. The process of beginning to notice our own struggles is the gateway to compassion, and self-compassion leads to extending compassion to others. By doing the practices we can build our resources which leads to greater appreciation of our life and the hard wiring of happiness.
You will receive a comprehensive workbook and a range of audio recordings in mp3 format. It is important to allow 45 – 60 minutes per day for the practice at home, in order to get the most benefit from doing the course and so that the practices can become embedded in your daily life.