This course is a series of 30 friendly, live and interactive online classes - organised across the year in convenient blocks of 6 classes at a time, with generous breaks in between the blocks of classes - plus 6 retreat-style days* of Mindfulness practice and teaching (which are in-person events, held amid amazing countryside at a beautiful former stately home located in the heart of the East Midlands). Together this mix of online and in-person events provide an on-going opportunity to explore Mindfulness in a gentle and gradual, but unusually intimate and in-depth, way across a whole year.
The program itself weaves together the central elements of the acclaimed MBSR (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction) and MBCT (Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy) programs – elements which it presents in fresh and original ways – and it combines these with Mindful Compassion training and some aspects of traditional Mindfulness (as taught in Buddhist retreat centres).
The course's central aim is to provide a thorough but practical, grounded (and very down-to-earth) training in Mindfulness that gradually unfolds over a full year at a comfortable pace: a pace that is easy and practical to work with, even amidst the pressures and demands of modern life. The entire 12 month training program focusses on helping and supporting participants to make the principles and practices of Mindfulness a regular and deeply rewarding part of everyday life – all in a meaningful, personally rewarding, and highly effective way.
This program of study, meditation, and practical exercises represents a unique opportunity to build Mindfulness into your daily life over the long-term in a sustainable way, supported by trained teachers and also by regular contact with a friendly group of likeminded fellow students.
The weekly classes are held online - they are all LIVE and fully interactive, and they are designed to be fun, friendly, welcoming, informal, and supportive. These sessions use the popular webinar format, Zoom. (You don't need a special app or any special software in order to participate in these online sessions, you just need to be at a computer, laptop, tablet or smart phone that has internet access. As the sessions are all live and interactive, they also include opportunity for gentle and relaxed social interaction between the participants. Please note that the classes are a secure online space that is strictly private and password protected - only those participating in the course have any form of access to the sessions or to anything that's said, shared or discussed by participants within the sessions.) A video recording of each class is privately made available afterwards for participants to re-visit or refer back to.
Each of the 30 weekly classes lasts approximately 2½ hours. You are not required to attend all the weekly classes in-person (you will have the video recording available to you to watch at your own convenience in any week when you cannot participate in the webinar in-person), but all course participants are asked to endeavour to attend at least 50% of the webinars in-person during the year.
In addition to attending these weekly online classes, participants in the program should expect to undertake approximately 20-40 minutes of home practice (consisting of daily meditation practices plus some other occasional short exercises and reflections) on most days over the whole period of the course.
Places are strictly limited - to secure your place please click on the button below and pay your £25 deposit/registration fee (see Costs, below). For further details about the course itself and the course leaders, see opposite (or scroll further down the screen if you're viewing on a tablet or 'phone).
