MINDFUL FOUNDATIONS COURSE

ONLINE ZOOM SCHEDULE

PART 1 -Tuesday September 27, Tuesday October 4   7:00pm-8:00pm $98

PART 2 -Tuesday November 8, Tuesday November 15 7:00pm-8:00pm $98

Take Part 1 & 2 $165

ONLINE MEDITATION RETREAT SUNDAY NOVEMBER 6 1-4PM $28

Part  1 Day 1: Introduction to mindfulness and mindful brain exercises  called (meditation). Learn about the sympathetic nervous system “fight” or “flight” that prepares  body for danger, and the Parasympathetic nervous system that inhibits the body from overworking and restores it to a relaxed calm state. Learn how to regulate both systems with simple breathing techniques.

Part 1 Day 2: “How we practice may be even more important than the practice itself.” -Jon Kabat-Zinn Learn the 10 mindful attitudes and how to adopt them into daily life and also your own practice.

Understand your emotions and how to regulate them with the mindfulness-based practice RAIN. Did you know emotions only last 60 seconds! Learn why we sometimes feel them for days, weeks, months and how to manage any emotional storm.

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Part 2 Day 1: Learn mindful Seeing and Reframing of our experiences and our perspective of daily life. Helping us pause before jumping to false conclusions and judgments. Instead, we learn to view an experience, in all its color and complexity, with an open mind.

Learn more mindful brain exercises- body scan meditation, and mindful movement meditation

Learn about mindful communication.

Part 2 Day 2: Introduction to Mindful Self Compassion. Learn the self compassion break meditation.

Self-Compassion involves the capacity to comfort and soothe ourselves, and to motivate ourselves with encouragement, when we suffer, fail, or feel inadequate. Most of us feel compassion when a close friend is struggling.

What would it be like to receive the same caring attention from yourself? All that is required is a shift in attention—recognizing that as a human being, you too, require compassion.

 

Myths And Facts of Mindfulness Meditation

Myth: need to empty your mind  

Fact: learn to work effectively with your busy mind

Myth: have to sit on a cushion

Fact: can be done in any position or while doing an activity

Myth: religious-based

Fact: learn concentration skills without any religious content

 

Myth: expectation of experiencing blissful state

Fact:  cultivate resilience to handle real-life stressors

Myth: self-indulgent/lazy

Fact: promotes wise use of energy and connection with others

 

Benefits Of Mindfulness Meditation (brain exercise)

Resilience and over all well being                               

Skills to manage stress/anxiety/depression/PTSD

Calm, clear problem solving thinking-responding VS reactive behaviour

Self regulation/emotional regulation

Present moment awareness

Acceptance, kindness and compassion

Ability to let go

Improves concentration, clear perspective taking

Improves health through balanced awareness, offering a fresh perspective to make healthy pro-active choices.

 

Mindfulness is sustained present moment awareness which itself does not try to change anything. As we cultivate awareness we can take wise efforts to grow what is helpful in our minds and prevent or decrease what’s harmful. 
As our awareness grows, we can make deliberate efforts to let go of tension, rumination, grudges, painful emotions, old trauma, and addictive cravings.

When we balance this awareness and effort with Mindful Self-Compassion it allows us  to let in –  gratitude, compassion, and insight, feeling heard seen, understood and feeling cared about.

Origin Of Mindfulness Meditation Training

Jon Kabat-Zinn introduced mindfulness into mainstream medicine in 1979 with a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction course which is based on the Eastern philosophy of mindfulness meditation.

The work of Jon Kabat-Zinn is backed up by 30 years of published research,
and has been proven in reducing stress-related medical conditions and chronic pain. Mindfulness meditation has recently been approved by Health Canada as a first-line complementary therapy in the initial management of cardiac and stroke prevention.