The Course

Next Courses

• UEA Continuing Education :
  Mondays 730pm to 930pm starting October 13th, 2008 and one Saturday, November 15, 2008, 10am-2.30pm

Venue: UEA, Norwich

Start Date: 13 October 2008
End Date: 8 December 2008

Fee: £197

Link to UEA Continuing Education Classes
http://www1.uea.ac.uk/cm/home/schools/ssf/contedu

General Enquiries to UEA
Telephone: 01603 591451
Email: cont.ed@uea.ac.uk

Application enquiries for UEA
For admission enquiries and applications
Telephone: 01603 593252
Email: cce.admiss@uea.ac.uk

One day workshops for staff and students UEA: Contact Counselling Centre on 01603-592651

Topics

* Automatic pilot
* Dealing with barriers
* Mindfulness of the breath and body in movement
* Staying present
* Acceptance/allowing and letting be
* Thoughts are not facts
* Taking care of ourselves
* Acceptance and change

This is an experiential course and to get the most benefit it will be necessary to undertake home practice during the course.

During the course we will be learning ways to use meditation and mindfulness in our lives by practicing sitting meditation, walking meditation, mindful movement, and looking at how we are often deceived by our minds into reacting to rather than responding to events, thoughts, bodily experiences and emotions.

We will also become more able to recognize the many choices available to us when stressful situations arise.

Being in touch enables us to cope with difficulty and the more we meditate and practice mindfulness, the more we experience a greater sense of calm, wellbeing, and equanimity.

'Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way: on purpose,
in the present moment,
and nonjudgementally.'
Jon Kabat-Zinn

In a car we can sometimes drive for miles on automatic pilot, without really being aware of what we are doing. In the same way, we may not be really present, moment-by-moment, for much of our lives: we can often be miles away without knowing it.

On automatic pilot, we're more likely to have our buttons pushed: events around us, thoughts, feelings and sensations (of which we may only be dimly aware) can trigger old habits of thinking that are often unhelpful, and may lead to worsening moods, or to symptoms of stress.

By becoming more aware of our thoughts, feelings and bodily sensations, from moment to moment, we give ourselves the possibility of greater freedom and choice; we do not have to get caught in the same old mental ruts that may have caused problems in the past.
The aim of this course is to increase awareness so that we can respond to situations with choice, rather than react automatically. We do this by practicing becoming aware of where our attention is and deliberately changing the focus of attention, over and over again. Mindfulness is not about trying to get anywhere - but simply being aware of where you are - and allowing yourself to BE where and as you are.

A powerful influence taking us away from being fully present in each moment is our automatic tendency to judge our experience. We can find it not quite right in some way - not what should be happening, not good enough, not what we expected or wanted. These judgments can lead to sequences of thoughts about blame, or what needs to be changed, or how things could or should be different. Often, these thoughts will take us, quite automatically, down some fairly well worn paths in our minds. In this way, we may lose awareness of the moment, and also lose the freedom to choose what, if any action needs to be taken.

Adapted from Full Catastrophe Living, Jon Kabat-Zinn