Eight week mindfulness course in Rochester Kent
***This course is also suitable for CPD and is certificated but is not a teacher training course***
Take a "Holiday" for the mind this autumn by cultivating the light of awareness and warmth of kindness in your life by treating yourself to this eight week mindfulness course in Rochester, Kent :) ♥
What is mindfulness?
In essence, mindfulness is a training in how to simply be; relaxed but also aware, moment-by-moment within changing experience - whatever that might be - with a growing sense of embodied presence, acceptance, compassion and wisdom. This involves learning and practising a number of mindfulness meditation methods alongside innovative positive psychology techniques in a structured and sequenced way over a period of time.
Training in mindfulness can help you become more aware of the mind's habits, which can then help slowly free you from counter-productive habitual patterns by letting them go or transforming them by acting in a way that is wiser, kinder or more creative for yourself and others in the moment. One begins to realise that reality is to a large extent an interpretation of events based on these habits and the current mood. This realisation opens up more space, more possibility and more freedom in experience for transformation, empowering you to be more of who you truly are.
Mindfulness allows you to recognise the gap between your thoughts, emotions, sensations, impulses and your awareness of them, providing you with the choice to respond rather than react or perhaps realise that no response is necessary. Instead, you may choose to simply be, relaxing in awareness as your thoughts, emotions and sensations come and go like clouds in the sky-like nature of your mind. In this way your mind can become more flexible as it begins to serve you rather than have you be the servant of the often wandering and busy mind.
Mindfulness is a life-skill that anyone can benefit from connecting with and training in. Whether it is to help with life's stresses, anxiety, depression, chronic pain, general well-being or to explore the dimensions of our mind and the experience of what it means to be a human being.
Benefits of mindfulness
- A deeper sense of connection with yourself.
- More self-awareness.
- Better self-care.
- Improved way of relating to your thoughts, feelings and sensations.
- Improved self-confidence.
- Improved relationships.
- Increased sense of appreciation and gratitude for life.
- Reduced stress levels.
- Reduced anxiety.
- Reduction in depressive relapse.
- Builds resilience for demanding and stressful situations.
- Increased feelings of well-being.
- Supports physical health.
- Supports chronic pain management.
- Improved ability to focus and concentrate.
- Increased creativity.
- Increased productivity.
- Better communication.
- Better decision making abilities.
The course
Training in mindfulness, like anything, needs to be consistent to bring results and that's what a structured eight week course, complete with group work and individual home practice is designed to do. It is perfect for those who are completely new and those looking to commit more to their current practice with the support of the course, the group and an instructor.
The course will provide you with the opportunity to learn a combination of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction/Cognitive Therapy techniques, through formal and informal practices that can be easily integrated into your daily life, including mindfulness of eating, breath, bodily sensations, thoughts, feelings, sounds and movement, as well as a number of other techniques and thought experiments that support the process.
The course will be supported by
- An e-booklet helping you explore and deepen your understanding of the themes covered in your weekly sessions. It will also include weekly home practice guidance and record sheets to help you keep track of your progress.
- Online guided audio meditations to guide and support you in your home practice.
- Email support in between sessions with Cesare to discuss or elucidate any points emerging during your home practice.
- Certificate of completion (issued only if attendance is 75% or more).
Each of the eight sessions will follow one of eight mutually supportive themes, these eight themes are:
1. Waking up to automatic pilot.
2. Living in our heads.
3. Gathering the scattered mind.
4. Recognising the mind's habits.
5. Allowing and letting be.
6. Thoughts are not facts.
7. Taking care of ourself.
8. Maintaining and deepening practice.
The course will also include a silent retreat day on the Sunday of the sixth week, where we will practice the techniques and methods learnt in silence together, allowing us to deepen into and consolidate the practice we have put in over the weeks. The day retreat is highly recommended aspect of the course.
***Please note that this course includes a daily commitment of up to 45 minutes of home practice in-between sessions. The home practice elements are a core feature of these courses, enabling participants to become familiar with them and explore their cumulative benefits. Simply attending the taught components of these courses, although useful, won't allow for the complete experience and benefits the course is designed to provide***
***Prior to the start of the course, there will be a questionnaire (to assess prior experience and any physical and/or mental health needs) for all prospective participants to complete and return***
Past participant feedback
"This course is brilliant!"
"I found the mindfulness course truly inspiring. Cesare delivered a fantastic training with an informative yet very personal and individual feel. It has changed the way I live my life. Every moment feels more sacred and my mind feels calmer."
"I loved the open group discussions and the rapport I had with the group as a whole."
"The mindfulness course has transformed many aspects of my mind and the way I react/over analyse situations. This has allowed me to create more nourishing relationships in my life."
"It has allowed me to work towards becoming and maintaining my best self."
"Learning to be more mindful has allowed me to become more grounded, I am now more aware of my thoughts and actions."
"I have understood the power of giving time and taking care of myself, and how this energy has an expansive effect on those around me."
"I have learned how to connect my mind with my body and this has
helped me release tension in problem areas."
"The mindfulness course has given me a strength to be kind to myself - to allow myself some breathing space which has enabled me to be of benefit to others."
Your mindfulness instructor
Cesare completed his 'Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy Teacher Training Retreat' with the Oxford Mindfulness Centre, University of Oxford and his teacher training with the Mindfulness In Schools Project. He is a UK Network Registered mindfulness teacher, currently running mindfulness courses and training for schools and other organisations. Cesare is also a qualified counsellor with Kent and Medway NHS, and runs a successful private practice.
Cesare began as a teacher in secondary schools. He later went onto work in education, training and employment within UK prisons, and then specialised in addiction and substance misuse counselling.
For over 9 years, Cesare’s own meditation practice has been under the guidance of international Buddhist teachers. He set up Bodhicharya Kent, a non-profit group which provides teachings and practice in meditation and Buddhism. There he has been facilitating thriving ongoing weekly meditation classes for the Kent community in Rochester for over 4 years, under the guidance of his main teacher, Ringu Tulku Rinpoche.
Details
Venue
Quaker Meeting House, Northgate, Rochester, Kent, ME1 1LS.
Times
Sessions will be between two and two and a half hours and the start time will be from 7:00pm.
Dates
Thursdays, September 13th, 20th, 27th and 4th October (break on the 11th of October), then resuming on the 18th, 25th, October and 1st and 8th of November.
Silent Day Retreat
10:30am - 4:30pm on Sunday 4th November.
St Andrews Arts Centre. Royal Pier Road, Gravesend, Kent, DA12 2BD.
Cost
£250* (Payment plans available, please do get in touch).
To book your place now, please follow the PayPal link below:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=4YZ3W6C68ENP6
OR
You can make a bank transfer (preferred). Please email for bank details, thank you.
If you have any questions at all regarding the course or payment, then please do get in touch via email or with the number below.
Hoping to see you in the Autumn and accompany you on your mindfulness journey.
Very best wishes,
Cesare
M:07766720702
*If your circumstances change:
If paying via a payment plan, then your initial deposit will be non-refundable.
If paying via payment plan or in full, then I can offer 100% refund of total payment made up to one month before the start of the course or 50% refund of total payment made up to two weeks before the start of the course.