Mindfulness for Health

Mindfulness for Health is a unique program developed by Vidyamala Burch, and it contains the best mindfulness and compassion techniques from 30 years of discovering her path of freedom from her suffering, following two major spinal injuries.  She is now living a rich and fulfilling life, with more well-being than ever. The course has been backed with huge amounts of scientific research and has changed the lives of thousands of people.

Clinical trials have shown that mindfulness meditation can be as effective as prescription painkillers, and can enhance the body’s natural healing systems. Over time, you no longer feel pain with the same intensity, and when pain does arise, it no longer dominates your life so much. Many people report that their pain declines to such a degree that they barely notice it at all. Mindfulness can also reduce the anxiety, depression, irritability, exhaustion, and insomnia that arise from chronic pain and illness.

The modern scientific understandings of pain, along with the evidence that mindfulness is an effective approach to suffering, constitute a solid base upon which you can approach your “pain body”, befriend it tenderly, re-inhabit it, and get back in touch with the extraordinary person you really are.

This 8-week Mindfulness for Health program teaches mindfulness and compassion techniques, meditation practices, pain management strategies, and a combination of simple mindful movements which you can build into daily life to help you live well with your health condition. The course has been backed with research and clinical trials and changed the lives of thousands of people worldwide.

MINDFULNESS FOR HEALTH PROGRAM 

DURATION: 8 weekly sessions of 2 hours each. The course requires 20 minutes of meditation per day, in addition to a little reading every week. There are group sessions open for the general public, and private group sessions scheduled inside clinics and rehabilitation centers, which are communicated within those contexts.

FEE: €220

LOCATION: Online (via Zoom)

LANGUAGE: English

Start: Contact the teacher directly

DESCRIPTION

SESSION 1: Taming the Wild Horses

During our first session, we introduce the concept and experience of mindfulness. We also lay the foundations for the whole program by focusing awareness around the body and its direct sensations as well as that of the breath. We explore how that awareness transforms our relationship with pain and discomfort.

SESSION 2: You are not your thoughts

Participants will become more aware of their thoughts, feelings, and emotions, and see how these act as triggers to habitual reactions. By resting awareness on the breath, participants change their relationship to pain and discomfort and relate to life as fluid.

SESSION 3: Learning to Respond rather than React

Human bodies are designed to move. Here we introduce some very gentle mindful movement exercises specially designed for this program. The emphasis is on the quality of awareness as we carry out the movements, rather than fitness or stretch. This week we also begin keeping a diary of activities that we will analyze in subsequent weeks to learn how to pace ourselves and re-engage with life with renewed vigor.

SESSION 4: Watching Your Suffering & Stress Dissolve

This week we turn towards difficulties that we would normally avoid or ignore. We learn to gently turn towards difficulties and take a different approach with compassionate acceptance, letting things to be whilst bringing tenderness and understanding towards your difficulties, your problems and yourself. It is about embracing life rather than tolerating it.

SESSION 5: The Pleasure of Small Things

This is an opportunity to seek out the pleasant experiences that are so often hidden by suffering. The warm rays of the sun touching your skin, the taste of your favorite food, reading a good book, the sound of the birds chirping outside your window can be transformative. 

SESSION 6: Finding Equanimity

This week participants understand and experience the value of cultivating kindness towards themselves and their difficulty, and they learn how to relate to their experience with a broad, enhanced sense of perspective. Every aspect of life is in a constant flux, pleasant and unpleasant experiences rise and fall like waves on a vast ocean, and once we realize this, we become free from the grip of suffering.

SESSION 7: You are Not Alone

Building on the previous session, participants expand their enhanced sense of kindness to include other people, recognizing that no matter how isolated one might feel, we are all interconnected whether we realize it or not. This new ability helps people become more complete, grounded, and whole.

SESSION 8: Life Lives Through You

This is the end of the program and the beginning of the rest of your life. It is a gentle reminder that you can’t control what happens in your life but you can choose how to respond. The direction you travel is your choice, and it’s up to you to lead a richer and more fulfilling life.

Want to know more? Click here to contact me.