The Asclepius Mindfulness Course

The course consists of ten, one hour sessions Through guided meditations, group dialogue, individually tailored instructions and home assignments, you will learn the essential principles of mindfulness and techniques to build your personal home practice and access the wide-ranging benefits well beyond the course.

The key learning points include:

• A variety of formal and informal mindfulness meditation practices, which involve using the breath and body as a focus for being aware of our experience in the present moment;
• Understanding the physiology of stress and how to self-regulate our moods, so that we are better able to pause in challenging situations and manage our responses more effectively.
• Recognising the patterns of worrying and self-criticism that often generate more stress; and learning to relate to ourselves with a more accepting and kind stance.
• Learning to have more mindful, and thus meaningful, communication, connections and relationships.
• Developing practical self-care tools to help us thrive, perform at our best, and build resilience.

"Mindfulness"—The Eye of the Witness-The next ten weeks

With the ongoing practice of meditation, you gain the ability to bring the liberating effects of mindful awareness to moment-to-moment living. Ultimately, this means developing a mind of openness and flexibility, profound physical calmness, and a deepening freedom to choose how you respond to life.

Throughout the ten weeks of this course, you practice the principles of mindfulness through focused meditations and guided exercises, including these:

• Weeks 1-2 Sitting meditation: The core practice of the mindfulness tradition. You learn the specific methods of meditation with mindful awareness.
• Weeks 3-4 Body scan meditation: A second fundamental practice, bringing deep focus to the body and bodily sensations, promoting both concentration and physical relaxation.
• Weeks 5-6 Mindful engagement with thoughts: You learn four specific practices for releasing detrimental patterns of thought.
• Weeks 7-8 Metta meditation: Central to the mindfulness tradition, you learn this form of directed contemplation, focusing on the well-being of others and powerfully effective for cultivating compassion.
• Weeks 9-10 Meditations for physical pain: You practice two forms of meditation for alleviating pain and physical discomfort of all kinds.

Hayley Elkins 07990912421 Martyn Shrewsbury 07592330467