My reasons for doing the 8-week online mindfulness for health course

This blog is written to support you if you’ve ever had inklings or wonderings as to what it might be like to do a Mindfulness 8-week course. It is based on my own personal experiences.

First of all, just to say, mindfulness isn’t for everyone – and why should it be. There is no one size fits all and that’s OK!

Some of the benefits of Mindfulness Meditations

1. Stress reduction

2. Lowering blood pressure

3. Increased awareness of the present moment

4. Increasing focus/attention span during day-to-day tasks

5. Reduction in pain and emotional reaction to it

The list is endless!

My experience of Mindfulness Meditation

I had already completed an 8-week Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Life course in 2017 with another organisation. So why bother doing another one, you might well ask? Well, the Mindfulness for Health course I planned to do was the Breathworks 8-week course compressed into a 5-day residential course. I hadn't originally planned to do the longer 8-week version! And I definitely did not plan to do the online version!

My reasons for doing the Mindfulness for Health Course with Breathworks

My incentives for doing the course with Breathworks were:

• Their approach to encompassing compassion for self and others
• The emphasis on teaching pacing of activities during daily life with regards to the management of pain, stress and fatigue
• Having an opportunity to explore mindfulness of movement with chronic pain – I loved Breathworks approach to this
• When I attended a Breathworks retreat the whole ethos and approach of Breathworks really resonated with me
• I had inklings that I might like to learn how to teach Mindfulness the ‘Breathworks way’. So this course was one of the prerequisites for applying for the teacher training
• I had heard nothing but praise for the course from people who had already completed it.

Then along came covid-19!

In line with Government guidelines, the face-to-face course was cancelled. I was so disappointed and decided to wait – hoping it would be back on the agenda soon!

So 1 ½ years later, with no face-to-face course on the horizon, I decided that I would do the 8-week, online course with Sophie Matthew, an Associate Teacher for Breathworks.

Course commitment

You may be wondering what the commitment is. My experience, having done another course, is that it is different based on whichever course you choose to do. For the Breathworks course the commitment was generally:

• 2 hours per week on a zoom call for 8 weeks (the first session was just slightly longer for orientation)
• Homework of 2 x 10 minutes mediations per day. Meditations ranged from a body scan; breathing anchor; mindful movement; compassionate practices; gratitude; connection; breathing space. There were also options to do longer meditations.
• Mindfulness daily practices, referred to as Habit Releasers. I loved these as they involved being out / looking at nature, for example, looking at the sky; checking in with your body; drinking a hot drink mindfully, and other practices.
• Access to course material and further information was via a member's Moodle setup – this included a chat function – so it was really easy to connect with the teacher or other people attending and also to catch up if you had missed a session.

I loved the fact that I will have access ‘for life’ to the content of the online course – if I ever want to repeat it or refresh my knowledge. I followed along using the Mindfulness for Health² book.

My Personal Commitment

I felt so supported on the course. I didn’t have problems completing the daily meditations – as I already had a meditation practice of 20 minutes x 2 per day (which I stopped when on the course).

I would give myself 2 hours on a Sunday to read through the Moodle notes and watch the videos. This wasn’t compulsory but I wanted to maximise my 8 weeks and immerse myself in the experience.

I learned so much from the course (see follow-up blog). It’s always difficult going in as an ‘experienced’ meditator. From day 1 the teacher stressed the importance of keeping an open mind and a child-like curiosity and coming to it with a beginner's mindset. The course is definitely not aimed at experienced practitioners - but if you are an experienced meditator this is also not a problem.

My personal challenges

My tendency at the beginning of the course was to try and see which elements I could use with my own patients. As a basis for personal learning, I soon learned this was not the best approach. It was far better to be a full participant of the experience as it unfolded and see how it impacted my own personal life – as this would be where the learning would take place.

I often struggled with guided practices – finding myself becoming distracted in thought – and totally drifting away from the guidance. I tried unguided meditations in an attempt to improve my focus but then found I missed the voice of the guider – it made me feel a bit lonely without them there!! So I went back to the guided practices.

Conclusion

I am so glad that I did the 8-week-long online course. It really gave me the time to immerse myself in the experience.

It does no harm to do one or more 8-week courses – there is so much learning to be had. My experience is beautifully summed up by the following quote:

“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man” Heraclitus

If you’ve ever wanted to try Mindfulness Meditation then check out the resources on the Breathworks website and see if they feel right for you. If you take the plunge with Breathworks or another organisation, then enjoy the journey! It is such a life skill to have.

Resources:

Breathworks: Useful resources; recorded meditations and courses.

ww.breathworks-mindfulness.org.uk

² Book: ‘Mindfulness for Health a practical guide to relieving pain, reducing stress and restoring wellbeing' by Vidyamala Burch and Danny Penman, 2013 Edition

PS: Thank you for taking the time to read this post.