This 8 weeks (2 hours a week) course welcomes anyone who would like to explore how mindfulness helps us to manage the physical and emotional effects of pain, injury, illness, fatigue, or any other health condition, including recovery from surgery.
No previous experience of mindfulness or meditation is required as the course is suitable for complete beginners, as well as more experienced mindfulness practitioners.
Each 2 hour Zoom session has a 15 minutes comfort break and you are welcome to turn your camera off and move around, lie down, sit or stand at any point in order to take care of yourself. We always begin and end with guided mindfulness meditations that support the teaching focus for that week, to ensure that your participation is a restful as well as a productive one.
The course includes in-depth teaching on a series of key concepts and mindfulness practices, combined with modern pain and fatigue management techniques that you can gently incorporate into your every day activities.
Each week is supported by handouts and meditation recordings, providing you with a toolkit that you can continue to enjoy long after the course has finished.
This Breathworks course is based on a unique meditation programme developed by Vidyamala Burch to help her cope with the severe pain of spinal injury.
The accompanying book was winner of Best Book (Popular Medicine) at the British Medical Association’s Book Awards 2014, and is recommended by the Reading Well Books on Prescription Scheme.
Taught at Breathworks in the UK and its affiliates around the world, this programme is backed up by ongoing research, and has already changed the lives of thousands of people.
Quantitative studies, including four randomised controlled trials (RCTs), have found Breathworks Mindfulness for Health participants reporting significant improvements following the course, including:
Pain acceptance
Pain self-efficacy, ie confidence in performing activities while in pain
Mindfulness
Quality of life
Psychological wellbeing
Positive outlook
Satisfaction with life
Vitality
Self-compassion
Pain intensity and severity
Pain interference
Pain unpleasantness
Pain catastrophising
Fatigue Severity
Fatigue Interference
Sleep Difficulties
Emotional distress
Anxiety and depressive symptoms
A study of past Mindfulness for Health participants found an increased ability to self-manage their condition, with positive changes in thinking and behaviour sustained as long as 9 years after completion of the course.
Long J, Briggs M, Long A, Astin F. Starting where I am: a grounded theory exploration of mindfulness as a facilitator of transition in living with a long-term condition. J Adv Nurs. 2016 Oct;72(10):2445-56. doi: 10.1111/jan.12998. Epub 2016 May 12. PMID: 27174075.
In another study, Doran (2014) interviewed people 6 and 12 months after completing a Mindfulness for Health course. All had chosen the course to help with with persistent back pain. Themes in their experience included:
A University of Manchester Human Pain Research Group study concluded:
“The Breathworks programme improved the mental well-being of patients and their sense of being able to control their pain symptoms. These improvements were related to changes in patterns of activity in brain regions involved with cognitive control and emotional regulation.“
I am currently planning my course schedule for the next few months, so if there is a particular time of day and day of the week that would suit you best, please do let me know.
If you are enquiring on behalf of someone else, you are welcome to gift the course to them if they would like to participate ~ simply contact me for details as to how this can be arranged.
The standard price (set by Breathworks) for the full 8 weeks is £295, with concessions available at £225.
Each week’s topic will be supported by resources such as handouts, videos and meditation recordings for you to explore in your own time, as well as templates for a reflective pacing diary that you can use to track your progress.
I’ve welcomed a huge variety of people onto my courses, ranging in age from their 20s to their 70s, all of them looking for a way to reduce suffering from pain, fatigue, anxiety and a variety of health conditions. These have included injuries, back, knee or hip pain, stroke recovery, and a range of chronic and degenerative conditions.
Most people join the course with a current health challenge, but some are those whose personal journeys with illness or injury have inspired them to become health practitioners, and they join the course with the primary intention of learning how to help others. This mix of experience ensures that we can create an inspiring, kind and compassionate learning environment for everyone.
No previous experience of mindfulness or meditation is required as the course is suitable for complete beginners, as well as more experienced mindfulness practitioners.
Participating in a Mindfulness for Health course counts as pre-requisite for training with Breathworks and other mindfulness organisations such as the Mindfulness in Schools Project, so if you are living with, or have recovered from, pain, fatigue or illness and are thinking of training as a mindfulness teacher yourself, you are welcome to attend.
“Whether you suffer with chronic pain, treat those who suffer, or care for a loved one who does, the Breathworks methods could radically change your life for the better.”
Prof.Lance McCracken, Clinical Lead, Centre for Pain Services, Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases, Professor of Behaviourial Medicine, King’s College London
The group will be limited to a maximum of 11 people to ensure that there will be plenty of opportunities to ask questions, but please be aware that this is not a therapeutic space and no medical advice will be offered: the focus will be purely on how mindfulness can be used to support your physical and related mental wellbeing.
My own experience of using mindfulness to manage a challenging health condition began with my diagnosis of cancer in 2014, and was invaluable throughout my treatment in 2015.
Having first discovered mindfulness in 2001 and begun teaching it in 2011, I was so grateful to have an already well established practice that my recovery and subsequent all-clear inspired me to train as a Breathworks Mindfulness for Health teacher.
It would be wonderful if you were able to join me on the next available course, so that I can share not only the wonderful content with you, but also a heartfelt sense of what a transformative effect mindfulness can have in our lives.
Please contact me to register your interest for the next available course, and let me know whether you would prefer a morning, afternoon or evening time.
I always arrange a short Zoom call with every course participant before the course begins. This gives us an opportunity to get to know each other, so that you can ask any questions that you may have, and I can understand what you would like to gain from the course. Please do email me if you would like to arrange this call before you decide whether or not to book the course ~ there is no obligation at all!
My intention is to make the course as relaxed, welcoming and inspirational as possible, so if you have any particular requirements to support your learning, or are not yet familiar with Zoom, please don’t hesitate to let me know via katie@soulnutrition.org