What a lovely idea! Beat the winter blues by getting out in nature & exercising and connecting with community and finishing off in a gorgeous cafe!

Course Information: In a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction or Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy course, participants meet together as a class with an instructor for 8 weekly 2 – 2 1/2 hour classes, plus one all-day session Sunday 25th February 2018, (Venue TBC ). (N.B. Courses of less than 8 weeks duration and 2 hours per class are not recognised as MBSR or MBCT.) The emphasis in these courses is educational. There is ample time for discussion, but, while the course can be very therapeutic, it is not group therapy. Participants learn a different way of being with experience, bringing attention to what is happening here and now, rather than to what may or may not have happened in the past. The skill of mindfulness is taught through formal and informal mindfulness practices. Formal mindfulness meditation practices include the body scan meditation, mindful movement, sitting meditation and the 3-minute breathing space. Informal mindfulness meditation practice involves integrating mindfulness into every day life. In each class, participants have an opportunity to talk about their experience of the home practices, the obstacles that inevitably arise, and how to deal with them skillfully. Each class is organized around a theme that is explored through mindfulness practice, group inquiry and other relevant exercises. As mindfulness training is primarily experiential in nature, the main ‘work’ of the course is done at home between classes, using CDs with guided meditations that support participants developing practice outside of class. This requires devoting approximately 40 minutes per day to home practice. In many ways this commitment to daily practice is the most important aspect of the course. It is through personal experiencingof mindfulness that we come to understand the possibilities it opens for us in our daily lives. Over the eight weeks of the program, the practices help you to: become familiar with the workings of your mind, including the ways we avoid or get caught up in difficulties. notice the times when you are at risk of getting caught in old habits of mind that re-activate downward mood spirals or rachet up anxiety levels. explore ways of releasing yourself from those old habits and enter a different way of being. get in touch with a different way of knowing yourself and the world. notice small beauties and pleasures in the world around you instead of living in your head. be kind to yourself instead of wishing things were different all the time, or driving yourself to meet impossible goals. find a way so you don’t have to battle with yourself all the time. accept yourself as you are, rather than judging yourself all the time. be able to exercise greater choice in life. Effects of developing mindfulness include; Lasting decreases in physical and psychological symptoms An increased ability to relax Reductions in pain levels and an enhanced ability to cope with pain that may not go away Greater energy and enthusiasm for life Improved self-esteem An ability to cope more effectively with both short and long-term stressful situations. Enhanced interpersonal relationships Increased ability to manage anxiety and depression and/or low mood Reduced tension Better sleep Greater sense of meaning and purpose in life

Parents, Teachers ... here is a lovely guided meditation for wee ones! It identifies this as a practice for preschoolers but I think slightly older kids would also enjoy this.

Wholeness does not mean perfection: it means embracing brokenness as an integral part of life. Parker Palmer

Tips to improve low mood here...

At any given moment, you can choose to follow the chain of thoughts, emotions, and sensations that reinforce a perception of yourself as vulnerable and limited, or to remember that your true nature is pure, unconditioned, and incapable of being harmed. - Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche

It's just a phase..... no feeling is final

Kindness is inevitable when we see the goodness in ourselves and each other. Send a silent blessing to a stranger today. #WorldKindnessDay (Susan Gillis Chapman)

Me-sponsible... lovely. Highly recommended this practitioner if you are need of some TLC.. .holistic essence 5 star nurturing!

Re-Learning Loveliness..

http://www.eckilkenny.ie/coursebooking/primary-courses/605-mindfulness-taster-for-schools.html

Mindfulness For Teachers The world of education is a hectic place. We can often find ourselves ‘catching up’ or operating on ‘fast forward’. We are often occupied in our thoughts – thinking about what has happened in the last class or imagining what might happen in the next. At the same time as we are feverishly ‘thinking’ we are also frantically ‘doing’ and this is happening in the context of the seemingly relentless pressure on our role as educators such as: work overload and uncertainty, longer hours, interpersonal issues, and pressure to perform. Financial worries, family and personal relationships issues are often additional pressures. Many of us may feel that we are hurtling through our days on ‘automatic pilot’. It is no surprise that we can sometimes feel distracted, drained, overwhelmed or even frazzled. One way to restore the balance in our lives is through learning how to ‘be’ in the here and now. Mindfulness is the awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose in the present moment with kindness. It is learning to live with life as it is, however it is, rather than how we imagine it to be. Mindfulness helps us to directly experience what is happening right here, right now. The Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction course is a method which can be used in daily life to bring a greater sense of calm equilibrium regardless of the pressures we are up against or the challenges we face. If you are curious to see what this course involves, Kilkenny Education Centre invites you to a free taster session. Facilitator: Erica Balfour BSc, P.Grad.Dip. Psychotherapy, Dip. Mindfulness Based Interventions Two Free Taster Sessions in Location Kilkenny Education Centre 14th November - 6pm or 7pm (sessions last approx 1 hour) Please LOGIN or REGISTER for this course on KEC website