Breathing in I notice I am breathing in. Breathing out I notice I am breathing out.
– The Buddha
Rosalyn Chissick (MNFSH, Mindfulness Association) has completed four years of training in mindfulness with The Mindfulness Association.
To book a place on a mindfulness-based living course or retreat or to discuss individual mindfulness sessions, please contact Rosalyn
Based on Buddhist meditation techniques, ‘mindfulness is an innate capacity of the mind to be aware of the present moment in a non-judgmental way…and promotes a way of being that helps us take better care of ourselves and others, and lead healthier lives. It enables us to access inner resources for coping effectively with stress, difficulty and illness.’
During Rosalyn’s individual one-to-one mindfulness healing sessions, she teaches mindfulness self-help techniques to practice at home.
Rosalyn teaches the Mindfulness Association’s Mindfulness Based Living Course (MBLC) during day retreats at The Barn. These take place in the Barn’s yurt in the Mendip Hills, where participants have an opportunity to connect with nature.
She also teaches 8-week Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) courses for people with a cancer diagnosis and their carers, at Penny Brohn UK, a National charity that provides free, integrative care to people living with cancer and their supporters, where she also runs a weekly mindfulness follow-up group.
8-week mindfulness courses have become increasingly popular in recent years, thanks to their proven benefits in reducing stress and anxiety and increasing our ability to appreciate and enjoy life. The scientific evidence and clinical research that underpins mindfulness is strong and growing.
It shows positive effects on several aspects of whole-person health, including mind, brain, body and behaviour, as well as our relationships with others.
Mindfulness, stemming originally from Buddhist meditation practices, was first used by Jon Kabat-Zinn in his Stress Reduction Clinic at Massachusetts University. It is an evidence-based technique shown to be effective in improving wellbeing, as well as the capacity to be calm, open and aware in the present moment.
The positive changes to memory, creative thinking and a compassionate response to oneself and others can have wide ranging benefits throughout your life. Mindfulness can also help if you are feeling that life is moving too fast and your mind is all over the place, and you would like to be able to slow down and live in the moment and appreciate things more.
Life can move at a relentless and demanding pace. So often we find ourselves on auto-pilot, doing one thing with our body while our mind is caught up in something completely different. Mindfulness offers the invitation to come into the freshness of the present moment: to know what is happening while it is happening.
Mindfulness is the practice of deliberately paying attention to our experience in the moment, with a curious and open mind. We pay attention to our body sensations, sounds, moods and emotions.
Anyone can learn how to be mindful. Mindfulness is accessible to all. You do not need to ‘clear your mind’ in order to practice mindfulness; everyone’s mind is full of thoughts. You also don’t need to ‘be good at meditation’; a mindful awareness allows and encompasses all of our experience whether we feel calm and relaxed or restless and fidgety.
8-week Mindfulness groups
Over 8 weekly 2-hour sessions with Roz, you will learn a range of meditation, gentle movement and daily living exercises that will guide you step-by-step towards being more fully aware in the present moment. The course will help you learn to respond wisely and compassionately to your experience, leading to improved quality of life and greater wellbeing.
Mindfulness retreats
These follow similar lines to the 8-week groups but take place over a series of weekends, often in the countryside with an opportunity to relish being in nature.
By paying attention to our moment-to-moment experience, thoughts lose their hold over us and we learn to step back and get some perspective. Our thoughts and emotions come and go, and we can choose to act on them or not.
Being present with everything, allowing whatever happens to come and go, leads to a place of stillness. A place where we can wisely meet the entirety of who we are with awareness and kindness.
Mindfulness may not change our situation but it can help how we are with it. We can stand back from emotional conflict. We can become kinder, more compassionate and wise
“Mindfulness is the awareness that emerges when we pay attention on purpose, in the present moment, without judgment in the service of greater self-understanding, wisdom and wellbeing”.
Jon Kabat-Zinn, American Professor of Medicine, Founder of the stress reduction programme, Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR)
To book a place on a mindfulness-based living course or retreat or to discuss individual mindfulness sessions, please contact Rosalyn