Mindfulness for Health Courses and Groups in Oxford
“Do not fight against pain; do not fight against irritation or jealousy. Embrace them with great tenderness, as though you were embracing a little baby.” Thich Nhat Hahn
In a way pain is a call- a call to attend, a call to tend and a call to tenderness. It is a call to embrace and saturate our pain with compassion and a loving heart.
The term Mindfulness was coined by Thich Nhat Hahn a Vietnamese Buddhist Monk and peace activist. He sought to bring present moment, kindly awareness into everyday life, thereby bringing years of meditators experiences out of monastries into the secular world. In a world that increasingly worships the intellect, logic, measurables and the rational, he taught kindness, simplicity, gratitude and embodied ways of being, bringing us more into balance. Buddha was concerned with learning about suffering and the end of suffering and it is perhaps this that has brought mindfulness into the health sector. Jon Kabat Zinn started teaching mindfulness to people with health issues. As he began to evidence his research he found that it was significantly helpful for many health conditions. His book, Full Catastrophe Living, documents his explorations. Vidyamala Burch who has severe spinal damage and chronic pain found Jon Kabat Zinn’s mindfulness so helpful for her own suffering and pain that she developed Breathworks courses specifically for chronic pain and chronic ill health as well as stress. The training was a natural extension of my work as a physiotherapist and brought my love of meditation into my work. I started meditation 40 years ago and now guide a Breathworks group as well as using it one to one in my work if it seems appropriate.
Breathworks Group for relieving chronic pain and ill health
Mindfulness is helpful for many conditions. Please call and ask about yours.
- Fibromyalgia and other chronic fatigue conditions
- Chronic pain whatever its origins…back, neck or centrally mediated pain ie from the brain Complex regional pain syndrome
- Breathing difficulties
- Stress and Anxiety
- Abdominal pains
- Radiotherapy or chemotherapy induced aches and pains
I run a monthly Breathworks drop in group on a Thursday morning. They are hybrid meetings ie on zoom and in person.
Dates for 2024 are:
April 18th, May 16th, June 13th
I also guide a Sufi Group monthly and am in training to be a retreat guide for solo retreats.
If you have a longing to know yourself intimately through love- to have space to turn your gaze inwards and to tend to your brokenness and beauty- I am guiding solo retreats of one or three days and up to a week. I visit daily, either in person or online. If it is in person, lunch and dinner are provided as well. At the moment the cost is £50 per day. Accommodation is not included . Retreats can be done in your own home if you have space to make an undisturbed sanctuary. Or you could find somewhere to rent or speak to me.
Sufism comes from the word Sophia meaning Divine, Inner Wisdom and can also mean purity; the purity of our soul our True Nature. Sufism is a mystical path of Unity and so embraces all spiritual traditions. The retreats will deepen your own souls path in whatever spiritual tradition is yours.
If your interest is piqued do get in touch and I can put you on either of the mailing lists.
A previous Mindfulness Sufi Retreat online
Awakening To True Nature
Saturday 10 June 10am to 5pm 2023
I wish I could show you
When you are lonely
Or in darkness
The astonishing light
Of your own Being.
HAFIZ
Times of challenge may be calling us to remember our True Nature. Many of us long to be in True Nature. How did we forget? How can we remember who we truly are? Perhaps being conscious of our upsets in daily life can become our way home to the truth of who we are.
This day is a mindful stepping stone for transforming our upsets into gifts. These gifts may help us become more conscious of our identification with core negative beliefs and how we have forgotten the astonishing light of our Being.
The day will be led by four Sufi Mindfulness teachers: Kimberly Paumier, Pauline Sayhi, Delia SaidaTaylor-Brook and Suria Wallis. You are invited to explore a current upset with the help of mindfulness practices and meditations. There will also be sharing via breakout rooms and mindful movement to help us remember our True Nature and to forgive ourselves when we have forgotten.