MINDFULNESS TO REDUCE STRESS
A FREE 1-HOUR ONLINE CLASS WITH CANBERRA'S MOST EXPERIENCED MINDFULNESS TEACHER
MONDAY 24 JULY 6PM
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Are you feeling stuck in a cycle of stress?
Tense, strung out, unable to relax?
Perhaps you find it challenging to let go of upsetting memories.
You may have painfully tight shoulders or find yourself holding your breath throughout the day.
Maybe you struggle to enjoy time with your loved ones because of the number of worries you’re dealing with.
In this free class, you will learn specific skills and practices to help break this exhausting cycle.
Get a taste of how it feels to be present with your mind, without trying to change who you are.
WHO THIS IS FOR
The content will be tailored to beginners and those new to mindfulness meditation, but anyone is welcome to attend, including current students and graduates.
It will also be especially useful for anyone going through a stressful event, whether big or small.
The class is completely FREE and there is no obligation to sign up for any of our other programs.
WHAT TO EXPECT
The director of Simply Mindful, Megan Layton, will facilitate the free class.
During the session, Megan will share snippets of the fascinating research behind mindfulness, and guide you through some simple meditation practices.
There will also be plenty of time for you to share your questions and comments, in a safe and supportive environment.
You don’t need to have anything special with you, although if you own a meditation cushion you are welcome to use it.
I have learnt so much. I have learnt to let go of expectations, to recognise when I’m judging myself, the need for self-compassion. I can’t wait to do more courses with Simply Mindful and continue my meditation. — 2022 course participant
THIS FREE ONLINE CLASS CAN HELP YOU:
reduce stress
manage anxiety
be kinder to yourself
I have learnt that no stress is worth ruining my life, day, week or how I interact with my loved ones.
I’ve also learnt that I’m doing a good job and some patterns of stress management are toxic.
— Cameron McDonald, 2022 participant
Are you ready to sign up for the free class? Click here
What are the possible benefits of mindfulness?
Our program participants have described several positive effects including:
Reduction in physical aches and pains
Sense of emotional safety
Feeling more connected to themselves
I look forward to the class every week. — Simply Mindful program participant
What does the FREE ONLINE CLASS include?
The science behind mindfulness
Learn why and how mindfulness works to reduce stress
Simple mindfulness practices
Short techniques and strategies that you can safely do at home anytime
Safe space to share your thoughts
This is a trauma-sensitive space and the session will not be recorded.
Meet your teacher
Megan Layton
Director, Senior MBSR and Yoga teacher
The director of Simply Mindful, Megan Layton, will be your teacher.
Megan has been teaching mindfulness to the general public, organisations, workplaces and individuals with Simply Mindful for 10 years and is a long-time practitioner and teacher of yoga and meditation.
She is also a brain science enthusiast and continues to develop skills and understanding in this area.
Mindfulness actually enables us to bring out the best in ourselves. It has enormous value and potential to help us live better, happier, more skillful and compassionate lives. It has helped me make sense of many things in my endeavours to understand human suffering and healing. Each time I teach, I am totally inspired by the feedback from participants about the impact it has on their lives, their relationships, their work and their understanding of themselves. —Megan
Megan is a warm, skilled and insightful facilitator, passionate about the potential mindfulness has to help people and organisations make positive changes. She is a parent of two delightful teenagers, outdoors and cycling enthusiast and beginner musician who loves to sing.
Megan is an amazing teacher. Many things she spoke about resonated and were very powerful. I also appreciated how she made herself available to chat.
I adored Megan’s grounded, loving and compassionate approach. My heartfelt gratitude.
Are you ready to sign up for the free class?
Click here
Questions? Send us a message.
What is mindfulness?
Mindfulness is about being fully present and aware to all of life. Presence is an innate human capacity, however this capacity is underdeveloped in most people.
Mindfulness training is a bit like ‘mental exercise’. As we practice over time, we build what’s known as the ‘mindful muscle’ – our ability to be fully present and alive to our lives more of the time.
What does the MBSR course involve?
- 2 ½ hour class once a week for 8 weeks plus one full day session (held on the weekend)
- Mindfulness meditation training, access to the online library of guided meditation recordings, and course workbook
- Learning about the effects of stress on our bodies and minds
- Exploring patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving and their relationship to stress
- Developing strategies for applying mindfulness in daily life
- Learning through brief lectures, group discussion and experiential activities
Who is MBSR for?
This is suitable for absolute beginners as well as those who’ve previously done some mindfulness training.
How can MBSR help me?
"This is the most important thing I have ever done for myself"—this quite literally is the feedback we hear from participants again and again.
If you want to learn how to work skilfully with your own mind, body and emotions and really enjoy being you and feel truly at home in your own skin, then mindfulness training is for you. It is a proven method for improving health, mental health, self-awareness and skilfulness.
Is there science to back this up? Isn’t meditation a spiritual thing?
MBSR teaches the art and science of presence.
It’s an art because everyone’s internal world is completely unique, nuanced and it’s also a creative changing space. No one else can tell you exactly how to meditate or do it for you.
It’s a science because research in neuroscience, medicine and psychology have helped us to understand how this ancient practice actually works, how it not only changes the structure of the brain, but also improves health and mental health, and even slows down the process of ageing. (see our resources for some references)
Mindfulness and MBSR is open to anyone. You don’t have to believe anything in particular to benefit from it. It’s compatible with a wide range of spiritual and religious beliefs. Anything that is important or meaningful for you in your life can be enhanced by mindfulness practice.
I have a really busy mind. I can’t sit still, how am I going to meditate?
Almost everyone in our MBSR courses complains of a busy mind!
The mind’s job is to think. In mindfulness meditation we are not trying to stop thinking, we are learning to relate differently to it.
Throughout the course you will have the opportunity to explore strategies, techniques and practical approaches for relating to your mind.
You will learn to meet your thoughts, mental and emotional habits, fears and stuck places with kindness and curiosity.
Why should I do MBSR when I can go to a local meditation centre for free?
Many people come to MBSR because they specifically want a mindfulness training that is secular and has no particular spiritual orientation or beliefs attached to the process.
As well, most “free” meditation centres rely on people’s generosity to support and sustain their work and the teachings. In order for these centres to survive, they need to be considered as supported by the people who use them.
MBSR is the world’s gold standard evidence based mindfulness training, It has been a major source of the evidence base over the last 40 years as it began in a university hospital setting, the university of Massachusetts medical school and was designed by a scientist, Dr Jon Kabat-Zinn.
Someone down the road is offering a mindfulness course cheaper. What’s the difference?
Check it out! We encourage you to be curious about the differences. It is likely that with a shorter course (ie 4 weeks of 1 hour each week) that you will get ‘mindfulness lite’, a superficial and no doubt helpful course, but not something that sticks, or substantially changes anything in your life.
For over 40 years, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) has been the gold standard of teaching mindfulness in a secular setting for the relief of physical and psychological suffering. It is taught by people who have committed themselves to training, doing retreats and having a personal practice themselves, over many years.
Training takes place over a long period, is in depth and high standard. MBSR started at the University of Massachusetts Medical School over 26,000 people have participated in the research. This is a major source of the evidence base and current interest in mindfulness.
However, many people are now offering “mindfulness” courses “based on MBSR” or “based on the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn” with very little personal experience and immersion in mindfulness practice themselves, and little or no training in MBSR.
These courses are often shorter, perhaps 6 sessions of 1.5 hours (ie 9 hours long) or 6 sessions x 2 hours (12 hours long) for around $400. This works out as more expensive than the MBSR program which is 27 hours long, including a silent retreat day, plus email and phone contact with the teacher if you need it during the 8 weeks.