hei! members are asked to look out for an email inviting you to attend an 8 week Mindfulness Practice Course completely free-of-charge.

If you haven’t received one of these emails (they were sent out on Monday 8th July), and you’d like to go, please contact us.

Most weeks, the Course begins at 1.15pm and lasts 2¼ hours – so we finish at 3.30pm – but teachers will be available for questions and advice afterwards. There are three exceptions: Two combined sessions and one Saturday. Details are below.

The Course is specifically designed to let participants miss a session and catch up via distance learning (a video and a phone call or Skype / FaceTime call) but if you want to use this Course as part of a pathway to become a Mindfulness Teacher (please see the blog coming up soon) you must attend 6 of the total 9 sessions that form this Mindfulness Practice Course.

Days on which these sessions will take place are:

Session 1: Awareness and automatic pilot W17/7/13   13.15 – 15.30

Session 2: Living in our heads   W24/7/13   13.15 – 15.30

Session 3: Gathering the scattered mind  W31/7/13   13.15-15.30

Session 4: Recognising aversion and Session 5: Allowing / Letting be  W7/8/13  13.15 – 16.40  Please note that if participants cannot stay the extra time for this double-session, they can leave in the break and study at home. But see our note about counting this course towards  becoming a Mindfulness Teacher

Session 6: Thoughts are not facts  W14/8/13   13.15 – 15.30

Session 7: A day of Mindful Practice   Saturday 17/8/13   10.00 – 16.15 An alternative ‘All-Day’ session of practice can be chosen, although it is often thought advantageous to do this day with your student-peers

Session 8: ”How can I best take care of myself?”  and Session 9:  Maintaining and extending new learning  W21/8/13   13.15 – 16.30

A blog about what to expect will be going up soon.

It is important to emphasise these two things:

Overwhelmingly, the most important thing about any course about mindfulness is what you do between the sessions.  Mindfulness can be practiced in bed, in a queue, when you feel the need to calm yourself, but it also needs you to acknowledge that sometimes you need to go off and find somewhere quiet, just to be.

Secondly, although mindfulness is at least 2,500 years old, and based on many Buddhist ideas, this course is entirely secular.  Whether you have religion in your life or not, this mindfulness course is designed for everyone.

We are sure you will enjoy this extraordinary and, for many, life-changing experience.