Mindfulness for Chronic Illness 8-Week Course
Learn all about Mindfulness and How it helps us with Chronic Illness
Join me online, via Zoom, in a small group for this 8-week course.
Weekly sessions which last around one and a half hours where, together, we can explore the science behind Mindfulness techniques, and learn simple ways that you can incorporate Mindfulness practice into your daily life. You can experience the benefits for yourself during each session with 2 or 3 guided 'Mini Zens' which take just a few minutes, and which can be easily incorporated into your daily routine. At the end of each session is a 10 or 15 minute guided meditation practice, which you are welcome to stay for live, or you can do in your own time afterwards.
I am a neurodiversity-informed Mindfulness Teacher, which means that I can adapt Mindfulness practices to make them accessible for everyone.
Full notes of all the content of the session, including the scrips for the Mini-Zens, and a recorded audio file of the guided meditation will be sent to you each week for you to keep and use as often as you like, so you can practice in your own time.
The course begins with a 1:1 call with me, so I can get to know you and your needs. Then you will join my next intake to explore Mindfulness as a part of a small group of other people living with chronic pain and illness. Group numbers are limited to 6 so that there is plenty of time for individual interaction.
Together, we will learn basic Mindfulness tools to build resilience and self-compassion, to navigate difficult life experiences, including strong emotions and physical pain, and explore how to find joy and meaning in a life which includes suffering.
This course will empower you to take back control of your life from pain and illness.
Topics covered:
Week 1: What is Mindfulness, the science of why it's good for us, and a brief introduction to the basic tool of working with the breath.
Week 2: Mindfulness Tools. Following on from last week, we learn more about the basic tools of Mindfulness, working with the breath, sense, movement and our thoughts.
Week 3: Self-Compassion and 'Kindfulness'. The scientific benefits to our health of being compassionate and kind, towards ourselves and others, and how practicing compassion helps us with illness and pain.
Week 4: Dealing with emotions. How Mindfulness embraces all emotions. Understanding the purpose of emotions, and how Mindfulness can help us to cope with strong or difficult emotions. We will focus particularly on stress and anxiety, two of the most troublesome emotions that we experience.
Week 5: Acceptance. This can seem like a tricky subject when we live with pain and illness. How can we be asked to 'accept' this - and what does that actually mean? Does it mean giving up all hope of a cure? No! We explore what acceptance really is, and why it is so helpful for us when we live with suffering and difficulty.
Week 6: Befriending the Body. We look at how Mindfulness can benefit our health and how we can use Mindfulness to reconnect with our bodies, and support our bodies to feel safe and enter a healing state.
Week 7: Purpose, Joy and Gratitude. Some more tricky subjects for those of us who have pain and illness! These things can sometimes feel like they only happen for other people, and we are excluded from feeling these positive emotions. How can we feel joy or gratitude when we are in pain? How can we achieve a sense of purpose when we can't do the things we want to do? We explore the scientific benefits of these positive emotions, and how we can cultivate them in our own lives, in spite of suffering.
Week 8: Mindful Action - how to use our Mindfulness practice to support us to take positive action in our lives.. We will finish with a few tips and tricks to help us to make Mindfulness a daily habit.
1:1 Mindfulness course options are also available, if you prefer to work privately with me on a 1:1 basis - get in touch with me for costs and availability.
Also available - 30 minute weekly Mindfulness Meditation and Chat group sessions - join me for a short meditation and some time to reflect on the practice with other like-minded people living with pain and illness.
Graded Pricing Options
8 week Group Course
I am conscious that many people living with chronic illness are living on limited income, and I know that many will struggle to afford the help that they need. I have experienced financial difficulty as a result of my own illness, and so it is important to me that anyone living with chronic illness who could benefit from Mindfulness can access this course.
For this reason, I operate a graded payment system for my Mindfulness courses. This system relies on people’s honestly and integrity, but I trust that those who can afford to pay the full price will do so, so that I can afford to support those who can’t afford to pay as much, and that way everyone benefits.
Full-Price £150 per person—If you are working and have financial security, a comfortable lifestyle and a regular income, then please pay the full-cost for the course. This price reflects the true value of the course, the hours of training and work that I have put into creating it, and the true value of my time and expertise. Those of you who pay this full-cost option can know that, by doing so, you are allowing me to continue to work as a Mindfulness teacher and wellness coach and to offer support for others living with chronic illness.
Intermediate price £99 per person—If you are earning an income and don’t feel you qualify for the full reduction, but your budget is stretched and you are wondering if you can find the full cost of this course, then please choose the middle option. Payment plans are available so that the cost can be spread over 2 months.
Budget Price £75 per person—If you are struggling financially, living on benefits, or without an income, please choose this option. Access to Mindfulness should not be dependent on your financial income, and learning Mindfulness techniques to help support you with your pain and illness could be of great benefit to you. The full-reduced price option is for you, so please take advantage of it if this is your situation. Payment plans are available, so that the cost can be spread over 2 months.
Please note that there are limited places for the 2 reduced-price options, so please only take this option if it really applies to you, otherwise you would be depriving others of the support that they need but can’t afford.
Private 1:1 Mindfulness 8-week course £275
In this premium 1:1 Mindfulness course, you will experience Mindfulness meditations and mini-relaxations each week, guided by me, with notes and recordings of the meditations to use yourself at home. This package includes all the benefits of the group course, but taught especially for you, one to one, with time to explore your own questions and your own personal experiences of Mindfulness.
What is included?
1 x 1 hour Initial 1:1 consultation
8 x 90 minute 1:1 sessions with me, to learn the key tools of Mindfulness and explore how to apply it to your own situation and your own life.
Worksheets and exercises
8 x recorded meditations to access after the sessions and keep for life.
Who is this course for?
This course is ideal for you if you experience pain or chronic illness and you would like to learn the techniques of Mindfulness and explore whether this ancient practice can help you to improve your wellbeing and manage your symptoms better. If you would like to explore Mindfulness but perhaps find the idea of group sessions too stressful or intrusive, and you would prefer to learn the practice in 8 private 1:1 sessions with me, with bespoke support to incorporate Mindfulness into your life, then this course is the right option for you.
