Mindfulness leaflet 2013 (PDF - 550KB)

Want to know more about
mindfulness
Try the following resources:
Finding Peace in a Frantic World by
Mark Williams and Danny Penman
www.franticworld.com
The Mindful Way through Depression
by Mark Williams, John Tasdale,
Zindel Segal and Jon Kabat–Zin
www.actionforhappiness.org
Where are we
We are situated on 3 Elms Road, just off
Pritchatts Road and opposite the North car
park. Parking is in short supply nearby
although there is an available car park further
up Pritchatts Road. Once you have passed the
security barriers, the Student Support Service
at 3 Elms Road is on your left. Please report to
reception when you arrive.
Stressed Lost in your thoughts
Struggling to concentrate
Tormented by ‘If onlys’ or ‘what ifs’
Learn ways to get out of your head
and back into the present at….
Mindfulness workshops
at 3 Elms Road
www.bemindful.co.uk
www.mindfulnet.org
www.getsomeheadspace.com
We are here! 3 Elms Road
Student Support
3 Elms Road (G4 on campus map)
www.intranet.birmingham.ac.uk/
counselling
Phone: 0121 414 5130

Mindfulness workshops
What is ‘Mindfulness’
If you Google ‘Mindfulness’ you will
probably find many different definitions of
it. However the central theme and the aim
of the mindfulness training we will be doing
will be about learning ways to deliberately
turn attention in a non-judgmental way to
whatever is happening in the present
moment.
Put simply, if your mind is anything like my
mind, it rarely stops chattering! No matter
what is happening our minds are talking
away—sometimes by planning and thinking
ahead to the next thing we need to do,
sometimes by pulling into an ‘alternate’
reality where everything works out how we
want it to and more often than not by being
judgmental, critical, condemning or
generally negative about us, other people
or situations. This is what human minds do
and when we get all caught up in our
thinking we take ourselves out of the
present moment and into the world inside
our head. Mindfulness training aims to help
you practice skills to be fully ‘in the
moment’ rather than caught up in all the
stuff your mind wants you to listen to.
Add to that all the distractions that are
available to us: phones, computers,
television, internet and it’s easy to see how
we may have lost some of our ability to ‘be
here now’
Why learn mindfulness skills
The mindfulness training we will be doing will be
learning to be in the present moment rather than
caught up in our heads. That’s not to say we want to
be ‘mindful all the time—sometimes we like to
escape the present moment—reading a good book
or getting into a great film for example. But often
we do not escape to a ‘good’ place as our mind
hooks us in a maze of scary stories and negative
thoughts. Mindfulness is NOT about getting rid of
those thoughts but instead finding ways to turn off
the ‘automatic’ pilot of how we respond to those
thoughts by choosing to bring our attention back to
what is happening in the present.
What will happen at the workshops
Each workshop will begin with a 5-10minute ‘breath
observation’ and/or 10 minute body scan. Practicing
noticing our breath and body sensations without
judgment is a good way to start being mindful as
they are always available in the present. After this
we will do one or two mindfulness based everyday
activities!
Will I have to talk
There will be time to share your experience of the
exercises if you would like to but you don’t have to
do this. Likewise people may share experiences of
using mindfulness over the week however as this
isn’t a therapy group we won’t be discussing
individual issues outside the practice of
mindfulness.
How many people will be there Room size
means we are limited to a maximum of 12.
What do I wear
Anything you can sit comfortably in!
Is mindfulness religious
While there are mindfulness concepts in
many religions, the training we will be doing
will have no religious/spiritual connotations.
Some exercise may have a more ’meditative’
feel to them as you are invited to close your
eyes and sit comfortable but the focus will
always be on learning skills to be in the
moment.
Do I need to practice
Yes, yes , yes! Like learning anything,
developing mindfulness takes regular
practice. However even dedicating 10
minutes a day has shown to be beneficial.
Do I need to book
Yes please book on our website or at
reception (see front for details)
Can I come more than once
Come as often as you would like! I will be
varying the activities throughout the term.
Who runs the sessions
My name is Sue Knight and I work here as a
Wellbeing Advisor. I have a real interest in
Mindfulness and try to practice it on a daily
basis.
If you would like more information
email me on s.j.knight@bham.ac.uk