Course Information

Retreat: Foundations of Mindfulness (in-person) - POSTPONED TO LATER ONLINE EVENT

When: 22 Apr 2022 - 26 Apr 2022
Where: The Nightingale Centre, Buxton
Tutors: Sarah Millband, Jenny Wilks

What’s involved?

We will deepen our personal and experiential engagement with the core meditation practices taught in courses such as Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction and Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy, alongside offering an opportunity to explore theoretical understandings that underpin them. In particular, we will structure the retreat around the four ways of establishing mindfulness as expressed within Buddhist philosophy. These teachings will be offered as a framework to support first-person exploration of experience in formal and informal mindfulness practice – the core curriculum will be the immediacy of personal experience. Whilst having their roots in Buddhist psychology, the themes, teaching, practice guidance and explorations will be presented in terms of their application to secular mindfulness programmes such as MBSR and MBCT.

The retreat will include:

  • periods of both guided and self-directed practice
  • short talks
  • group exchanges with the teachers
  • interpersonal mindfulness practice in dyads to support us to bring compassionate awareness into our experience of interacting with another – and to deepen contemplation on the teaching themes
  • sustained periods of silence to enable participants to connect more fully with their inner experience
  • time to practice mindfulness informally between the scheduled sessions

The teachers will be available to talk to people individually.

A core teaching intention for this retreat is to offer a structure and atmosphere within which we can deeply look into experience with the freshness of beginner’s mind, enabling new insights and perspectives to emerge.


Who is the retreat for?

This retreat is suitable for people who have attended an eight-week MBSR/MBCT (or similar) course and who have a personal practice of mindfulness. It is open to anyone who meets these requirements and is particularly intended for people who teach or are training to teach Mindfulness Based Programmes and others who are integrating mindfulness into their professional work.  

This retreat will enable mindfulness teachers who wish to be included on the BAMBA Listing of Mindfulness Teachers to fulfill the requirement to attend an annual mindfulness retreat. It also fulfils the TTP retreat requirement at Trained Teacher level.


Requirements to attend:

Attendance at an 8-week MBSR/MBCT (or similar). In addition, attendance of at least one day of guided silent mindfulness practice is recommended but not required.

Please ensure you are able to attend the entire event. If this is not possible, please contact us to discuss before submitting an application.


Timings:

Please arrive by 4pm on 22nd April. The retreat will end at 12.30pm on 26th April followed by lunch.

All times given are UK, BST (British Summer Time).


What to bring/wear:

Please bring equipment to support you in your formal practice (such as cushion, stool, yoga mat, blanket).


Location:

Although seeming “away from it all”, Greater Manchester, South Yorkshire and the Midlands are all nearby. Along the ridge above Hucklow you can see five counties on a clear day! There are few places more central to the country as a whole.

https://www.thenightingalecentre.org.uk/location.php 

We strongly advise that you visit the venue website to review their Covid-19 policy as the event approaches. You must ensure that you comply with all health and safety, licensing and other rules and regulations of the venue or applicable to the venue. It is your responsibility to familiarise yourself with any rules and regulations that apply.


Rates:

Our full rates have no hidden extras and include deposit, teaching, room and board. 

Full rate for SINGLE accommodation: £866.00 (includes £100.00 non-refundable deposit).

Employer's rate - Recognising the large administrative overhead of dealing with employers, we will be adding a £50 surcharge if the employer is paying directly; where possible we would advise applicants to pay themselves and reclaim on expenses to avoid the charge.

Please note: The majority of our venues have shared bathrooms, including for SINGLE rooms. Please contact us if you have any specific needs that we need to be aware of.


The Application and Payment Process:

Our application and payment process involves the following steps:

  1. We receive your application form and assess it to ensure that this retreat is suitable for you. We endeavour to make assessments within a week, but if the retreat leader is on annual leave or on retreat, then this can take a little bit longer.
  2. Upon offering you a place, we will then invoice you for the deposit or for the full amount, depending which option you choose when you complete your application.
  3. Your place is confirmed once we receive your deposit or full payment.
  4. If you selected to pay the deposit only, we will invoice you for the balance four months before the retreat starts.
  5. We will email you the joining instructions in advance of the course.

Payment and Cancellation Policy:

Please note that we are planning for this course to be held in-person, but if this is not possible with regard to Covid-19, we will advise you as early as we can if the course needs to be moved online. More on this can be found in our T&Cs, below.

Please read our Terms and Conditions for information regarding payments and cancellations.


For more information:

Please email us at retreats@mindfulness-network.org


Click here to sign up to this event.