AN INTRODUCTION TO MINDFULNESS AND MEDITATION – SYDNEY AND NORTHERN BEACHES COURSES

“Multiple scientific studies have demonstrated effects of mindfulness on wellbeing, as well as effects of mindfulness on brain function and brain structure. The neuroscience community accepts these facts. There is no debate surrounding the potential for mindfulness to deliver positive benefits for individuals” – Dr. Bechara Saab Phd. Neuroscientist Mobio Interactive, CEO & Chief Scientist.

AUSTRALIA’S NUMBER ONE MINDFULNESS COURSE

Reduce anxiety and worry. Improve sleep. Increase self-acceptance.

$145 for a full 4 week introduction to mindfulness course in Sydney. Includes 4 classes with an experienced mindfulness trainer, 4 week subscription to the full version of the CALM app, downloadable guided mindfulness meditations and a 45-page guidebook.

“Using mindfulness to help me better manage unrelenting anxiety, obsessive worrying & sadness. I have found that using the apps is helpful when having a stressful day, & I intend to keep practicing daily. Thank you.” – Cecily Wilson

BOOK A COURSE NOW | ALL COURSES ARE $145

“Thank goodness I came across Mindfulness Works. I have learnt so much in a year and have the happiest, authentic and content that I have ever been. By learning acceptance without judgement as been an eye opener for me. I’m continuing my journey of self compassion and feel excited and hopeful for my future. But am grateful of the now and who I am today…” – Rebecca Young

Mindfulness means “paying attention in a particular way; On purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgementally.” – Jon Kabat Zinn (Professor of Medicine Emeritus Stress Reduction Clinic and the Centre for Mindfulness in Medicine).

Modern research on mindfulness and meditation shows that with regular practice and over time mindfulness and meditation practice can reduce stress and anxiety.

THE BENEFITS OF MINDFULNESS

Many people who practice mindfulness regularly, over time find that they:

• Experience less stress, anxiety and worry

• Improve sleeping patterns

• Feel more self-acceptance and self-love

• Reduce reactivity and increase emotional intelligence

• Experience more joy

EXPERIENCE GREATER JOY AND FREEDOM

Modern life IS challenging. There are work, financial, health, family, relationship pressures.  Mindfulness gives you ways to navigate these challenges and pressures in skillful ways. You feel more mental freedom.

IMPROVE SLEEP AND REDUCE STRESS & ANXIETY

Many people find that after practicing mindfulness and meditation over time and regulalry, that your sleep improves and your me stress and anxiety levels reduce. This does require regular, consistent practice over a period of 8 weeks or more.

REALISE YOU ARE OK – JUST AS YOU ARE

Many of us have a small voice in our head telling us we are not quite ‘good enough’ as we are. Through mindfulness and meditation you can start to discover your natural OKness, that you are totally OK – right now, right her and just as you are.

FREE 4 WEEK SUBSCRIPTION TO THE CALM APP INCLUDED

Every participant on the Mindfulness Works Introduction to Mindfulness 4 Week Course from receives a free 4 week gift subscription to the award-winning Calm mindfulness and meditation app (premium version). This app was the Apple app of the year for 2017.

“Since doing this course, I have been sleeping much better, I feel much more in control of my emotions, I have enjoyed ‘noticing’ my own state, but also it has transferred to everything around. This means I am re-enjoying many things that I had been taking for granted.” — Sandy Good

“Neuroscientists have found that meditators shift their brain activity to different areas of the cortex…This mental shift decreases the negative effects of stress, mild depression and anxiety. …The researchers found that the meditators showed a pronounced shift in activity to the left frontal lobe. In other words, they were calmer and happier than before.” – Psychology Today

NO RELIGION. NO DOGMA. NO FUNNY POSITIONS.

COURSE CONTENTS

This particular course emphasises your own natural wisdom, your own innate OKness, right here and now. It is presented in a practical, non-religious way.

Week 1: What is Mindfulness?

• What mindfulness is
• The benefits of mindfulness and meditation
• How to get the most from the course
• Guided body scan mindfulness meditation
• Questions and answers / discussion.

Week 2: Working with the Mind

• Why thinking can be problematical
• Practical ways to work with difficult thoughts
• Self-judgement and how to intervene
• Guided mindfulness meditation – counting the breath
• Questions and answers / discussion.

Week 3: Working with Emotions

• What are emotions?
• Learning to feel emotions
• The RAIN method
• Non-judgement and acceptance
• Guided mindfulness meditation on feelings
• Questions and answers / discussion.

Week 4: Radical Acceptance

• What it means to be present
• How wanting causes stress
• Developing wisdom and insight
• Authentic self-compassion
• Open awareness guided mindfulness meditation
• Questions and answers / discussion
• Next steps.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT THE COURSE

“Am so glad I did the course and would recommend it to everyone. ” – Rosie Smith

“Huge reduction in anxiety, calmness of mind and body and empowerment over my symptoms.” – Jo Kirwan

“I feel calmer. I am able to use techniques when my triggers go off. Using the meditation at night has allowed me to get a better nights sleep” – Sue Mathew

“Using mindfulness to help me better manage unrelenting anxiety, obsessive worrying & sadness. I have found that using the apps is helpful when having a stressful day, & I intend to keep practicing daily. Thank you.” – Cecily Wilson

“Mindfulness is now my go-to tool when I’m overwhelmed or need to re focus” – Biljana Rufati

“The facilitator was exceptionally good. Really highly skilled.” – Victoria Barkway

“The facilitator took her time to explain things, asked questions, and was very enthusiastic and knowledgeable.” – Janine Taylor

“The facilitator was interesting, captivating, funny, down-to-earth, compassionate and extremely good at what she does.” – Rosie Smith

“The facilitator presented well and had a very calming demeanour. I looked forward to the class every week” – Paulette Fraser

“[The course] covered all key areas of peoples’ basic issues and addressed them well. I also like the apps you recommend and all the extra info in the booklet!” – Biljana Rufati

BOOK A COURSE NOW

Refund and Transfer Policy

• Full refunds are available up to one week before a course starts.
• Free transfers to other courses are available up to one week before a course starts.
• Once a course has started, full refunds are only available if you attend every class of the course and feel you have not got value. In this case you are entitled to and will be given a full refund.
• Refunds are not given if you do not attend every class of the course and if you simply ‘do not like’ the course or decide it ‘is not for you’.
• For more details about our refund and transfer policy, please read our FAQ.

How long is each weekly class and what happens?

Each class is one hour long. There will be a guided meditation for a period. This will include meditation instruction. After the meditation and instruction, there will be a talk or discussion. This includes a question and answer time.

Who is it suitable for?

This course is suitable for any of the following:

• 18-year-olds and over
• Beginners
• People who have never meditated or practised mindfulness before
• People who have just started meditating or practising mindfulness.

MEET YOUR TRAINERS

The approach of all Mindfulness Works teachers is straightforward, practical and heartfelt and directed towards you discovering your own innate wisdom and authentic experience.

Gavin Eichholz – Northern Beaches (Avalon)

Gavin is a mindfulness-based coach and psychotherapist with a Masters in counselling and psychotherapy.

He is also a Chartered Accountant who has worked in corporates and accounting practices where he has held numerous roles at a manager and senior manager level.

In the last 15 years Gavin has embarked on a personal self-development journey that was sparked by an interest in meditation, mindfulness and how the mind works. Gavin is passionate about mindfulness and meditation and has used them daily in his own life for an extended period of time. He has done numerous meditation and mindfulness-based retreats and workshops all over the world including three 10-day insight meditation retreats.

Gavin’s practice and understanding of mindfulness has allowed him to get an experiential understanding of how it positively impacts his moment to moment experience of life. He has a passion for sharing these insights and the benefits of mindfulness with others.

Gavin operates his coaching and psychotherapy business Empower to Shine to assist people with gaining more clarity and confidence with various life issues and to facilitate mindfulness and meditation sessions. He also does financial coaching for individuals on cash management/budgets and using mindfulness to effectively manage anxiety over money-related issues and decisions. Gavin’s website is www.empowertoshine.com.au

Alison Hutchens – Sydney and Northern Beaches

Alison is a former senior executive. Her career of 27 years includes 24 years holding senior corporate positions, running teams in high pressure sales, consulting and service delivery environments. She has also lived and worked across Australia, Asia and Europe in various Business Consulting roles. Within this time, Alison has had first hand corporate experience working with monthly targets, productivity challenges, staff retention, customer satisfaction, stakeholder management and managing team morale. She has managed several diverse workforces with different challenges and knows what it is like to work under pressure whilst trying to maintain work/life balance

Leveraging her experience, Alison has become a fully certified Mindfulness Meditation Teacher and has been teaching classes for more than 10 years. She is an accredited member of the of Meditation Association of Australia (AMA) and a member of the International Meditation Teachers Association (ITMA). She is a certified Emotional Intelligence Facilitator (GENOS), Master Practitioner of NLP and a Professional Coach (London Coaching Academy).

Through her own personal practice, Alison gained greater Emotional Intelligence (EQ), She found that her mindfulness and EQ training supported her mind to be more focused, clear and effective. She became more resilient. Productivity and performance increased significantly within her teams. This also allowed her to attract and retain quality staff.

Alison is passionate about delivering the benefits of Mindfulness and Resilience Coaching along with Emotional Intelligence to corporate life.

For more information on the various programs available visit her website: www.mindbodyenergy.com.au

Christine Davie – Sydney

Christine has been a long-time mediation practitioner and was first introduced through yoga 40 years ago. Over the years she has explored mindfulness with teachers from different traditions and believes meditation supports a natural state of awareness and presence. Her experience has taught her that mindfulness requires participation, exploration, enquiry and regular practise, every moment.

Her teaching style is a unique blend of skills and experience from her training as an Alexander Technique teacher and a yoga teacher and she has completed MBSR Level 1 teacher training. She teaches yoga in the community for mental heath, trauma, disability and seniors, always offering a safe and supportive environment encouraging curiosity and discovery, listening and trusting in our own body wisdom.

Emma Corbett – Sydney and Gold Coast

Emma began attending yoga classes with her father at age 12. However she always left before Savasana because she ‘didn’t have time’. Growing increasingly stressed managing multiple businesses as well as her circus performing career, Emma became drawn to Buddhist philosophy and mindfulness as an antidote to her endless ‘busy-ness’.

Now dedicated to ‘Being More’ and ‘Doing Less’, she has completed her Purna, Rocket and Yin Yoga teacher trainings, has presented at the Evolve Yoga Festival in Byron Bay and the Goddess Festival in Rajasthan, India. She is a regular guest instructor at Bali Silent Retreat in Indonesia and Head Teacher at the Flores Joyful Retreat.

She currently travels and teaches, leading her own yoga retreats entitled, The Heart of Yoga: www.yoga-retreat.se.

Helene Orr, MBSR Qualified Trainer – Sydney

Helene has had a lifelong interest in yoga and meditation. She has had a regular practice of meditation, in a variety of traditions, since 2000 and experienced its benefits in the management of stress and pain.

With a strong interest in mind body science and wellbeing, she is currently completing her Masters in Health and Social Wellbeing. She completed mindfulness teacher training with the Mindfulness Training Institute of Australasia in 2015 and Yoga Teacher Training with Samadhi Yoga in 2006.

Helene is a mindfulness educator and currently teaches Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) in the community and in corporate settings and provides one-to-one coaching in health and wellbeing strategies, including meditation and mindfulness, through her company Insight Governance. Refer to www.insightgovernance.com.au for more information. She is keen to explore and assist people with using their inner resources to achieve balance and perspective in their health, wellbeing and everyday lives.

Helene is also a non-executive board member in the NFP and public sectors and a consultant in governance, risk management, organisational leadership and development.  She is a lover of nature, music, travel and learning.

Lisa Lythall – Sydney

Lisa is  a Somatic Psychotherapist / Counsellor with over 20 years clinical experience and is currently practising in Caringbah, Sydney.

Lisa integrates a range of mindfulness-based, body-oriented Psychotherapeutic skills to support her clients through psychological, emotional, behavioural and relationship issues and towards greater self-awareness and an embodied clarity which impacts every aspect of their lives.

Lydia Vorona, MBSR Qualified Trainer – Sydney

Lydia is an experienced educator, qualified mindfulness facilitator and an iRest Yoga Nidra Instructor specialising in trauma and PTSD.

With a Bachelor of Music, Diploma in Education and accreditation from the Mindfulness Training Institute of Australasia, she brings an educator’s passion to her work as a facilitator.

Lydia also has extensive corporate experience. Her adventurous career has taken her from tour guiding in Europe to corporate management roles in Australia, across a range of industries.

Lydia teaches mindfulness to all sectors of the community, in corporate settings, healthcare and in schools. She offers a range of workshops and courses including Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and specialised programs to teachers and students of all ages with her company Be Still. Please refer to www.bestill.com.au for more information.

“I am motivated to help individuals and organisations experience the benefits of mindfulness. I understand the pressures of the modern workplace and the importance of managing that stress. My studies include body-based techniques, iRest Yoga Nidra, Qi Gong and Iyengar yoga. I look forward to sharing the wisdom and the joy of the practices with you.”

Mary Jamieson – Sydney

Mary is a coach, trainer and facilitator with a strong commitment to making a real difference to the people she works with. She enjoys assisting individuals, teams and organisations to be more purposeful, authentic, collaborative and satisfied in how they work and relate.

Mary has been practising meditation for over twenty years and is deeply grateful for the difference it has made in her life and the freedom it has brought her over time. She has become less convinced of her own stories and experiences her internal world with greater curiosity, compassion and welcoming acceptance.

She is also one of the leaders of Authentic Sydney a group that seeks to cultivate greater transparency and intimacy in our communication with the important people in our lives; one conversation at a time. Passionate about learning, Mary is also mad keen on improvised dance and learning about fermenting food.

Natalie Hull – Sydney

Natalie has been at the forefront of social change for over 20 years working in community and education inspiring sustainable change in individuals, families, communities and organisations. She is a passionate trainer and facilitator who has worked with people of all ages, backgrounds, cultures and abilities.

Natalie has spent most of her life exploring the human condition and how we can create change with knowledge and education. She has formal qualifications in Adult Education, Community Welfare, Meditation Facilitation and Visual Arts and is an accredited NLP practitioner and coach.

She believes that we can effect great change through the development of greater self-awareness, leading to greater social consciousness, being mindful of our actions and interactions with each other. Through this approach, we become the true leaders of our lives, families and communities. When we transform ourselves, we motivate change, impacting those around us, bringing greater wellbeing, connection and peace to our relationships, our families, our communities.

Natalie is a self-confessed over-worker and achiever who discovered the benefits of mindfulness in overcoming her attachment to the constant lure of ‘busyness and overworking’, a pattern that affected her health manifesting in chronic back pain. Mindfulness has enabled her to be more present with each moment as it arises, accepting the pain and the joy of life without wanting to fix or improve it. Mindfulness has allowed her to heal her pain and return to her life’s work of supporting others to manage pain and life’s challenges and to experience greater peace, wellbeing and joy.

Natalie is a creative soul, a lover of music, travel, art and spending time with her loving husband and three adult children. When she isn’t teaching mindfulness or coaching, she is delivering transformational programs and retreats in beautiful natural environments, empowering women to create positive life changes aligned with their unique strengths, passions and purpose.

Natalie’s website is at https://www.inspirewomenswellbeing.com

Rita Young, MBSR Qualified Trainer – Sydney

Rita is a Somatic Psychotherapist with 20 years clinical experience. She uses her knowledge of the body and psychotherapy to ground the skills of mindfulness into daily life.

Rita has completed all levels of training outlined by the Centre for Mindfulness (MASS) for the facilitation of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course and has been facilitating these courses for over 10 years.

Her extensive experience includes teaching MBSR in the fields of health care, corporations and education, most notably to medical students at the University of Notre Dame. Corporate clients have included the Reserve Bank of Australia, Bupa, Schneider Electrics, Taylors Wine and War Memorial Hospital. She has also facilitated workshops at Google and facilitated the first Google Detachment day; a full day mindfulness retreat for Google staff.

Rita believes people are most receptive to learn when they are taught in a relaxed, engaged and lighthearted way. This is how she teaches and it seems to work based on the feedback and referrals she gets.

She says:
“Teaching mindfulness is a continual and gentle re-examination and reflection of my own motivations for teaching which constantly change and mature – a living teaching – a lifetime engagement.
It is not so much a method or technique but rather a way of tapping into all aspects of what it is to be human: the good, the bad, the ugly and the beautiful.
My intention is to come back to awareness over and over, and to be able to live my life consciously from moment to moment, and support others who choose to live the same way.”

Catherine Sherlock – Sydney

Catherine is a certified iRest® meditation teacher, a member of Meditation Australia and a Level 2 Yoga Australia registered yoga teacher. She specialises in applying yoga and meditation for mental health and wellbeing. She owns and operates a centre for yoga, meditation and wellbeing in Richmond NSW known as Yoga from the Inside. She also loves to take these teachings into the community to reach marginalised populations.

Catherine has studied iRest with Richard Miller since 2014. iRest (Integrative Restoration) is an evidence-based transformative practice that is based on the ancient teachings of meditation.

She has had a 30-year career in administration, management and leadership roles in public, private and community settings. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Social Analysis, a Master of Policy and Applied Social Research and a Graduate Certificate in Public Sector Management.

She is passionate about helping people from all walks of life to find their own inner teacher and to tap into the true purpose, meaning and value of their lives.

Catherine lives in Bilpin in the Blue Mountains of NSW with her husband John. She loves long walks, anywhere, but especially in nature.