Sussex Mindfulness Centre

Compassionate Leadership Training course - Thursday afternoons
2025-01-30 15:00 - 17:00 (Europe/London) | Online
Join our six-week Compassionate Leadership Training designed for all health and social care leaders. Compassionate leadership is linked with improved learning and innovation, and reduced staff stress, injuries and absenteeism, and even reduced patient mortality.

The course is made up of six weekly two-hour sessions and further consolidation sessions after the course is complete. This course runs on Thursdays from 3-5pm, from 30 January 2025 until 13 March 2025. There is no session on 20 February. Following this, there are several two-hour online consolidation sessions to review practice and learning. All graduates are invited to attend these sessions. See the dates for 2025 below.

Watch a short (1.5 minute) video to find out more.

Overview

At the heart of compassion is the notion that everyone experiences difficulty and that we can all play a role in alleviating our own difficulties and those of others. Whether this is compassion for ourselves or the people we lead, people who lead us, colleagues or service users. We won’t always feel like helping and will sometimes be tired or overwhelmed or unable to connect.

Although it helps to have positive feelings, we do not have to feel compassion to be compassionate. We can recognise our physical and mental state, resource ourselves as best we can, and respond from our firm compassionate intention, rather than from impulse or intense emotion.

How does this translate into compassion in health, social care, and other organisations? How might we think about compassionate leadership, working with colleagues, service users and their friends and families? Prof. Michael West has spent his career answering this question, pointing to research that shows how compassionate leadership is linked with improved learning and innovation, and reduced staff stress, injuries and absenteeism, and even reduced patient mortality. In short, compassion is essential to high-quality healthcare.

Dr Robert Marx and Professor Clara Strauss have designed this innovative training programme of six weekly sessions, each lasting two hours, with an additional follow-on consolidation sessions following the completion of the course. See details below of the dates for optional review and practice sessions.

Who is the course for?

The course is for anyone in a leadership role in a health and social care organisation, recognising that leadership occurs throughout health and social care roles, and at different levels of seniority.

What is the format of the course?

The course combines in-session mindfulness and compassion practice with reflection and discussion, as well as an invitation for home mindfulness and compassion practice to help cultivate compassion for ourselves and the people we lead and work with.

Facilitators

Robert Marx

Robert Marx is co-lead for the Sussex Mindfulness Centre and leads the Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) in Talking Therapies in NHS services training centres collaboration. He is a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist and has been teaching mindfulness to patients and staff in the NHS for 18 years. He teaches MBCT and Mindful Self-Compassion. He has been practising Buddhist meditation for over 30 years, initially in the Theravadan tradition and then in the Tibetan tradition. He is passionate about building compassionate cultures in organisations and about integrating relational and mindful approaches to work.

Ruth Sequeira

Ruth Sequeira is a senior trainer, supervisor, and mindfulness teacher for the Sussex Mindfulness Centre. She is also a psychological therapist and the mindfulness and compassion training and retreat lead at the Mindfulness Network. Ruth has a history of working in mental health services and until recently worked as a Clinical Lead in the Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) in Sussex. Ruth has a longstanding interest in mindfulness, meditation and movement, and is passionate about increasing access to mindfulness courses in different populations.

Review and practice dates

We are offering several dates for consolidation of learning, to allow flexibility. Participants may attend as many or as few of these consolidation sessions as they wish.

Monday 7 April 4.00 – 5.00pmThursday 8 May 4.00 – 5.00pm Wednesday 4 June 1.00 – 2.00pm Friday 4 July 2.00 – 3.00pmThursday 18 September 4.00 – 5.00pm Wednesday 15 October 4.00 – 5.00pm Tuesday 18 November 1.00 – 2.00pmMonday 8 December 4.00 – 5.00pm

Apply and book your place

You can book your place below.

Please note, we ask all those who book a place on this training programme to fill in an application form that will be sent to the facilitators. If you haven’t already, please head here to fill in the form.

Mindfulness for Life: online course
2025-02-10 17:00 - 19:00 | Online
Mondays, 10 February to 31 March 2025, 17.00-19.00.

The Mindfulness for Life programme has evolved from Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy. The programme was developed to offer mindfulness practices and cognitive-behavioural techniques to enable everybody to improve their wellbeing.

Overview​

The online course guides participants in how to apply the learning in everyday life to manage what is painful and difficult and cultivate qualities such as compassion. It supports people to work with challenges, including recurring patterns of thought and behaviour that create suffering. It also supports our capacity to savour life and to flourish. Mindfulness for Life is an in-depth programme intended to cultivate lasting and sustainable change. Apart from the two-hour weekly sessions there is daily home practice, so it’s helpful to consider how you will fit this in ahead of taking the course. You can find out more about the course here.

Who is this course for?

This course is designed for members of the general public who are looking to improve their wellbeing and discover tools to help with the general stresses and strains of everyday life. Taking this course also counts as one of the requirements for joining our mindfulness teacher training, if this is something you may be interested in. Please note, this course may not be suitable for everyone. If you are experiencing serious mental health issues, you should talk to your GP about being referred to the appropriate clinical service. You can find details on referrals and self-referral here.

The format of the course?

Eight weekly two-hour classes including mindfulness practices, discussion and exercises.

Daily meditation home practice of between 20 to 40 minutes.

When?

Monday evenings 17.00 to 19.00 UK time, starting 10 February 2025 to 31 March 2025.

Where?

Online. You will get Zoom log-in details when your place is confirmed.

Facilitator

Ruth Sequeira

How to book

The eight-week course is £250. You can book your place below.

Please note, we ask all those who book a place on this course to fill in this application form, which will be sent to the facilitator. If you haven’t already, please head here to fill in the form.

Deeper Mindfulness: Frame by Frame
2025-05-13 17:30 - 19:30
‘Deeper Mindfulness: exploring feeling tone Frame by Frame’ is a new eight-week course developed by Mark Williams and colleagues for people who want to explore mindfulness more deeply. The online course runs on Tuesday evenings from 13 May 2025 and includes an optional one-day retreat on 21 June 2025.

Overview​

This course allows people to explore an aspect of mindfulness that isn’t covered explicitly in other courses: ‘feeling tone.’ Feeling tone is a sense of the positive or negative that every human experiences and is the tipping point for our mood.

Deeper Mindfulness is informed by recent psychological findings that reveal that every waking moment, our understanding of the world is dominated by imagining how we can take action within it, coloured by what is called ‘feeling tone.’ Feeling tone is the moment-by-moment ‘read-out’ of how much a sensation, thought, or emotion feels pleasant, unpleasant, or neither. Based on this moment-by-moment ‘read out,’ the body allocates its resources as it gears up for real or imagined action. This can prepare us well for action, but it can also put us at risk of becoming exhausted without our realising it.

During the eight weekly sessions, you will learn meditations that help you tune into feeling tone moment by moment, frame by frame. This provides an opportunity to see more clearly both the tipping points for distress and exhaustion, and also how to flourish by freeing yourself to appreciate life again, even in the midst of difficulty.

Who is the course for?

This course is designed for those who have already completed an eight-week mindfulness-based programme and want to explore mindfulness more deeply. Please note, this courses is designed for the general public and may not be suitable for everyone. If you are experiencing serious mental health issues, you should talk to your GP about being referred to the appropriate clinical service.

When?

Tuesday afternoons 17.30 to 19.30, starting 13 May and running until 8 July 2025. Please note there is no session on 27 May. The course includes an optional one-day in person retreat on Saturday, 21 June 2025.

Where?

Online. The zoom link will be sent closer to the time of the course.

The format of the course

The course is delivered over eight weekly sessions, each lasting two hours. Each session builds on what’s been introduced before, so it’s important to attend all the sessions if possible. (If you know you’re going to miss a session, please let your teacher know).

You’ll be in a group of up to 16 people, led by one of our experienced mindfulness teachers.

Each session begins with a short, guided meditation, then (with the exception of the first session) there’s a review and inquiry into the past week. The second half of the session introduces the theme for the week and includes a meditation. There’ll be space to review what you and others experienced or discovered during the practice. The sessions are followed by suggestions for home-based personal practice of around 20 minutes per day. This includes both recommended guided practices for the week, and also ways to cultivate mindfulness in everyday life.

You’ll have access to guided practices and written materials to support each session.

Facilitators

We have two experienced teachers leading this course. Apart from being experienced in many aspect of teaching mindfulness, Taravajra and Bridgette O’ Neill are supervisors and are key members of our team of teacher trainers, leading courses for others who want to become teachers themselves.

Taravajra

Taravajra has been teaching mindfulness in Sussex since 2005 to community groups, carers, teachers and NHS staff. Taravajra gained a Masters degree in mindfulness-based approaches in 2010 at Bangor University. Since 2011, he has been part of the core training team at Bangor, teaching on the Masters programme and teacher training pathway in the English and Spanish speaking worlds. He holds a British Wheel of Yoga teaching diploma and is a Focusing practitioner. Since 2011 he has been one of the main trainers on the Sussex Mindfulness Centre’s teacher training programme.

Bridgette O’Neill

Bridgette is a clinical psychologist by professional training and has taught mindfulness-based approaches in NHS mental health services for staff and clients since 2002. She is a senior lecturer, trainer, and supervisor with the Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice and the Mindfulness Network as well as a trainer with the Sussex Mindfulness Centre. Bridgette has a particular interest in mindfulness and compassion-based approaches in relation to social and environmental challenges and is part of the author group of the paper ‘Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Our Time: A Curriculum that is up to the Task’.

How to book

The eight-week course is £250. You can book your place below.

Please note, we ask all those who book a place on this course to fill in an application form that will be sent to the facilitators. If you haven’t already, please head here to fill in the form.

Trauma-informed and effective mindfulness teaching
2025-05-16 09:00 - 17:00 | Online
This workshop draws on clinical research and lived experience to work with trauma in mindfulness-based work.

What is covered?

This training will enable you to identify signs of trauma in your participants and provide practical ways of helping participants manage it. It will help you understand what challenges and adaptations you may need to make to your standard teaching to help support people with trauma histories.

We approach the training from different perspectives: clinicians working in the field of trauma, researchers discussing the evidence base for what we know is effective, and service users sharing their experience of what worked and what didn’t work.

Who is this for?

This masterclass is for those people working in the field of mindfulness. It is part of the core teacher training programmes. It is open to anybody who is trained or training to be mindfulness or mindful self-compassion teachers.

Please note, current trainees on our teacher training courses (Foundation and Adapted Mindfulness Based Interventions) are automatically on the attendance list for this masterclass, as it forms part of the syllabus. If this is you, you do not need to book a place.

The facilitators

Robert Marx

Robert Marx

Robert Marx is a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist and has been teaching mindfulness to patients and staff in the NHS for 18 years. He teaches Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy and Mindful Self-Compassion. He has been practising meditation for over 30 years. He is passionate about building compassionate cultures in organisations and about integrating relational and mindful approaches to work.

Clara Strauss

Clara Strauss

Clara is co-lead (Research) for the Sussex Mindfulness Centre. She is a consultant clinical psychologist, mindfulness teacher and clinical researcher. In her research, Clara is particularly interested in developing and evaluating new forms of mindfulness-based intervention (MBI), especially for those people who may not be willing or able to access MBCT. Along with other members of her research team, Clara has been evaluating MBIs for people experiencing depression, for people distressed by hearing voices and for people experiencing obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This research has also included research with NHS staff, university students and the wider population.

Richard Gilpin

Richard Gilpin

Richard is a mindfulness teacher, counsellor and cognitive-behavioural psychotherapist. He has trained extensively in mindfulness-based practices since the 1990s and has been facilitating MBCT courses since 2007. He is the author of two self-help books: Mindfulness for Black Dogs and Blue Days (2012) and Mindfulness for Unravelling Anxiety (2016). His Masters research on MBCT was published in 2008.

Certificates

If you would like a certificate of attendance, you can request this after the event.

Free mindfulness taster
2025-05-27 18:00 - 19:00, 2026-01-20 18:00 - 19:00 | Online
Are you considering whether mindfulness is for you? Join our free online taster session. This one-hour taster session will introduce you to the benefits of mindfulness. Benefits include improved wellbeing and ability to manage stress.

Is your mind over active? Do you find you can’t turn off? Are you running on empty, unable to appreciate things that previously made you happy? Are relationships more fraught than they were?

Perhaps it’s time to try mindfulness.

Brief overview

In this informative one-hour online session, you will:

Learn what mindfulness is

Meet one of our teachers

Try short-guided meditations

Discover the benefits of mindfulness

Find out about our short introductory mindfulness and beginner courses

Ask any questions about mindfulness and what your next step might be

This session is for you if:

You are completely new to mindfulness and meditation and want to try it out.

Are returning to mindfulness and want a refresh / reminder about what is involved.

Are wondering how mindfulness might help your team and colleagues at work.

Are familiar with mindfulness but keen to know what the Sussex Mindfulness Centre can offer.

Where?

Online on Zoom

For all mindfulness work, the connection between people in the group is central to the discovery and learning process. Please ensure the camera on your device is turned on during the session and try your best to join from a quiet, private space. Thank you.

Mindful Self-Compassion course: eight weeks on Saturday mornings
2025-06-07 09:30 - 12:00 | Online
Our eight-week Mindful Self-Compassion course teaches core principles and practices that enable participants to respond to challenges and difficult emotions with care and understanding.

Overview​

Research has shown that self-compassion greatly enhances emotional wellbeing. It boosts happiness, reduces anxiety and depression, and can even help maintain healthy lifestyle habits such as diet and exercise. Being both mindful and compassionate leads to greater ease and wellbeing in our daily lives. Find out more about our Mindful Self-Compassion course here.

Who is this course for?

This course is designed for the general public, you do not need to have attended a mindfulness course before. Please note, this courses may not be suitable for everyone. If you are experiencing mental health issues, you should talk to your GP about being referred to the appropriate clinical service.

When?

Saturday mornings 09.30 to 12.00. The course starts on 7 June and runs until 2 August 2025 (no session on 5 July).

Where?

Online. You will get Zoom log-in details when your place is confirmed.

The format of the course?

Eight further weekly two and a half hour classes including mindful self-compassion practices, discussion and exercises.

The course follows the programme outlined in the Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook by Christopher Germer and Kristin Neff. It is recommended that you buy this book to accompany the course, but it’s not essential.

Daily meditation home practice of between 20 to 40 minutes.

Facilitator

Paul Johanson

Paul Johanson is a social worker, mindful self-compassion teacher and cognitive analytic therapist in private practice. He has worked in many areas of health and social care, including criminal justice, substance misuse, serious mental illness, psychological therapies, cancer and palliative care.

Paul has worked as a strategic leader for the NHS in implementing national programmes in mental health, psychological therapies and patient experience. Paul is a long-term Buddhist practitioner, beginning his journey over 35 years ago in the Rinzai Zen Buddhist tradition, and has been a student in the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism since 1991. He has been the Buddhist Chaplain at the University of Sussex since 2013.

How to book

Please note, we ask all those who book a place on this course to fill in an application form here that will be sent to the facilitators. If you haven’t already, please head here to the fill in the form.

Booking for this course is now closed.

Mindfulness teacher training information session
2025-06-11 17:30 - 18:30 | Online
Are you interested in teaching Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy or Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction? Or perhaps you would like to include mindfulness-based interventions in your current work with clients? Either way, this session will provide all you need to know about various training options with us.

What’s included

The session will be led by Ruth Sequeira, Sussex Mindfulness Centre’s teacher. It will include a short presentation, and you will have the opportunity to get your questions answered.

Book your place

Book your place by emailing spft.smc@nhs.net and you will be sent a joining link.

One-day mindfulness retreat
2025-06-28 10:00 - 16:00 | Sussex Education Centre, Hove, West Sussex, United Kingdom
A one-day mindfulness retreat is an important part of the eight-week mindfulness course. It offers an opportunity to extend your practice, within a supportive environment.

NB: This was previously advertised for 21 June. If you registered for that (you will be notified of the change of date) and your place is reserved until you confirm if you’d still like to attend.

Content of the day

The day will be facilitated by the Sussex Mindfulness Centre’s experienced teachers and will include a series of different mindfulness and compassion practices. It will be held mostly in silence as a way of supporting your practice. We will aim to provide tea and coffee, but please bring your own food for lunch. There will be chairs and maybe some cushions, but please bring what you need to be comfortable, if you can.

Why a one-day retreat?

A one-day mindfulness retreat is an important part of the eight-week mindfulness course. It also offers an opportunity to extend your practice within a supportive environment. For people who meditate regularly the retreat offers a great way to deepen and refresh your practice. Read more about the benefits of a day long retreat.

Who’s it for?

This day is right for you if you have attended an eight-week Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy, Mindfulness for Life, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction or Finding Peace course and are:

a current or previous Sussex Partnership service user,

a current staff member,

a current participant of an eight-week mindfulness course provided by the Sussex Health and Care Partnership or are a nurse advocate,

an alumni of an eight-week mindfulness course run by the Sussex Mindfulness Centre.

a current Sussex Mindfulness Centre or MBCT in NHS Talking Therapies trainee, or

an alumni of a Sussex Mindfulness Centre training or of the MBCT in NHS Talking Therapies services training.

How to book?

No payment is required. Book your place and find out venue details by sending an email to spft.smc@nhs.net. Please note, you’ll need to attend for the whole day. It’s not possible to only come for a portion of the day.

The retreats run from 10am to 4pm, and we ask people to join from 9.45am to ensure a prompt start.

Certificate of attendance

This all-day retreat counts towards the requirement to attend silent retreats as part your BAMBA registration as a mindfulness teacher. Certificates of attendance can be supplied on completion of the day’s training, if requested.

Mindfulness, heartfulness and compassion: a dialogue with faith leaders
2025-07-04 09:00 - 17:00 | Friends Meeting House, Ship Street, Brighton, Sussex, BN1 1AF, United Kingdom
A one-day symposium in Brighton exploring mindfulness, heartfulness and compassion-based practices with faith leaders.

What is the symposium about?

During the day, representatives from many of the major faiths will share mindfulness, heartfulness and compassion practices from their traditions. We will then engage in a dialogue about what unites us and what we can learn from one another. See the programme below.

Contemporary mindfulness, heartfulness and compassion-based practices derive predominantly from established spiritual pathways or religious traditions. However, in the secularised workplaces in which they are often delivered, the religion has been necessarily stripped away from the practices.

While this makes them more accessible to people who are not part of any religion, the danger is that by taking them out of their contexts and communities these practices may become technical, individualised and self-serving, losing their deeper meaning and their more profound capacity for change and connection.

We need to be careful that our secularised inclusiveness does not exclude the diversity offered by religious and spiritual traditions and the people affiliated to them, on whose shoulders these contemporary practices rest. Increasingly, we recognise that passing off something that belongs to the wisdom of often non-Western, non-white cultures as a new, scientific discovery can be unacceptable cultural appropriation.

By restricting conversations about these depth foundations, we miss an opportunity to find rich connections and understandings across many different faiths that have meditation and the cultivation of qualities such as presence, kindness and compassion at the heart of what they do. At a time in the world where religion can be the cause of division and tribalism, this opportunity to connect and build understanding in this domain seems more important than ever.

Who is this for?

Anyone interested in the roots of mindfulness. Everyone is welcome, from any faith or none.

The format of the day

9.00 Registration

9.30 Introduction and framing of the day: Robert Marx, Co-Lead of Sussex Mindfulness Centre

Practices: The practices follow a simple format including a five minute introduction followed by 15 minutes of practice.

9.45 Christian Catholic: Liz Lord

10.05 Tibetan Buddhist: Paul Johanson

10.25 Sufi: Binah Taylor

10.45 Tea

11.15 Heartfulness/Raja yoga: Rosalind Pearmain

11.35 Pagan: Lyn Baylis

12.05 Jewish/Ha Makom: Miri Cohen

12.25 Quaker: Jason Evans

12.45 Responses Robert Marx

1.00 Lunch : Bring your own and we’ll sit together

2.00 Panel/Round table: A panel discussion two questions: What was striking from other people’s talks and practices? What are you curious about?

Rev Anthea Ballam, Chair Interfaith Contact Group, priest

Prof Justin Meggitt, Dept of Theology, University of Cambridge

Dr Chris McDermott, former Sussex University Chaplain, Anglican priest and Zen practitioner

Rabbi Danny Newman, Executive Director of HaMakom, Rabbi of two Progressive Jewish communities in London and a life coach

Sensei Dheeresh Turnbull, Zen monk, author and Cognitive Behaviour Therapist

Dr Rosalind Pearmain, Heartfulness trainer, Retired psychotherapy lecturer, trainer and researcher

Lyn Baylis, Chair, The Pagan Seminary and Pagan Spiritual Advisor

Ibrahim Karadol, Dialogue Society branch manager

2.45 Drawing out key themes for further (small group) discussion

3.00 Tea

3.30 Theme-based discussion

4.30 Gather learning, appreciations, and considering what next facilitated by Robert Marx

4.50 Practice led by Robert Marx

5.00 End

The hosts

The Sussex Mindfulness Centre is hosting the day with the Interfaith Contact Group of Brighton and Hove.

The Interfaith Contact Group of Brighton and Hove creates opportunities and safe spaces for people of different faiths and none to meet and talk. Most of their members and friends belong to faith groups but many don’t.

The Sussex Mindfulness Centre aims to improve the wellbeing and mental health of all people who can benefit from mindfulness. We do this by running mindfulness and compassion programmes, training teachers, and conducting research.

The facilitators

Rev Anthea Ballam

Rev Anthea Ballam is an interfaith minister, writer and celebrant. She has served as Chaplain to the Mayor of Brighton and Hove on two occasions and is currently the Chair of The Interfaith Contact Group of Brighton and Hove. Anthea is the author of two books of prayer: “Moving Prayers and Quiet Meditations” and “Words for Funerals”; also a history book “Mayflower: The Voyage the Changed the World.”

Before becoming an interfaith minister, Anthea was a journalist and ran her own marketing company. Her interests include photography, art and music.

Lyn Baylis

Lyn Baylis is a mother, grandmother and a great grandmother. She has been a Pagan Priestess for over 50 years, holding senior roles in several organisations and is now Pagan Spiritual Advisor for Sussex NHS Community Foundation Trust, as well as being a Founding member and Chair of The Pagan Seminary. Having worked as a Prison Chaplain for over 10 years before becoming a Hospital and Hospice Chaplain, she is determined that, all spiritualities should have a platform and as the popularity of nature-based beliefs increase, there should be sufficiently skilled Pagan Chaplains to tend to the spiritual and practical needs of this growing community.

Miri B Cohen

Miri has been practising meditation for over 25 years, mainly in the Insight tradition. She is an NHS-trained Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy/Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction teacher and a graduate of Yesod, the Jewish meditation programme from Or HaLev and the Institute for Jewish Spirituality. Miri facilitates meditation groups in person and online for HaMakom and secular organisations and gives one to one sessions. She is a member of the Community Dharma Leader system at Gaia House, Devon, UK. Miri is a student of the late Rob Burbea and his teaching influences her approach.

Jason Evans

Jason Evans is a member of Sussex West Area Quaker Meeting and worships at Brighton. He joined the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in 2002 and has served as Elder, Overseer (now called Pastoral Friends) and as a member of the Clerking team. He has been the Quaker Chaplain at the University of Sussex since 2015. He is interested in lucid dreaming and plays jazz harmonica.

Paul Johanson

Brought up as a Roman Catholic, Paul began training in the Rinzai Zen Buddhist tradition in 1988 at the Hannya temple in London. The temple was run by the London Zen Society and affiliated to Ryutaku-Ji, a monastery in Mishima, Japan founded by Hakuin-Zenji, one of the great masters of Rinzai Zen. In 1991, Paul began sitting with a small, local group called Maitrikara (a Sanskrit word, meaning ‘source of loving kindness’), which is affiliated to the “Centre d’Etudes de Chanteloube” situated in the Dordogne region of France. Chanteloube was founded with the inspiration and guidance of three great masters of Tibetan Buddhism: Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche; Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche; and Kyabje Kangyur Rinpoche. Paul considers Jigme Khyentse Rinpoche to be his main teacher and has been practising under his guidance since I first met him in 1992.

Paul still feels a strong connection to his Christian roots and to his early Zen training. He has worked in health and social care since 1991, mainly in the field of mental health. He currently works as a psychotherapist in private practice.

Liz Lord

Liz practiced awareness, appreciation and compassion since childhood, as part of a Christian upbringing and in my mid 20’s completed my first 8-day silent guided retreat with the Jesuits. She has regularly attended long silent retreats from different traditions at Gaia House, Dzochen Beara and St Beuno’s as well as themed retreats in a number of different places, both in the UK and abroad. She has undertaken long-distanced walking retreats throughout her adult life, often following ancient pilgrimage routes.

She was introduced to mindfulness while working with teenagers in a Pupil Referral Unit in Salford in 2007. Liz is currently a tutor on the MSt in Mindfulness at the University of Oxford. Since 2015 she has been a senior researcher in the Dept of Psychiatry, working on the MYRIAD project which has been investigating all aspects of mindfulness in education. She works freelance as part of the teaching, training and mentoring team at the Oxford Mindfulness Foundation (OMF).

Robert Marx

Robert is Co-Lead (Training) for the Sussex Mindfulness Centre. He is a consultant clinical psychologist and has been involved in running mindfulness groups for staff and patients since 2006. He also trains and supervises others doing mindfulness work. He is interested in relational mindfulness and in adaptations of Mindfulness-based Interventions using compassion practices.

Chris McDermott

Dr. Chris McDermott, an Anglican priest, Third Order Franciscan, and Zen practitioner, spent 27 years as a community mediator in East London before becoming the University Chaplain and Lead Faith Advisor at the University of Sussex in 2014. He is also an ADRg qualified workplace mediator. After retiring as Chaplain, he completed his Ph.D. research on dual religious belonging, especially Buddhist Christian belonging. His thesis is entitled, ‘Gillian Rose and the Question of Dual Religious Belonging: On the Difficulty of Being Buddhist and Christian’. His essay, ‘Aporetic Belonging: Thinking Buddhist Christian Practice with Gillian Rose’ is published in the 2024 edition of the Buddhist Christian Studies Journal, published by the University of Hawaii.

Justin Meggitt

Justin Meggitt is Professor of the Study of Religion, at Cambridge university and Visiting Researcher, Department of Ethnology, History of Religion, and Gender Studies at Stockholm University. Justin has been employed in the academic study of religion for over three decades in various universities in the UK, the US, and Sweden. Although his interests range widely, he has always had a particular fascination with the relationships between religions, conflict and peacemaking, in all their different expressions, from the interpersonal to the global. He is especially passionate about understanding how countercultural religious movements perpetuate and challenge violence, and are also so often the victims of it.

Rabbi Danny Newman

Rabbi Danny is the Founder and Executive Director of HaMakom. He has been studying and teaching meditation, Jewish spirituality, Jewish thought and mysticism for over twenty years and is currently the Rabbi of two Progressive Jewish communities in London. Danny also works as a Life Coach and Facilitator of Men’s Groups and Men’s Retreats. He read Jewish Studies at Oxford University, studied at several Yeshivot in Israel and trained in psychotherapy. Previously he worked for many years in Corporate Law, Finance and Venture Capital in the City of London. He is married and has two young sons.

Rosalind Pearmain

Rosalind Pearmain, Ph.D., M.A., Dip.Ed., B.A. Hons has been practising and sharing Heartfulness as a trainer for more than forty years. In her professional carrier she has included training in the public sector, in education and health, practicing as a UKCP registered psychotherapist. She was a course director for a Master’s level degree in Integrative Psychotherapy training at Regents College, London. Her book ‘The Heart of Listening: Attentional Qualities in Psychotherapy and Counselling’ (Sage 2001) integrated spiritual, psychotherapeutic and neuroscientific aspects of the heart). She carried out qualitative studies and published on different aspects of transformation, and change including meditation. Mainly retired, she will be finishing teaching qualitative research to psychotherapy trainees shortly and lives in Abingdon.

Binah Taylor

Binah Taylor, MA, MA, BACP Snr Accredited was initiated into Sufism, a mystical path to awakening, in 1975 by Fazal Inayat-Khan, who founded the Sufi Way. She worked closely with him until his death in 1990, and through his encouragement, undertook psychotherapy training both in California, where she lived at the time, and in the UK. She has a private practice in psychotherapy and clinical supervision based in Brighton. The Sufi message of love, service and openness to the present moment has been a constant source of guidance – she supports the current Pir, Elias Amidon, and contributes to the Living Sufism online series as well as the quarterly Sufi Way journal called Fresh Rain. A nomad at heart Binah has lived and worked in four continents, giving her a deep appreciation of life’s diversity and expressions of beauty, often found in unexpected places. She divides her time between UK, Spain and Hong Kong nurturing her family connections.

Dheeresh Turnbull

Dheeresh Shinkai Turnbull (Sensei) started meditation in 1975, while on the first year of a Religious Studies degree at Lancaster University. After trying different kinds, he settled on Zen in 1982, and received the Zen precepts from his then teacher, Genpo Roshi, in 1988. He received shukke tokudo (monk ordination) from Genpo in 2010, and was transmitted as a Zen teacher by his current teacher Jeremy Ryokan Sensei in 2020. He has been running mindfulness courses since 1999. He also works as a cognitive behavioural therapist (part-time), and is married with children, grandchildren and a cat (his other teacher). He has written two books: ‘The CBT-pot’ and ‘The Mindfulness Handbook’, both of which are under revision, and is working on a third: ‘Getting to Zen’.

Where?

Please join us in person at the Friends Meeting House, Ship street, Brighton (see below).

Ticket prices

Ticket prices are to help us cover venue costs.

Supported ticket: £20

Standard ticket: £30 (please buy this ticket if you can afford it, to support the Sussex Mindfulness Centre)

We try to keep prices as low as possible so everyone can come. We are not seeking any profit but we do need to cover (mainly venue) costs. Please contact us if you would like to come but the price is prohibitive.

MBCT for difficult-to-treat depression workshop
2025-07-09 17:30 - 19:00 | Online
To explore the practical applications from the RESPOND Trial

This workshop introduces key findings and clinical insights from the RESPOND randomised controlled trial, which evaluated Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) as a further-line treatment for people who had not remitted following high-intensity NHS Talking Therapies.

What will the workshop cover?

The workshop will present findings from the RESPOND research trial which examined if MBCT is a helpful approach for people struggling with depression, who haven’t responded to a previous psychological therapy for depression. The workshop will be led by the researchers behind the study, Thorsten Barnhofer, Barney Dunn, Florian Ruths, Mary Ryan and Clara Strauss.

Participants will gain:

An overview of RESPOND’s key clinical and cost-effectiveness findings;

Insights into how MBCT may work for those who haven’t responded to other psychological therapies;

Reflections from service users, therapists, and supervisors on delivering and receiving MBCT in this context;

Practical guidance for implementing MBCT as a further-line intervention in NHS Talking Therapy services and other routine care settings;

The session will support clinicians to expand the use of MBCT and enhance service provision for people with complex and treatment-resistant courses of depression.

Who is this for?

This workshop is intended for CBT therapists, practitioner psychologists and other psychotherapists, MBCT teachers and clinicians working in NHS Talking Therapies. The session will focus on the practical application of MBCT for clients who have not fully responded to previous evidence-based interventions.

Where?

The workshop will be online, and you will receive your link after you have booked.

The presenters

Thorsten Barnhofer

Thorsten Barnhofer, PhD, is Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Surrey where he conducts research into the use of mindfulness-based interventions for the treatment of depression and associated mental disorders across the lifespan.

Barney Dunn

Barney Dunn is a Professor of Clinical Psychology at the Mood Disorders Centre, University of Exeter. He co-directs the AccEPT clinic, an NHS commissioned psychological therapies innovation service, which has included mindfulness based approaches as part of its offerings for the past 15 years. His particular research interests around mindfulness and MBCT are adapting it for hard-to-treat depression and understanding its impacts on positive emotions and wellbeing.

Florian Ruths

Florian Ruths is a Consultant Psychiatrist at the Maudsley Hospital in London and former community psychiatrist. As lead for the Maudsley Mindfulness Service he has been delivering Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy Groups (MBCT) for patients with chronic depression and anxiety problems for 18 years. He is running an mindfulness-based program to improve compassion, well-being and resilience in doctors at the Maudsley and Kings Hospital (“MBCT-HIT”). Florian has converted this 8 week mindfulness program into a 2-day retreat format (“M4MD”), which he has been delivering in cities across the UK for several years. Florian is the London-lead of a randomised-controlled multicentre trial investigating mindfulness on patients with CBT-resistant depression (RESPOND). The study is in publication stage. Florian explores the overlaps between psychiatry and mindfulness approaches to help patients with emotional disorders and complex trauma. Florian teaches Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Schema therapy & MBCT on MSc and DClinPsych Courses at King’s College in London. He was co-opted in 2024 onto the General Adult Faculty at the Royal College of Psychiatrists to promote the re-introduction of a psychological and relational foundation into British Psychiatry Training and Practice.

Mary Ryan

Mary Ryan was as a doctor for many years but now works in a variety of roles to use her own experiences of severe mental health problems to improve mental health care. She is committed to making lived experiences central to all mental health research and contributes to a range of projects exploring better treatments for depression and better care for people with personality disorders, suicidality or self-harm.

Clara Strauss

Clara Strauss is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Deputy Director of Research in Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, where she co-leads Sussex Mindfulness Centre, and a Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Sussex. She is a mindfulness teacher, supervisor and researcher who is passionate about learning from research and putting research findings into practice. Her particular research interests are in developing and evaluating the effectiveness and mechanisms of action of mindfulness and compassion approaches to support wellbeing and mental health.

Certificate

If you would like a certificate of attendance, you can request this after the event.

Cost and booking

The cost of the workshop is

Free for current MBCT in NHS Talking Therapy trainees.

Free for MBCT NHSTT alumni.

Free for MBCT teachers and/or trainees currently working on NHS Talking Therapies services.

Free for NHS Talking Therapies service leads.

Free for SPFT MBCT teachers.

Free for anyone who has taught a course for SMC in the past 12 months.

£10 for SMC former teachers.

£10 for current and past Foundation and MBI trainees.

£20 for everybody else.

Trauma-informed mindful movement workshop
2025-07-16 09:30 - 16:30 | Online
In this day long workshop, we will join together in a spirit of connection and collaboration to explore the various ways in which our personal meditation practice can open to meet the challenges of the wider world, of which we are a part.

What is covered?

Foundations of mindful movement will include safety principles, intentions and offering guidance with graded movement. We will draw on the work of environmental activist and systems scholar Joanna Macy, as well as interpersonal and personal mindfulness practice. Building understanding, confidence and skills to bring awareness of moving mindfully to your specific population and setting.

Who is this for?

This workshop is suitable for mindfulness teachers working in clinical settings and with the general public.

Where?

The workshop will be online, and you will receive your link after you have booked.

The facilitator – Sarah Silverton

Sarah trained as an occupational therapist and has been working in mental health services in the NHS and in Social Services for more than 20 years. Sarah trained as a counsellor to master’s level.

Sarah Silverton

Sarah has a long-standing passion for movement practices and runs mindful movement retreats three times each year, online and at Trigonos, North Wales. She has practiced pilates and yoga for many years.

In the mid 1990’s Sarah was introduced to mindfulness and was trained by Mark Williams to teach mindfulness. Sarah also studied at the Centre for Mindfulness, Massachusetts in 1999 with Melissa Blacker, Jon Kabat-Zinn and Florence Meleo-Meyer amongst others. Sarah was a member of the core teaching and training team at the Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice (CMRP) at Bangor University since it was established in 2001 for 10 years.

Sarah has published The Mindfulness Breakthrough, Watkins, 2012 reprinted as The Mindfulness Key in 2016 and Mindfulness and the Transformation of Despair, Williams, Fennell, Barnhofer, Crane and Silverton, Guilford, 2015 printed in paperback in 2017 as Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy with People at Risk of Suicide. She has contributed to a number of academic papers.

Certificate

If you would like a certificate of attendance, you can request this after the event.

Booking

The cost of the workshop is £25. You can book here below.

Mindfulness teacher training information session
2025-08-26 12:00 - 13:00 | Online
Are you interested in teaching Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy or Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction? Or perhaps you would like to include mindfulness-based interventions in your current work with clients? Either way, this session will provide all you need to know about various training options with us.

What’s included

The session will be led by Fergal Jones, Sussex Mindfulness Centre’s teacher trainer convenor. It will include a short overview, and you will have the opportunity to get your questions answered.

Book your place

Book your place by emailing spft.smc@nhs.net and you will be sent a joining link.

Mindfulness eight-week course: Tuesday evenings
2025-09-16 18:00 - 20:00 | Online
This course is designed to help improve wellbeing and give you tools to respond to the stresses and strains of everyday life. It has been developed for the general population, and is based on the original Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy course.

Overview​

This course helps participants develop greater awareness of their thoughts, emotions, and experiences which in turn helps cultivate resilience and reduce low-mood and anxiety. It combines mindfulness practices and cognitive-behavioural techniques. There is increasing evidence that shows mindfulness is effective for reducing low-mood, and helping to improve wellbeing and resilience.

Who is it for?

This course is intended for members of the general public who are looking to improve their wellbeing and discover tools to help with the general stresses and strains of everyday life. Taking this course also counts as one of the requirements for joining our mindfulness teacher training, if this is something you may be interested in.

Please note, this course may not be suitable for everyone. If you are experiencing mental health issues, you should talk to your GP about being referred to the appropriate clinical service. Many NHS services now provide MBCT free of charge for people with mental health difficulties. You can find details on referrals and self-referral here.

When?

Tuesday evenings from 6.00pm to 8.00pm, starting on 30 September and running to 18 November 2025. There is an optional online all-day retreat on 6 December. The orientation session is on Tuesday 16 September.

Where?

Online. You will get Zoom log-in details when your place is confirmed.

The format of the course?

Two-hour orientation session at the start to find out what to expect during the course and ask any questions you may have

Eight weekly two-hour classes including mindfulness practices, discussion and exercises

A one-day online retreat

Daily meditation home practice of between 20 to 40 minutes

The course involves mindfulness meditation practices of up to 30 minutes in each group session, and recommended daily home practice of between 20-40 minutes. These will be guided by the mindfulness teacher in each session, and via audio recordings for the home practice. Everything is optional, and you are encouraged only to do what feels safe and comfortable for you. The practices may involve lying down, sitting, walking and other forms of movement.

In the sessions, the mindfulness teacher will invite group members to share their experiences of practice. Again this is completely optional, and you are encouraged to share only what you are comfortable with. The sessions will include smaller-group discussions, typically with two to four people. If the class is online these discussions will be via break out rooms.

Facilitator

Ruth Sequeira

Ruth Sequeira is as senior trainer, supervisor and mindfulness teacher for the Sussex Mindfulness Centre. She is also a psychological therapist and the Mindfulness and Compassion Training and Retreat Lead at the Mindfulness Network. Ruth has a history of working in mental health services and until recently worked as a clinical lead in the Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) in Sussex. Ruth has a longstanding interest in mindfulness, meditation and movement, and is passionate about increasing access to mindfulness courses in different populations.

Ruth Sequeira will be supported by assistant teacher Kate Webb.

How to book

Please note, we ask all those who book a place on this course to fill in an application form that will be sent to the facilitators. If you haven’t already, please head here to fill in the form.

The cost of the eight-week course is £250. We also offer a choice of two other options:

£275 – Supporting rate. You can support other participants to attend who are on a low income.

£225 – Supported rate, if you are on a low income.

Buddhist foundations of mindfulness
2025-09-19 09:30 - 16:30 | Online
Even though many of us deliver entirely secular mindfulness programmes, many of the ideas in contemporary mindfulness-based programmes make more sense when we understand their origins and intentions.

Co-author of Mindfulness: Ancient Wisdom Meets Modern Psychology, Christina Feldman is one of the few experts who can help us understand the connections between the two worlds.

Who is this for?

This masterclass is suitable for anyone involved in teaching, or training to teach, mindfulness; or anyone with a particular interest in the Buddhist underpinnings of mindfulness practice.

The facilitator

Christina Feldman is a leader in the field of mindfulness and Buddhist teachings. A well-known author in this field, she is one of the few people who can make this bridge. We are delighted to welcome her back again to run this event.

Christina is a co-founder of Gaia House. She has been leading Insight Meditation retreats worldwide since 1976. She is a Guiding Teacher of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts. She is the author of a number of books including ‘Woman Awake’, ‘Way of Meditation’, and co-author of ‘Soul Food’. Recent books include ‘Silence’, ‘The Buddhist Path to Simplicity’ and ‘The Boundless Heart’. Christina is the co-founder of Bodhi College and she teaches on several modules on the MBCT postgraduate training at Exeter University. Her contribution focuses upon the Buddhist psychological foundations that underpin mindfulness-based interventions. She is a contributing faculty teacher at Njimegen University in the Netherlands; she leads retreats internationally and is involved in the dialogue between classical Buddhist teachings and their application today through mindfulness-based interventions.

Certificates

Please email spft.smc@nhs.net after the event if you would like a Certificate of Attendance.

Booking

The masterclass costs £99 (£50 for SPFT staff members). You can book here.

Mindfulness teacher training information session
2025-11-13 18:00 - 19:00, 2025-11-18 13:00 - 14:00 | Online
Are you interested in offering mindfulness-based interventions in your current work with clients? Or perhaps teaching the eight-week Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy or Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction course? Either way, this session will provide all you need to know about the various training options with us.

What’s included

The session will be led by Fergal Jones, Sussex Mindfulness Centre’s teacher trainer convenor. It will include a short overview, and you will have the opportunity to get your questions answered.

Book your place

Book your place by emailing spft.smc@nhs.net and you will be sent a joining link.

One-day online mindfulness retreat
2025-12-06 10:00 - 16:00 | Online
This one-day online mindfulness retreat offers an opportunity to extend and deepen your mindfulness practice, within a supportive environment.

Content of the day

The day will be facilitated by the Sussex Mindfulness Centre’s teachers and will include a series of different mindfulness and compassion practices. It will be held mostly in silence as a way of supporting your practice. As this retreat is online you will be given guidance about how to create retreat like conditions at home.

Why a one-day retreat?

A one-day mindfulness retreat is an important part of the eight-week mindfulness course. It also offers an opportunity to extend your practice within a supportive environment. For people who meditate regularly the retreat offers a great way to deepen and refresh your practice. Read more about the benefits of a day long retreat.

Who’s it for?

This day is right for you if you have attended an eight-week Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy, Mindfulness for Life or Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction course, or have an established mindfulness practice.

Please note, this is not a clinical intervention and it is not advisable to do this day in the heat of a crisis, when it would be important to access your GP or your designated mental health clinician.

Certificate of attendance

This all-day retreat counts towards the requirement to attend silent retreats as part your BAMBA registration as a mindfulness teacher. Certificates of attendance can be supplied on completion of the day’s training, if requested.

Please note, you’ll need to attend for the whole day. It’s not possible to only come for a portion of the day. The retreats run from 10am to 4pm, and we ask people to join from 9.45am to ensure a prompt start.

Reserving your place

This retreat is free to attend, but we would be very grateful for any donations you can spare to help us fund our community courses for disadvantaged populations. You will be invited to add a donation when you book. If you have enquiries please drop us a line at spft.smc@nhs.uk.

To secure your place you can book here:

Mindful Self-Compassion teacher training information session
2026-01-26 17:00 - 18:00, 2026-06-04 17:00 - 18:00 | Online
Are you interested in teaching the eight-week Mindful Self-Compassion course? Or would you like to integrate mindfulness and self-compassion into your professional activity (i.e., psychotherapy, coaching, nursing, teaching, etc.)? Join this session to find out what’s involved.

What’s included

This session will provide all you need to know about the different steps leading to you being able to teach Mindful Self-Compassion. Zoe Shobbrook-Fisher, who is one of the trainers on the teacher training course, will be leading the session. The session will include a short overview, after which there will be an opportunity to ask questions.

Book your place

Book your place by emailing spft.smc@nhs.net and you will be sent a joining link.

One-day online mindfulness retreat
2026-02-28 10:00 - 16:00 | Online
This one-day online mindfulness retreat offers an opportunity to extend and deepen your mindfulness practice, within a supportive environment.

Content of the day

This day will be facilitated by our experienced teachers and will include a series of different mindfulness and compassion practices. It will be held mostly in silence as a way of supporting your practice. As this retreat is online you will be given guidance about how to create retreat like conditions at home.

Why a one-day retreat?

A one-day mindfulness retreat is an important part of the eight-week mindfulness course. It also offers an opportunity to extend your practice within a supportive environment. For people who meditate regularly the retreat offers a great way to deepen and refresh your practice. Read more about the benefits of a day long retreat.

Who’s it for?

This online retreat is right for you if:

you are currently attending one of our eight-week mindfulness courses;

you have completed an eight-week Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy, Mindfulness for Life, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction or Finding Peace course with the Sussex Mindfulness Centre or elsewhere, or have an established mindfulness practice.

Please note, this is not a clinical intervention and it is not advisable to do this day in the heat of a crisis, when it would be important to access your GP or your designated mental health clinician.

Reserving your place

This retreat is free to attend. When you sign up, you’ll have the option to make a donation if you would like to and feel able. A suggested donation of £20 (or any amount you can afford) helps us offer mindfulness courses to communities who otherwise face barriers to taking part.

Attendance certificates

This all-day retreat counts towards the requirements to attend silent retreats as part of your BAMBA registration as a mindfulness teacher. Certificates of attendance can be supplied on completion of the day’s training, if requested.

For enquiries: spft.smc@nhs.uk

To secure your place you can book here:

Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy for cancer: Masterclass
2026-04-16 09:30 - 16:30 | Online
An online day workshop for mindfulness teachers and those in training. Learning from the approach of working with people with cancer and those with life limiting or life threatening illness.

This workshop is led by Trish Bartley, an expert in this topic and author of MBCT for Cancer, Gently Turning Towards (Bartley, 2012), Mindfulness: A Kindly Approach to Being with Cancer (Bartley, 2017).

This masterclass will introduce you to the rewards and challenges of working mindfully with people who have had cancer, or life threatening / life limiting illness. You will be encouraged to transfer your learning from the MBCT for Cancer approach to your own mindfulness practice and teaching. We will particularly focus on:

Group process including inquiry

Brief everyday practices

Four Movements of Intention, Coming Back, Turning Towards and Kindness.

Working with the body and anxiety in the context of cancer / serious illness

Workshop format

The masterclass will be facilitated through a participative and experiential process, giving you lots of opportunities to try out practices, exercises and approaches, and reflecting on them in small groups. There will be an emphasis on offering a choice to engage in whatever is best for you and your learning. There will be some didactic process, but most ‘teaching’ will come out of the group process reflections, inquiries and exercises. We hope you will find the masterclass to be engaging, varied and easy to participate within a safe and inclusive group process.

There will be a focus on ensuring your learning is transferable across to your own teaching, whether you work with general public, workplace courses, offer drop in or short taster sessions, or within specialist courses for particular populations. However, this masterclass will not equip you to teach MBCT for Cancer directly – but hopefully it may whet your appetite to do so in the future!

Workshop content

We will explore a number of core practices, guided in ways that meet the needs of people who have sensitivities in different parts of the body and challenges in the heart mind. We will also bring horizontal and some vertical inquiry into our process following practice, to show ways of safely involving the whole group as we lean into a sense of normalising and common humanity.

People who have had cancer or serious illness are apt to experience significant anxiety and distress at times– and tend to fall into patterns of anxious rumination. We will look at a model of health anxiety that is central to week 4 in MBCT-Ca – and show how Turning Towards gently and gradually can be transformative, if held in a way that is grounded and embodied by the teacher.

If time, we will explore various curriculum exercises special to MBCT for Cancer that also work well with other populations. These will include ‘The Blob’ – that explores a way that contraction can build to amplify difficulty – and ‘The Sea of Reactions’ – another exercise within MBCT for Cancer that works well online and in person. You will also be able to experience for yourself the way that brief practices can be used in class and in everyday life.

Who is this for?

This masterclass is for anyone teaching mindfulness based programmes, whoever they teach – and those in training to teach Mindfulness Based Programmes. It is relevant to those who are experienced and those who are just beginning. It is not necessary to want to teach people with cancer or serious illness in order to benefit from this masterclass. The session will be led in a way that enables the learning from this approach to be as transferable as possible to whatever context you work in.

The facilitator

Trish Bartley

Trish Bartley

Trish Bartley has been teaching mindfulness to people with cancer since 2001 – working clinically in a North Wales hospital (and the local community) for over twenty years. She was supervised by John Teasdale for many years to adapt, tailor and publish MBCT for people with cancer. (Bartley, 2012). Later she wrote and published a book for people with cancer themselves Mindfulness: A kindly approach for people with cancer (Bartley, 2017). Trish has also co-written Teaching Mindfulness Based Groups (Bartley & Griffith, 2022) and is currently finishing Mindfulness and Cancer, an update book to the MBCT for Cancer programme, which will come out next year.

Trish teaches for Mindfulness Network and Oxford in the UK, several European mindfulness training organisations, and sometimes further afield such as in China and South Africa. This includes general mindfulness pathway trainings, specialist training around cancer, groupwork training, and leading retreats, and offering supervision.

Certificates

This masterclass is valid for ongoing personal development in mindfulness. Certificates of attendance can be supplied on completion of the day’s training, if requested.

How to book

You can book for your ticket for this masterclass here.

As part of our equity, diversity and inclusion policy, we also have a limited number of concessionary tickets available on a first-come, first-served basis. These are for people who are facing acute financial hardship and who would otherwise not be able to attend. To request a concession ticket please email spft.smc@nhs.net.

We are striving to make our courses accessible for all. If you have additional needs or learning styles, please let us know so we can support you.

Same (but different): Neurodiversity-friendly mindfulness practice
2026-04-30 09:30 - 16:30 | Online
It has become increasingly obvious that there are many people who might benefit from mindfulness-based interventions who struggle to access what is currently available in the UK.

This workshop will cover ways of making mindfulness more inclusive and accessible for adults who identify as neurodivergent.

What is covered?

A stimulating morning/afternoon where we will be looking at what’s working well and what’s not working so well in four areas

The experience of mindfulness and mindful self-compassion training from a participant perspective (Hannah)

The experience of mindfulness teaching training (from a trainee perspective) (Libby)

The experience of increasing inclusion working in talking therapies in the NHS setting (Julie)

A “blue skies” approach looking from a systems level perspective on the landscape of mindfulness research and clinical practice with some case studies of really “doing mindfulness differently” (Tamara)

The format

Each facilitator will share a 30-minute talk followed by a 10-minute mindfulness practice. And for those attending the live event, there will also be 10-minutes of Q&A with each facilitator, a breakout group to explore “what stops innovation in mindfulness in the UK” and a panel discussion. There will be plenty of short breaks throughout the day as well as a lunch break. You can see the detailed timetable here

Who is this for?

This event is for anyone who is a mindfulness/mindful self-compassion teacher or working with mindfulness in adult populations in a professional capacity who wishes to know more about how to make mindfulness more inclusive.

Where?

This is an online event that will be held on the Zoom platform.

Click here to find out more about how to use Zoom.

We endeavour to make this meeting friendly to all brain types.

We kindly request

Have your camera on if you are comfortable to do so, but if not, please do keep it off. It’s helpful for you to let our moderator know you are there in a private message.

Feel free to take care of yourself in whatever way you need to – stim and wiggle – but we request that if you are making large movements that may distract others, please turn off the camera.

Please use the chat box for questions. We have a moderator to help the speakers ensure all questions are answered. If there is not sufficient time, we will collate the questions and the speakers have kindly agreed to answer them and we will circulate after the event.

Please remain on mute.

Feel free to use emojis to let us know how things are landing.

Facilitators

Robert Marx

Robert Marx

Robert Marx is co-lead for the Sussex Mindfulness Centre and leads the Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy in Talking Therapies in NHS services training centres collaboration. He is a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist and has been teaching mindfulness to patients and staff in the NHS for almost twenty years.

He teaches Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy, Mindful Self-Compassion and leads Compassionate Leadership Training.

Robert has been practising Buddhist meditation for over 30 years, initially in the Theravadan tradition and then in the Tibetan tradition. He is passionate about building compassionate cultures in organisations and about integrating relational and mindful approaches to work.

Tamara Russell

Tamara Russell

Tamara is the Founder and Director of the Mindfulness Centre of Excellence (UK), an innovation thinktank for secular mindfulness. She is a clinical psychologist and neuroscientist specialising in “brainwise” formulated mindfulness adaptations for groups and individuals. She has been leading a multi-disciplinary “protocol free” mindfulness teacher training in Brasil based on her Body in Mind Training approach (brainwise mindful movement) for more than fifteen years.

Tamara specialises in making mindfulness accessible to those who struggle to access “classical” mindfulness protocols for personal or systemic reasons. This includes creating many bespoke mindfulness interventions and providing supervision to those innovating in mindfulness delivery.

Julie James

Julie James

Julie is a mindfulness practitioner and Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist, working within an NHS Talking Therapies service. She regularly runs Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression groups, as well as Breathworks’ mindfulness for health groups, to adults experiencing mental health difficulties. As mindfulness lead, Julie provides Supervision and CPD to qualified mindfulness teachers and trainees.

Julie trained with the Anna Freud centre and now provides training to NHS colleagues, to improve service provision when working with diagnosed and undiagnosed autistic adults in community mental health settings. As an autistic person, she has found mindfulness-based interventions and practices deeply supportive and transformative in her own self-discovery and wellbeing. Julie draws on her specialist training and lived experience to make mindfulness provisions inclusive for all neurotypes. She is passionate about the delivery of these interventions within the NHS, to ensure equity in access across populations who may otherwise miss out.

Libby Nellany

Libby Nellany

Libby is a Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist and clinical supervisor within the NHS, where she leads the pathways for musculoskeletal disorders and neurodiversity. She is also a recently qualified Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) teacher.

While Libby’s professional work centres on talking therapies including CBT, ACT, and MBCT, Libby’s neurodivergent experience (autistic, ADHD, dyslexic, and dyspraxic) has shaped a deeply personal and creative connection to embodied mindfulness beyond her NHS role. This exploration led her to establish a space rooted in movement, sensory awareness, and rhythm outside of her NHS role, which enables her to share her passion for embodied mindfulness.

Hannah Rudd

Hannah Rudd

Hannah is autistic and works as an administrator for the Sussex Mindfulness Centre. She is a volunteer advocate for the Sussex Mindfulness Centre and also volunteers as a ward befriender in acute mental health wards at the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.

Over the past couple of years, Hannah has attended Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy, Mindfulness for Life and Mindful Self-Compassion eight-week courses with the Sussex Mindfulness Centre.

In between these groups, she has used piano playing and mindful self-compassion practices to work through past traumatic events. Her daily meditation practice is a loving-kindness practice.

How to book

You can book your ticket here. The standard rate for this masterclass is £75. See the different price tiers below.

As part of our equity, diversity and inclusion policy, we also have a limited number of concessionary tickets available on a first-come, first-served basis. These are for people who are facing acute financial hardship and who would otherwise not be able to attend. To request a concession ticket please email spft.smc@nhs.net.

We are striving to make our courses accessible for all. If you have additional needs or learning styles, please let us know so we can support you.

Trauma-informed and effective mindfulness teaching
2026-05-22 09:00 - 17:00 | Online
This workshop draws on clinical research and lived experience to work with trauma in mindfulness-based work.

What is covered?

This training will enable you to identify signs of trauma in your participants and provide practical ways of helping participants manage it. It will help you understand what challenges and adaptations you may need to make to your standard teaching to help support people with trauma histories.

We approach the training from different perspectives: clinicians working in the field of trauma, researchers discussing the evidence base for what we know is effective, and service users sharing their experience of what worked and what didn’t work.

Who is this for?

This masterclass is for those people working in the field of mindfulness. It is part of the core teacher training programmes. It is open to anybody who is trained or training to be mindfulness or mindful self-compassion teachers.

Please note, current trainees on our teacher training courses (Foundation and Adapted Mindfulness Based Interventions) are automatically on the attendance list for this masterclass, as it forms part of the syllabus. If this is you, you do not need to book a place.

The facilitators

Robert Marx

Robert Marx

Robert Marx is a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist and has been teaching mindfulness to patients and staff in the NHS for 18 years. He teaches Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy and Mindful Self-Compassion. He has been practising meditation for over 30 years. He is passionate about building compassionate cultures in organisations and about integrating relational and mindful approaches to work.

Clara Strauss

Robert Marx

Clara is co-lead (Research) for the Sussex Mindfulness Centre. She is a consultant clinical psychologist, mindfulness teacher and clinical researcher. In her research, Clara is particularly interested in developing and evaluating new forms of mindfulness-based intervention (MBI), especially for those people who may not be willing or able to access MBCT. Along with other members of her research team, Clara has been evaluating MBIs for people experiencing depression, for people distressed by hearing voices and for people experiencing obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This research has also included research with NHS staff, university students and the wider population.

Richard Gilpin

Richard Gilpin

Richard is a mindfulness teacher, counsellor and cognitive-behavioural psychotherapist. He has trained extensively in mindfulness-based practices since the 1990s and has been facilitating MBCT courses since 2007. He is the author of two self-help books: Mindfulness for Black Dogs and Blue Days (2012) and Mindfulness for Unravelling Anxiety (2016). His Masters research on MBCT was published in 2008.

Certificates

If you would like a certificate of attendance, you can request this after the event.

Booking

The cost of the masterclass is £99. Please see the different options available in the booking form below.

As part of our equity, diversity and inclusion policy, we also have a limited number of concessionary tickets available on a first-come, first-served basis. These are for people who are facing acute financial hardship and who would otherwise not be able to attend. To request a concession ticket please email spft.smc@nhs.net.

We are striving to make our courses accessible for all. If you have additional needs or learning styles, please let us know so we can support you.

One-day mindfulness retreat
2026-06-06 10:00 - 16:00 | Sussex Education Centre, Hove, West Sussex, United Kingdom
A one-day mindfulness retreat offers an opportunity to extend your practice, within a supportive environment. It is also an important part of the eight-week mindfulness course.

Content of the day

The day will be facilitated by experienced mindfulness teachers – Robert Marx, David Ward, Lucy Edwards, Annie Akasati and Sadie Lunn. It will include a series of different mindfulness and compassion practices. It will be held mostly in silence as a way of supporting your practice. We will aim to provide tea and coffee, but please bring your own food for lunch. There will be chairs and maybe some cushions, but please bring what you need to be comfortable, if you can.

Please note, you’ll need to attend for the whole day. It’s not possible to only come for a portion of the day.

Why a one-day retreat?

A one-day mindfulness retreat is an important part of the eight-week mindfulness course. It also offers an opportunity to extend your practice within a supportive environment. For people who meditate regularly the retreat offers a great way to deepen and refresh your practice. Read more about the benefits of a day long retreat.

Who’s it for?

This day is right for you if you have attended an eight-week Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy, Mindfulness for Life, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction or Finding Peace course and are:

a current or previous Sussex Partnership service user,

a current Sussex Partnership staff member

a current or previous participant of an eight-week mindfulness course run by the Sussex Mindfulness Centre,

a current or previous trainee teacher with the Sussex Mindfulness Centre or MBCT in NHS Talking Therapies

a current or previous participant of a Compassionate Leadership Training course (CLT)

Please note, this is not a clinical intervention and it is not advisable to do this day in the heat of a crisis, when it would be important to access your GP or your designated mental health clinician.

Certificate of attendance

This all-day retreat counts towards the requirement to attend silent retreats as part your BAMBA registration as a mindfulness teacher. Certificates of attendance can be supplied on completion of the day’s training, if requested.

Where?

The retreat will be at the Sussex Education Centre, Hove.

Reserving your place

This retreat is free to attend. When you sign up, you’ll have the option to make a donation if you would like to and feel able. A suggested donation of £20 (or any amount you can afford) helps us offer mindfulness courses to communities who otherwise face barriers to taking part.

Mindful Self-Compassion: Freeing the heart for joy
2026-06-13 10:00 - 17:00
Workshop: Exploring the power of tender and fierce mindful self-compassion to let in beneficial experiences more fully

This experiential workshop explores how joy and pleasure can strengthen resilience and wellbeing.

What is covered?

Research consistently highlights the crucial role of joy and pleasure in building inner resilience and overall wellbeing. Positive experiences are vital for counteracting chronic stress and promoting feelings of safety, connection, and satisfaction. However, numerous internal and external barriers often prevent us from embracing these nourishing experiences. The rising rates of burnout at work and at home underscore the urgent need to address this. Maybe this is true for you, the people you care for or care about? Drawing upon the principles of Mindful Self-Compassion and the insights of Rick Hanson, this experiential workshop will provide practical exercises, meditations, and contemplations designed to foster joy, prioritise self-care, and unlock inherent wisdom and wellbeing.

Workshop objectives

To cultivate a deeper sense of connection, wisdom, and understanding through an enhanced capacity for joy.

To understand and address the common blocks that prevent us from experiencing joy e.g. Fear of vulnerability and loss, fear of addiction, habits, internalised culture, perfectionism and misunderstandings about mindfulness and Buddhist psychology with regard to aversion and clinging.

To learn mindful self-compassion informal practices that support letting in positive experience and ‘hardwiring happiness’ (ie. sense and savour, self-compassion in daily life, gratitude, mindful eating) and working towards greater fulfillment and providing for one’s own needs (the Compassionate Friend, Fierce Self-Compassion gestures, the Providing Self-compassion Break, core values exercise).

Participants will leave with a greater understanding of the importance of joy in their lives, practical tools for cultivating it, an increased awareness of what gets in the way and approaches to encourage more openness to positive experience.

The format

The workshop will be interactive and practice-based, incorporating discussions, reflections, and experiential exercises. The aim is to create a supportive and nurturing environment for participants to explore their relationship with pleasure and delight, and leave with tools and skills they can weave into their existing meditation practice or informally into daily life.

The workshop will last six hours:

Morning session from 10am to 1pm

Lunch break

Afternoon session from 2pm to 5pm

Who is this for?

This workshop is suitable for those who have some experience of mindfulness or Mindful Self-Compassion, as well as teachers and trainee teachers.

The facilitator

Zoe Shobbrook-Fisher

Zoe Shobbrook-Fisher

Zoe is an accredited counsellor/psychotherapist, Certified Mindfulness and Mindful Self-Compassion Teacher, Trainer and Supervisor. She has been delivering beginner and deeper-dive mindfulness-based programmes and popular retreats since 2009. She is a teacher trainer and mentor at the Centre for Mindful Self-Compassion and a retreat lead and supervisor for the Mindfulness Network. Based in south-west London she specialises in trainings that are accessible, inclusive and creative in the workplace, community settings, mental health charities and the NHS. She has always been dedicated to paths of the heart and authenticity and her own practice includes wild swimming and conscious dance.

Certificates

This masterclass is valid for ongoing personal development in mindfulness or as part of the Sussex Mindfulness Centre teacher training pathway. Certificates of attendance can be supplied on completion of the day’s training, if requested.

Where?

The workshop will take place at the Sussex Education Centre, Neville Avenue, Hove, BN3 7HZ. The buses 5a, 16,16a, 3X and 93 go there. There is free parking on the grounds.

How to book

You can book your place using form at the bottom of the page.

As part of our equity, diversity and inclusion policy, we also have a limited number of concessionary tickets available on a first-come, first-served basis. These are for people who are facing acute financial hardship and who would otherwise not be able to attend. To request a concession ticket please email spft.smc@nhs.net.

We are striving to make our courses accessible for all. If you have additional needs or learning styles, please let us know so we can support you.

Teaching Presence in Relationship; taster and teacher training information session
2026-07-04 10:00 - 11:00 | Online
Are you interested in teaching the eight-week Interpersonal Mindfulness Programme? This programme offers participants a systematic method for cultivating mindfulness within the context of their relational lives. Join this free session to find out what’s involved.

What’s included

This session will include a taster of interpersonal mindfulness, and provide all you need to know about the steps to becoming a teacher of the Interpersonal Mindfulness Programme. Rosalie Dores and Kevin Fong, trainers on the teacher training course, will be leading the session. The session will provide an comprehensive overview, after which there will be an opportunity to ask questions.

Book your place

Book your place by emailing spft.smc@nhs.net and you will be sent a joining link.

Fierce Self-Compassion information session
2026-07-08 17:00 - 18:00 | Online
Are you interested in Fierce Self-Compassion? We have an eight-week course starting soon. This sessions lets you know all you need to know about the course.

Who’s it for

It’s for you if you are thinking of attending the eight-week Fierce Self-Compassion course and want to find out more and meet the teacher. Also if you are a Mindful Self-Compassion teacher considering the teacher training practicum, you may attend this session to find out about both.

What’s included

The first 45 minutes will give you a flavour of the eight-week course, including a short practice, and you will have an opportunity to ask questions. Zoe Shobbrook-Fisher, the teacher leading the course will run the the session. For those interested in the teacher training you can stay on for the last 15 minutes to find out more about the practicum and get your questions answered.

Book your place

Book your place by emailing spft.smc@nhs.net and you will be sent a joining link.

Mindful Self-Compassion course: eight weeks on Monday evenings
2026-09-21 17:00 - 19:30 | Online
Our eight-week Mindful Self-Compassion course teaches core principles and practices that enable participants to respond to challenges and difficult emotions with care and understanding.

Monday evenings, from 5 to 7.30pm. The orientation is on 21 September followed by the eight-week course from 28 September to 16 November.

Overview​

How we respond to those around us is fundamental to a happy life. We are often encouraged to be kind to people. But in trying to show compassion towards others, we may forget to look after ourselves. Can we truly be kind to anyone else if we cannot be kind to ourselves?

In the Mindful Self-Compassion course we offer ways to meet our own challenges with greater care. Through the course we will learn how to be more mindful of our own feelings in response to others. And we learn how this can help us to be more resilient in difficult situations. We also learn to be less judgemental and more caring. We will learn how this can reduce anxiety, leaving us more open to making helpful changes in our lives.

The course creates a safe, supportive environment. There are three core components:

mindfulness (being present with whatever is happening)

self-kindness (treating ourselves with care, rather than criticism)

common humanity (recognising our suffering as part of the shared human experience)​

Some of the main topics we cover are:

handling difficult emotions

transforming the inner critic

cultivating core values

meeting unmet needs

The weekly sessions include:

guided meditations

short talks

discussion, including in small groups

experiential exercises

resources to support home practice

The course creators are Kristin Neff, researcher in the field of self-compassion. And Christopher Germer, leader in the integration of mindfulness and psychotherapy. They have each published books on the subject. You can find out more about our Mindful Self-Compassion course here.

Who is this course for?

This course is designed for the general public, so you do not need to have attended a mindfulness course before. Please note, this courses may not be suitable for everyone. If you are experiencing mental health issues, you should talk to your GP about being referred to the appropriate clinical service.

When?

Monday evenings from 5pm to 7.30pm (BST). The course starts with an orientation of up to 2.5 hours on 14 September 2026 at 5pm, and then continues until 16 November 2026. In total the course runs for 9 weeks including the orientation. See below:

Orientation: 21 September 2026Session 1: 28 September 2026 Session 2: 5 October 2026 Session 3: 12 October 2026 Session 4: 19 October 2026Session 5: 26 October 2026 Session 6: 2 November 2026 Session 7: 9 November 2026Session 8: 16 November 2026

Where?

Online. You will get Zoom log-in details when your place is confirmed.

The format of the course?

Orientation session lasting up to two and a half hours.

Eight weekly classes, each lasting two and a half hours, with a 15-minute break in the middle.

The course follows the programme outlined in the Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook by Christopher Germer and Kristin Neff. It is suggested you buy this book to accompany the course. It’s particularly helpful if you have to miss a ssion, but it’s not essential.

Daily meditation home practice of up to 30 minutes is suggested.

Facilitators

Annie Akasati McAuley

Mindfulness meditation has been a source of creativity and joy throughout my life. I am a freelance mindfulness teacher and supervisor. I also work with the Sussex Mindfulness Centre, Suzy Bolt, and the Brighton Buddhist Centre. I am DBS checked and a registered member of the British Association of Mindfulness-based Approaches (BAMBA).

I write a monthly blog on themes related to mindfulness, compassion and wisdom. This is available on our website and other publications. I have a teaching background and have worked with adults and young people over four decades. I am an ordained Buddhist since 1999, leading courses and retreats using my Buddhist name, Akasati.

Julia Powell

Mindfulness has been a huge part of my life ever since I first attended a course in 2007. Having trained to teach with the Oxford Mindfulness Centre I have been teaching mindfulness courses since 2017. Apart from Mindful Self-Compassion, I also teach Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy, Mindfulness for Life and Finding Peace in a Frantic World. I’m a trained supervisor and run mindfulness coaching sessions for individuals.

How to book

Please note, we ask all those who book a place on this course to fill in an application form here that will be sent to the facilitators. If you haven’t already, please head here to the fill in the form.

The cost of the eight-week course is £300. We also offer a choice of two other options:

£325 – Supporting rate. You can support other participants to attend who are on a low income.

£275 – Supported rate, if you are on a low income and can’t afford the general admission price.

As part of our equity, diversity and inclusion policy, we also have a limited number of concessionary tickets available on a first-come, first-served basis. These are for people who are facing acute financial hardship and who would otherwise not be able to attend. To request a concession ticket please email spft.smc@nhs.net.

We are striving to make our courses accessible for all. If you have additional needs or learning styles, please let us know so we can support you.

You can book here below.

Five-day silent mindfulness retreat in person
2026-09-28 17:00 - 2026-10-02 11:00 | Rivendell Retreat Centre, Chillies Lane, High Hurstwood, East Sussex, TN22 4AB, United Kingdom
Opening to the fruits of mindfulness exploring the awakening factors of energy, joy and peace.

A five-day mindfulness retreat at the Rivendell retreat centre, with Taravajra, Karunavira, Kate Gooch and Dharmavasita.

Brief overview

The retreat theme will be based on the traditional framework called the ‘Four Foundations of Mindfulness’ and in particular the ‘Awakening’ or ‘Responsive’ factors outlined in the fourth Foundation. In addition, the evening practices will explore the heart qualities of friendliness, sympathetic joy and compassion. We will practise together in the context of a silent retreat with inputs and guidance from the teachers. There will also be opportunities to speak about your practice in optional small mentoring groups and also one-to one. There will be an emphasis on integrating the formal and informal aspects of retreat life and also on integrating movement practice with the ‘sitting’ practices.

This retreat meets the retreat requirement for the BAMBA register.

The practical details

Rivendell is situated in the village of High Hurstwood, East Sussex. The nearest train stations are Buxted and Uckfield. Rivendell is a 45 minute drive from Brighton and the 28 bus (between Tunbridge Wells and Brighton) passes nearby.

Please arrive at the venue from 5pm on the Monday and the retreat will finish at 11am on the Friday.

The house is an old rectory and accommodation is in mainly in shared bedrooms of three to four. Camping is available. The food will be vegan (with some dairy options). We will have a cook with us who will need help chopping, serving and washing up (opportunities for everyday mindfulness!). And you will be expected to help with cleaning and changing linen at the end of your stay.

Who is the retreat for?

The retreat is suitable for teachers training in mindfulness-based approaches as well as more experienced teachers and also those not teaching who have an established mindfulness practice. The retreat will count towards the annual retreat requirement for teachers and supervisors on the BAMBA Register.

Retreat leaders

Taravajra

Taravajra has been teaching mindfulness in Sussex since 2005 to community groups, carers, teachers and NHS staff. Taravajra gained a Masters degree in mindfulness-based approaches in 2010 at Bangor University. Since 2011, he has been part of the core training team at Bangor, teaching on the Masters programme and teacher training pathway in the English and Spanish speaking worlds. He holds a British Wheel of Yoga teaching diploma and is a Focusing practitioner. Since 2011 he has been one of the main trainers on the Sussex Mindfulness Centre’s teacher training programme.

Kate Gooch

Kate Gooch holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Mindfulness Based Approaches from Bangor University (2012) and has taught Mindfulness since 2007. She teaches the general population, clinical populations, and carers, as well as delivering courses in educational settings and the workplace. She’s trained in .b, .b Foundations, and MYRIAD, in addition to being a Mindfulness supervisor for the Mindfulness Network. She also has a Speech and Language Therapy background.

Karunavira

Karunavira left his initial career as head teacher in primary education in 1982 to pursue Buddhist studies. From 1990 he taught meditation and Buddhist studies, and between 2000 and 2010 was the spiritual director of the Brighton Buddhist Centre. He gained his MSc through Bangor University in mindfulness-based approaches in 2010. He has taught mindfulness-based courses and trained mindfulness teachers since 2005, specialising in working with Carers, Young People, NHS Staff and traditional Arab communities. He is also trained as a Psychotherapeutic Counsellor specialising in working with parents of children with complex needs as a Mindfulness Therapist.

Where is it?

Cost/How to book

The cost of this retreat is £480 for shared bedrooms and bathrooms, and £400 for concessions or camping. This retreat is being organised by Taravajra, so to book and find out more please see the event page on his website.
