Tag: Ariana Faris

The Sussex Mindfulness Centre has won an Innovations in Mindfulness Award for their pioneering work running mindfulness courses for women refugees

The award was announced on 19 October 2024, at the Manchester Mindfulness Festival. The awards were initiated to celebrate “the creativity that makes mindfulness practices more accessible, more diverse and more effective.” The Centre won this award under the Creative Partnerships category which acknowleges the role of all the individuals and organisations that made this work possible.

The first most important collaboration, and part of the winning team, were Ariana Faris and Sheila Webb for pioneering the development of the curriculum, Mindfulness Across Borders. The 10-week course was adapted from Mindfuness Based Cognitive Therapy to be non-hierarchical, trauma-informed and culturally sensitive. Ariana supervised the Sussex Mindfulness Centre teachers to run the courses in Brighton. And Ariana enabled the teachers to make further adaptations to the curriculum, which were inspired by the participants themselves.

The other important collaborators were the leaders, volunteers and staff of local refugee organisations including: The Network of International Women for Brighton & Hove, Sanctuary on Sea, Hummingbird, Brighton Exiled / Refugee Trauma Service, and many more. A huge thanks to them all.

Nick Grey, Consultant Clinical Psychologist at Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust secured funds from Health Education England so that we could run courses for underrepresented groups. Robert Marx, Co-Lead for the Sussex Mindfulness Centre, identified asylum seekers and refugees as an important population for our outreach work. He continues to be a champion for this initiative. Interns Susie Mszynska and Georgia Sawyer supervised by Clara Strauss, and staff member Zoe Baty provided essential support to help us promote and run the sessions.

Dr Lana Jackson and Julia Powell led the courses in Brighton. On hearing news of the award Lana said,

Receiving this award is not only an honour but a reminder of the importance of this work. It highlights the need for trauma-sensitive, supportive spaces that respect and honour the lived experiences of refugees and people seeking asylum in the UK. … Watching the women come together, support each other, and their deep appreciation for mindfulness practice has been one of the most moving experiences of my career to date.

You can read more about the evolving innovations, including how the sessions were taken outdoors in Lana’s blog post here.

Mindfulness teacher, Julia Powell said,

We’re so thrilled to get this award. At a time, when so many people in the UK are under attack for exercising their right to seek sanctuary from persecution or war, it feels like their struggle is being recognised. We hope this award helps us with our fundraising and inspires others to run these courses all around UK, so that more people can learn to adapt to their new situation, and feel welcome in their communities.”

You can read more of Julia’s experience of running the courses in Miracles of Mindfulness; working with women refugees.

The teachers were humbled to witness how women refugees benefit from mindfulness. Having been uprooted, separated from loved ones, living in poor housing with their lives on hold many of the participants were still able to find stability, comfort, warmth and a sense of community and solidarity from the sessions. One participant said,

When I do mindfulness, I feel like I’m flying. It’s very powerful, you feel like you can run, you can learn.”

With generous agreement from the original two pioneers of the curriculum, Ariana and Sheila, the Sussex Mindfulness Centre will use the prize money to run another course for asylum seekers and refugees.

Dr Lana Jackson, Clinical Psychologist and mindfulness teacher at the Sussex Mindfulness Centre, shares some of the innovations in our work with refugees and celebrates the team’s award.

I am beyond thrilled to announce that our collaborating team has won a 2024 Innovations in Mindfulness Award! This recognition honours the work we’ve been doing through our 10-week, trauma-informed, and culturally-sensitive mindfulness courses that were designed for women refugees and asylum-seekers. It’s a moment of deep gratitude, not only for the award itself, but for the journey that has led us here.

Julia Powell (mindfulness teacher) and I began our journey with Mindfulness Across Borders; an adapted mindfulness programme originally created by the visionary Ariana Faris and Sheila Webb. From the beginning, their approach was rooted in understanding the unique challenges faced by displaced women and the ways in which mindfulness could serve as a lifeline amidst unimaginable traumas.

In collaboration with Ariana and based on the feedback from the women in our groups, we continued to adapt and evolve the programme to meet their needs more fully. One of the key adaptions was the addition of more mindful movement, especially at the start of each session. For women who have been through physical and emotional displacement, reconnecting with the body in a safe and gentle way became a powerful form of healing. The simple act of moving with mindfulness helped to re-establish a sense of agency and grounding.

We also decided to take the course outdoors, embracing the therapeutic power of nature. Research shows that being outdoors can reduce anxiety, depression, and even improve self-esteem. Nature also offers physiological benefits, like lowering cortisol levels, heart rate, and blood pressure. But beyond the science, being surrounded by natural beauty—feeling the earth beneath your feet, listening to the sound of the birds, breathing in the fresh air—fosters an innate sense of connection and belonging. For women uprooted from their homes, this connection to the natural world seemed to provide a source of comfort. The sensory experiences of nature also helped to ground awareness more fully into the present moment, enhancing the mindfulness practice. In many ways, nature itself became part of the healing process.

Another significant element we introduced was the fire circle. There is something deeply comforting and timeless about gathering around an open fire, sacred even. It is an ancient ritual where people have come together for warmth, safety, and the sharing of stories, across cultures for centuries. For the women in our group, being together around the fire, sharing food and tea, seemed to create a deeper sense of community, trust and connection.

I have been continually inspired by the resilience, courage, and strength of these women. They are the heart of this project. Watching them come together, support each other, and their deep appreciation for the mindfulness practice has been one of the most moving experiences of my career to date.

Receiving this award is not only an honour but a reminder of the importance of this work. It highlights the need for trauma-sensitive, supportive spaces that respect and honour the lived experiences of refugees and people seeking asylum in the UK. We hope that this moment brings us closer to securing the funding we need to continue this vital work in Sussex. I am filled with gratitude and excitement for our continued journey ahead.

Our work implementing the Mindfulness Across Borders curriculum with women refugees and asylum seekers in Brighton has been recognised by the Innovations in Mindfulness Awards.

Collaborating with the original pioneers of the Mindfulness Across Borders curriculum, the Sussex Mindfulness Centre has been offering mindfulness courses to women refugees in Brighton. You can find out more about the project here and in this blog post; Miracles of Mindfulness.

The Innovations in Mindfulness Awards celebrate manifesting creativity: innovators meeting need by turning ideas into reality, making a difference to people’s lives through significant new approaches to bringing mindfulness into the heart of society.

The finalists were chosen by a distinguished panel of judges for:

1. Solving a real need;
2. Creativity and risk-taking;
3. Diversity, inclusion and accessibility to new audiences;
4. Testing and iterating;
5. Collaboration and learning from each other;
6. Sustainability and impact over time.

The winning project in each of three categories will be announced at the The Manchester Mindfulness Festival on 19 October 2024.