Mindfulness
HSMC’s Department of Psychology offers a variety of experiential mindfulness programs and courses to boost mind-body health and wellbeing, ranging from introductory courses to in-depth, evidence-based training in mindfulness practices and meditation skills.
What is mindfulness?
It is a natural capacity we all have to pay attention without judgment to the present moment. Regular meditation practices help us learn skills to consistently bring attention to our moment-by-moment experience, while holding attitudes of interest and curiosity, openness, acceptance and kindness. In doing so, we strengthen our ability to recognize mind wandering and automatic patterns of reactivity, and increase our capacity to choose more skillful responses to the stresses of daily life.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness for Life is an 8-week experiential course, adapted by the Oxford Mindfulness Foundation from the Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) program which has 30 years of research evidence showing its effectiveness in preventing recurrence of depression, as well as lowering active depression, anxiety, difficulties with chronic pain, and improving both emotional and physical wellbeing.
Designed from the ground up to cultivate lasting and sustainable personal change, this in-depth course will help us learn to recognize when we are on automatic pilot and practice stepping out of it by bringing mindfulness to our everyday, present-moment experience. With greater awareness, mindfulness helps us learn to recognize our thoughts, emotions, sensations, and impulses, to gather the scattered mind and return with appreciation to the here and now. Through specific mindfulness practices and cognitive-behavioural techniques taught in each session, this program guides participants in applying skills of mindful awareness and acceptance in everyday life. It offers a different approach to life and life’s challenges, including recurring patterns of thought and behaviour that create suffering, so as to respond mindfully rather than simply reacting, wisely rather than impulsively.
In this course, you’ll learn:
- How to recognize mind-wandering and going into “autopilot”, and how to bring attention back to where we want it to be – with interest, patience, and care.
- How to recognize our patterns of reactivity and what keeps us stuck.
- How to bring a sense of care and kindness to ourselves in those moments of reactivity.
- Using mindfulness to respond skillfully to distress, in contrast to reacting, in ways that support our wellbeing.
What happens during sessions?
Sessions are group-based, and involve a combination of teaching, experiential mindfulness practices, discussion, and trying out what is learned in everyday life. Each session builds on learning and experience from the previous session and the home practice.
How the course works:
1. Mindfulness for Life (MBCT-L)
Duration: 8 weeks
When: Saturdays, from 4th October to 22nd November
Time: In-person at Villa 11, Group Meeting Room & online via Microsoft Teams
Cost: AED 2,750
2. Mindfulness Retreat (Silent Practice Day)
Date: 9th November
Time: 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Format: In-person & online (hybrid)
Cost: AED 550
Free for participants enrolled in the Mindfulness for Life program
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