Presence of Mind - Mindfulness Meditation

Mindfulness and its benefits: Research has shown that humans spend approximately 50% of their waking lives on “autopilot”. We are lost in thought and our minds wander, perhaps worrying, thinking, planning or daydreaming. We don’t need to pay attention whilst we carry out everyday tasks like cleaning our teeth or taking a shower so we are often elsewhere, thinking. But being “in our heads” for half our time means that, not only are we missing out on what is actually happening, but we also are prone to allowing thoughts to dominate, causing stress, making us anxious or losing focus and concentration. Mindfulness uses secular meditation practices, which can help to relieve stress and anxiety, enable people to feel present in their lives and improve focus and concentration as well as quality of sleep. It enables us to relate differently to things that cause stress - thoughts, pain, sleeplessness - and to manage our emotional responses more effectively. The 8 Week Course The 8-week MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction) course was developed at MIT by Jon Kabat-Zinn. The MBSR course is taught all over the world, and scientifically proven to help people cope better with stress, depression and anxiety. This eight-week life-skills course combines experiential mindfulness practices with the latest tools and techniques of neuroscience, psychology and the study of well-being. We also offer the course or mindfulness sessions on a one to one basis as well as working with teenagers, and businesses for staff well being.

Mental Health

Reviews

Add your review

5 Star review from 7 reviews

Lucy Woods - Mindfulness 5 I started mindfulness sessions with Lucy as part of another course I was doing. She has a wonderful way of explaining things that took this chronic over thinker from believing mindfulness wasn’t something I could do to understanding the benefits that can be reaped by practicing even if you have a busy mind. I have since continued to attend her online meditation sessions via zoom and have been to two in-person mini retreats, which were wonderful experiences. I would recommend Lucy with her warm, friendly and down to earth approach to anyone who wants to try mindfulness or anyone looking for a regular practice accessible from home. Being able to attend the mini retreats is a fantastic bonus!

Comment graphic Stef C 17 Aug 2022

Mindfulness course 5 I had often wanted to commit proper time to doing something worthwhile for me, and had never realised how much I needed mindfulness. It took “the big C” for me to finally, have the time, and try something new and thank goodness Lucy found me! Having now been through the 6 week course, it has made me appreciate how much I could have done with mindfulness years ago. It has helped me through what had the potential to be a very dark time, instead I have managed to learn to live more in the present, change my communication style to reduce stress and encourage a more harmonious life, I now have better control over my negative thoughts and make the effort to ensure I have time for me everyday. Lucy’s course had just the right amount of practical practice, time for discussion and some taught elements that left me always wanting more. Can’t recommend it enough! Louisa Boon

Comment graphic Louisa 25 Feb 2021

Mindfulness 5 I found Lucy's course when I was having a hard time with feeling constantly anxious and generally bad about myself. I knew that I didn't want traditional counselling and CBT felt too overwhelming. By chance, I got an alert through Facebook that there was a taster session the next day so I emailed Lucy to book a place and from the beginning she was nothing but warm, friendly and so so easy to talk to. The taster session was great and felt like a really welcoming and safe environment to get a bit of an introduction to mindfulness and to think about what we needed. I could tell right away that this could help get out of living my life on autopilot and actually begin to appreciate the moment rather than being trapped in a worry spiral. I decided to start one on one sessions with Lucy rather than waiting for the next group course and it was one of the best decisions I've ever made. Lucy created such a wonderful, calm space for us to cover the material and to talk about how I could integrate mindfulness into my daily life. I can honestly say that this course has changed my life. Mindfulness is not a quick fix and Lucy made that very clear from the beginning. I am not suddenly a brand new person who never worries, never feels sad and sits under a Bodhi tree in a state of Zen all day! But I do feel like I now have the tools I need to manage myself more effectively and for the first time (probably ever) I like myself and I will be forever grateful for taking this time for myself. Thank you Lucy.

Comment graphic Claire 20 Aug 2019

Review from a client regarding a silent retreat 5 "A beautiful day of silence and mindfulness. I felt completely nourished afterwards and I'm still feeling the positive effects. I've always wanted to try a silent retreat but felt a bit intimidated by the idea. This was the perfect introduction which has really deepened my mindfulness practice. Lucy created a really relaxing and restorative space where I felt completely supported, at ease and open to the experience. I will definitely be back and cannot recommend highly enough!"

Comment graphic lucy woods 14 Aug 2019

Mindfulness 5 If you can please go to the free taster session. I did and then completed the eight week course. I have never looked back and could not be calmer or happier 😁👍

Comment graphic Tricia Maher 5 Jun 2019

Review from my client (JH) 5 Since participating in the mindfulness sessions I have been sleeping better and feel more able to cope with stressful situations. I would like to say that the course was extremely well delivered and very well planned with a lovely atmosphere. The booklet is also very good. I would thoroughly recommend your mindfulness sessions to everyone. Thank you very much for an excellent 8 sessions.

Comment graphic Lucy 5 Apr 2019

Review from my client (CL) 5 Lucy is a natural presenter. She is relaxed, witty and very knowledgeable on her subject. I could listen to her for hours. Although passionate about mindfulness, I didn't find her approach overbearing, or feeling like a lecture. It was merely informative and concise with occasional anecdotes . There was no waffling. I thoroughly enjoyed every week's session and I'm so happy that I completed the course. Now if I'm sitting in the car waiting at traffic lights for example, I'm much more relaxed and happy to be there, accepting of the slight delay and enjoying the few seconds break before starting my journey again, I'm enjoying my day to day activities, like dog walking, even more by completely immersing myself in them rather than letting my mind flip around other things. Even prepping dinner has become a pleasure rather than a chore. Who knew chopping tomatoes could be so enjoyable?

Comment graphic Lucy 28 Mar 2019