Highland Mindfulness Group

Intermediate Mindfulness Course
An 8-week course on Zoom

Tuesdays from 15th February to 5th April from 7pm – 9pm

‘It maybe that when we no longer know what to do, we have come to our real work,
And that when we no longer know which way to go, we have begun our real journey’
Wendell Berry

Rona Mackenzie and Catherine Lavelle are the facilitators for this 8-week course.

The beginning of a New Year can often be overwhelming as various messages tell us we should try and be better by setting goals and becoming a ‘new you’. Well, here’s the thing – a new year is a time for reflection and review but it’s even much better if we can leap into the present with vigour for who we already are.

If you are ready to take this step, join Catherine and Rona in taking your mindfulness practice to the next level. There will be time to explore and reflect on topics such as positive mind states, dealing with pain, cultivation of Insight, via Mindfulness tools to help you navigate the year in the most positive ways possible. The course will be a blend of inspirations, readings and practices from current and past masters. 

The course is suitable for anyone who has undertaken a beginner’s mindfulness course (e.g. MBSR or MBLC) or has a regular practice and wants to learn more.

COURSE AIMS

• To help participants practice their meditation skills and to learn more techniques.
• To introduce participants to the techniques of Insight and compassion meditation.
• To help participants to establish a regular meditation practice.

COURSE PROGRAMME

WEEK 1 – SETTLING, GROUNDING AND RESTING
A. Use of the breath and other settling grounding techniques (i.e. compassionate touch, points of contact, sound).
B. Counting techniques
C. The ability to rest the mind
D. Differences between Doing and Being modes

WEEK 2 – USE OF POSITIVE MIND STATES
A. How positive mind states help the mind to rest and remain open.
B. Letting go of resistance, suppression and denial.
C. The process of acknowledgement.

WEEK 3 – COMPASSION MEDITATION
A. Basic compassion techniques (kindness and caring)
B. The benefits of compassion practice in all of its forms
C. The difficulties of compassion practice

WEEK 4 – DEVELOPING INSIGHT
A. How insight arises
B. The nature of realization
C. Choiceless awareness

WEEK 5 – SELF-COMPASSION
A. The difficulties of self-compassion practice (the trance of unworthiness)
B. Loving-kindness and self-acceptance
C. Use of the breath in compassion meditation
D. Forgiveness

WEEK 6 – APPROACHING DIFFICULTIES
A. Dealing with physical and emotional pain
B. Loosening the bonds of stress and pain
C. Moving Mindfully

WEEK 7 – OTHER WAYS OF INSIGHT
A. Importance of Observer
B. Meditating in Silence
C. The Lens of Impermanence

WEEK 8 – PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
A. Always return to basics
B. Stop trying but don’t stop breathing
C. Allow ourselves to be aware of suffering
D. Be open to whatever arises.

COST
Cost £150 per person. Please ask about Concessions / payment by instalments.
You will be able to listen to recordings of the meditation practices on a password-protected page of our website.

BOOKING
Please email us on highlandmindfulness@gmail.com if you would like to book on this course.

COURSE FACILITATORS

Rona Mackenzie is the owner of The Butterfly Effect EFT. She offers a blend of emotional wellbeing therapies to promote positive change and self-healing. She is an NHS accredited Mindfulness teacher, clinical hypnotherapist and Emotional Freedom Technique practitioner. Underpinned by 30 years’ experience within mental health nursing and health visiting in the NHS. She has been teaching with the Highland Mindfulness Group since 2018.

Catherine Lavelle has been a mindfulness facilitator with Highland Mindfulness since 2018. She has undertaken her training with the NHS and gained her teaching qualification with the Mindfulness Association. She has extensive knowledge of the MBSR and MBLC programmes and has developed her facilitation practice to intermediate level and currently helps to facilitate insight courses, study days, morning sessions and retreats. As an Occupational Health Nurse with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service she has a particular interest in Stress prevention and wider wellbeing initiatives and has developed mindfulness techniques within the Fire Service to highlight mental heath issues and support employees. As a result of her own experience with chronic pain Catherine has also developed mindfulness techniques to help and support those suffering with chronic pain conditions.