Mindfulness Based Living Course
An 8-week beginners course
The Mindfulness Based Living Course (MBLC) is a weekly mindfulness course for beginners, with kindness and compassion at the centre. It is an 8-week course, each session is two hours long, with a specific area of focus (see programme below). Along with the MBSR, it is one of the main internationally recognised courses for beginners.
COURSE DATES
The next Mindfulness Based Living Course will be held at Dingwall Community Centre on Fridays 15th January – 5th March 2027 (10am – 12pm). It will be run by two trained mindfulness facilitators – Diana Woodman and Pegs Bailey. The course is largely experiential and home practice is an integral and important aspect of the course.
We are running 2 free taster sessions with Diana and Pegs at Dingwall Community Centre on:
Friday 6th November 2026 from 6.15pm – 7.30pm
Friday 20th November 2026 from 10am – 11.15am
To book a place on one of the taster sessions, please email Daniel (admin) on highlandmindfulness@gmail.com
Please note we have developed an MBLC specifically for people with long-term health conditions which we will be running again on Zoom in early 2027.
We will also be running the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction course on Zoom from January – March 2027.
COST
Standard rate £140 per person.
Concessions rate £70 for those on low/no income.
Deposit required on booking. We can offer a flexible payment plan by instalments.
We welcome any “pay it forward” contributions over £70 or £140 which help us to offer subsidised places to more people.
Payment to our charity can be via PayPal or bank transfer.
See full Terms & Conditions at the bottom of this page.
HOW TO BOOK
Please email Daniel (admin) on highlandmindfulness@gmail.com for a registration form and one of the facilitators will get in contact with you. Please note, the course is for over 18s only.
What’s included:
- 8 x 2-hour group sessions with 2 trained mindfulness facilitators
- Course manual in PDF format (sent out weekly by email)
- Audio recordings of the guided meditations
- A certificate of completion can be given to anyone who attends at least 6 of the 8 sessions.
Course participants are welcome to join in with the regular free drop-in sessions offered by the Highland Mindfulness Group to help people maintain their practice.
Feedback from previous course participants:
‘Excellent, would definitely recommend to others.’
‘This is a journey and I have the tools to sustain myself.’
PROGRAMME
Session 1 – Starting where we are – allowing us to recognise the unsettled mind and practice how we might settle the mind.
Session 2 – The body as a place to stay present – looks at mindfulness in every day life, exploring kindness and awareness of how the body can anchor us to the present moment.
Session 3 – Introducing mindful support – during this session we will practice the 3 minute breathing space, we explore using sound as a support to our practice, topics for this session also include what we mean by non striving and responding to pleasant and unpleasant events.
Session 4 – Working with distraction – we explore using the support of the breath and mindful walking.
Session 5 – Exploring the undercurrent – looking at the undercurrent as a constant steam of thoughts, emotions and physical sensations, topics for this session will also cover loving kindness in our lives.
Session 6 – Attitude – we continue to look at kindness for ourself and others, learning more about the attitude we bring to the undercurrent as we observe the flow of thoughts, emotions and physical sensations
Session 7 – Self Acceptance – the main theme of this session is looking at self acceptance and drawing on the work of Professor Paul Gilbert. We explore practices in self compassion and practice self acceptance with the RAIN practice (Recognising, Allowing, Intimate attention and Non identification).
Session 8 – A mindful based life – during this session mindfulness support will be revisited – review of the journey so far and where do we go from here.
Benefits of Mindfulness
Mindfulness can bring more awareness, gratitude, kindness & compassion into our lives and can help us feel more relaxed and able to cope. It can also help to build resilience. Mindfulness is a well validated scientific approach which can help with stress, anxiety, depression, isolation and chronic pain. Teaching mindfulness in a group helps individuals to develop compassion and self compassion through shared experiences and an understanding of our common humanity.
Payment Terms & Conditions
To secure your place, we request a deposit of half of the course fee at the time of booking (or full course fee if possible). Any remaining balance should be paid no less than 7 days prior to the course start date. We can offer a flexible payment plan by instalments if needed.
Refunds
If you have paid but can no longer attend the course, a full refund will be available up to 7 days prior to the course start date. Alternatively, we can reserve a place for you on the next available course.
Once courses have begun, refunds are no longer available, but we do offer the option to transfer to the next course instead.
In the event of unforeseen circumstances which result in us having to cancel the course, a full refund will be available or the option to transfer to the next available course.
Attendance
We highly recommend that you attend at least 6 of the 8 sessions (including at least 3 of the first 4 sessions). If you miss both of the first 2 sessions, then you will be unable to start on that course and we would transfer you to the next one. A certificate of completion can be given to anyone who attends at least 6 of the 8 sessions.
