Mindfulness for Life | MBCT-L

About Mindfulness for Life

*also known as Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy for Life

Through meditation practices and cognitive behavioural techniques, this 8-week experiential programme helps reduce suffering, build resilience and promote flourishing.

This course develops skills to strengthen awareness of the present moment. You learn to regulate your attention to be more present in your life, and not be caught up in unhelpful patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving, that may leave you feeling trapped.

You learn to skilfully respond to difficulty when it arises, as well as savour positive experiences in everyday life, by intentionally opening up to moments of joy, contentment and gratitude.

Mindfulness For Life (MBCT-L), is an evidence-based curriculum of the Oxford Mindfulness Centre, in collaboration with the University of Oxford. It has been scientifically developed to reduce distress, as well as promote flourishing.

What to expect

  • Formal Practice: Body Scan, Mindful Movement, Sitting Meditation

  • Specialised Practices to strengthen self-compassion and resilience: Befriending (loving-kindness), Working with Difficulty

  • Cognitive exercises to recognise the relationship between thoughts, mood and behaviour

  • Practices to incline the mind towards the pleasant in life

  • New habits and micro-practices for everyday life (starting in Week 1)

  • Facilitated inquiry to deepen experience

  • Group sharing & reflections

  • A ‘Silent Day’ to deepen the practice and get acquainted with walking meditation

  • Regular home-practice (ca. 45 min per day)

Key Running Themes

  • Turning towards safety anchors in the body

  • Using the body as a sensitive radar to detect reactivity

  • Understanding how thoughts, emotions, body sensations and behaviours are intertwined

  • Finding new skilful ways for dealing with difficulty and troubling thoughts (including our inner critic)

  • Intentionally turning to positive experiences as a means of building resilience

  • Cultivating inner qualities of acceptance and compassion towards self & others

  • Recognising the impact of life-style patterns and the need for self-care

Benefits - Mindfulness for Life

Mindfulness for Life can help improve your wellbeing, build your resilience and support your flourishing even in difficult times. Personal outcomes, however, differ from person to person.

  • Reduced feelings of stress, anxiety, and depressed mood

  • Less worrying and obsessing over things

  • Improved ability to cope with pain and illness

  • Greater appreciation of what is pleasant and enjoyable in life

  • Feeling clearer about what is truly meaningful

  • Living life with a stronger sense of purpose

  • Improved overall wellbeing, even in difficult times

Course Structure

Each of the 8 sessions is typically 2,5 hours in a small group setting. The Silent Day of practice, usually held on a Saturday or Sunday, takes place between Weeks 5 & 8 and is a form of a mini silent retreat, that allows you to deepen your practice.

Home Practice

As this is a skills-development programme, the course requires commitment of about 45 minutes of home practice per day. Please ensure that you are able to dedicate this time. Handbook and audio-guides, to support your home practice, will be provided.

Pre-Interview

After registration, an individual pre-course interview will be set up to shed more light on the programme and understand your motivation for joining. This allows us to assess whether the programme is suited to your present life circumstances. This is a complimentary session.