Previously featured practitioners:
Featured practitioner: Vidyamala Burch
Vidyamala Burch has an inspirational story to tell. At the age of sixteen, she seriously injured her spine whilst lifting someone out the swimming pool during lifesaving practice. The injury left her in constant pain, which worsened over the years. This injury, and an additional spinal injury in a car accident five years later, changed her life forever.
In 1985 when receiving hospital treatment for her spinal injury, she found herself really struggling to cope with constant pain. It was suggested that she should try mindfulness to help ease her pain. Although sceptical at first, she gave it a try. Over time, by learning mindfulness practices, she discovered that much of the pain she was experiencing was caused by her own mental reaction to the physical pain she was experiencing. By learning to experience the present moment, including her physical pain, as it really was, rather how she perceived it to be, she found that her pain was significantly reduced.
As her spinal condition deteriorated further in the late 1990s, she needed to use crutches or a wheelchair for mobility, but her overall quality of life continued to improve as she has become more and more adept at managing her responses to her physical condition. .
In 2001 she started teaching mindfulness-based approaches to others living with physical pain and illness, with funding from the Millennium Commission. In 2004 she co-founded Breathworks with Sonia Fricker & Gary Hennessey. Breathworks Community Interest Company (CIC) is an independent not-for-profit social enterprise offering mindfulness-based approaches to living well with chronic pain and illness. Breathworks is rapidly becoming the leader in this field, and Vidyamala is now frequently asked to share her experiences at conferences around the world .
The Breathworks approach is based on learning to accept one's pain and not react to it. To do this, people are taught how to be more mindful and aware of their reactions and responses. They offer a range of mindfulness courses, and teacher training.
Breathworks senior trainers are founder members of the UK Mindfulness Teachers Network, a national body, including the Universities of Oxford, Bangor, Exeter, and Aberdeen, established to develop and ensure professional standards amongst UK mindfulness trainers.
Links
- Being Here - Vidyamala's experience of living with pain
- http://breathworks-mindfulness.org.uk/
Breathworks CIC, 16 - 20 Turner Street, Manchester. M4 1DZ
0161 834 1110
Previous featured practitioners
Jon Kabat-Zinn
Jon's life work has been largely dedicated to bringing mindfulness into the mainstream of medicine and society. Jon Kabat-Zinn is the author or co-author of scientific papers on mindfulness and its clinical applications. He has written two bestselling books: Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness (Delta, 1991), and Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life (Hyperion, 1994). He co-authored with Myla Kabat-Zinn Everyday Blessings: The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting, (Hyperion, 1997). Other books include Coming to Our Senses (Hyperion, 2005) and his most recent book The Mindful Way Through Depression: Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness, co-authored with De Mark Williams, John D Teasdale and Zindel V Segal (Guilford, 2007).
Jon has made significant contributions to modern helath care with his research which focused on mind/body interactions for healing, and on various clinical applications of mindfulness training for people with chronic pain and/or stress-related disorders. Kabat-Zinn began teaching Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) at the Stress Reduction Clinic in 1979. He found that mindfulness helps participants use their inner resources to achieve good health and well being. Kabat-Zinn and colleagues have studied the effects of practising moment-to-moment awareness on the brain and how it processes emotions, particularly under stress, and on the immune system.,
Jon's recent research shows positive changes in brain activity, emotional processing under stress, and immune function in people taking an MBSR course in a corporate work setting in a randomized clinical trial.
The core of Jon Kabat-Zinn's teachings can be found in his book, "Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life."Jon Kabat-Zinn is regarded by many as the father of modern day mindfulness practices. He is founding Executive Director of the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He is also the founding director of its renowned Stress Reduction Clinic and Professor of Medicine emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He teaches mindfulness and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) in various venues around the world.
Michael Chaskalson
Michael Chaskalson is based in Cambridge, Michael has a masters degree with distinction in the clinical applications of mindfulness and a thirty year personal practice of mindfulness and related disciplines.
He is an honorary research fellow at Bangor University, where he teaches a module on Buddhist Psychology on the part-time masters programme in the Department of Psychology.
A member of the core team at the Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice in Bangor, Michael's teaching is both theoretical and practical. Drawing on the latest scientific research, including studies from the field of brain science, his approach fuses that with the ancient art of meditative practice.
Michael has run mindfulness programmes for a number of clients in healthcare and corporate contexts (see Michael Chaskalson's corporate profile). He has trained NHS clincians and other psychotherapists in mindfulness skills and runs courses for the general public in London and East Anglia.
Under the name Kulananda he has published six books on mindfulness and related themes.
Mindfulness at work
Michael is currently writing a book about mindfulness at work. See www.mindfulness-works.com for more information about Michael's corporate work.
Testimonials from programme participants
"The course has given me choice and extremely useful tools for managing my personal as well as my professional life…"
"I now have a toolkit to improve my life dramatically. I've enjoyed the sessions very much indeed and the teacher is inspirational.
"Mindfulness is a life-changing experience and having experienced this myself I cannot imagine living without it. I like the person I become when I'm being mindful…"
"After the course I seem to get more done with less effort. I'm more grounded and have an increased self-belief. It's not that I feel protected from bad things happening but rather that whatever happens there's nothing to fear really. It's improved my relationships, especially the previously challenging ones at work!"Contact details
Michael can be contacted by email: michael@mbsr.co.uk
His website is http://www.mbsr.co.uk
Dr Patrizia Collard
Brief biography:
Dr Patrizia Collard is a highly experienced MBSR/ MBCT mindfulness trainer. She is also a senior lecturer in the department of psychology at theUniversity of East London, where she recently organised a Mindfulness conference: Mindfulness and well being: from spirituality to neuroscience
When not lecturing at UEL or teaching mindfulness, Patrizia works as a multi-modal (integrative) counsellor, trainer, coach and therapist - she incorporates a large variety of techniques and approaches into her work, applying the best treatment to each client.
Patrizia lived in the Far East for nine years (Hong Kong and China) where she developed a uniquely holistic approach. She is a member of many governing bodies (BABCP, UKCP, ISMA, Association for Coaching, Austrian Association for Behaviour Therapy, Institute for Health Promotion and Education and Obsessive Action) and is therefore always in touch with current developments in her fields of expertise.
Patrizia's approach to teaching mindfulness
Patrizia started training in Mindfulness-based approaches in 1995 (Jon Kabat-Zinn, Mark Williams, John Teasdale, Christina Feldman). She attended the Mindfulness Teacher Development Course at Bangor University. She has attended many week-long Mindfulness and retreats to deepen and develop her practice.
Patrizia says that "Mindfulness can be defined as bringing attention to the present moment, intentionally and without judgement. Mindfulness-based Therapy includes simple breathing meditations and yoga stretches to help participants become more aware of the now, including getting in touch with moment-to-moment changes in the mind and the body. In eight weekly classes and by listening to recordings at home during the week, class participants learn the practice of mindfulness meditation"
Mindfulness Training available
● Mindfulness-based therapy for individual clients (anxiety, depression, stress, pain management, addiction)
● 8-week MBCT/MBSR course
● two day courses and one day introductory courses
Research / Publications:
Collard, P. (in press). Sensory awareness mindfulness training in coaching: accepting life's challenges. Journal of Rational-Emotive & Cognitive-Behavior Therapy.
Collard, P., Avny, N., & Boniwell, I. (2008). Teaching mindfulness based cognitive therapy (MBCT) to students: the effects of MBCT on the levels of mindfulness and subjective well-being. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 21(4), 323-336 .
Contact details:
Telephone: (+44) 0794 1544958
Address: 45 Lowther Hill, London SE23 1PZ
Email contact@stressminus.co.uk
Mindfulnet is not responsible for the content of any external websites and we do not necessarily endorse the views expressed within these sites.