Mindfulness Sussex

We offer mindfulness courses, workshops and retreats for beginners and more experienced practitioners. Our wide-ranging programme is led by highly experienced mindfulness teacher and author Ed Halliwell. We also offer mindfulness training for schools and other organisations.

Our public events usually take place at the Old School in Cuckfield, West Sussex, but DUE TO THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS, ALL OUR COURSES ARE CURRENTLY BEING DELIVERED ONLINE, VIA ZOOM. Mindfulness training is very suitable for online learning, and may be particularly helpful in these current challenging circumstances. WE ARE EXPLORING THE POSSIBILITY OF A RETURN TO FACE-TO-FACE SESSIONS FROM SEPTEMBER 2020, ALTHOUGH IT WILL STILL BE POSSIBLE TO JOIN COURSES VIA ZOOM AFTER THAT TIME. We are also able to offer concessions on our eight-week courses to people who would otherwise not be able to join them due to financial circumstances. Please contact us to apply for a concessionary place on an eight-week course.

Our current offering includes:

• One-day Introduction to mindfulness workshops. Next session on 1st November 2020.

• Eight-week mindfulness courses (MBSR/MBCT). Currently being offered via live online link.

  Next group starts Tuesday evening September 8th 2020, see here for more details. Next face-to-face course scheduled to begin on Wednesday evenings from October 21st 2020.

• One-to-one/small private group taster sessions, eight-week courses and mindfulness mentoring, either face-to-face or via Skype/Zoom.

• Graduate practice sessions, day and weekend retreats. follow-up courses and one-to-one mindfulness mentoring sessions for people who’ve already completed an eight-week course. All sessions currently being offered via live online link. Face-to-face sessions may resume in September 2020.

• We are also currently offering free weekly guided mindfulness sessions on Thursday evenings from 6-7pm UK time (if you are able, we suggest making donation to the National Emergencies Trust Coronavirus Fund in return for attending these sessions). For more information and to register please visit here.

We are currently taking bookings for...

Morning and Evening 8-Week Mindfulness Courses

The 8-week mindfulness course is the gold standard mindfulness training, including all the key elements of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy For Life (MBCT-L). The course teaches us how to cultivate awareness and be less caught up in automatic thoughts, feelings and behaviour patterns. Participants learn meditation practices which can transform daily life, including sitting meditation, body scanning and mindful movement.

Courses with places available:

Tuesday Evening Course (This course will take place fully online via live Zoom link)

For 9 weekly sessions from Tuesday 8th September 2020 - 7.30pm-9.30pm, with Ed Halliwell. Includes a six-hour day retreat on Friday 23rd October (alternative retreat dates are available). Find out more

Wednesday Morning Course (This course will take place fully online via live Zoom link)

For 9 weekly sessions from Wednesday 14th October 2020 10am-midday, taught by Ed Halliwell. This course includes a six-hour day retreat on Friday 27th November. (alternative retreat dates are available). Find out more

Wednesday Evening Course (Currently planned to take place at the Old School, Cuckfield)

For 9 weekly sessions from Wednesday 21st October 2020 7.30-9.30pm, taught by Ed Halliwell. This course includes a six-hour day retreat on Sunday 6th December. (alternative retreat dates are available). Find out more

The next Saturday morning course is due to run from May-July 2021. Please sign up to our newsletter to receive updates.

• If you cannot make the orientation session this can be done on a 1.1. basis on the telephone.
• We often hold waiting lists for our courses and early booking is advised
• We believe than no-one should be unable to take a mindfulness course due to lack of financial resources, and therefore offer a number of concessionary places on our courses. We are also able to offer one fully sponsored place for a registered carer on each course. Please contact us for further information on concessionary and sponsored places.
• We also run courses and workshops in London WC1.

One-Day Introduction To Mindfulness Workshops

Our one-day workshops are for people curious about mindfulness or considering taking a mindfulness course. These workshops introduce key principles for living mindfully, and core practices to help cultivate mindfulness in daily life. Tea, coffee, refreshments and a light vegetarian lunch from The Sussex Produce Company are included. The cost is £75 and workshops are held at The Old School, Cuckfield, near Haywards Heath, West Sussex

• Sunday 1st November 2020, 10am-5pm Find out more

One-to-One and Small Private Groups

For those unable to attend a group course, we have a few spaces available for one-to-one mindfulness training. These can follow the curriculum of an eight-week course, adapted for individuals, or take place on a session-by-session basis (mindfulness mentoring). For those unable to make our location in Cuckfield, West Sussex, we can offer one-to-one mindfulness training via Skype/Zoom. Please contact us for a further discussion if you are interested in one-to-one/small group sessions, or to arrange a taster session.

Graduate Sessions

Our graduate programme supports people who’ve completed an eight-week course, through ongoing opportunities to practise with others and deepen their learning. The programme includes morning and evening sessions, four-week graduate courses, non-residential day retreats and residential weekend retreats. Ed Halliwell also has a few mindfulness mentoring spaces available for eight-week course graduates. All our graduate sessions are currently taking place via live online link. Find out more

What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is a way of paying attention, staying present and responding skilfully to what’s happening in our lives. It helps people manage their thoughts, feelings, behaviours and relationships with awareness and compassion, leading to greater well-being and appreciation, as well as more choice in how to meet difficulties. Mindfulness is cultivated by a exploring a range of simple meditation practices and approaches to living, as taught on our courses. Our approach is based on the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course, which was developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachussetts medical school, and which has been used for nearly 40 years to help with stress, anxiety, and chronic health problems, as well as to promote resilience and flourishing. We also include all the key elements from the Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy For Life (also known as Mindfulness For Life or MBCT- L) course, developed by the Oxford University Mindfulness Centre (OMC). Mindfulness For Life is itself based on MBSR and the content for both courses is very similar. An extensive body of clinical research has consistently shown that this approach to teaching mindfulness is helpful for working with a wide range of conditions, as well as for optimising well-being, and it is now taught widely in healthcare, education, workplaces and other settings.

Who teaches our mindfulness courses?

All of our courses are led by Ed Halliwell. Ed is a highly-experienced mindfulness teacher, having taught the gold-standard MBSR/MBCT course more than 100 times. He is the author of three books: Mindfulness: How To Live Well By Paying Attention, Into The Heart of Mindfulness and (as co-author) The Mindful Manifesto. As well as teaching mindfulness to public groups and organisations, Ed is an advisor to The Mindfulness Initiative, which supports the Mindfulness All-Party Parliamentary Group to develop mindfulness-based policies for the UK. He is also an associate of the Oxford University Mindfulness Centre. According to Psychologies magazine, Ed is "one of the UK's most popular mindfulness teachers", while the Guardian calls him "one of the UK's leading mindfulness instructors and writers." Find out more about Ed.

In 2016 Ed was invited to do a talk 'Mindfulness - Beyond The Hype' for Action for Happliness. Watch this talk below:

You may also be interested to watch:

• Ed talking about mindfulness and depression for the Mental Health Foundation's 'Be Mindful' campaign.
• A podcast interview with Ed and Action for Happiness.
• A selection of short talks on Ed's You Tube channel.

You may also be interested to read:

• Ed's blog posts for mindful.org.
• Meet Ed Halliwell, lads' mag editor turned mindfulness expert (The Telegraph interview)
• Ed Halliwell on how his journey to enlightenment began with a cup of tea (Sussex Life magazine interview)
• Stepping away from the persona (Sussex Style magazine interview)
• Other Media coverage of Ed's work.
• Testimonials from people who've participated in our courses.

To keep in touch with our courses and events, you can sign up to our newsletter here.
You can also like our facebook page and follow Ed on Facebook and Twitter.