Description
Have you ever stopped to notice how many tasks you have during a regular day? And have you also noticed how you run from one task to the other, barely having the time to finish anything? Have you ever felt like if you are being lived by all your ‘to do’s’ instead of living your life as you would like to? Have you ever struggled with the business of your schedule, the business of your mind and how to manage these? Have you ever wondered if you could find some other way to deal with the business of your life and mind, that would perhaps be more fulfilling and less overwhelming? If any of these questions resonate with you, it may be good to know that all of these questions, as well as the possible answers, can start with something we call ‘mindfulness’.

Mindfulness is the practice of bringing direct, open-hearted awareness to what you are doing while you are doing it: being able to tune in to what’s going on in your mind and body, and in the outside world. Being mindful probably makes sense, but when you look closely you will notice that we are often not very aware, nor that open. This makes it more difficult to make conscious choices in your (daily) life. Now research shows that it is possible to train this kind of open awareness and it can have profound positive effects on our health and well-being.

Target group
All staff members of the YUFE alliance.

Aims
In this mindfulness course you will learn how to apply the basics of mindfulness practice in your daily work and life. You will explore different mindfulness practices to support you in training your awareness.

Result
In an 8-week (1.5 hours per week) mindfulness training you will have learned:

-  What mindfulness is;

-  How to meditate;

-  How to be mindful on the job;

-  To use practical mindfulness tools to handle stress in an efficient way;

-  To use mindfulness in dealing with (difficult) emotions in your daily life;

-  How to use mindfulness after the course has finished.

Methods
This mindfulness course will consist of eight online meetings with an experienced mindfulness teacher. Next to a short presentation of the theoretical background of mindfulness, in every meeting we will do different practices and there is a possibility to share experiences and ask questions. The practices consist of guided and silent meditations and practices from (cognitive) psychology. In between meetings participants will be asked to do some home practices.

Fees
The total cost of this training will be reimbursed from the budget which was allocated by the Staff Career Centre for the YUFE alliance. This implies that your participation is free of charge.

Number of participants
Minimal 10 and maximal 23 participants per group.

Duration
The course consists of 8 online weekly meetings of 1.5 hour (09:00 – 10:30).