Mindfulness 8-week Training (English)

When everything around us seems to be competing for our attention, our attention tends to be fragmented and overstretched. This ranges from your partner and children, work, traffic, household, social media, social contacts, hobbies, screaming advertisements, music, news, etc.  Also, attention is shifting from one thing to another at an ever-increasing rate. Everything is constantly in fifth gear. As a result, attention becomes exhausted. You rarely get around to turning attention inward and processing what is going on inside you at this moment and how outer stimulae are influencing you. 

Burnout and depression is all around us. It is no longer an individual problem, but rather a collective phenomenon of modern society. Having so many choices is historically unprecedented. That puts pressure on us and makes it so difficult, after all, we it want all! we don't want to choose; FOMO (fear of missing out).  There is fear of failure, extreme drive, a great sense of responsibility, perfectionism and wanting to be in control. Sometimes there are unprocessed emotions and feelings that play a role in the background. All of this together creates an increased risk of stress and burnout symptoms.

As never before, it is now important that you can be gentle with yourself and that you take good care of yourself. That you learn to relax and deal with stress, tension and discomforts in your life. That you experience the distinction between true relaxation and scrolling on your cell phone. Practice landing in your own body and cultivating lasting inner peace. Being able to be in the moment and enjoy all the beauty in life, no matter how small. Mindfulness is the key to this.

Do you currently recognize any of the following?

• You are experiencing stress and you feel like you keep not getting everything done that still needs to be done.
• You are in your head a lot and often think about what has happened or what is going to happen; you are rarely in the now. Rechewing and evaluating your past activities and imagining scenarios for future ones.
• You are easily distracted by your phone and your surroundings, making it harder to focus and remember.
• You grind a lot and you don't really know how you should turn your head off. You want to experience peace.
• You have doubts about everything and are less able to make choices. 
• You feel exhausted.
• You sleep badly and rarely wake up rested. This makes you irritable towards your environment.
• You have physical complaints such as fatigue, palpitations, hyperventilation, eczema, abdominal pain, headaches, back pain or frozen shoulder or any of the less known stress symptoms such as tingling in fingers, tinnitus, nightmares, hair loss, hypersensitvity to sound/light, irregular menstruation.
• You are thinking you absolutely have no time for this training ;)

Benefits of Mindfulness

This is not just any mindfulness training, it is the official Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program as designed by Jon Kabat-Zinn. Worldwide, it is the most scientifically researched form of meditation ever. The results are astounding. Mindfulness has been proven to produce significant improvement in well-being and wellness with long-lasting effects such as:

• Improved concentration and memory
• Increased productivity and creativity
• Awareness of body: preventing escalation of tension
• Greater gentleness and self-compassion
• More intense enjoyment of small things
• Greater acceptance of disappointment and setbacks: less of a struggle and tension
• Recognizing and changing automatic thinking and reaction patterns
• Being able to make more conscious choices that support health and well-being.

The program

The program consists of 8 sessions of  2.5-hour on Friday evenings  and one retreat day (see dates below):

1. Friday 1 September 2023 from 7pm - 9.30pm
2. Friday 8 September 2023 from 7pm - 9.30pm
3. Friday 15 September 2023 from 7pm - 9.30pm
4. Friday 22 September 2023 from 7pm - 9.30pm
5. Friday 29 September 2023 from 7pm - 9.30pm
6. Friday 27 October 2023 from 7pm - 9.30pm
7. Saturday 28 October 2023 from 09.30 am - 3.30 pm
8. Friday 3 November 2023 from 7pm - 9.30pm
9. Friday 10 November 2023 from 7pm - 9.30pm

Each session consists of:

• Education
• Guided meditations (sitting meditation, body scan, walking meditation, etc.)
• Practical mindfulness assignments
• Sharing of experiences from the mindfulness exercises.

How it works:

When we talk about stress, the first thing that comes to mind is work stress. Yet, stress is much more than the pressure we experience at work. It is the psychological, emotional and physical reaction to any given unpleasant situation. It can be a conversation you've had, an expectation you want to meet, the loss of a loved one, living with uncertainty, adapting to change, etc.

Whatever the cause, there is always an inner reaction to stress. This can be observed in the body on multiple levels. It can be a stiffness in the jaws, a knot in the stomach, a frozen shoulder, back pain, eczema. Sooner or later, if stress escalates, then your  immune system will be disrupted by stress. You experience anxiety, restlessness, poor sleep, irritation, sadness. In time you develop (unhealthy) patterns to deal with this stress. Habits such as emotional eating, overworking, smoking, blaming others, etc.

Whatever stress mechanism it is, stress is not approached directly. You are not aware of how your body reacts to stress and how stress is moving in your body. By ignoring or suppressing stress, it culminates and can lead to more serious symptoms such as burnout, depression, not being able to feel anything, and physical illness. By bringing attention and awareness to the experience of stress on all levels, you can bring peace to the inner struggle. You learn to turn toward stress instead of wanting to turn away from it. You bring more acceptance to all that is there. You can be with all that is, moment to moment, without judgment. This is the essence of Mindfulness.

Trainer

This MBSR training will be guided by Gaula Shehadeh. Gaula has the highest degree of certification in mindfulness (category 1) and is a VMBN-registered trainer. She has many years of intensive meditation and retreat experience from her Buddhist background. She is often described as down-to-earth, wise, gentle and with a touch of humor.

Location:

Rooseboomstraat 47 Den Haag

Rates for online training

• For individuals: 475 euros; Book before 1st of August and receive €50 discount. Can you get reimbursement from your health insurance company? See below for more info.
• For corporate clients (when paid or reimbursed by employers, own enterprise): 600 euros
• For students (with a student card): 250 euros
• For repeaters: 300,00 euro. If you have attended an MBSR training at Not Another Coaching Company before, you can join again for a reduced price to maintain and deepen your practice.

Should the price be an obstacle to your participation, please contact me and surely something can be arranged. It would be a shame if you could not participate just because of the price. Arrangements can also be made for a payment in installments. 

This includes:

• An individual intake interview and guidance by Gaula
• Unforgettable 8 sessions of 2.5 hours each with its own theme
• A retreat practice day of 6 hours
• A delicious vegetarian lunch on the practice day
• A workbook full of inspiration, background information and tips
• A series of audio files of guided meditations by Gaula

Health insurance companies

Mindfulness is so effective that there are even health insurance companies that (partially) reimburse for this training. Especially this Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction training if given by a VMBN-registered trainer as is the case with this training.  Click here to check whether your (Dutch) health insurer offers this possibility.

Employers

Check with your employer if they are willing to reimburse part or all of the cost of the training. Stress at work is occupational disease number 1. One in seven employees suffers from burnout. Health promotion is a priority in organizations because sick leave is a huge cost for companies. Mindfulness contributes to resilience and thus better health.

Group size:

The maximum group size is 12 people for this training, the minimum is 4.

Reviews

"I took the 8-week mindfulness training with Gaula. Because I wanted to know more about what mindfulness could bring  into my life and how to apply it. I was also curious how I can use it in my coaching practice when I coach people using horses. This training has made me so much more aware. It is applicable in my daily life which makes it so valuable. The lessons and Gaula's guidance were very pleasant and supportive. I got the chance to discover how to deal with unpleasantness in the body, mind and feelings. The audio exercises and the workbook are a nice addition and a good reference to have, so to understand more about what we learned in the lessons.  I thoroughly enjoyed the peace and relaxation I felt during the sessions and now I know how to maintain in my daily life."

- Evelien van Os-ten Wold -

"Such a wonderful and effective training I attented in Jan/Feb 2022: the mindfulness-based stress reduction program. During the 8 weeks, through the weekly meetings and home assignments, Gaula gave me many tools, training and insights about the power of meditation. Through daily practice I learned to connect with what I feel (emotion and body) and think at any moment. In the program you learn to do the same in moments of stress, so you can break the habitual patterns and create alternative responses. It takes commitment from yourself to go through the 8 weeks, Gaula supported me enormously in this. Gaula is a special (powerful & beautiful) person, she is able to lead a group through the program from wisdom, peace and love. She inspires. I am very grateful for this experience."

- Femke Hartendorp -

Questions?

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Gaula at: info@notanother.nl or by phone +31624234694