HeadRest Mindfulness Training
  • Home
  • Counselling
  • Mindfulness Courses
    • FAQs
    • Some research findings
    • Links and Resources
  • SCHOOLS
  • Course Dates
  • Book or Contact
  • Blog

Even mindfulness teachers get stressed out and need to slow down.

27/8/2019

1 Comment

 
Picture
You may have noticed that there has not been a HeadRest newsletter for almost 6 months. My mum had a small stroke just a couple of weeks before the April course was scheduled to start. Another meditation teacher offered to take my enrolments, and I gratefully stepped back, creating space to spend more time with my mother. After 5 years of non-stop teaching, I took 2 terms off  MBSR. No facilitating courses, no blogging, no newsletters. After 3 months, my mum was doing well, but I  was struggling not wanting to return to teaching.

Picture
I found myself wondering whether I had done my dash with MBSR despite having found teaching the course to be remarkably satisfying and rewarding. I then realised that I needed another 3 months, not to spend time with mum, but to have some space, for being with me. I needed recovery time to slow down and reconnect with myself and to re-establish a life rhythm that worked. If I'd gone back to teaching MBSR then, I would have been teaching on empty, mouthing words inauthentically. And now, having rested, I am so looking forward to walking back into a class and the journey that Is MBSR.
 
So what have I done over the last 6 months? I have been working in my private counselling practice and running groups in schools and aged care facilities but taking it a bit slower than usual. My mindfulness practice is most useful when it takes my circumstances into account. So,  I've used my non-teaching time to revitalise my practice in a fresh and exploratory way. 

I shifted my daily mindfulness practice to the wee hours of the morning and allowed myself to go to bed very early on cold winter nights. I'm an early riser, so this has felt luxurious.  While not teaching, I've been able to rediscover mindfulness practice as a joy rather than as responsibility I have as an accountable teacher.
 
I've allowed myself to practice in ways that have acknowledged my tiredness. I began with weeks of lying down practices and lots of body scans.   I generally don't have a problem with concentration but can get over-focused in life. To balance this,  I introduced focusing on a sense of space in the body,  as well as a focus on a primary object of attention such as sensations.
 
I then moved to variations of open awareness practices. Here there is less focussing on a specific object of attention and more of a being aware of whatever is arising in the field of experience. I've heard a Tibetan teacher call this "not meditating, not distracted" …just letting awareness be. Doing the open-awareness practice was a perfect antidote to the pressure I felt with my mums illness. It reminded me to  "rest in each moment".
 
As I found my relaxed rhythm with meditation, I notice its benefits once again permeating into my life. I smile more, am more fun to be with and have more fun, and am less emotionally reactive in surprising situations.
 
While teaching less, I have been filling my cup by being a student. In my life as a therapist, I have plunged into the world of IFS -Internal Family Systems and discovered mindfulness teachers that are integrating this work with mindfulness practices. I've been immersing myself in the world of mindfulness podcasts and finding ones that I love. I have been invigorated by being a student again, and my next blog post will introduce you to some of these podcasts. 
 
And now I am genuinely ready to begin teaching again. So if you'd like to revitalise your mindfulness practice or know others who might appreciate the opportunity to slow down and immerse themselves in the 8-week MBSR course do book in or pass this information along. 

The next HeadRest Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction course begins Tuesday, October 29 in Marrickville. I'd love to see you there. The early bird discount ends on Tuesday, October 1, and there is a $100 discount for doing the course a second time.


    I'd like to subscribe to the HeadRest newsletter for information on future courses, blog posts and links to mindfulness bits and pieces.

Subscribe to Newsletter
Information on the next MBSR Course
1 Comment
Amy V Cullinan
31/8/2019 01:58:49 pm

So glad to hear you're feeling refreshed, Tienne. You're a very special teacher...so glad that you're back

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Tienne Simons is a therapist and the founder of HeadRest Mindfulness training. She did her training in MBSR when she became convinced that the program was not only a useful add on to therapy for many but sometimes a more appropriate way to support people than counselling. She has had a mindfulness practice for about 30 years- well nearly!

    Archives

    December 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    April 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018

    Categories

    All
    ABC
    ABC Catalyst
    Audiodharma
    Buddha Patch
    Catalyst
    Counselling
    COVID19
    HeadRest
    Internal Family Systems
    Listening
    MBSR
    MBSR Course Dates
    Mindfulness
    Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction
    Mindfulness For Schools
    Mindfulness In Education
    Mindfulness Retreats
    Mindful Parenting
    Mindfuness
    Mindfuness Based Stress Reduction
    New Years Resolutions
    On Being
    Openground
    Parenting
    Podcasts
    Procrastination
    Psychology
    Science
    Self Compassion
    Stress
    Tara Brach
    Teachers
    Therapy
    Zoom

    RSS Feed

    View my profile on LinkedIn


Photography by Dominic Beckett, Marrickville