The pandemic has been presenting us with an “unprecedented” challenge – you may be feeling helpless, powerless, anxious, scared and confused with many other feelings. You are not alone. During these times of uncertainty, we are offering our introductory mindfulness course online for stress reduction and improving your well-being.

Whether you want to learn meditation to find more calm, happiness and resilience, improve concentration or more, this course will introduce you to the practice of mindfulness, meditation and art of living. You will be provided with the tools to establish a regular practice at home or work.

The programme cover modules:

• Increase focus
• Reduce stress
• Enhance productivity
• Be more positive
• Improve communication skills

Highlights

• 6 weekly live online meditation classes
• Recordings provided each week to deepen experience
• Gentle movements to help posture
• E-mail support during course

Dates: Wednesdays, 20 Jan, 27 Jan, 3 Feb, 10 Feb,17 Feb & 24 Feb 2021

Time: 18:00-19:30

How this course will be run?

All classes will be online via secure and private Google Meet App/Web. We will send you the private link for you to join live. You can choose to keep the camera on or just join via audio.

We keep the group relatively small so we can have quality time and interaction.

The facilitators

The course is led by Karuna Priya, a former Buddhist monk and Nitima Priya, a Holistic Counsellor and Meditation teacher. Both of them have collectively over 30 years of meditation experience in Mindfulness, Meditation and Buddhism. They have been working closely with individuals and organisations to support performance and resilience.

Our partners

• Chaplaincy Multi-Faith Centre to Imperial College London, Royal College of Arts & Royal College of Music

Akanista specialises in integrated care and well-being programmes into daily life to build successful and healthy lives at home and in the workplace.

What is mindfulness?

Mindfulness is a simple, drug-free and self-empowering way for you to improve your health, resolve relationship conflicts and enable yourself to discard limiting beliefs that are holding you back. Mindfulness has been shown to reduce anxiety levels by 58% and stress by 40% (Krusche et al, 2013, Oxford University).

The course is developed from the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, inspired by the works of Dr Jon Kabat-Zinn of University of Massachusetts Medical School with MBSR (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction) and Dr Mark Williams of Oxford University with MBCT (Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy). It combines secular and traditional mindfulness practices. It is perfect for anyone wanting to learn mindfulness techniques from a practical point of view and set up a daily regular meditation.

Testimonials

• “I have been meditating every day since we met Karuna!” - Suzy, Editor of Psychologies Magazine.

• “I would recommend doing a mindfulness course with Nitima and Karuna in a heartbeat. From the very first moment they inspire calm and well-being and create an atmosphere in which meditation and mindfulness seem to come naturally. I started the 6 week course with insomnia and difficulties in dealing with the stresses of undertaking a challenging masters programme. By only the third week I was sleeping much better and was more relaxed and focused. Thank you Akanista!” - Laura Simpson, University College London.

• “I would encourage anybody who is going through stuff in their lives to come to this course to find peace of mind and connect with their being and bloom like a flower.” - Michael, Footballer, England, Arsenal & Liverpool FC.

• “I felt fantastic. So much more grounded and this was a massive lesson in dealing with stressful situations. They have something really special about them.” - Nicola, CEO Maia Luxury.

• “You provided me with an amazing experience of well-being. The provision of tools enable me to develop a coping strategy. This has been so empowering.” - Nikki Chivers, Choices 4 All.

• “Akanista mindfulness classes have shown me a simple yet highly effective way of becoming calmer and focused in my day to day life. The recordings that are provided at the end of each class are helping me practise the techniqu es on a daily basis. All in all, very useful class and I strongly recommend it to anyone who wishes to bring more calmness in their lives.” - Bhargav Dave, MEC Global.