Every year around mid-May we organise Moments of Mass Mindfulness to celebrate Mental Health Awareness Week. Meditating together enables people entirely new to mindfulness, and those with a regular practice, to experience the peace and support of engaging in mindfulness with other people – bringing a sense of connection and community. It is an opportunity to experience, perhaps for the first time, gentle mindfulness practices guided by a trained and experienced teacher, which can still the mind and body in the midst of the challenges we face at this time. This years theme is loneliness.
Everyone is welcome. You can attend as an individual or as a household sharing a screen. Typically, this is an online event so you may choose to suggest that friends and family from whom you are separated book onto the event so that you can experience practicing together as a small group and as part of a wider community. Also, as an online event you may wish to involve your children knowing that you can leave at any point without disturbing others.
What is the format?
- Welcome and opening
- Guided mindfulness practice
- Conversations and sharing thoughts, feelings, and emotions that were noticed during the practice
- Guided mindfulness practice
- Concluding words and well wishing
What do I need for the session?
You can sit or lie down or stand whilst doing the practices. If sitting, a firm straight backed chair will support your practice better than an easy chair. If lying, a yoga mat or carpet is helpful to cushion the body.
How much is it to attend?
MoMM invites donations which will be shared equally between Bristol Mindfulness (enabling us to offer continued support through regular online mindfulness sessions) and the national Mental Health Foundation.
Do I need to download anything to use Zoom?
No! Once you have booked onto MoMM and made your donation via Eventbrite, you will see online and receive a confirmation letter. You will also receive a Zoom login link from Eventbrite 2 hours before the session starts. This is all you need.
Your welfare and safety
MoMM offers a gentle guided experience of mindfulness. Most people find these practices supportive, especially in times of stress. However, the session may not be helpful if you are currently experiencing acute emotional distress, or significant mental health difficulties such as clinical depression, an anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder or if you have had a recent bereavement. Do get in touch with us if you want to discuss this or, if you are already in contact with a mental health professional, we suggest that you have a conversation with them about whether this is likely to be helpful right now.
Feedback
Please use the chat button (public or private) at the end of the session to let us know how you found MoMM.
After the event
Bristol Mindfulness will send everyone who attended an audio file of the MoMM guided practices for their own use and information about local and other mindfulness resources, online sessions, courses and retreats.
For further information contact info@BristolMindfulness.com
What are the benefits of Mindfulness?
Mindfulness training can help to deal more effectively with stressful situations and can also help us to wake up to the richness of our lives as they actually are, as opposed to how we may wish them to be. In doing so we have an opportunity to gain a greater understanding of how our minds work.
Many people who take a Mindfulness course find that it brings them a sense of calmness, that they are able to solve problems in more skillful ways than in the past and there can be a sense of waking up to one’s life. Sleep often improves and there can be an increased sense of well-being and happiness.
