Mindfulness Workshops / Groups

Mindful Moments Counselling facilitates mindfulness workshops and courses to meet the needs of any group or workplace. We can attend at your own venue or we can organise one that’s suitable. Workshops are adapted in length to meet the needs of any group however ideally they would be once per week, 1-3 hours in duration (including a small break) and run 4-6 weeks. This ensures the mindfulness practices are well established and will be available as life-long tools.

Workshops which are inclusive of small children and their parents, will run for around 1 hour and are predominantly parent/child interactive. We aim to provide two qualified convenors per workshop.

Workshops are $20 per attendee (children under 12 are free) for a group of 6 or more.

We are currently offering the following workshops:

Mindfulness for Kids ... For Life

Living mindfully is for everyone! And our kids need Mindfulness too. This 45 minute, weekly Mindfulness group for Kids (Sherwood) offers our children practical ways of experiencing both higher functioning, necessary for focus and attention, and peace and happiness in their daily living. Now more than ever, children are experiencing stress and anxiety in their daily lives. Mindfulness techniques once learnt, can become lifelong tools for accessing mental, physical and emotional calm and clarity.

Our classes are run by qualified and registered Counsellors Christine and Shona, who are also mums. Using her counselling qualification, Christine works with special needs children at a state primary school in a casual Teacher Aide role and therefore understands the challenges facing children and their parents, from all angles. She has been practicing and teaching Mindfulness for over 20 years to children and adults, including her own family. Shona specialises in grief and loss counselling for children and adults, and works with families-in-need throughout Brisbane to ensure they are supported as they raise children. She practices Mindfulness in her daily life and raises her children with Mindfulness practices. Both Christine and Shona live in Brisbane with their husbands and children.

We work very practically with children to consider what Mindfulness is, and how can we use it every day? We encourage the children to consider what the effect of being Mindful is, compared to the effect of say day-dreaming or doing two things at once eg. while the teacher is talking. They take their practice into their world and return each week to see how it went. The class is very much about their learning to be Mindful rather than us “teaching” them. It is a journey of discovery even though we appear to be the teachers of Mindfulness. In this way, it becomes a solid foundation for their every activity if they so choose.

As part of the course, children take a look at how their actions affect those around them when they are Mindful and again when they are not. We consider how to become less ‘attached’ and more accepting. We also use Mindfulness techniques to cultivate your children’s gifts and strengths.

The scientific research supporting Mindfulness with children shows overwhelming evidence of its use for mental, emotional and physical health.

Parents would be more than welcome to view any sessions as they unfold, should they feel they’d like to experience the benefits of Mindfulness too. Please discuss with us your intention to attend a session, so that we may be able to best decide how to include you.

AND… we are practicing Mindfulness constantly, so they get really good at it!

So, if your child experiences any of the following… Anxiety – Fear – Hate – Anger – Sadness – Easily distracted – Not wanting to go to school – Uncaring attitude – Non-participation – Procrastination – Physical symptoms related to certain activities – Catastrophising and Negativity or you just want them to learn to be more Mindful… this is the weekly group for your child.

We only take 6 registered participants at any given time, to ensure the group works well and the classes run for about 6 weeks in the school term. If there are more than 6 wanting to register, we will be happy to make another class at another time and will let you know should this be the case.

Your children will discover how to… Live. Focus. Listen and engage fully. Meet the real need in their world. Live in the present. Find natural measure within activities. Mindfulness, if practiced regularly, can help them to be fully Confident, Calm and Capable. We believe this is the natural birthright of every child.

Mindfulness for Life

Living mindfully is for everyone! This 4-6 week workshop offers you practical ways of experiencing higher functioning and both peace and happiness in daily living. The techniques learnt can become lifelong tools for accessing mental, physical and emotional calm and clarity.

We consider… What is Mindfulness? Scientific Research supporting Mindfulness for mental, emotional and physical health. Perception, and what stops us being Mindful. How we affect others around us. ‘Unattached’ is an attitude. How to cultivate your gifts and strengths. What is Presence of Mind?

We consider the effect… Of Mindfulness in anxiety and depression. Of being Mindful in all roles and areas of our life. Of Multi-tasking. Of Procrastination. Of Attention and Attitude. Of Wonder and Curiosity. Of Attachment vs ‘Letting Go’. Of considering an opinion vs ‘holding’ an opinion. Of Acceptance. Mindfulness plays in Stress reduction. Of Mindfulness on anxiety, grief, chronic pain and illness. Of being present vs absent-mindedness. Catastrophising and negativity have on us.

We discover… What the effect of practicing daily Mindfulness is. The different types of attention. Research relating to Attention. Happiness and the effect of a wandering mind. Scientific Research on the Amygdala and other areas of the brain, and Mindfulness. How to access reason instead of habitual reaction. The Mind Trap. Meditation practices. Self-Compassion. Mindful Planning Ahead. What it means to be ‘Response-able’. The importance of practice.

We discover how to… Live. Focus. Listen and engage fully. Meet the real need. Live in the present. Find natural measure within activities. Surf the wave rather than fight it. Be fully Confident, Calm and Capable.

The Mindful Workplace

We come to you and work together with your company to discover, what are… * Mindful workspaces * Mindful Interactions and Communication * Mindful Attitudes * Mindful Customer Service. Companies with staff that practice Mindfulness observe increased happiness, focus and productivity and less anxiety and time-management problems. The course considers scientific research on practicing Mindfulness within the workplace and its effect on physical and mental health and wellbeing.

We consider… what is duty? What procrastination really is? What is a role. Types of attention. How Mindfulness helps us perceive ourselves and our affect on others. What are the daily habits of exceptionally successful people and corporations?

We consider the effect… of attention and notifications. Of a wandering mind in the workplace. Of cultivating focus, capability and calmness on a workplace. Of attachment and opinion in the workplace. Of pessimism and negativity. Of Mindful planning and projection. Of cohesiveness in the workplace.

We discover… what it truly means to listen and to meet the need in the workplace. That… Acceptance is not apathy!

We discover how to… instantly access ‘reason’and creativity through Mindfulness. Cultivate strengths and potential. Know the measure in an activity. Reduce stress in the workplace.

There is a Workplace Makeover for one area where we work together with staff over 4 of the weeks to bring one space to a Mindful state, in order to view the effect of this within the workplace. (optional)

Mindful Pregnancy and Childbirth

Mindfulness for mums or mums and dads, while pregnant. Research shows that the growing foetus is fully connected to its parents and its surroundings well before it is born. Mindfulness practices during pregnancy strengthen this connection for both child and parent. Continuing into childbirth (regardless of birthing method), Mindfulness… * Aids in the Reduction of Birthing Anxiety * Increases Stillness * Calm and Connectedness * Encourages a Greater Capacity to Bond.

Mindful Menopause

For some women, menopause and its symptoms can be debilitating and overwhelming. This workshop is run by Counsellors with personal experience in the use of Mindfulness Tools and Natural Therapies for Menopausal symptoms such as Anxiety and Irrational Fear, Panic Attacks and Hot Flushes to name a few. Mindfulness offers an opportunity to move through this natural change and stage of life with * calm * peace of mind and * happiness.

Mindfulness for Illness & Pain

Research is showing that the use of mindfulness-based techniques to alleviate the effects of chronic pain and illness is rapidly proving effective. This course works together with those struggling to live with illness or pain. Watching this video will give you an important insight into how mindfulness has helped with chronic disease and pain… https://www.theconnection.tv/.

A Mindful Home

We show you what a mindful home can look and feel like. The effect of clutter, colour, cleanliness, workspace aesthetics, position of furniture and much more… all has an effect on the levels of calm and togetherness in a home. Have the workshop as a fun get-together with friends by alternating houses or have us come to your home and work with you.

Mindful Parenting

Discover in practice what it is to be a Mindful parent. How it is possible to be present and awake in meeting the needs of your children, helping them to become capable and resilient people who reach their full potential.

We consider… Scientific Research on the effects of Mindfulness on children and youth and how it can help with the rapidly increasing rate of anxiety and depression in our young, as well as the effect of Stress and Ageing in children – startling studies. What is the effect of a Mindful parent on the child’s subtle world? Virtues and cultivating ‘gifts’ or strengths. Anxiety and Grief. Children with special needs.

We consider the effect… Of listening fully to our children. Of split attention and our children’s rapidly expanding ‘electronic world’. Of distortions of perception in our youth. Of attachment in children. The brain plays in the child’s emotional world compared to that of the adult. Of teenage years – damage control, ‘neutral’ territory, wilfulness and understanding the journey. Of Self-Compassion for mental health. Of overdramatising. Of meditation on children.

We discover… Wonder and Curiosity and their importance. The importance of ‘preparing the soil’ for mental and emotional nourishment. That children naturally live in the present moment and how we can help them stay there. The effect that measure and order has on children. The importance of ‘bringing back’ a wandering mind and the parent’s role in this. What science has proven about the effect of Mindfulness on specific parts of the brain.

We discover how to… Listen fully. Assist our children to Focus (even while engaged in internet usage!!). Re-establish links with our children through communication and emotions. Help children balance shifting emotions. Develop reason and acceptance in a child. Avoid boredom.

Workshops can be run for parents within companies, parenting groups or groups of friends or family. Your venue or ours. Contact us for more details today or search our calendar for a workshop you can join.

Mindful Mama

Mindfulness for mums and their bubs (0-3 years). Ideal for playgroups and mother’s groups. Interactive workshop connecting mums with their babies through contact and movement, awareness, attitude, and deep stillness.

Mindful Marriage

Group workshops with a focus on marriage and the benefits of being mindful in a marriage * Intimacy * Cohesion * Being Mindful of Each Other’s Needs * Mindful Communication * Service * Love…

Mindfulness & EFT for Trauma and Grief

Traumatic experiences and the grief they can create, can be crippling for many. This workshop combines Mindfulness and EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques), to assist you to remove reactions to and thoughts about trauma, and therefore the grief caused by it. These remarkable tools-for-life enable you to work with our Counsellors in a small group setting where confidentiality and respect are our main priority and trauma disclosure is not necessary for the techniques to work fully.

The Mindful Athlete

The ability to remain focussed, present and centred during sport and competition, unaffected by outcomes, is the focus of this course. Suitable for elite athletes but for anyone wanting to improve their focus during sport. An ideal workshop for gyms to run for their members.

Mindful Maturity

Mindfulness for the elderly. Research shows that areas of the brain used when we ‘daydream’ and aren’t present, are the same as that which are also affected by Alzheimer’s. Mindfulness as we age can allow us to become awake and alert, bright and fresh. These workshops are ideal for community centres and aged care facilities such as respite centres.