When: We will meet weekly on a Tuesday, commencing on Tuesday 30 May followed by 6, 13, 20 and 27 June, 4, 11 and 18
Time: 10.45am (tea and coffee available) for 11.00am start through to 1.00pm
Where: UMFC, 76 Nordsvan Drive, Wodonga (the last building on the left before the Willow Park Car Park.
Cost: This program is being subsidised by Support Options and Westmont Community Care. There is no cost for participants.
For further information regarding the program contact Geoff on 0427 271 742
Geoff will make contact with participants prior to commencing and can chat on the phone or catch up in person.
Please RSVP to Sharee by Monday 22 May or as soon as possible prior to this on 02 6057 8400
About the Mindfulness Program
The role of caring for someone can be both rewarding and very challenging. At Support Options weoften talk with carers who feel overwhelmed, exhausted, sad, and stressed and we are always on thelookout for ways to assist carers with these feelings. To this end we recently invited Geoff Simmondsto come and talk to one of our carer support groups about some of these issues. Many groupparticipants were keen to have Geoff return to continue the conversation and to develop their own practice of mindfulness and managing their feelings. We are very pleased to announce that Support Options and Westmont Community Care will be hosting Geoff to run an eight week Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) program as outlined below.
Geoff will present an eight-week program where participants meet weekly for two hours and learn to develop mindful awareness that we can use to tolerate and reflect on our feelings, and to learn how toregulate them. We also work with thoughts that arise in our minds, many of them habitually, that profoundly affect how we feel and act in the world.
Practicing this big perspective on our feelings and our thoughts through mindfulness provides more flexibility and freedom, so we can choose how to respond to ourselves, to other people, and events in our lives.
Topics covered include: Awareness and automatic pilot, Living in our Heads, Gathering the Scattered Mind, Allowing and letting Be, and How can I best take care of Myself?
Participants will be given resources to help guide them as they practice a variety of mindfulnessmeditations at home over the eight weeks of the course. The course also includes ‘A day ofmindfulness’ where participants can dive deeper into mindfulness in a supported environment.
If you would like more information or have questions, feel free to contact Geoff on 0427 271 742 before registering. Geoff will have some contact with all participants prior to starting the program.
Please let us know if you require respite care to enable you to attend the program. For carersreceiving an invitation from Megan from Westmont please contact her to discuss your respite needs.
