Eight-week Mindfulness Course for UHB STAFF

This secular 8-week course, taught by Dr Avinash Bansode (Mindfulness Lead, UHB) and assisted by Dr Sukhdev Singh (Consultant Gastroenterology GHH) in a supportive and friendly group setting, will teach you how to boost your;

• awareness, memory, and attentional skills
• happiness, well-being, and inner peace
• mindful and kind relationships at home and work
• find new sources of resilience, joy, and calm,
• cope better with stress, anxiety, and busy-ness

This skills-based course will guide you systematically and progressively, week by week, through mindfulness and kindness-based approaches, practices and teachings. You will receive the course manual and recordings of guided practices and sessions.

Several world leading mindfulness teachers and cognitive and neuroscientists have designed this course curriculum. It draws on ancient wisdom, contemplative traditions, and the mainstream evidence-based medical and psychological sciences.

About the Course:

This course is delivered in eight weekly sessions by Dr Bansode and Dr Singh. The sessions are experiential, progressive (building on previous sessions) and practice-based. The highly interactive and practical sessions involve working in pairs or triads. This is not an academic or religious course but draws from these traditions. The course is pragmatic, emphasising creating a ‘pool of wisdom’ through dialogue and sharing and applying this innate wisdom and kindness to our daily lives and work situations.

All the content of the 8-Week Mindfulness will be on our virtual learning platform, so you can also access learning resources and practice guidance at any time. Group discussion forums where you can share reflections and questions with your teacher and course supporters between the live sessions (or if you cannot make any of the live sessions).

Unlimited access to the course materials after your course has ended - you can revisit the course content and practices as often as you want!

Key Learning Points from the Course:

• How to come out of autopilot so you are more able to respond to what is needed at the moment rather than react automatically in ways that might be harmful.
• Mindfulness practices help you become more aware of your thoughts, emotions, physical sensations, and impulses, bringing you back to responding clearly, effectively and in accordance with your values and intentions.
• To recognise what triggers and maintains stress and to respond in ways that support greater self-compassion and well-being rather than self-criticism and agitation.
• Ways of responding skilfully to difficulties and challenges, such as conflicts or tricky relationships, in ways that support understanding and care.
• Some benefits also include decreased incidents of low mood, reduced anxiety and stress, and improved sleep, resilience, memory and well-being.

Dates and Times:

This eight-week course will run from 3 pm to 4.30 pm on Mondays, 8th April and will be completed on 10th June 2024.

Venue: NEW Education Centre (Old Sqash Rooms), Good Hope Hospital.

• Session One: Mon. 8th Apr: Waking up from automatic pilot.
• Session Two: Mon. 15th Apr: Another way of being: Keeping the body in mind.
• Session Three: Mon. 22nd Apr: Gathering the scattered mind.
• Session Four: Mon. 29th Apr: Recognising Reactivity.
• NO SESSION ON THE 6TH MAY
• Session Five: Mon. 13th May: Allowing & Letting be.
• Session Six: Mon. 20th May: Responding skilfully: thoughts are not facts.
• NO SESSION ON THE 27TH MAY
• Session Seven: Mon. 3rd Jun: How can I best take care of myself?
• Session Eight: Mon. 10th Jun: Mindfulness for Life

Day Retreat (Healing Self and Healing World) will be on Saturday, from 11 am to 4 pm,

Date and Venue TBC

How do I Take Part?

• Join a 90mins weekly in-person learning session. You need to attend at least six out of eight sessions.
• Watch, listen to and read learning materials each week - at a time that suits you.
• Practise with the meditations - 15-20 minutes daily over the eight weeks of the course.
• The first week includes some time for orientation.
• Talk to your classmates and teacher about how you find the course and how the practices affect your well-being.

You will need to complete pre- and post-course evaluations to help us create a case for mindfulness. These evaluations will be quantitative and qualitative; the invitation is to support us as best you can.

Dr Avinash Bansode:

Avinash is a Mindfulness Lead at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust and founder of Mindfullybeing. With a career spanning over two decades, Avinash has established himself as a pioneering force in mindfulness-based healthcare and education. His multidisciplinary background, encompassing medicine, mindfulness, and Buddhist psychology, gives him a unique perspective in delivering evidence-based, compassionate solutions to modern healthcare challenges.

As the Mindfulness Lead, Avinash offers bespoke mindfulness training courses tailored to the needs of teams and individuals across the Trust Hospitals. His vision is centred on fostering well-being, happiness, health, and effectiveness for Staff across various sectors.

Avinash's medical journey began with a solid grounding in general medicine, followed by a transition to Mindfulness Teaching in 2007. He holds an MA in Teaching Mindfulness from CMRP, Bangor, and MBCT-Life training from OMC, University of Oxford. He is also a certified Frame by Frame (Deeper Mindfulness) Teacher trained by Prof. Mark Williams. His commitment to continuous professional development is evident through his active engagement in training programs with the Mindfulness Network, UK and OMC at Oxford University. His experience teaching and supervising mindfulness practices is guided by nationally agreed-upon Good Practice Guidelines, ensuring high standards in the UK and beyond.

His signature Kind And Mindful Approach to Life (KAMAL) comprehensive well-being initiative program has garnered an Impact Award and widespread recognition. KAMAL's success lies in its adaptability to various organisational contexts, enhancing resilience, inner happiness, and overall well-being of knowledge workers.