Spotlight: Sussex Mindfulness Centre

"Yes, we're unique in that we are the only mindfulness and Mindful Self-Compassion teacher training and research centre that is part of the NHS. We are embedded in the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust from where we lead a programme to train clinicians nationally to teach mindfulness to clients suffering from depression. We also teach mindfulness to NHS staff to address anxiety and improve wellbeing. And more recently we've been expanding to offer mindfulness courses to the local community. We bring together teachers, teacher trainers and researchers including Trust staff, experienced researchers at the University of Sussex, and experienced teachers and trainers in the local community.

"My role with Sussex Mindfulness Centre is primarily to help promote awareness of our courses to people who can benefit from mindfulness. I'm also a mindfulness teacher and teach for the Centre. I'm keen to spread the magic of mindfulness as it has had such a positive impact on my own life."

“Mindfulness helps people in lots of different ways. It helps us learn to relax, and to deal with difficulties better. It can help us deal with challenging relationships and situations in a more skilful and less reactive way. By learning to focus on senses like touch, taste or hearing it can bring us into the present moment. This itself can create moments of appreciation and joy. And in the context of depleting workloads and stress it can offer us a nourishing mini break.

"Mindful Self-Compassion helps us to care for ourselves when times are difficult. Often when we feel bad because we've made a mistake, we tend to turn on ourselves. In contrast, if a close friend was in the same situation, we would probably offer support, care and warmth. Mindful Self-Compassion helps us to turn this same kind attention and support towards ourselves, so that we can treat ourselves the way we would treat a friend. And that feels better and helps us to recover more quickly.

"Both mindfulness and Mindful Self-Compassion courses are backed by solid science that shows that they work." 

“We're very excited to be offering two 10-week wellbeing / mindfulness courses for asylum seekers and refugees this summer. The first one starts in May and the next one in July. The curriculum is based on a project piloting courses in trauma-adapted and culturally sensitive Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy for refugee and asylum-seeking communities in London, Cardiff and Brighton. 

"The curriculum was co-produced with refugees in these cities. It is therefore sensitive to the experience and traumas that individuals may have faced. With the original team that developed the curriculum, we won an award for this work last year, and the money that came with the award is enabling us to run these courses this year.”

“Brighton and Hove is a forward-thinking city, and its inhabitants are more progressive, diverse and creative than most. But like the rest of the country, communities here are facing multiple pressures, including the cost-of-living crisis, increasing pressures and stress at work, and reduced social care provision. Mindfulness cannot address these big macro issues, but it can help us in how we respond to them.”

"We're partnering with the Council and hoping to run a course for people living with dementia in the autumn, but it's probably too early to talk about that. My mother had dementia and I work with someone who has dementia and, from what I can see, it offers a great way to help people get more out of the present moment and it can reduce anxiety. It will be advertised on our website.

"We're also very excited about the potential of our Compassionate Leadership Training. Compassionate leadership is linked with improved learning and innovation, and reduced staff stress, injuries and absenteeism. The six-week course can help managers and their teams to be the best they can be.”

"The best way to get started is to do a course. There are lots of apps now that offer mindfulness but it's much better to be doing it alongside others, whether online or in person. And we offer some low-cost introductory courses like Guide to Mindfulness: Finding Peace in a Frantic World. 

If you want to get a sense of mindfulness first, you can join a free taster session at lunchtime or in the evening. We hold at least two taster sessions every month (with two coming up in May). Or if you are ready to take the plunge try our eight-week mindfulness course."