Mindfulness in SW France

Originally a secondary school teacher of languages, I retrained by completing a psychology degree with the Open University, after which I studied for a 2 year PGDipl in Mindfulness Based Interventions certified with Merit from Exeter University.

My interest in the importance of developing Self Compassion for health, led me to train to teach the Mindful Self Compassion (MSC) course through the University of Bangor’s Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice with Kristin Neff, the course founder, in Wales July 2016.

As an ex school teacher, I am passionate about children reaching their potential, but see so many struggling within the pervasive exam based education systems in Europe. As I know from my own experience, mindfulness practice has made a huge difference to my life, so I elected to train to teach the MiSP (Mindfulness in Schools Project) curriculums to teachers, primary and secondary school children. The .b programme forms the foundation of many of the mindfulness curriculums being rolled out across the whole of the UK currently and elsewhere in Europe.

As such, I am also assisting with Oxford University’s Myriad’s Project, a 7 year research Project, funded by the Wellcome Trust, and headed up by my former Tutor at Exeter University, Professor Willem Kuyken. This Research study is investigating whether mindfulness could enhance resilience and reduce anxiety related disorders in school age children. I have therefore been fortunate enough to receive intensive training in assessing mindfulness teachers in schools.

I am committed to maintaining high levels of CPD via master classes at Oxford University, reading, online courses and various mindfulness conferences, the latest being the International Mindfulness Conference in Amsterdam July 2018, and shortly prior to that the very first Mindful Self Compassion Teachers Conference also in the Netherlands in July 2018.