Upcoming Mindfulness Courses
About Oscailt
Oscailt was established by Mary O’Callaghan in 2006 with the aim of creating a space in Dublin where people could cultivate and enjoy the practice of mindfulness. In support of that aim, the core mindfulness course we offer at Oscailt is the basic MBSR/MBCT training which, alongside its potential to enhance one’s overall quality of life, has been clinically proven to be helpful for a variety of conditions that include stress, anxiety and depression.
Our Mission
Building on the core mindfulness training and responding to the requests of many of those who have completed that training, Mindfulness Dublin now supplements that training at Oscailt with a number of other mindfulness courses that help to expand and deepen the understanding and practice of mindfulness. For example, we offer advanced courses in mindfulness to those, such as health and mental health professionals, who want to integrate mindfulness within their professional work or to those interested in deepening their understanding of the roots of mindfulness within Buddhist (Eastern) psychology. We also run courses of applied mindfulness, such as Mindful Parenting, Mindful Eating, Loving Kindness and Handling Difficult Emotions.
What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness is a way of being that helps us to come back to the present moment, to slow down, observe what is going on without judgement or reactivity. Being present to ourselves in this way allows for more creative engagement with ourselves and with the world around us.
When we take the time to notice what is going on inside of ourselves we will discover that our mind is a very busy place. We spend of a lot of our time thinking about the past or planning for the future. These ruminations often give rise to worry and anxiety and rob us of the ability to be truly present either to ourselves or to those we come into contact with. Recent research has revealed that we have thousands of thoughts each day and that well over 90% of them are repetitions of the thoughts we had during the previous days; hence we get into very automatic and repetitive ways of responding to ourselves and to life. One of the many liberating insights people have on a mindfulness course is the realisation that their thoughts are not facts.
As we cultivate and develop mindful presence we begin to feel more alive and life takes on a vivid quality. Copious amounts of research now demonstrate the benefits of mindfulness for such conditions as stress, anxiety, panic, depression and a host of other troublesome conditions. One of the most powerful lessons that mindfulness teaches us is that with a little training we can go a long way in supporting our health and well-being.
Mindfulness is not simply a technique. It is an act of love. Our willingness to see clearly, to hold ourselves closely just as we are, while being this way with another, is a revealing and deeply healing expression of care – an embodiment of compassion. Compassion begins at home, with ourselves; whether offering or seeking care, we are all wounded and we are all whole.-Saki F. Santorelli