Classes & Workshops

Mindfulness Course: The Four Foundations of Mindfulness

In this practical 5-part course, you will learn the practices linked to each one of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness. In addition to teaching the different meditations, the teacher will give detailed explanations of the practices, the scientific background on their benefits, and in which situations they can be used or should be avoided*. Special attention will be given to practices that can be integrated into our busy lives, so that participants slowly learn to make Mindfulness a way of life and become more aware of what is going on in their mind, body and emotions, in order to be able to live a fuller, more connected life.

Voluntary homework will be provided from one session to the next, as well as suggested reading.

*not all practices are suitable for people suffering from anxiety, depression or trauma. Alternative practices will be given for people suffering from these conditions. Discretion is guaranteed.

Who is this course for?
This course is for anyone interested in learning Mindfulness as well as for people who are already familiar with Mindfulness, but would like to get a deeper understanding of the structure of Mindfulness and how to practice in a safe, informed, gradual and organised way.

Course dates:
Saturday, 8th February (10-12h30)
Saturday, 29th February (10-12h30)
Saturday, 28th March (10-12h30)
Saturday, 25th April (10-12h30)
Saturday, 30th May (10-12h30)

Where: yogaloft. – Kirchberg , Luxembourg

Price: 250€ (for the full course) or 60€ per session if taken separately. Priority is given to people who book the full course.

What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present and aware of where we are and what we’re doing instead of being overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us.

What is Mindfulness Meditation?

Mindfulness Meditation is an evidence-based form of meditation derived from a 2,500 year-old Buddhist practice called Vipassana or Insight Meditation. It is a form of meditation designed to develop the skill of paying attention to our inner and outer experiences with acceptance, patience, and compassion.

Instead of finding ourselves at the mercy of worry, fear, anger, and the like, we grow in our ability to choose how we want to act in situations, often in ways that might have been out of our reach before.

Benefits include:

· Increased energy
· Improved mental function, intelligence, and memory
· Improved decision-making ability
· Reduced stress, irritability, anxiety, and depression
· Improved interpersonal relationships
· Increased resilience to change
· Aid to smoking cessation efforts
· Elevated immune system function
· Reduced frequency and duration of illnesses
· Improved management of pain
· Decreased heart rate and blood pressure
· Improved sleep and digestion

What are the Four Foundations of Mindfulness?

The Four Foundations of Mindfulness are a frame of reference taught by the Buddha that allows the practitioner to learn Mindfulness in a safe, gradual and organised way.

They are:

1) Mindfulness of Body (8th February: Breath – 29th February: Body)
The First Foundation establishes an awareness of breath and body as flesh and bone. As the ability to maintain awareness grows stronger, the practitioner learns to become aware of the whole body in stillness, movement and daily life. This embodied awareness leads to a better relationship with our body and its needs.

2) Vedanā – Mindfulness of Feeling Tone (28th March)
The Second Foundation establishes an awareness of felt experience. Is it pleasant, unpleasant or neutral, is it arising, disappearing or manifesting? How do we experience it in our body and to which emotions and behaviour do they lead? Is its source physical or mental? Practicing with feeling tone, or vedanā, is an important practice. Noticing the feeling tone of each experience, we are able to see it more clearly. As we develop the ability to tune into the vedanā of experience, we no longer identify so strongly with each experience. Unpleasantness often leads to aversion and pleasantness may lead to craving or clinging. When we know the feeling tone, we can begin to see this cycle and break it.

3) Mindfulness of Mind (25th April)
The Third Foundation teaches us to become aware of our mental states. Is our mind distracted or concentrated? Anxious, worried, irritated, agitated, tense? What is the mood of our mind and how does it influence our body, our thoughts, our emotions and our behaviour? As with the second foundation, awareness of our mental states allows us to dis-identify with our mind, and makes us aware that we do not have to be at its mercy. As with feeling tone, we can begin to see and understand the waves of the mind and break their cycle.

4) Mindfulness of Dharma (30th May)
In the Fourth Foundation we essentially practice mindfulness of reality. This practice is an investigation of whether the mental states present are wholesome, harmful or helpful, whether they lead to suffering or freedom. In a nutshell, in this Fourth Foundation we learn to understand how the mind creates negative states and how we can return to well-being.

At the end of the course you will be able to establish your own Mindfulness practice.

Positive Psychology Course: Foundations of Wellbeing and Resilience

Course dates:
Sunday, 9th February (14-16h30)
Sunday, 1st March (14-16h30)
Sunday, 29th March (14-16h30)
Sunday, 26th April (14-16h30)
Sunday, 31st May (14-16h30)

Where: yogaloft. – Kirchberg, Luxembourg

Price: 250€ (for the full course) or 60€ per session if taken separately. Priority is given to people who book the full course.

What is Positive Psychology?

In contrast to traditional psychology (which focuses on dysfunction and how to treat it) Positive Psychology is a scientific field that explores how ordinary people can become happier and more fulfilled. The aim of Positive Psychology is to help people move from simply surviving to thriving, by focusing on and developing what is good in life rather than just trying to get rid of what is bad.
In order to do this, Positive Psychology has developed an extensive, evidence-based set of theories and practices that, when learnt and applied, guide people to a happier, more fulfilled and more meaningful life. In a nutshell, Positive Psychology shows us that wellbeing and resilience is not something that we are born with – it’s a distinctive set of skills that can be learned by everyone.

This course is about learning those skills!

Course description

Each session of this course will look at specific theories and practices from the science of Positive Psychology that make up the foundations of well-being and resilience. The teacher will give detailed explanations of the practices, the scientific background on their benefits, and take you through them during the class, so that you know how to practice them by yourself when you get home. Special attention will be given to practices that can easily and playfully be integrated into both your personal and professional life, and you will be able to do them with your children and partners too!

Please bring pen and paper to each session so that you can take notes.

Voluntary homework will be provided from one session to the next, as well as suggested reading.

Who is this course for?

This course is for everyone interested in becoming happier, more fulfilled and more resilient and who wants to learn the scientifically proven skills to tap into their full potential and build a meaningful life.
It is not a replacement for therapy for people suffering from clinical conditions such as anxiety, depression, trauma, personality disorders, etc. It is however greatly complementary to therapy, and can be attended by everyone.

Benefits include:

• Understanding what well-being and resilience really is
• Why it can be so difficult to achieve
• A better understanding of yourself
• An ability to tap into your full potential
• Learning scientifically proven skills to become happier and more fulfilled
• If applied, more well-being, more resilience and a more meaningful life will result

Session One (Sunday, 9th February, 14h-16h30)

Why is the bad stronger than the good?

In this first session, we will look at why the brain gives more importance to negative experiences than to positive ones. This phenomenon has an impact on all areas of our life. You will learn to detect your own negativity bias and its impact on your life as well as learn practices to overcome it, and start moving towards positivity bias.

We will look at the research and theory Positive Psychology has published over the years regarding our topic of the day, followed by practical exercises.

Please bring pen and paper to the session so that you can take notes.

Voluntary homework will be provided from one session to the next, as well as suggested reading.

Session Two (Sunday, 1st March, 14h-16h30)

Understanding Wellbeing and Resilience

We all have preconceived, media-influenced ideas about what should make us happy and resilient – yet, in real life, we often come to the realization that these things don’t bring the promised happiness.
Positive Psychology has made it its mission to research and understand what makes us human beings truly happy and has found out that, to live a fulfilled, resilient life, we need different kinds of wellbeing.

In this session, we will explore what these different kinds of wellbeing are and how you can develop them in your own life.
We will look at the research and theory Positive Psychology has published over the years regarding our topic of the day, followed by practical exercises.

Please bring pen and paper to the session so that you can take notes.

Voluntary homework will be provided from one session to the next, as well as suggested reading.

In the following sessions we will dive deeper into the theories and practices that make up each one of the different kinds of wellbeing.

Session Three (Sunday, 29th March, 14h-16h30)

Positive Emotions

Positive emotions play an important part in our ability to be well and resilient. Do you know how many positive emotions a human being can experience? Do you know what impact they have on your mental, emotional and physical health?
In this session you will learn all about positive emotions, understand their impact on your brain and body, and learn practices to bring more positive emotions into your life.

We will look at the research and theory Positive Psychology has published over the years regarding our topic of the day, followed by practical exercises.

Please bring pen and paper to the session so that you can take notes.

Voluntary homework will be provided from one session to the next, as well as suggested reading.

Session Four (Sunday, 26th April, 14h-16h30)

Character Strengths and Virtues

Do you know your personal character strengths and virtues?
Did you know that using your personal character strengths and virtues in your everyday life increases your wellbeing and helps you get through difficult times?
In this session, you will find out what your personal character strengths and virtues are, and how to apply them in your daily life to bring more balance to it.

We will look at the research and theory Positive Psychology has published over the years regarding our topic of the day, followed by practical exercises.

Please bring your phone or your Ipad as well as pen and paper to the session!

Voluntary homework will be provided from one session to the next, as well as suggested reading

Session Five (Sunday, 31st May, 14h-16h30)

Being a part of something bigger than yourself

Science has shown that, in order to feel lastingly happy, we need to be a part of something bigger than our self. Whether this ‘bigger than our self’ is work, our family, a cause, a community, religion or spirituality, it needs to be in line with who we are. To assure this, we need to know what our personal values, motivations and goals are, and how they can contribute to giving us meaning and purpose in life. As a matter of fact, there is an important link between our values, our levels of motivation, our goals and how much wellbeing and resilience we experience in life.

In this session, you will learn how to determine your values, how to increase motivation and to set goals for yourselves that are in line with who you truly are, so that you can be a part of something bigger than yourself without losing yourself.
We will look at the research and theory Positive Psychology has published over the years regarding our topic of the day, followed by practical exercises.

Please bring pen and paper to each session so that you can take notes.

Should you wish to dive deeper into wellbeing and resilience, Level 2 of the course will start in October.