Mindfulness
Mindfulness is talked about a lot these days, with many people, including Christians, extolling its benefits. But some Christians are nervous, fearing that it might be unbiblical, or lead them away from faith in Christ.
I’ve been practising mindfulness for some years now, and have found it incredibly helpful. I’ve also discovered that much of modern mindfulness is entirely consistent with the Bible’s account of what it means to be human.
I have trained as a mindfulness teacher with MindfulnessUK, and devised a course called ‘ChristMind’ which is a mindfulness course similar to the popular MBSR and MBCT courses. But ChristMind is a course for Christians, where I will show how the practices we do are simply applications of good theology of what it means to be human, and of who God is.
I’m running these courses to try to help Christians avoid two potential pitfalls:
Being so scared of mindfulness as ‘Buddhist’ that Christians aren’t able to benefit from its helpful insights.
Engaging uncritically with everything that goes by the name ‘mindfulness’ which on some courses may include some elements that contradict the Christian faith.
What is mindfulness?
Mindfulness is the name given to ‘present moment awareness’. It is in contrast to the ‘doing mode’ that many of us spend much of our lives in. Mindfulness is not an alternative to trusting Christ, or reading the Bible or praying. Mindfulness is more about the way we do things, rather than what we do.
Here’s an example that might help: Some people put on reading glasses when they come to read their Bible - and we have no problem with that. The glasses are a tool to help our eyes do their job, so that we can engage with the Lord in his word.
In a similar way, mindfulness is not about thinking about particular things, nor is it about ‘emptying our mind’ - despite the ongoing popularity of this misconception. Mindfulness is about the way our mind works. Just as glasses help our eyes, mindfulness training may help our brains as we seek to go about our daily life, including our engagement with God.
Mindfulness is one way of helping us to live as created beings: not feeling we always need to be in control, not trying to be masters of everything. Many of us struggle with these things, and the meditations involved in mindfulness are exercises that can help our brain function in more healthy and ultimately Biblical ways.
What is the ChristMind Course?
The ChristMind course is an 8 week course, for Christians who either want to begin to learn to practice mindfulness, or perhaps have experience in mindfulness but want to see the theological underpinnings for many of the practices.
The course takes place over zoom, in a 2hour session per week. There will be up to 12 or so people on each course.
There will be guided meditations, time for feedback, and group engagement and discussion. There will also be ‘home practice’ of between 10 and 30 minutes of meditations to complete on 5 of the 7 days between sessions. Please consider if you can commit this time before booking the course.
You will receive electronic handouts with notes from each session, as well as details of the home practice. You will also receive mp3s of ChristMind meditations (explicitly Christian mindfulness meditations) to use during the course and beyond.
Please note: this course is not treatment for any psychological or physical conditions, nor is it intended to provide pastoral care. Because mindfulness involves increasing our awareness of present reality, this course may not be appropriate for those undergoing severe difficulties, such as suicidal thoughts. Before joining the course you will be asked to complete a confidential personal history questionnaire to help assess suitability for the course. If it deemed that the course is not suitable, a full refund will be given.