Mindfulness and Self-Compassion

Mindfulness and Self-Compassion courses, workshops, retreats and groups.

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Mindfulness - Lotus on pond

How can Mindfulness Help You?

Many of us want to slow down and experience greater ease, but often find that doing this is not so easy. Mindfulness is a simple practice that connects us to our natural sense of presence. It helps us come to our senses in a very real way and live more fully in the present moment.

Mindfulness for all ages

Mindfulness is over 2500 years old as a practice, but it is only in recent decades that medicine and science have come to recognise the capacity of mindfulness to enhance the quality of people’s lives, particularly in the areas of stress reduction and pain management, depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorders and panic attacks.

Mindfulness At Oscailt

Oscailt maintains a comprehensive series of courses on mindfulness, loving-kindness and self-compassion. We offer regular mindfulness courses for children and for teens. We also host four community mindfulness groups (sanghas) in the tradition of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.

Mindfulness Courses:

Mindful Self-Compassion Course  – Testimonials

Featured Testimonial

More Testimonials…

The Mindful Self Compassion course was a very important experience both personally and professionally. It gave me a way of responding to the inevitable suffering of my life and that of people around me in a different way, with greater kindness and ease. As the time goes by I notice a lot more spontaneity and tenderness in my life.

Benny McCabe Psychologist
Benny McCabe

This 8-week course has done me an unbelievable power of good. Coming to it with a life-long antipathy to self-compassion as being self-serving, self-excusing and self-forgiving, it was mind-blowing to discover that it is none of those things. Simply by discovering early on in the course that I would never judge another person in the heartless way I tend to judge myself, a huge residue of negativity was lifted from me and I found soothing ways of tending to the mistakes I make, thereby opening up creative ways of learning from them rather than sinking further into hopelessness and self-recrimination. A true life-changer!

Brian Chartered Accountant
Brian

I have been enjoying treatments, exercise classes, drop-in meditation classes and fascinating courses in Oscailt for many years. There is always something interesting going on there. I recently did the Mindful Self-Compassion course which was a real experience! It had an interesting mix of Western psychology and mindfulness which was explained in a simple, straightforward way. I learnt things about myself and learnt how life can be easier and more fun. Thank you Oscailt for another great course.

Conor Mulligan 
Conor Mulligan

I completed the MIndful Self Compassion Course at Oscailt around 6 months ago. I have to say the course was excellent and delivered benefits far beyond my expectations. By exploring a side of self-compassion that otherwise I never would have discovered, I found the course helped me to adjust my perspective on life for the better and see a new side to myself. 6 months on and I’m continuing to develop my understanding and practice of self compassion and enjoying the positive benefits for myself and those around me that have materialised as a consequence.

James Entrepreneur
James

Thank you so much!! It was a wonderful course. A course, for me, I would take again and again. There are so many layers. Each week’s subject was in itself a course. An area of deep exploration. It was truly a privilege to take this course. What a wonderful group and teacher.

Suzanna Actor
Suzanna

Mindfulness Teachers at Oscailt – Profiles

Mary O'Callaghan, Director of Oscailt, Dublin
Director of Oscailt

Mary O’Callaghan

Barry Lee, Oscailt, Dublin
Mindful­ness Teacher

Barry Lee

Carmel O'Hara, Psychotherapist and Mindfulness Teacher, Oscailt, Dublin
Mindful­ness Teacher

Carmel O’Hara

Jean Barrett, Mindfulness, Oscailt, Dublin
Mindful­ness Teacher

Jean Barrett

Eilis Cullen, Mindfulness Teacher and Psychologist, Oscailt, Dublin
Mindfulness Teacher

Eilis Cullen

Caragh Behan, Mindfulness for Children, Oscailt, Dublin
Mindfulness Teacher

Caragh Behan

Fidelma Farley, Mindfulness Instructor, Oscallt, Dublin
Mindful­ness Teacher

Fidelma Farley

Mary O'Callaghan, Director of Oscailt, Dublin

Director of Oscailt

Mary O’Callaghan

Mary O’Callaghan, MA, EAP, is the founder-director of Oscailt. Mary is an accredited psychotherapist and supervisor and has also been exploring meditation practices for nearly 40 years. During that time, she spent eight years living as a Buddhist nun and underwent intensive training in Eastern psychology and meditation. She has led meditation retreats in Europe and Asia and is passionate about integrating mindfulness into everyday life.

Barry Lee, Oscailt, Dublin

Mindful­ness Teacher

Barry Lee

I first learned about meditation in 2007, the year I qualified as a solicitor. I suffered badly from anxiety and work-related stress at the time and I found meditation extremely helpful. Initially, I saw it as something which helped alleviate stress however over time I came to see it as a way of life. I formally trained as a mindfulness teacher and a yoga instructor and began to teach in my spare time. In 2014 I took a one year sabbatical from work in order to travel and go on a number of longer meditation retreats. In 2017 after ten years of working as a lawyer, I took a leap of faith and quit my job in order to do this work full time.

I am a trained MBSR teacher and yoga instructor, (Certified Experienced Yoga Teacher – Yoga Alliance), and over the years I have also trained to teach a number of other mindfulness-based interventions. I am a director and member of the Mindfulness Teachers Association of Ireland, (www.mtai.ie).

I currently work with a variety of different groups including organisations in the corporate sector, universities, (staff and students), not for profit organisations and schools. In 2016 I co-founded Nature In Mind, (www.natureinmind.ie), an educational organisation which aims to help people improve their health and well-being through mindfully connecting with the natural world. In 2017 I founded Mindfulness For Law, (www.mindfulnessforlaw.ie), which delivers mindfulness training for people working in the legal industry. I am a director of Mindful Nation Ireland, (www.mindfulnationireland.ie), a charity whose mission is to help cultivate a more mindful and compassionate Ireland.

Carmel O'Hara, Psychotherapist and Mindfulness Teacher, Oscailt, Dublin

Mindful­ness Teacher

Carmel O’Hara

About Carmel

Carmel O’Hara M. Med Sc/Psychotherapist, MSc Mindfulness (UCD), Dip Counselling (Reading University), RN, RCN

Carmel holds an MSc in Mindfulness and is a registered systemic family psychotherapist and addiction counsellor for 30 years. She also has a background in nursing and has worked as a therapist with those with a cancer diagnosis and their families over many years. Carmel facilitates the weekly drop-in Mindfulness Hour at ARC House Cancer Support Centre in Dublin as well as running an eight-week Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy programme at Oscailt at different intervals throughout the year, and she facilitates the drop in weekly mindfulness session at Oscailt together with other mindfulness practitioners. Carmel has been practicing mindfulness for over 15 years.

Other areas of interest to Carmel

Carmel is also interested in working with those who are in recovery from various addictions, and with their families and she runs mindfulness groups to support those in addiction recovery. She is also a registered supervisor with FTAI and she is available to supervise clinicians work as well as consult with relevant organisations as her working approach is working with people within their relational, work and environmental contexts.

Creating a safe space for those whom she works with is central to Carmel’s work as a therapist and mindfulness practitioner.

Carmel is also available to run days of mindfulness with groups, and having one to one mindfulness sessions for interested persons.

Registrations FTAI (Family Therapy Association of Ireland), ACI Addiction Counsellors of Ireland, ICP (Irish Council of Psychotherapy,) EAP (European Assoc. Psychotherapy)

Jean Barrett, Mindfulness, Oscailt, Dublin

Mindful­ness Teacher

Jean Barrett

Jean Barrett: MSc Mindfulness, Dip in Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapy, Post Graduate Dip in Supervision, MIAHIP/ MIACP.

Jean has been working as a Psychotherapist for over 20 years in private practice while also offering supervision to individuals and groups. She works with corporate programmes in both the private and public sector. She delivers mindfulness sessions in corporate environments and is a member and facilitator of the ‘drop in mindfulness’ group at Oscailt.

 

Eilis Cullen, Mindfulness Teacher and Psychologist, Oscailt, Dublin

Mindfulness Teacher

Eilis Cullen

Eilis Cullen, MIAHIP, MEAP

I have been practising meditation for over 25 years and value the experience and benefits of a daily practice in both my personal and professional life.

As an experienced Psychotherapist, I was increasingly finding the value of integrating mindfulness into my work and so I began studying mindfulness-based approaches at the Centre for Mindfulness, Research and Practice (CMRP), Bangor University, Wales.

I completed the Teacher Training and Certification with the Centre for Mindfulness (CFM), University of Massachusetts Medical School.

I offer mindfulness programmes to individuals and groups both online and in person, and, as a trained supervisor, I offer this resource to support mindfulness teachers in their work.

I am very drawn to the practice of Mindful Self-Compassion as a powerful resource for the challenges of daily life while also fostering a more compassionate society.

When I am not working, I enjoy spending time with family and the very mindful pursuits of gardening and horse-riding.

Caragh Behan, Mindfulness for Children, Oscailt, Dublin

Mindfulness Teacher

Caragh Behan

I worked as an Adult Psychiatrist for 15 years caring for people with various mental illnesses including significant anxiety, depression, psychosis and bipolar and related conditions. As a way of supporting my own mental well-being during this time I learnt to meditate. This was of enormous benefit to me. This had a profound impact on the way I viewed mental health and I found myself increasingly wondering if this could also benefit younger people suffering from mental health issues.

My child suffered from anxiety, and I could see first hand the value of mindfulness to help her navigate a challenging period of her own life. This led me to train as a mindfulness teacher for children and young adults. I completed the training and was passionate about teaching this on a professional level to children and young adults experiencing various mental health conditions including anxiety, depression, ADHD and children on the autistic spectrum. I saw that not only was mindfulness helpful in handling the various challenging emotions, it also helped children and young adults to build resilience, to aid concentration and to experience a greater sense of ease and well-being.

Having completed my training with Connected Kids™, I subsequently trained to teach parents to work with their own children. I also teach people who are interested in becoming professional Connected Kids Tutors.

I feel so grateful to be doing this work as the overwhelming demands on children and young adults can be so debilitating, and I take real joy in watching young people connect more deeply with their own needs and negotiate the challenges that creating an independent life requires.

Contact Details and Information

Email: holdingcalmspace2020@gmail.com

Website: www.calmspace.ie

 

Fidelma Farley, Mindfulness Instructor, Oscallt, Dublin

Mindful­ness Teacher

Fidelma Farley

Fidelma is an accredited Breathworks Mindfulness teacher (since 2008) and an accredited Life Coach (since 2016). My mindfulness and compassion practice, as well as my Buddhist practice, have sustained and nurtured me through life’s ups and downs, including family life and periods of mental and physical health difficulties. As a coach, I am regularly coached myself and find the process invaluable in keeping my life and work in tune with my values. No matter what your circumstances, I believe strongly that living a life that is meaningful to you is the foundation of wellbeing. In my mindfulness, compassion and coaching work, I help people to become more self-aware and kinder to themselves, and to grow, develop, thrive and flourish in their own unique way. I run courses and workshops (online and in person) in mindfulness; mindfulness for chronic pain and long-term health conditions; mindful eating; one-to-one mindfulness; one-to-one coaching and coaching in nature.

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