🇬🇧 Mindfulnesstraining in Amsterdam and Diemen

The ability to be attentive can be trained. Mindfulness is about the art of being present in the here and now. With mindfulness, you live more intensely and consciously.

By directing your attention more often, you learn to distance yourself from the thoughts spinning in your head. You can concentrate better and relax more easily. The mind becomes calmer.

With mindfulness, we cultivate space between stimulus and response. This helps you make conscious choices more often, rather than reacting automatically. As a result, you pick up on stress triggers earlier and better, and you handle negative thoughts and emotions differently.

This leads to a higher level of awareness, and you become better at setting and maintaining your boundaries.

The official MBSR training I offer consists of 8 sessions of 2.5 hours each. In addition, there is a silent day that lasts 6 hours. This day is a fixed part of the training and is designed to deepen the skills you’ve learned.

Each week, you’ll receive exercises to practice at home, allowing the training to continue outside of the sessions. Expect to dedicate 45 minutes of practice per day.

Mindfulness training is a practical program designed to develop attention and awareness skills. You learn by doing and practicing. Each session lasts 2.5 hours and focuses on a specific theme.

The components of every session include:

Practicing exercises (meditation and yoga)
Sharing experiences (for those who wish to share)
Explaining the themes (theoretical framework)

In in-person training, we sit in a circle on the floor on cushions or chairs.
For online training, we sit at our computers, and you can choose a posture that suits you best.
In terms of content, the online and in-person trainings are exactly the same, with minor adjustments here and there.
For example, in the online training, the workbook is not handed out in person but sent to you digitally. ☺️

Mindfulness training is for anyone who wants to invest in their quality of life. It’s for anyone willing to look at patterns in a new way and learn from them. You don’t need to have stress-related complaints to benefit, though that can certainly be a reason to join. However, there may be circumstances where the training (temporarily) isn’t the right fit for you (see the question "For whom is mindfulness less suitable?").

No, you don’t have to share anything you don’t want to. The mindfulness training isn’t a "talking group" of therapy. When we do share, the focus isn’t so much on our personal stories but rather on sharing our experiences with the exercises. It’s also good to know that you learn just as much from the experiences of the other participants as you do from your own.

Yes. Almost everyone who starts the training struggles with sitting still. That’s not the goal, either. Mindfulness training is about training attention and awareness—not about sitting still. In fact, if you’re restless or busy, mindfulness can be especially helpful for you.

We are not only sitting in the training. We do all kinds of excercises. We stand up, walk, lie down, and practice different moving exercises.

The groups typically consist of 5 to 10 participants, whether they are in-person or online. In organisations the groups are often bigger.

Of course it is! The nature of our mind is to keep going: planning, worrying, daydreaming. We often live mostly in our heads and are almost "ruled" by our thinking mind.

To participate, you don’t need to empty or quiet your mind. Mindfulness actually offers a way to relate differently to your thoughts.

Over the past 35 years, the results of mindfulness training have been extensively studied in scientific research. Hundreds of studies have been published on the effects of mindfulness interventions, particularly focusing on Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT).
Research shows that mindfulness is effective both in mixed groups with open enrollment and in therapeutic settings. Mindfulness improves quality of life and brings about positive changes in cognitive and neurobiological functioning. Additionally, it transforms how individuals perceive themselves and the world, and how they respond to their experiences. This broad effectiveness makes mindfulness valuable for many people.

Home practice is an important part of the training. It is a training after all. Your commitment determines the result. Expect to spend 45 minutes practicing each day.
Some people think that’s a lot—45 minutes! Almost no one has that kind of free time in their day. However, if we look at our time differently, we often do have that time. Consider, for example, the time we spend watching TV, on the computer, or on our phones. Suddenly, there’s more room than we thought.
What’s more: if you’d like more control in your life, it starts with taking control of the time in your day.
Don’t let those 45 minutes become too big of an obstacle. Have you done your exercises? Then you’re done, and you can move on to other things.
If, for whatever reason, you truly can’t find the time to practice, I’d advise against participating now. It would be better to postpone the training until a time when you can make space for yourself.

In general, everyone can benefit from more attention and kindness in their life. However, there are situations where the trainer might advise waiting before starting the training.

For example, if you’re dealing with acute problems in your life that require a short-term solution, or if you don’t have the time to complete the home exercises. Attention is a skill, and like any skill, it requires practice to achieve results.

If you’d like to do the training but aren’t sure if now is the right time, feel free to mention your concerns in the registration form. Before we begin, we’ll have an introductory conversation where we’ll discuss this, among other topics. Together, we’ll determine if this is the right moment for you to start the training.

The original MBSR (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction) training consists of 8 sessions of 2.5 hours each and a 6-hour silent day. Some providers may seem cheaper, but they do not offer the full training or service.
For more details, read my (Dutch) e-book: 5 Things You Want to Know Before Starting Mindfulness Training.

Many health insurers and employers reimburse the cost of the MBSR mindfulness training. You can ask me about it or read more about this in my (Dutch) e-book.

At work, there are even special budgets available for this purpose—often called a learning and development budget or training budget. Make use of them!

The Dutch Professional Association for Mindfulness Trainers (VMBN) distinguishes between Category 1 and Category 2 trainers. Category 1 trainers are the most fully trained mindfulness trainers, offering mindfulness training in accordance with the professional standards originally developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn. Category 1 trainings are reimbursed by health insurers and often by employers as well.
For more tips, check out my Dutch e-book.