Training
I also design, co-design, develop and deliver bespoke trainings and themed workshops, for example working with Trauma and trauma related disorders, personality disorder, compassionate self-care, and compassionate leadership.
The enlightenment training series
In what are especially challenging global times as a way of celebrating and understanding our common humanity the Enlightenment Training series offers one-day, one-off workshops across Ireland. Each of the work-shops are informed by eastern psychological principles, dharma teachings and ancient wisdom practice but are completely secular in that they do not require you to undertake any Buddhist rituals or practices. You are simply asked and tasked to open your heart and mind to clear and compassionate awareness.
Addictive behaviours and the art of letting go
This one-day workshop provides a radical and alternative way to think about and understand the nature of harmful addictive behaviours.
Enlightenment I don’t know what it means, chop that wood, carry water
The workshop draws on and integrates Eastern dharma teachings, principles and experiential mindful and compassionate practice.
The tail wagging the Oxherders tale… under development
This two-day workshop draws on ancient eastern teachings, wisdom and experiential practice, grounded in the four noble truths, a 2600-year-old pragmatic, diagnostic and psychological formulation to understand the nature, cause of and how to ease “un-satisfactoriness”.
Addictive behaviours and the art of letting go
This one-day workshop provides a radical and alternative way to think about and understand the nature of harmful addictive behaviours. Without exception all sentient and including human beings are hard wired to seek out pleasant, pleasurable experiences and avoid unpleasant, painful experiences. Nothing surprising here, a sensible strategy to increase the likelihood of survival. However, to the extent that we use or crave pleasure to avoid or mindlessly distract ourselves from the inescapable pain of the human condition, ranging from generalised dissatisfaction and disappointment to distressing life threatening and life limiting events means we are predisposed to unwholesome and harmful addictive behaviours. The out working of the latter include unhealthy relationships with people, food, exercise, drugs and alcohol, sex, gambling, gaming, shopping, work, social media, technology or more broadly defined:
“any behavior that a person finds temporary pleasure or relief in and therefore craves, suffers negative consequences from, and has trouble giving up” – Dr Gabor Mate
Who is the workshop for?
The workshop is open to and will benefit anyone with a personal interest in understanding and increasing awareness of the nature, cause of and how to lessen unhealthy and harmful addictive behaviours. Although informed by eastern psychological principles and ancient wisdom teachings it is completely secular and does not require you to undertake any Buddhist rituals or practices. You are simply asked and tasked with opening your heart and mind to clear and compassionate mindful awareness. As an introduction to the full and more detailed Mindfulness Based Relapse Prevention program professionals or carers working in the field of addiction are also welcome.
What will you learn
- Learn and practice mindfulness to open to and become aware of thoughts, feelings and sensations
- Understand and become aware of when you are operating on automatic pilot- reacting habitually and unskilfully out of awareness
- Become aware of internal and external triggers which increase the risk of and maintains the vicious cycle of addictive behaviours – bad habits
- Learn to pause, be with experiences and develop skilful responses which lessen unhealthy and harmful addictive behaviours – kindness and good habits
- Cultivate compassion to empower and enable you to make, consolidate and maintain healthy choices which are good for your emotional and physical wellbeing – staying on the right path.
Enlightenment I don’t know what it means, chop that wood, carry water
In the Western world the best scientific and academic minds have made relatively slow and limited progress in developing evidence-based and effective psychological, pharmacological and alternative interventions for the estimated one in six of us who, in any one year, will find ourselves emotionally distraught and overwhelmed. Despite or perhaps because of “western exceptionalism”, mental health and behavioural problems – anxiety, depression, drug (including the over prescribing of the “anti”-drugs) and substance misuse remain one of the leading causes of the overall burden of dis-ease negatively impacting on our capacity to lead meaningful and satisfying lives.
The title of the workshop was inspired by fortuitous informal trialogue meetings between the two facilitators and the legendary musician and polymath Van the Man Morrison which took place on a regular basis over the course of approximately two years. The conversations were wide ranging shifting easily, joyously but sometimes rowdily between the mundane, humorous and downright ridiculous to deep and compassionate inquiry into the nature of reality, the inescapable afflictions, pain and suffering of the human condition and musings on how to ease this pain and suffering.
Using the puzzling and paradoxical lyrics of the song Enlightenment, inspired by Van’s early reading of a key eastern Buddhist text the workshop will introduce you to a radical, clear-eyed view to cut through the misconception that what we are told and believe is the source of happiness is actually the source of and adds to pervasive, generalised unhappiness and un-satisfactoriness.
Who is the workshop for?
The workshop is open to everyone and anyone who wants to learn to skilfully manage the unavoidable multiple, competing demands, stresses and strains of modern life and living, lessening generalised stress, distress and pervasive un-satisfactoriness. The workshop draws on and integrates Eastern dharma teachings, principles and experiential mindful and compassionate practice. However, it is completely secular and does not require you to undertake any Buddhist rituals or practices. You are simply asked and tasked with curiously opening your heart and mind to compassionate mindful inquiry.
What will you learn?
……..
The tail wagging the Oxherders tale… under development
The last decade has seen an exponential, unprecedented increase in the prevalence of mental ill health in part attributable to (1) raised awareness (2) increasingly stressful lifestyles (3) social-economic inequalities – austerity and (4) diagnostic inflation that is the lowering of clinical thresholds for and perhaps less tolerance frustration for mild – moderate level distress. The latter, from an eastern psychological perspective is referred to as dukkha or “un-satisfactoriness”, a generalised primarily sub or pre-clinical, but pervasive and persistent state of dis-“ease” – distress.
This two-day workshop draws on ancient eastern teachings, wisdom and experiential practice, grounded in the four noble truths, a 2600-year-old pragmatic, diagnostic and psychological formulation to understand the nature, cause of and how to ease “un-satisfactoriness”. The workshop takes you on an experiential journey of discovery illustrated using ten pictures – murals, which decorate the walls of Zen temples in China, Korea, and Japan depicting a young ox-herder whose crusade leads him to tame, train, and transform his heart and mind– metaphorically represented by subduing the ox and bringing an end to his un-satisfactoriness, with the radical realisation that wellbeing is a life-long journey.
And the end of our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time – T.S Eliot
Who is the workshop for?
….
What will you learn.. under development
- An introduction to the four foundations and applications of mindful practice taming the body and calming the mind
- Cultivate a clear-eyed view to respond skilfully to and break habitual negative, reactive patterns which hitherto, drive and maintain your un-satisfactoriness.