FAQ

Mindfulness for life is not helpful or suitable for everyone. Below we outline some things that have been found to limit or prevent people from benefiting from the course. Of course, everyone’s situation is slightly different and I encourage you to speak to me, after reading the information below, if you have any remaining concerns or questions about the suitability of the course for you.

The mindfulness courses offered is not suitable for you if you have experienced a manic or hypomanic episode in the past six months, if you are currently self-harming or if you are currently experiencing suicidal thoughts. It is not that mindfulness will not be helpful for people with these conditions –we know it might very well be, but it would need to be delivered in a more specialist group. If you are feeling suicidal, we would strongly recommend you speak to your doctor or another mental health professional. I am unable to give specific advice to those with individual mental health problems. 

Practising mindfulness through attendance at a mindfulness course involves completion of home meditation practice and other activities and  this practice must take place when your consciousness is not impaired. If you are drinking a lot of alcohol or using other drugs please consider carefully whether you will be able to find time each day to complete the exercises when you are not under the influence of alcohol, drugs or their after  effects. If this is likely to be difficult for you then the MBCT course will not be suitable for you at this time.

If you are currently depressed, to such an extent that it is difficult for you to manage your everyday life, it is probably not the right time for you to do the course. We know from experience that people joining our courses need to be reasonably well. The course involves some daily home practice and finding the motivation and energy to do this whilst feeling very depressed will probably be challenging.

If you are recently bereaved, it is helpful to have come to terms with some of the grief before starting a mindfulness course. It can be difficult to recognise and work with pre-existing and more longstanding habits of mind when the bereavement is still very preoccupying. The 1 year period is a notional time (and people will differ a great deal in when they feel ready to begin a course) but our experience suggests it is often helpful to have gone through all the ‘significant’ dates of the person who has died before moving on to start something like a mindfulness course.

Mindfulness is not a ‘therapy’ as such. However, it can be confusing or impractical to engage in two psychological ‘programmes’ at the same time. Mindfulness courses involve a commitment of time and adding it on top of ongoing therapy may be difficult. If you are having therapy, please discuss with your therapist whether this course is appropriate for you, at this time. 

During periods of meditation the body may become relaxed and for some people, over time, meditation reduces stress. This may in turn affect blood glucose and insulin requirements and may potentially result in a need for adjustments to the pattern of insulin administration and dosage. Please let your doctor or other healthcare professional know that you are doing the course and discuss this with them.