The Oxford Mindfulness Podcast

1 I Finding Your Ground

Throughout this Frame by Frame taster series we hosted Mark Williams to offer a taste of his new course, developed for those who have already completed a mindfulness course and want to explore mindfulness more deeply.

Week by week, we focused on attention and reactivity, with special emphasis on ‘feeling tone’. Feeling tone is the moment-by-moment evaluation of whether any contact with mind or body feels pleasant, unpleasant, or neither. 

This episode was recorded during week 1 of the series of taster sessions. 

Unlearning Reactivity

Ancient wisdom and contemporary psychological science identify habitual reactivity as the source of much of the suffering, stress and distress in which it’s so easy to become entangled midst life’s ups and downs. Although our immediate reactions may arise from self-protective instincts, they often obscure our clear seeing of situations, amplifying and prolonging difficulty through over-thinking, re-living and pre-living.

Mindfulness offers priceless, practical ways to unlearn these habits and so to cultivate greater resilience and well-being in the midst of our lives as they are.

In this session we explore a particular way of bringing mindfulness and compassion to difficult emotions, moods and thought-patterns through the practice of ‘G.R.A.I.N’: ‘Grounding, Recognising, Allowing, Investigating, Non-selfing’. Practising in this way can significantly reduce reactivity and enable a greater sense of agency, wise responsiveness and flourishing in the midst of the ever-changing circumstances of our lives.

This session is intended to be appropriate for everyone, whether you have an established mindfulness practice or not.

Creating a Speak Up Culture

This episode of the Mindfulness in the Workplace podcast series features Megan Reitz. Megan is a facilitator, teacher, speaker, executive coach, researcher and author dedicated to exploring and finding ways to improve the way we interact with one another in the workplace. Working at the intersection of leadership, change, dialogue and mindfulness, she has presented her research to audiences throughout the world and she is listed on the Thinkers50 Radar of global management thinkers and on the 2019 HR Most Influential list of Thinkers.

Working With the Fear of Self Compassion

Dr Lee’s talk discusses compassion and trauma, and includes some mindfulness practices that explore compassion. If you are going through a challenging time or have a history of trauma, please consider carefully if this is the right time to listen to this podcast.

Mindfulness and Emotional Intelligence

This episode of the Mindfulness in the Workplace podcast series features Michelle Maldonado. Michelle is a former corporate lawyer and business leader who understands diverse industry sectors, mission, and service. She is passionate about learning, helping elevate human consciousness and alleviating suffering in the world. Her work focuses on personal and professional leadership development at the pivotal intersection of mindfulness, unconscious bias, emotional intelligence, authenticity, and compassion. 

Mindfulness for Life, For Life

Our Wednesday evening mindfulness sessions are supporting people in extending and deepening their mindfulness practice. We continue our series of podcasts based on the Mindfulness: Taking it Further course curriculum with this episode "Mindfulness for Life, For Life". These sessions will typically feature a talk and a guided practice session. This episodes practice is approximately 20 minutes long. 

Cool Head, Warm Heart

Our Wednesday evening mindfulness sessions are supporting people in extending and deepening their mindfulness practice. We continue our series of podcasts based on the Mindfulness: Taking it Further course curriculum with this episode "Cool Head, Warm Heart". These sessions will typically feature a talk and a guided practice session. This episodes practice is approximately 20 minutes long. 

Responding, Not Reacting

Our Wednesday evening mindfulness sessions are supporting people in extending and deepening their mindfulness practice. We continue our series of podcasts based on the Mindfulness: Taking it Further course curriculum with this episode "Responding, Not Reacting". These sessions will typically feature a talk and a guided practice session. This episodes practice is approximately 20 minutes long. 

Mindfulness in a Parliamentary Setting

As a Member of the UK Parliament for 20 years between 1997 and 2019, working with the University of Oxford Mindfulness Centre, Chris Ruane introduced mindfulness to 280 politicians and 450 members of their staff. With the Mindfulness Initiative, he has also helped to establish parliamentary practices in 10 other parliaments around the world. He is currently a trustee at the University of Oxford Mindfulness Centre, Chair of Trustees of Ruby Wax's Frazzled Cafe Charity, Chair of the Mindfulness Initiative's international political network and a member of the newly formed Mindfulness Wales. This episode draws on the experiences of working within the field of mindfulness in a Parliamentary setting.

Online Delivery of Mindfulness Programmes

Ted Meissner talks about the key benefits that come from the social aspect of participating in a live online course vs watching recorded learning material. Ted created the UMass Medical School Center for Mindfulness MBSR live online program, is a Certified MBSR Teacher, offers occasional Masterclasses for Oxford Mindfulness Centre and is the Executive Director of Mindfulness Practice Center.