Increasingly, health-care institutions are coming under pressure to do more with less, to provide quality care with less resources and to improve the experience of patients and their families. As a result, many health-care workers find themselves grappling with increased levels of stress, burnout, compassion/empathy fatigue and conflict within their teams and colleagues.

Learning Objectives:

• Develop mindfulness

• Develop self and other observational tools thus improving one's relationship with self and others

• Learn to manage suffering and difficult emotions

• Learn the skills to start to develop self-compassion, self-care behaviours, set realistic personal boundaries to help prevent burnout

• Promote resilience, health and well-being within the  self and the health care environment

Please join us for the first full day retreat for graduates of McMaster University Faculty of Health Sciences, Program for Faculty Development (PFD) Mindfulness courses. Graduates of other mindfulness courses including Hamilton Health Sciences’s - Centre for People Development are also welcome to attend The more we practice mindfulness, the more it reveals itself to us and the more we are transformed. Wherever you are on your mindfulness journey, we invite you to deepen your practice, rejuvenate your spirit and reconnect with our growing mindfulness community. 

Course Description: 

This retreat is designed to provide healthcare professionals with prior mindfulness meditation experience an opportunity to deepen their meditation practice. This retreat will provide an opportunity to: 

• Connect with our growing mindfulness community of health professionals.

• Deepen your self-awareness to enable greater resiliency in times of stress.

• Refresh your practice of familiar mindfulness practices, and learn new ones. 

These guided practices include: breathing and relaxation exercises, body scan, mindful movement, mindful self-compassion, lovingkindness and seated practice on breath and body. The day will begin with an orientation and a brief refresher on the principles of mindfulness practice.

Deepening Awareness and Insight in Mindfulness Practice 

This course is designed for those seeking to deepen awareness and insight in their mindfulness practice, as well as to increase professional resilience and work satisfaction in their healthcare practice.

Through this course participants will:

• Experience systematic practices that deepen awareness states and cultivate insight

• Explore ways to increase resilience and work satisfaction through the integration of mindfulness into professional practice

Pre-Requisite: Participants must have a foundational knowledge of the principles of mindfulness, as well as basic experience with mindfulness practice.

How can we help our students learn? This interactive half-day workshop will explore: various models for teaching; ways to create conducive learning environments and approaches to different learning styles. 

Participants will also be introduced to mindful teaching methods designed to cultivate deepened awareness, concentration and insight. The experiential format will demonstrate the basic principles of adult learning and mindful teaching, and explore the applicability of these to your own setting. 

Learning Objectives: 

Participants will...

• Explore and have basic knowledge of the specific learning requirements of adults.

• Discuss the factors that maximize the receptivity of the learner, and the uses of transmissional, transactional and transformational learning models.

• Discuss the four basic learning styles and how to accommodate each type of learner  Identify ways to cultivate mindful awareness to deepen knowledge .

Mindfulness is a way of meeting life’s challenges with greater calm, clarity and wisdom. It promotes professional resiliency, job satisfaction and overall well-being. People who practice mindfulness experience: greater ability to cope with daily stress; decreased symptoms of burnout; enhanced interpersonal communication and increased satisfaction at work and at home. This interactive half-day workshop will give you a basic understanding and experience of mindfulness. 

Learning Objectives: 

Participants will...

• Explore an overview of mindfulness: What is it? How does it work? How can it help reduce stress?  

• Experience an introduction to a variety of guided mindfulness practices.

• Explore strategies to enhance mindfulness in everyday life.

• Discuss and Identify resources for continuing the practice