Mindfulness for hearing loss and tinnitus

“It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.” — Epictetus

There’s a story from buddism about two arrows. The first is unavoidable - e.g. you lose your hearing.

The second arrow is one you shoot yourself with - how you react to hearing loss.

Sometimes our own reactions can cause us more pain and suffering. Whilst it’s normal to be frustrated, angry and upset about hearing loss and tinnitus, these feelings can lead to more suffering, low mood and even depression.

Have you ever noticed that the more stressed out you get over tinnitus, the worse it gets? This is another example of how our reactions can can make things worse.

Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy can help you to step back from your situation, give you the space to choose how to react, manage your emotions and support your wellbeing.

The 8 week Mindfulness for Life Course, developed by the Oxford Mindfulness Foundation, has been proven to help with anxiety, stress and the effects of tinnitus.

During this course you will learn;

• To be fully present for yourself and others

• To find your calm

• To notice when your mind is scattered and bring it back to focus

• To notice reactivity in yourself, and what to do next

• New ways to respond to everyday difficulties

• Simple grounding practices that you can use anywhere

• To take care of your wellbeing with kindness and compassion

• How to use these new skills in your everyday life

Each weekly session will be a combination of guided meditation/movement, cognitive exercises, reflection and discussion.

After each session you will be given a daily home practice to help you intergrate mindfulness into your daily life, this will include formal guided meditation as well as bringing mindfulness into daily tasks or events and creating new mindful habits.

During each session you can lay on a yoga mat, kneel or sit on a meditation stool or cushion or sit on a chair. You may wish to have extra cushions or a blanket to hand and wear loose comfortable clothing.

The formal meditations can be practiced with eyes open or closed and you can remain sitting for the mindful movement if you wish. All sessions are via Zoom with captions and chat enabled.

There is a day of practice which will give you a chance to deepen your awareness. These run throughout the year, the dates will be confirmed at the start of each course.

This course includes a workbook developed by the Oxford Mindfulness Foundation to support your learning, and links to guided meditations for the home practice.

Click here for the 3 week Introduction to Mindfulness Course

This 8 week course costs £250 and includes:

• Small groups of up to 10 people

• Digital copy of the Oxford Mindfulness Foundation MBCT Workbook

• 1-1 follow up call after course ends

Upcoming course dates