Monday evenings, 18:30-21:30
8 January 2024 - 5 February 2024
Live online via Zoom

Course Description
Blending practice and theory, Harriet is turning Nourish’s signature approach towards meditation and contemplative practice in this new CPD.

Over 5 weeks, we’ll explore the contemporary landscape of meditation, taking a critical approach that centres justice, inclusion and care. If you’ve ever felt like meditation isn’t for you (or like you’re not doing it right, or often enough, or long enough, etc) then this course is for you.

Each week there’ll be a dual focus on practice, exploring ways to meditate/contemplate together, and on critical frameworks, tackling topics from the rise of mindfulness to the science and study of meditation.

At its heart though, this course is about YOU exploring YOUR relationship to, and practice of, meditation. Our aim to arrive at a place where meditation/contemplation feels like a resourcing, nourishing, fortifying aspect of your life and practice.


Course Overview

Week 1 - Welcome, Introduction to Meditation and Contemplative Practice
In our first session, we’ll begin by defining our key terms and principles of the course: meditation and contemplative practice. We’ll also ask the question of what it means to take a ‘critical approach’ and why this is important in our contemporary context.

Week 2 - A Brief History of Meditation
To understand how we arrived at where we are today, we’ll take a look back at historical approaches to meditation, from both yoga traditions and beyond. Without aiming to be exhaustive, we’ll try to orient ourselves in a fuller understanding of how the meaning and understanding of the word “meditation” has changed and shifted over time (much like the word “yoga”!).

Week 3: The Rise of Mindfulness
Perhaps now the most widely-recognised and popularised form of meditation practice in the world, mindfulness for many is now ubiquitous with meditation. We’ll take a closer look at the historical and social contexts of mindfulness, and also a critical reading of how it’s been co-opted by the forces of late-stage capitalism, virtue signalling and structural oppression to some often questionable ends.

Week 4: The Science and Study of Meditation
This week we’ll turn to the science and study of meditation, asking questions like: What can we know about what we’re doing? And how do we talk about it? How does positionality affect how you perceive meditation and contemplative practice? We’ll take a look at what neuroscience has to say about what might be going on when we meditate, and the limitations and challenges faced. What happens when we go from experiencing our meditation practice to trying to communicate, teach or study it?

Week 5: Developing our Personal Practice
In our final week together, we’ll turn our attention to the personal, with a workshop dedicated to exploring our personal (and if applicable, teaching) practices of meditation. We’ll consider questions like: what is my intention for meditation? What does it do for me? What does it mean for me? We’ll also consider the practicalities of meditation, alongside working to dismantle and reframe limiting attitudes and ideas about what our meditation practice “should” look like. Above all, what is YOUR expression of meditation, and how do we know how to check in with our needs and desires around meditation as they naturally shift over time?

Who is this course for?
This course is suitable for anyone interested in deepening their experience, knowledge and understanding of meditation and contemplative practice. We welcome interested students, teacher trainees, and yoga teachers.

This module is offered as part of Nourish’s 300 hour teacher training, but can be taken by any teacher wishing to improve their skills in this area as Continuing Professional Development (CPD). The module will run as five weekly sessions of three hours, and combine theory, practice and skills development.

Nourish Yoga Training's 300 hour Advanced Teacher Training is registered with Yoga Alliance (International), and is completed as a series of standalone modules which can be taken over 3 years.

What happens if I can’t attend a session live?
All sessions are recorded and uploaded to our online Classroom after each session for you to catch up on if required. Live attendance is encouraged wherever possible for you to get the most out of the live experience with the facilitators and peers, although we understand that everyone has busy lives and schedules. In some circumstances, an individual tutorial with Harriet may be offered to support your learning if you need to miss multiple sessions.

Course Materials
You will be given access to an online Classroom for the course, which will host all the course materials, readings and recordings. There are no required books for this course, and we endeavour to provide you with as many resources as we can.


Pricing
We believe in the importance and value of this training, and would like to offer a scaled pricing system, which enables attendees to pay which tier feels most appropriate for them. Please note there are NO further discounts available (i.e. no student discounts, etc). Instalments plans are available, please email harriet@nourishyogatraining.com to discuss.

Community price £169
Standard price £199
Supporter price £229


About the Facilitator

Harriet McAtee is the founder and lead trainer of Nourish Yoga Training. Movement, yoga, and our minds have always fascinated her. From a young age, Harriet has nearly always been involved in some form of dance, martial art, gymnastics or sport. She found yoga as a thirteen year-old and it firmly secured its place in her heart. Harriet’s teaching emphasises empowering students to embrace and nourish their bodies and minds, with a focus on embodied movement, cultivating intuition and fun. She relishes the opportunity to make practice matter in everyday life through social justice & making yoga accessible and inclusive. Harriet is currently registered with Yoga Alliance (E-RYT® 500, YACEP®).

In this class, Harriet endeavours to share practices that are empowering, grounding and joyful with you, creating space for you to thrive and flourish. We can begin to see this practice as a vital movement which enables space, community and time to acknowledge your experiences, cultivating a deep awareness of yourself and your body as it changes and evolves during pregnancy and into postpartum.

What can I expect from the class?
We start with a few moments to say hi, and anyone that feels like sharing how they’re doing is welcome to. Class usually begins either seated or lying in our sides with a few moments to ground and arrive. Then we move into some gentle movements to warm up the joints and body, followed by core stability and pelvic floor work. Some sessions we might make it to standing and others we’ll stay close to the ground. We usually find space for some gentle breathing or meditation/yoga nidra followed by some quiet time to rest.

You are welcome to dip in/out and attend to whatever you need to during the class - if you need to go to the bathroom or get a drink/snack, or attend to your baby/kids. Breastfeeding is welcome and encouraged through the class and I’m happy to suggest options to include this is you like.

When can I join this class?
This class is suitable during pregnancy and in postpartum once you have stopped bleeding (around 6 weeks for a vaginal birth and 10-12 weeks for abdominal/c-section birth). If you have any queries or concerns regarding your participation please feel free to reach out to me in advance via email to chat through. Remember that any body that’s experienced pregnancy and birth is a postpartum body: you might join 6 weeks or 6 years after giving birth and that’s equally valid and welcome.

What do I need?
If you have a yoga mat, that’s great! But you could also practice on carpet or a rug if you like. You’ll also likely want a few cushions/blankets. If you’ve got yoga props (bolsters, blocks etc) that’s wonderful but not essential.

What do I need to wear?
Whatever you feel comfortable in. Generally something stretchy that you can move in is great, but you don’t need anything special. There’s also no pressure to turn your camera on so you can show up however is best for you that day!

How much is this class?
It’s important to be that this class is accessible, so I use a variation of pay-what-you-can pricing called tiered pricing. There are 3 options when booking:

- Standard: £7/class

- Pay-it-Forward: £10/class (paying a little more if you can means you’re partially supporting a spot for someone who wouldn’t otherwise be able to attend.

- Free: a free spot if you need it, no questions asked.

Can I buy a block of classes?
I don’t offer blocks of classes - it feels unfair to me that only those who can afford a larger payment upfront get a discount. So I’ve decided on a tiered pricing system with the discount already built into the standard price, with a free spot for those who need it, and those who can choosing to pay-it-forward. This does mean you’ll need to book and pay every class, but I hope the fairer price makes worth it.