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De-Mystifying Mindfulness

Interest in meditation, mindfulness, and contemplation has grown exponentially in recent years. Rather than being seen as mystical practices from ancient Buddhism or esoteric philosophy, they are increasingly seen as technologies rooted in evidence from psychology and neuroscience. Mindfulness has become the basis for numerous therapeutic interventions, both as a treatment in healthcare and as a means of enhancing well-being and happiness. For millions around the world, mindfulness has become a life-style choice, enhancing and enriching everyday experience. Mindfulness is big business. But, what actually is mindfulness? Is it really good for you? Can anyone learn it? How can you recognize charlatans? Would you want to live in a mindful society, and would it smell like sandalwood? What does it feel like to be mindful? Are you mindful already, and how would you know? Evolving from the popular Honours Academy course at Leiden University, this innovative course combines conventional scholarly inquiry from multiple disciplines (ranging from psychology, through philosophy, to politics) with experiential learning (including specially designed ‘meditation labs,’ in which you’ll get chance to practice and analyze mindfulness on yourself). In the end, the course aims to provide a responsible, comprehensive, and inclusive education about (and in) mindfulness as a contemporary phenomenon. During the production of this course, we have been supported by Willem Kuyken, Director of the University of Oxford Mindfulness Centre, and Stephen Batchelor, co-founder of Bodhi College. And we gratefully acknowledge the contributions made by Mark Williams, co-developer of Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), and Rebecca Crane, Director of the Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice at the University of Bangor. We have recently added expert advice from Dawn Scott (Spirit Rock & Barre Centre for Buddhist Studies), Sydney Spears (University of Kansa), Elisabeth Stanley (Georgetown University), Susan Woods (Centre for Mindfulness Studies), Patricia Rockman (University of Toronto) and Jeff Corntassel (University of Victoria). "A deep and profound dive into the ethical, social, psychological, and philosophical implications of modern-day mindfulness practice. The course is not for the faint of heart, perhaps, but it is also full of practical, guided exercises for the uninitiated! Thank you for redefining my relationship to Mindfulness in a completely new and thought-provoking way" 28 april 2021 "The course enabled me to explore the mindfulness construct at its deeper lever from philosophical, psychological and political lenses. The mindfulness labs were very useful in practicing the skills of being mindful." 23 nov 2018 "i took this course after a period of time when I was trying to practice mindfulness and meditation, but with doubtful success. The course answered many questions to me, and I needed that to keep me motivated. It really helped me understand the origins and, more importantly, benefits of mindfulness practice and made me persist in my attempts. I'm really glad I took the course, I find it interesting, well taught and very useful for all those seeking deeper explanation in why trying mindfulness." 9 Oct 2018 "I have taken other courses in other online platforms. However, this has been one of the best courses I have found online." 3 Oct 2018 "I really like the invitation to us, the learners, to rethink our preconceptions and beliefs, and then make our own judgement about mindfulness. The overall tone was very friendly and open, resources very useful." 12 Dec 2017

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Rating 4.7 based on 356 ratings
Length 10 weeks
Effort 7 Weeks, approx 4 hours per week theory + 1 hour per day for experiential practices.
Starts Jul 17 (41 weeks ago)
Cost $29
From Universiteit Leiden via Coursera
Instructor Chris Goto-Jones
Download Videos On all desktop and mobile devices
Language English
Subjects Art & Design Humanities
Tags Arts And Humanities Personal Development Philosophy

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What people are saying

highly recommend

It helped me being focused, exploring my own desires, and making progress in manifesting them... i loved this course, it is very interesting and helped me to understand more about my biases with the mindfulness Thanks great course with lots to think about and deepening our insight I highly recommend this Course to understand and practice Mindfulness.

Highly recommend!

Highly recommend it for everyone :-) with no way to contact a mentor I struggled in a few of the labs.

Would highly recommend it on both an intellectual and practical basis.

I highly recommend that if you have no idea what mindfulness is or if you think that you do, take the course and receive or add more value.

I highly recommend it!

I highly recommend this course to anyone who is interested in mindfulness, either academically or to practice.

I would highly recommend this to anyone that wants a comprehensive view of the topic.

Highly highly recommended!!

Highly recommend for anyone interested in learning more about mindfulness.

Highly recommended.

Highly recommended!

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so much

So much dedication was in place to produce this, the quality is top notch.

I enjoyed it so much I may take this class again!

thank you so much!

Learned so much in what initially seemed daunting but what turned out to be a relatively short amount of time!

I like it so much that I would have no hesitation to be a mentor in this class to help attendees in learning mindfulness.

This course has greatly enriched my life and helped me so much to find greater peace and gratitude in my life.

Thank you so much!!!

Absolutely wonderful, so much to keep learning from it.

This course helped me so much in my daily life.

I learnt so much, not only about mindfulness but also about myself.

Thank you so much for this wonderful gift.

So much information!

what mindfulness ‘is’ based on facts and scientific findings rather than spending so much portion of content talking about what mindfulness ‘isn’t’ which I don’t think really necessary.Also, there are opinions presented as knowledge, that needs to be mindful of.

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chris goto-jones

This is thanks to Chris Goto-Jones who has a very inspiring way of speech.

I will miss Chris Goto-Jones and his wise lectures and I therefore finish this course, with a twinge of sadness as well as joy for having been part of this magnificent experience.

Hats off to Chris Goto-jones and the entire team for coming up with this Great Course that is sure to uplifts the humanity.

This course does what the title says, with animated well spoken Chris Goto-Jones, it was a pleasure learning from him, a glowing example of practicing what he preaches.

Chris Goto-Jones delivers the material in a clear and concise manner.

The course is very well built, Chris Goto-Jones is a fantastic lecturer, and his content is both engaging and relevant.

I'd really give the course 3.5 stars, but I'll round up because I enjoyed Dr Chris GoTo-Jones' explanations.

Thanks to Chris Goto-Jones and the other teachers , and to Leiden Universiteit for this beautiful course.

The instructor, Chris Goto-Jones, is a very likable instructor who makes the material both fun and accessible.

I would have to say "Excellent" I appreciate Chris Goto-Jones for the amount of work that was given in putting De-Mystifying Mindfulness.

One of my best cours ever, because I'm just starting to know and practice Mndfulness, it has been a gift to find this course, I recomended stronlly to anyone to star and practice Mindfulness.Thanks so much to https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en Universiteit Leiden , Congratulations to our Prof.Chris Goto-Jones , It was a real pleasure to follow your course and all the aknoledge I have about Mindfulness thanks to you and your team.

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really enjoyed

I really enjoyed the course.

Thank you An excellent course - I really enjoyed it, thank you!

I really enjoyed this class and the history of Mindfulness that was taught.

I really enjoyed the combination of videos, assignments, forum discussions and peer reviews.

The course is well designed to engage with the virtual learners throughout the five weeks; In fact this is my first MOOC training and that too on a philosophical topic, but I really enjoyed the course and have recommended to my colleagues.

Really enjoyed this course.

I really enjoyed the course, even though I was familiar with Mindfulness.

I really enjoyed it, and it has deepened my practice and my knowledge of mindfulness.

I really enjoyed it!

I really enjoyed doing this course.

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theory and practice

Very well thought out materials, great set up for interacting with other learners, nice balance between theory and practice.

The combination of theory and practice in this course has made it thoroughly enjoyable and I feel I have a deeper understanding, both conceptually and practically, of mindfulness.

Quite an intensive course with lots of theory and practice.

Great balance of theory and practice, providing a perspective on mindfulness in a professional and neutral way.

A good mix of theory and practice.

A unique course that combines theory and practice.

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Careers

An overview of related careers and their average salaries in the US. Bars indicate income percentile.

Certified iRest Yoga Nidra Meditation Teacher $50k

Yoga and Meditation Teacher $58k

Mindfulness-Based Wellness Instructor $71k

Yoga Meditation & Stress-Management Instructor $74k

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Rating 4.7 based on 356 ratings
Length 10 weeks
Effort 7 Weeks, approx 4 hours per week theory + 1 hour per day for experiential practices.
Starts Jul 17 (41 weeks ago)
Cost $29
From Universiteit Leiden via Coursera
Instructor Chris Goto-Jones
Download Videos On all desktop and mobile devices
Language English
Subjects Art & Design Humanities
Tags Arts And Humanities Personal Development Philosophy

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