Sylvia Clare and David Hughes

Sylvia and David live together on the Isle of Wight and Sylvia practises with the Smiling Sitters online ND Sangha.

Sylvia, (True Direction of Gentleness), is a dedicated follower of Thich Nhat Hanh but before that tried her hand at other mindful approaches. She brings those diverse experiences to her teaching. 

David has always preferred to practice as an independent Buddhist and has also read and studied widely, especially the writing of Thich Nhat Hanh. Between them have accrued over 80 years of personal mindfulness practice and have been teaching it to groups and individuals for over thirty years, either as a team or individually.

They are both writers and poets, writing articles on mindfulness and living mindfully. David is also a musician, and Sylvia is a memoirist on her spiritual journeys. Sylvia has lived a life of coping with ADHD and PTSD both personally and with her sons. David has lived a life of coping with Sylvia and her sons. His daughter also has bipolar.

Mindfulness is the basis for their own relationship and has enabled them to cope with many moments of deep grief and adversity as well as great joy. Between them, they have a rich resource of tips and support options for people with PTSD and neurodivergency challenges. How can mindfulness support living well with them emotionally and managing symptoms?  They are both very committed to supporting this community of mindful practitioners. Titles specifically related to this course are:

• The book most closely associated to the course – Living With and Loving ADHD and Neurodivergency
• A personal memoir of growing up with ADHD and PTSD and how she healed through it, including the role Plum Village played – No Visible Injuries
• A dictionary approach memoir to learning to manage emotions, much of it using mindful insights – Travelling the Alphabet Emotionally: A journey through life’s ups and downs