The Art of Zen
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Gain a grounding in mindfulness or refresh your practice
Experience how mindfulness can transform your life in one of our group courses based on the well loved teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh.
— Guided meditations, small group discussions and practical exercises
— Online over six week-day evenings or one in-person weekend
— Supported places available so no one is excluded
The Art of Zen – A complete introduction
Looking Deeply – Deepening practice
Living Mindfully – Integrating further
Mindfulness for Neurodiversity – For neurodivergent individuals
Unsure which one? Read which course is for me.
Mindfulness and meditation help us to live fuller and happier lives – focused on the present moment, not absorbed in regrets, plans or worries.
By practising mindfulness we create stillness, from where we see clearly what brings us happiness and what causes suffering. With this awareness, we can make positive choices.
Mindfulness is rooted in Buddhist meditation, with effects verified by neuroscience, and as such is open to Buddhists non-Buddhists alike.
Introductory course offering concrete ways to transform suffering into peace
The course offers a deep understanding of mindfulness and how it can support many aspects of your daily life, not only in meditation, but also in how we eat, behave, speak to ourselves and others, and take care of ourselves.
The wisdom of Zen teaches us to find peace within ourselves and serenity in the face of suffering.
“I’d never practised mindfulness with a group before and the experience of sharing a couple of hours a week was powerful and positive start to the way I approached the coming week.”
“The course is a gift – it made a shift in my attitude towards stress and helped me to achieve a routine incorporating meditation and focus on living in the present.”
“I find mindfulness and meditation practices less intimidating and am now able to draw on a range of practices throughout the day … I have noticed an improved sense of calm, perspective, and gratitude.”
“I enjoyed the emphasis on self-care. I also liked the clear guidance and instructions and the wonderful way the course led us through the teachings. I feel more in control of how I approach my life situations.”
A follow-on from The Art of Zen, refreshing and extending your practice
The benefits of Looking Deeply are to ground ourselves more fully in Thich Nhat Hanh’s teachings, giving deep strong roots to our peace and contentment.
We can do this most beneficially as a Sangha, a group of people coming together to practise and support one another on the journey.
Looking Deeply develops the themes and learnings from The Art of Zen and takes us deeper into the teachings, helping us to become more aware of our ’territory’ of body, feelings, mind and consciousness.
In each session we:
We will recommend meditations from the Plum Village App to support you.
We suggest you have prior experience of Plum Village practice such as:
Our third course after The Art of Zen and Looking Deeply
The Five Mindfulness Trainings are an ethical way of checking in to how closely we are following what we value in life and making conscious decisions instead of acting habitually without awareness.
We explore how to bring the Five Mindfulness Trainings fully into our lives, using them as practical guidance and spiritual friends on our path.
We offer a concentrated examination of the trainings in a supportive group atmosphere of people practising together.
Each week is an opportunity to explore one of the trainings and see what challenges it presents. What parts are difficult to follow now – and which are easy?
We suggest you have completed at least the Looking Deeply Course before joining Living Mindfully.
A special adaptation of the The Art of Zen
Mindfulness for Neurodiversity, ADHD and PTSD is reconfigured to focus especially on the applications of mindfulness in supporting neurodivergent individuals, including in relation to ADHD and autism.
The course leaders are Sylvia Clare and David Hughes.
Sylvia Clare and David Hughes recently published their new book entitled ‘Living and Loving with ADHD and Neurodiversity‘ and the course will draw on much of the wisdom from this book (you don’t need to purchase it for this course, but it helps!)
On Sylvia’s YouTube channel she has a series of Mindfulness Made Easy videos that link to adaptations made for the course.
This course is suitable for partners, parents and all who work with neurodivergency, PTSD or who live with it themselves, or if you just want to learn and understand how these differences affect people’s lives.
These will be in-person at the Being Peace Centre.
Our Course Leaders are experienced practitioners immersed in the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh with a deep aspiration to share these teachings with others.
Together they bring a wide range of experience with backgrounds including teaching, creative arts, health, business and more.
They will support you in finding ways to bring mindfulness more fully into your life, encouraging you to look honestly at how you currently operate and to make adjustments to help you live more authentically.
More information about each of them can be found on our Course Leaders page
We will refund you if you cancel up to 14 days before a course starts. We are unable to offer refunds after that.
We offer a range of price options from £30 supported places, to £200 generosity places that include a donation to help support those with limited income. Details can be found on each course booking page.
We ask that you pay what you can honestly afford – to help these courses to continue into the future and to be available for all.
Yes! We welcome newcomers to mindfulness as well as anyone wishing to bring mindfulness more fully into their daily life. If you’re new, The Art of Zen will help you gain an overview of the key teachings and how they support each other. It will give you the confidence to participate in further ways to practise – local groups, retreats, days of mindfulness and other Plum Village UK events.
Courses are open to all those over the age of 18
All our online courses are live. For the privacy of all participants we do not record sessions or any part of a session. Please check the dates of a course before booking to ensure you are available for all of them.
It is ideal if you can make all the sessions. If you have to miss a class and know ahead of time, do let your Course Leader know. You can refer to the handouts to see what you have missed.
These are UK-based events. If you are joining one of the online courses from outside the UK, you may wish to use a timezone converter to check your timezone works with the course timings.
Plum Village UK is a charity dedicated to sharing the practice of mindfulness and mindful living.
Our pricing range enables us to cover marketing and admin costs and ensure the continuation of the courses into the future.
The Art of Zen
Find out moreArt of Zen Resources
Find out moreThich Nhat Hanh
Founder of Plum Village Thich Nhat Hanh is a Zen Master, Poet, Peace Activist and 'Father of Mindfulness'
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