Live a mindful life of compassion and care
with Dr. Ann Caulfied
Ann has a gentle easy manner as she facilitates and empowers individuals and groups. Her intention is to promote wellbeing through encouraging the practice of mindfulness, compassion and care.
Mindfulness
‘Moments of mindfulness are moments of peace and stillness, even in the midst of activity’
Jon Kabat-Zinn
Mindfulness is about being awake, being aware, attending and noticing in the here and now. When we are mindful we are awake to everything and fully present to the world around us. We are aware and open to the newness of each moment. We experience and attend consciously and meaningfully making clear choices as we live through each day towards wellbeing and flourishing.
Pause for a Mindful Moment NOW
Compassion
‘Compassion for others begins with kindness to ourselves’
Pema Choedon
Compassion is a natural human ability within all of us that encourages kindness towards ourselves and others. It inspires us to be warm-hearted and welcoming of life as it unfolds, with sensitivity for the disappointments, challenges and anxieties and an intention to ease or prevent the accompanying suffering.
Pause for a little self-compassion NOW
Care
‘Health is not just the absence of a disease. It's an inner joyfulness that should be ours all the time; a state of positive well-being’
Deepak Chopra
Care is the key to living a healthy and balanced life. Self-care is about minding ourselves with a sense of interest and concern and deliberately making choices towards physical, mental, emotional and social wellbeing. It is cherishing time, energy and the unique inner journey to flourish and to awaken happy, healthy and fulfilled lives.
Today is a good day to take care of yourself – and so is every other day!
Pause for a Caring moment NOW
Mindfulness in Education
‘There is overwhelming evidence that students learn more effectively, including their academic subjects, if they are happy in their work, believe in themselves, their teachers and feel school is supporting them’
Weare, 2000
Ann collaborates with her colleague Derval Dunford with two online courses for Primary School Teachers. The courses are hosted by the Mayo Education Centre throughout the summer of 2020 and provide EPV days for teachers.
Mindfulness, self-care and classroom wellbeing
‘Through mindfulness practices, children learn powerful techniques to soothe themselves or focus when needed’
Nicola Kluge
This course promotes a happy teacher a happy classroom. With over 7,000 previous participants endorsing the course, teachers are its top priority. The course offers a welcome opportunity for them to learn and practice mindfulness and wellbeing and to gain new and fresh activities to deliver to the pupils in their care. Not a typical online course, it is very experiential with audio, video, guided practices, cute clips that can be used in the classroom, mindful walks, and a bit of fun. It cultivates mindfulness in teachers and children; enhances positive mental, emotional and physical health; integrates SPHE strands and strand units; helps reduces stress and increase calm and contentment and encourages a skilful responses to challenging classroom situations. We teach the easy way so that you can relax and enjoy!
Please sign up for courses here
Mindfulness, resilience and wellbeing for schools
Teachers need to be nourished before they can nourish others. As one teacher said, ‘You can’t pour from an empty jug’. Teachers need to be nourished before they can be expected to nourish others.
This is a comprehensive, cross curricular course for teachers and pupils. It is a well-balanced, creative course with nourishing practices including mindfulness, wellness, resilience, ‘WSE with ease’ and a wealth of resources for skilful and easy whole school implementation. Coming from a wealth of creative practices, rigorous research, and extensive interaction with teachers across the country, this course ensures a unique and practical course that is an optimum fit for Irish teachers, the Irish curriculum and Irish schools. We trust that it will be a restful and yet practical experience for you, providing lots of simple activities to support daily life in the classroom, school and beyond.
Please sign up for courses here
Ann Caulfield
Ann Caulfield is a recognised leader in the fields of mindfulness for children and for teacher care. Her work is deeply informed by her personal mindfulness practice which she began at the age of 19 and she has since taught mindful awareness practices to children and adults for over 30 years.
Her background spans the fields of education, community development and health with a particular interest in mindfulness and compassion in the workplace. Ann advocates this practice among educators by designing and delivering Continuing Professional Development for schools, organisations and education centres, is a Guest Lecturer in various teacher training colleges and a regular contributor to educational conferences and discussion fora.
As a part-time lecturer in Applied Social Studies in the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (Mayo Campus) mindfulness is encouraged among the student population. Additional working time is reserved for freelance facilitation with schools and organisations in supporting mindfulness and wellbeing towards thriving and flourishing.
Ann is a co-founder of Mindfulness Matters, which is one of the original organisations in Ireland to promote mindfulness for teachers and children. With a priority on wellness and self-care, over 9,000 teachers throughout the country have been trained by Mindfulness Matters since 2011. In collaboration with the Department of Education and Skills, the Mayo Education Centre and the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation, Ann has been instrumental in delivering practical, yet creative and reflective programmes for teachers. She has delivered, both online and face to face, in schools and education centres, always encouraging awareness, presence and living in the now.
Ann has produced a series of educational resources for school children including guided practice CDs entitled: The Zone for Kids, Still Space; Sleep for Kids and Spás Síochánta Suaimhneas, the world’s first mindfulness CD in the Irish language.
When children practice mindfulness they become more aware of what is happening in their minds and helps them to be aware of their emotions and to connect thoughts and emotions. It gives them the ability to focus their minds on a given situation, to steady themselves and to make useful choices, gaining more time to respond when the impulse is to be reactive.
These recordings provide simple techniques for children and can be used at home or in the classroom. With easy to follow practices they offer a unique opportunity for children to learn and teachers to embed mindfulness into the classroom.
Research
Ann’s research places a specific emphasis on teacher stress and how mindfulness practice impacts life, both personally and professionally. Her doctoral thesis, The contribution of the practice of mindfulness to stress reduction among school teachers: a qualitative study of Irish primary teachers, outlines comprehensive research carried out among Irish educators. The study shows the importance of wellbeing for primary school teachers and the reality of stress as an occupational hazard within the profession. It indicates that regular mindfulness practice can have a positive effect on stress reduction; an increase in calm, concentration and the ability to respond rather than to react in challenging situations and an improvement in time and classroom management. The study also suggests that teachers who practice mindfulness are likely to introduce mindfulness to the children in their classes bringing about positive opportunities for children’s wellbeing.
Recordings
Ann has shared in the production of a number of children’s mindfulness and compassion CDs. Co-authored by Ann and Derval Dunford, they encourage regular practice in a creative and enjoyable way all the time encouraging emotional regulation and focussed attention.
Children’s mindfulness practice starts with learning to focus. When we learn to focus on just one thing, like taking a breath, the mind calms and grows stronger. Improved concentration, in turn, leads to improved performance and behaviour and helps children to do better at school, with their friends, in sports and the arts.
When children practice mindfulness they become more aware of what is happening in their minds and helps them to be aware of their emotions and to connect thoughts and emotions. It gives them the ability to focus their minds on a given situation, to steady themselves and to make useful choices, gaining more time to respond when the impulse is to be reactive.
These recordings provide simple techniques for children and can be used at home or in the classroom. With easy to follow practices they offer a unique opportunity for children to learn and teachers to embed mindfulness into the classroom. These recordings can be purchased from Mindfulness Matters.
