2. Overview of the course

This course consists of both theory and practice.

The first three chapters of the Mindfulness book introduce participants to the basic idea behind meditation and how being more mindful in everyday life can benefit us. These are:

Chapter 1: Chasing your tail Chapter 2: Why do we attack ourselves? Chapter 3: Waking up to the life you have.

These chapters provide some of the scientific background to the course and some notes on how to prepare yourself and set your expectations.

For those who are interested, you may wish to read about the relationship that our thoughts and feelings have with the physiological workings of the autonomic nervous system. The Mindfulness book also suggests tasks (and explains these in more detail) that supplement the meditations outlined in the below tables.

List of meditations

Meditation	Name
1	Mindfulness of body and breath
2	The body scan
3	Mindful movement
4	Breath and body
5	Sounds and thoughts
6	Exploring difficulty
7	Befriending
8	Three-minute breathing space

Summary of weekly tasks

Week	Meditations
1	1
2	1 & 2
3	3, 4 and 8
4	4, 5 and 8
5	1, 4 and 7
6	4, 5 and 6
7	3, 4 and two of your choice
8	Whichever you most enjoy