Introduction to Mindful Sleep

Half-day workshop offering a self-diagnosis of current sleeping patterns, or Sleep Hygiene, leaving at the end of the session with your own Mindful Sleep ‘Prescription’ including your mindful pledges, home practice and monitoring tools.

This workshop is for anyone keen to improve their sleep or the sleep of others such as children using a mindful approach.

• The basics of sleep hygiene


• The underpinning science of sleep


• The five common hazards to good sleep


• The mindfulness approach with short and long breathing practices and night time body scan.


• Remedial approach to improved sleep, including the www.m mindful living model, designed specially by your tutor.

The only prerequisites for this workshop is a willingness to engage with practise and discussion. You will be asked to monitor your sleep pattern for a week before and after the workshop including your home practise recommendations. No additional equipment is required though you will benefit from loose fitting clothing and are welcome to bring your own yoga mat and snug/blanket. All practices are designed to be done seated or lying down.

Combining sleep awareness and wakefulness skill development with mindfulness offers a non-judgemental, universal personal development approach. It encourages personal responsibility for wellbeing using sleep as a focus of improvement.

Poor sleep has been identified as one of the primary key indicators of wellbeing. It’s a truism that as adults we often got to bed counting the hours sleep ahead, will readily eat into sleep time when pressed or sleep in later when tired, use weekends and annual leave to catch up on sleep and often start conversations with how we slept.

In fact, The UK Sleep Council and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describe insufficient sleep as “epidemic” and a “public health problem.” 4 out of 5 adults complain of what’s known as “toxic” sleep (regularly interrupted or inadequate sleep)(Sleep Council, 2011) Lack of sleep impacts performance, attention, long-term memory and encourages drug and alcohol use, or caffeine misuse to aid wakefulness.

It can lead to exhaustion, anxiety, lower immunity, stress and other mental health conditions (Dr Paul Kelley, Oxford University, 2015 study into working patterns). So unlike the image of falling asleep at the desk, those suffering from poor quality sleep may have poorer attendance rates, impaired performance levels including poor concentration and communication skills.