Have you ever driven your car to work and when you arrived at your destination you realized that you didn’t remember anything about the trip? Or did you get up in the morning and after the shower realize that you didn’t enjoy that unique moment because your mind was thinking about other things (for example, your job)? Most of us do!

These are some common examples of what it is like to live on automatic pilot , that is, with the attention absorbed by our thoughts and far from being present in our own lives. In a culture like ours, which demands so much of us, which encourages individualism and consumerism and in which we sometimes seem to be objects rather than subjects, our well-being and happiness can be affected.

Mindfulness to return to the present and connect with oneself

For a few decades now we have been witnessing a profound social change, and due to the pace of life in Western societies, many of us are living on automatic pilot, stressed out, forgetting to treat each other with compassion and to be in the here and now. In our day, it is common to be aware of our expectations and rarely connect with who we really are, with our mind and body.

If you feel this way and want to change the way you face life, in this article we present you with a list of Mindfulness courses that can help you live a fuller life. This practice can change your life completely and can contribute to improve your emotional and psychological health .

Mindfulness is wellness education

You have probably already heard of Mindfulness, as in recent years this age-old practice has become very popular in the West. And it is not strange that this has happened, because the technological and socio-economic changes that we humans have experienced in recent decades have changed the way we relate to others, to our environment and even to ourselves.

Mindfulness is a way of educating ourselves to live better and to empower ourselves in the face of life, because it allows us to be aware of many things that sometimes we cannot see, simply because we stop for a moment to observe ourselves and what surrounds us. Mindfulness is will, attention, acceptance, compassion, present, non-judgmental mentality and well-being . It is a way of interpreting the world that, at the same time, allows us to gain quality of life and helps us to connect with ourselves again in the midst of this busy world.

Benefits of Mindfulness

Thanks to the development of Mindfulness we are able to adopt certain positive attitudes in relation to our mental state and our emotions, and although Mindfulness is not something new, in recent years much research has been done to determine what its benefits are .

These are some of them:

  • Reduces stress
  • Combats and prevents anxiety
  • Helps you sleep better
  • Increases concentration
  • Encourages creativity
  • Develops self-knowledge and emotional management
  • Improves interpersonal relationships

In short, Mindfulness builds on personal strengths and becomes a much more adaptive coping style, which helps to self-regulate behavior and to know oneself better.

Best Mindfulness Courses and Workshops

If you want to experience the practice of Mindfulness first-hand, below you can find a list of the best Mindfulness courses and workshops. All of them are face-to-face and help you to experience all their benefits in an experiential way .

1. Mindfulness course adapted to the client (Psicotools)

The psychology centre Psicotools, located in Barcelona (Vallcarca district) constantly organises Mindfulness courses and workshops adapted to the needs of each case. These can be training in Full Care applied to companies, applied to schools, applied to daily life, etc.

This proposal is designed by Ferran García de Palau García-Faria, expert in Mindfulness and responsible for the area of Full Service and In-Company Services. This is a particularly suitable option for companies interested in applying this set of practices to their organisational dynamics.

  • To contact Psychotools or see more information about their services, click here.

2. Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course at the University of Massachusetts (Centro Mindfulness Madrid)

Centro Mindfulness Madrid , an entity linked to the prestigious psychotherapy center IPSIA Psychology, is a very good way of training to know how to apply in personal or professional contexts one of the most popular and used Mindfulness programs in the world: the MBSR.

This therapeutic process was developed by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, one of the leading researchers on Mindfulness, and aims to learn the theory and practice of Mindfulness applied to the reduction of anxiety in a wide variety of situations. It is an 8-week course designed by experts, and it takes place at Calle Gran Vía nº 59.

  • You will find their contact details by clicking here.

3. Expert Course in Emotional Intelligence and Mindfulness (D’Arte Human & Business School)

One of the best options in terms of Mindfulness courses can be found in the Expert Course in Emotional Intelligence and Mindfulness organized by D’Arte Human & Business School , which consists of 450 hours of training that combines study in an autonomous manner with class attendance, practical exercises and the support of a mentor who attends to each student individually.

Throughout this program of study and training, it is possible to learn the basics of emotion regulation, the detection of affective states in oneself and in others, and the use of Mindfulness as a useful tool to focus on what really matters and make our feelings work in our favor.

The facilities of D’Arte Human & Business School are located in Calle de Albasanz nº 38. To know more about this or other courses promoted by this entity, visit their website.

4. Therapeutic Mindfulness (Vitaliza)

The Vitaliza psychology centre, located in Pamplona (Calle Irunlarrea) organises Mindfulness courses to master the theoretical and practical principles of Mindfulness through experiential learning.

This is a training programme specially designed for professionals in the health sector, such as doctors, nurses and clinical and health psychologists. In it, it is possible to master different Full Care practices adapted to different therapeutic contexts to be applied with patients.

The course is conducted by Javier Elcarte, a psychologist with more than 20 years of experience in psychotherapy and neuropsychology, and co-founder of the Vitaliza centre.

  • To see more information about Vitaliza and its courses, click here

5. Cepsim Mindfulness Courses (Centro Psicológico Cepsim)

The Centro Psicológico Cepsim is an organization that has several offices open in different areas of central Madrid, and its team has developed several interesting training programs in Mindfulness with two variants : courses of 5 hours and others of 8 hours.

The 8-hour courses are divided into two themes. One of them works on contents related to the use of Mindfulness to reduce stress, and the other is on well-being Mindfulness, to modulate our emotions in the most varied situations by means of this technique.

On the other hand, the 5-hour courses offer other interesting options to choose from: Mindfulness for parents, Mindfulness and work, Mindfulness and emotional dependence, and Mindful eating.

  • To see Cepsim’s contact details and read more about these courses, click here.

6. Intensive Mindfulness Training Program MBSR (Pura Cano)

Psychologist and coach Pura Cano offers one of the most interesting Mindfulness courses in the Badajoz area: the Intensive Mindfulness Training Program MBSR. This therapy professional has been caring for patients for more than 20 years, many of them using Full Care to offer emotion management tools to those who seek her help.

Throughout this 8-week course, in small group sessions, attendees will learn the theory and above all the practice of this method to regulate the influence that stress and anxiety have on us. In addition, they will also get the texts and multimedia content to continue learning or practicing at home.

The place where the course is given is the Pura Cano Psychology Centre, at 15 Zurbaran Street, Badajoz

  • If you are interested in knowing more about this course, you will find Pura Cano’s contact information by clicking here.

7. Emotional management, personal growth and mindfulness (Funge UVa)

A great course of emotional management and personal growth through the Full Attention that is given in Valladolid. It is aimed at all those individuals who have an interest in their own personal development and who want to be more aware of their emotions in order to regulate and manage them .

This course is intensive and lasts 18 hours. The sessions are practical and participative, in which both individual and group dynamics are carried out. The participants also receive material in digital format to be able to work on these practices from their own homes. In this way, they will be able to apply the different techniques in their daily lives.

8. Expert in Mindfulness: Managing Emotions Effectively through Full Attention (University of Málaga)

For some years now, the University of Málaga has been teaching an annual course in which it is possible to learn about and deepen one’s knowledge of the practice of Mindfulness . The course is focused on the management of emotions, so it integrates the practice of Mindfulness with Emotional Intelligence in an innovative program known as Full Emotional Intelligence.

Throughout this course, participants learn to apply this philosophy in different areas of life: work, school or in their own homes. The training ends with a retreat in which it is possible to experience meditation in a deeper way. This course is intended for professionals in the education, health and business sectors.

9. MSC Program: Mindfulness and Self-Pity (Elea Psychoeducational Institute)

The Elea Psychoeducational Institute of Madrid offers a workshop on Mindfulness and Compassion that allows one to develop a positive attitude towards oneself in a profound way, making a true process of personal transformation. The MSC is a scientifically proven program that provides the necessary tools to improve self-compassion and unconditional love towards oneself, one of the many benefits of Full Attention.

With Mindfulness it is possible to treat problems of everyday life with attention to one’s own emotions and inner experience, with a kind and loving treatment of oneself, which produces a healing effect and greater well-being. The professor of this course is Dr. Vicente Simón, one of the most recognized Mindfulness professionals in the country.

10. Mindfulness Training Program: M-PBI (Various Centers)

For those who are determined to start practicing Mindfulness to improve their quality of life, several specialized centers offer the opportunity to integrate Mindfulness skills into personal life with the Mindfulness Training Program (M-PBI) .

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Without a doubt, it is a great course to get to know and go deeper into Mindfulness in a practical and experiential way. The objective is for participants to acquire the basic tools for managing their emotions and to be able to understand, experience and take advantage of the content of the different sessions in order to be able to transfer it to their daily lives.

Throughout the several weeks that these workshops last, the participants learn different exercises and techniques that make it possible to connect with oneself, reduce anxiety, control stress and improve attention, concentration and emotional balance.

In addition, these courses usually offer a free informative session of one and a half hours so that those interested can verify in first person the purpose of this millenary practice.