Zen Mindfulness - Sei Ki HeartTouch - Tai Chi Qi Gong

HeartTouch

Mindfulness & Compassionate Touch Training for Anxiety, Emotional Pain & Trauma.

An experiential training for Experiencers of Extreme States, Psychotherapists / Clinicians, Shiatsu / Bodywork therapists & Supporting Family Members.

As well as facilitating personal transformation and self learning, this workshop explores the embodied foundations of co-regulation and care suitable for assisting people experiencing any level of emotional distress, up to and including complex trauma.

This workshop is a little tribute to my teacher Akinobu Kishi, who used to teach in this centre and inspired this work, hence his spirit will be evoked more than in general HeartTouch workshops.

Brighton Ki Centre, 12 Queen Square, BN1 3FD, October 29th 2023 10am-5.30pm

Embodied Mindfulness is a way of being in which you are fully connected with your body and you feel safe.

Your mind is quiet and present to your experience of life happening that moment and your heart feels warm and open to yourself and to those around you.

This is a state of well-being and good feeling.

We will explore together how mindfulness & touch based connection practices can help us to move closer towards this state of well-being whether as an experiencer of challenging states or as someone who cares for people in these situations.

We are not looking for 'cures' or 'fixes'. Whatever our 'role' we are learning to be with ourselves and to be ourselves. Just as important we are learning to be fully present with others.

As we transform the way we relate to ourselves, our experiences and the world, symptoms which distress us may also change.

Along the way everyone involved will enhance their capacity to hold safe space for others.
And this will touch everything we do in life from then on...

The Vision:

The HeartTouch project is about inspiring and empowering people to facilitate HeartTouch groups with those they resonate with and care about in our society.

Groups may form of diverse nature and membership, located in community spaces or in psychiatric services and serve people in distress or not.

The simple act of connecting authentically through compassionate touch with another human being nourishes something in the soul that makes life worth living.

I hope people with lived experience can play an equal role alongside specialists with bodywork or psychological training.

About Anthony:

I had my own journey first with anxiety, panic attacks and mild depression while in my final year at Cambridge University in 1991.

This continued during my work as a financial auditor, where I experienced chronic stress and then as a software programmer where I went into a meltdown of physical and mental fatigue. A serious breakdown / burnout.

Despite massive efforts to heal myself, this journey continued in 2001, with me entering non-ordinary states, we can say spiritual psychosis perhaps.

After an 8 month period in the psychiatric system, I came off anti-psychotic medications and took personal responsibility for my own well-being. This journey continued for the next 8 years with me going in an out of challenging non-ordinary states until I stabilised in 2010.

Over time I've become a qualified Mindfulness teacher, Tai Chi & Qi Gong teacher and have been teaching since 2015. I am also an experienced student of the late Akinobu Kishi , the founder of Sei Ki and teach his amazing touch therapy in my own way. I've spent twenty-five years exploring these fields with total dedication.

I found my own ways to recover and live a full life and now share what I learnt with others experiencing extreme states, trauma, broken nervous systems or simply chronic stress situations and misery.

I also help therapists to enhance their capacity to feel and work more sensitively with their clients in trauma informed ways.

Click here for more on Anthony's background and experience

Details:

The event is being hosted by Anthony Fidler.

This workshop is open to anyone experiencing anxiety, emotional pain, trauma and what may be considered psychosis by some, as well as those who care for or support people experiencing challenging emotional or mental states: psychotherapists / clinicians, shiatsu / bodywork therapists, mindfulness teachers and supporting family members.

It is also open to couples wishing to enhance their capacity to connect and support each other through times of stress and distress.

Nb. Therapists: Please leave your hats at the door! In this work we are all just human beings with our life journeys, difficulties, beauty and pain.

Nb. Experiencers: I request people experiencing serious difficulties to book a short personal appointment with me , so we can get to know each other, before you attend the workshop.

Workshop size: Maximum 25 people hopefully with a reasonably equal balance of mental health clinicians, bodywork therapists, family members and experiencers.

Covid: We request attendees to consider completing a lateral flow test before attending out of consideration to others who may feel themselves vulnerable.

Pricing: *Early bird pre September 29th

• Individual Fee: £90, Early Bird: £80
• Couple Fee: £160
• Parent with Experiencer Fee: £135
• Concession Fee: £45, limited places

Nb. There are some concessionary price places available for those in an unwaged / low waged situation. Please contact me to discuss.

For those requiring a pre-workshop 1-1 chat I will charge £25 / half hour for this. I know from my own experience this can make a big difference anxiety wise before entering a group.

Cancellation / Refunds: 50% when notice is given at least 1 week prior to the workshop.

Registration Process:

The event is by invitation. The application process is as follows:

• We request that people apply by contacting us
• Then once we confirm there are places available, complete the application form
• We will then come back to you and may suggest a short online 1-1 session.
• We will then confirm your place on the workshop once you've paid.

Nb. The intention with the application form is to provide an opportunity for you to communicate personal needs so we can hold the space well for you. It also allows you and us to reflect whether you are in a good enough 'space' to benefit from the practices being offered with the support we will have available on the day.

Non-experiencers, please be patient. It feels appropriate to ask all attendees to complete the forms if any do, but answers may be succint as appropriate. It is an opportunity to reflect on why you wish to attend the training and communicate this with me along with any personal needs.

Pre-workshop 1-1 sessions, while adding cost to the workshop are invaluable in my experience in terms of allowing us to establish a personal resonance before you enter the group environment.

Thank you, Anthony.

So please get in touch if you would like to attend: Contact EasternPeace