Introducing Karen Hall

I trained as an RGN in Ireland in 1985 and unfortunately injured my back in the 1st year of my training. This became a chronic painful condition (an occupational hazard that got worse as I accumulated more injuries over the next 25 years of nursing) which I still have today. I have never had surgery but, as an operating theatre nurse, had witnessed enough surgical interventions to be certain that orthodox medical treatments were not for me.

Eventually, having tried everything else, I signed up for a 10 week mindfulness course, 1-2-1 with an amazing teacher and, by the end of this course, my back pain of 20 years was gone. So, cured…. I soon fell out of the habit of doing my daily mindfulness practice and went back to living my life as I had before. Not wise, but there was a lesson there to be learned all the same. Slowly but surely, my chronic pains returned.

A few years later, I was made redundant which was quite a stressful experience, so I did another course, this time Mindfulness for Stress and, not only could I manage my stress much more effectively, but “coincidentally”, my back pain disappeared. This was a bit of a ‘moment’ for me as I realised, finally, how stressed I was, but also the link between my stress levels and my chronic pain. Knowing that many of my colleagues in the healthcare professions were also living with chronic stress, long-term health conditions and burnout, I was certain that teaching them mindfulness would help alleviate, or more skilfully manage, those challenges in their daily lives, as well as improve the quality of care they gave to their patients. Over the next few years I trained & qualified as a mindfulness teacher with the Breathworks CIC in the UK.

Since then I have taught over 100 mindfulness courses, I have trained mindfulness teachers in the Breathworks teacher training program in the UK, Ireland and Australia; I have led mindfulness retreats in the those same countries and India; I have spoken at many International conferences for healthcare professionals -especially those looking after patients with pain; I supervise mindfulness teachers; mentor trainee mindfulness teachers and continue to develop my own skills as a mindfulness teacher.

I have taught in schools to both staff & students, I have taught in hospitals and care homes to managers, doctors, nurses & support staff, I have presented workshops to charities for cancer, chronic pain, endometriosis, tinnitus, HIV and others. I specialize in delivering Mindfulness training to Healthcare/nursing staff (and have recently completed my 19th & 20th courses for healthcare workers in the West Midlands). All of the participants have reported an improvement – even if that comes from a change in perspective that allows them to be more self-compassionate or accepting – and this, for many, is the beginning of another level of change in their lives.

I teach mindfulness using a variety of formats, mainly to groups – most frequently as an 8 week course, we meet for 2-3 hours per week or 4 fortnightly full-day sessions, where you learn how the use of formal & informal mindfulness practices can be introduced into your life. I also run weekly meditation sessions and bespoke workshops to suit my various clients. If you explore the Breathworks website, you’ll access some free meditations, some useful links to presentations and research about the benefits of mindfulness. You can also find my leading mindfulness practices for the Breathworks Community on May 25^th, from 7-8pm, if you’d like to join me there.

I have CPD with Breathworks as well as having trained with the Mindfulness in Schools project to run the .b program (for secondary school students) and its Foundations course, plus Positive Neuroplasticity training with Rick Hanson, Compassion Focused Training & Depression with Prof Paul Gilbert and I completed a Mental Health First Aid course in St. John of Gods, Dublin in Dec 2017. I practice according to the Good Practice Guidelines of the UK Network of Mindfulness-Based Teachers.

I invite you to join this event and begin your  mindfulness journey today. There’s no time like the present. Literally!

Karen Hall

The Video of the Event

The Free Guided Meditation from Karen Hall

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The above meditation will be set to public shortly.

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