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Scarborough  Weekend:
Thoughts that Heal
Thoughts that Harm

9-10 December 2023

Working skillfully with mental formations. Suitable for beginners

Passing bubbles? Toxic claws? Liberating agents? What are your thoughts like? 

A great course for beginners and practitioners who are interested in the mental world.   As a psychotherapist and meditator, I've always been fascinated by the power of thoughts.  ​ From the ultimate Buddhist point-of-view, thoughts are empty bubbles of energy which come and go.  ​ But from a relative stand-point, and certainly from the view of therapy, thoughts can be toxic gremlins replicating old states of unhappiness.  ​ This weekend course in Scarborough examines the nature of mental formations and explores the Buddhist use of 'creation' to play with the life-enhancing power of imagination to create compassion, colour and wisdom in our minds.  ​ On this in-person weekend in Scarborough you will:  ​ learn to settle the mind and body and see thoughts at work lean into the mysterious and empty quality of "mental phenomena" flag and de-magnetise repetitive patterns of thoughts that do not serve you embrace the almost limitless power of imagination in meditation get a flavour of how Tibetan Buddhism harness the power of thinking to heal the world.

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Pricing

Mindsprings is well aware that many people are having to tighten their belts at the moment, financially. So we offer two prices for this weekend. A full, supporters fee which helps us cover our costs and a subsidised concessionary rate for any of you who are struggling financially. 

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Paying the full fee allows us to invite more people on the lower rate. But if you would even struggle to pay that reduced ticket rate then please do drop us a line.

 

We never want people to miss out on meditation because of poxy old money. We can sort something out for you. 

Book the two kinds of tickets here.
What to expect at Londesborough Lodge  this November...
​• the course begins at 10am and finishes at 5pm on Saturday and 4pm on Sunday. We'll have an hour for lunch and a couple of 15 minute tea-breaks. If you can get to Londesborough Lodge early on Saturday to make sure we can start promptly that would be great. We'll have time for tea and biscuits!  ​ • The postcode of the centre is YO11 2PW and their website is  yorkshire.samye.org and their email is admin@yorkshire.samye.org. ​ • The centre has a kitchen with a microwave so some people like to bring their own lunch but there are also several nice eateries in the town. ​ • we'll be using the beautiful Shrine Room (upstairs) and sitting in chairs in a circle.  ​ • the weekend will consist of practice sessions, some instruction and discussion, working in smaller groups and some individual processing.  ​ • we'll provide electronic notes after the course so you don't need to write things down though it would be great if you could bring a pen and some paper or a notebook for some of the exercises. Recordings of the teaching will also be sent out after the course.  ​ • the Shrine Room can be a little cool so please bring some layers, especially if you feel the cold.    • If you have any specific psychological concerns, are on prescription psychiatric medication or have a condition that you think I should know about before the course then please do let me know in a private email. ​ 

About the teacher

Alistair is a broadcaster, psychotherapist and meditation teacher.

 

He's worked for the BBC for more than 20 years and works as a UKCP-accredited therapist in East Sussex. Since 2004, he's run Mindsprings, his therapeutic meditation organisation which teaches body-based and Buddhist solutions to many of our everyday problems.

 

Mindsprings offers popular meditation-based courses on many subjects:

  • helping people with anxiety, dissociation, stress.

  • working with mental health in the LGBTQ community.

  • exploring the growing field of embodiment and somatic practices.

  • teaching Buddhist practices for mental health and well-being

 

Alistair teaches in England, Wales, Scotland, Belgium, Ireland, Sweden, Iceland and the Netherlands.

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Getting to the Scarborough KSD
 

The Scarborough Centre is in the beautiful Georgian Londesborough Lodge in the Crescent. There is some parking at the centre or in the Crescent.  The two nearby hotels The Crescent and the Bike & Boot offer accommodation very close by, so you might like to make a weekend stay - or add it to a Yorkshire trip exploring the Moors, the Brontë's Haworth, the ancient city of York and the magical coastal town of Whitby.
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