Mind and Body Wellness Programme

A unique programme comprising of weekly Yoga & Mindfulness sessions alongside bimonthly Breath to Health workshops

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About This Programme

 

Welcome to our award-winning Mind & Body Wellness (MBW) Programme, the comprehensive six-week community-led service evaluation project under NHS that empowers individuals with effective tools to improve their mental and physical health through the power of Yoga, Mindfulness and Breathing techniques. Our programme includes:

  • Gentle yoga and laughter yoga, both of which help to release tension and promote relaxation.
  • Various simple and yet powerful advanced Yoga breathing exercises.
  • In the Breath to Health Workshop, the main breathing exercise you will learn is “Sudarshan Kriya Yoga” (SKY). This is a powerful rhythmic breathing technique derived from yoga which has numerous proven benefits in high stress environments.
  • Techniques to strengthen the relationship between mind and body.
  • Guided meditations and relaxation.
  • Various other interactive processes.

Once you have learnt the breathing and other techniques, they are easy for you to practise at home daily and you can join for weekly follow-up sessions as well.

Find out about our latest free programmes.

Benefits of the Mind & Body Wellness Programme

 

By joining MBW, you will experience a range of benefits, including:

Calms your mind and relaxes your body with gentle yoga and laughter yoga

Improves your confidence and resilience

Helps you manage your emotions

Increases your energy levels and brings positivity into your life

Lowers your stress levels

Reduces anxiety and depression

Equips you to handle challenging situations

Provides practical tips to improve your work and interpersonal relationships

What People are Saying About the Programme

What People are Saying About the Mind and Body Wellness Weekly Sessions

Thank you all for such a great 5 weeks, and to everyone who arranged it. I feel so blessed to have attended. Will miss you all!

Thank you Dr Kaur, Esther and Mel. This is my second cohort and I enjoyed it and I learnt so much. Even though I didn’t speak much, I still felt welcomed and not judged. It was nice meeting so many nice, friendly people.

I second that, it definitely did feel a safe space to just be, with no judgment at all. It’s such a nice and refreshing feeling. And so nice to meet like-minded, kind-hearted people! With a bit of laughter and fun thrown in. Much love and respect to you all and thank you so much for putting these workshops on for us.

Well thank you all, it’s been a pleasure meeting you all wonderful bunch of people. Thank you to the Mind and Body team, it’s been a beautiful beginning to my journey: learning the tricks to be one with myself and I’m so excited to take my journey even further with all. Take care all and have a lovely journey – you never know we might meet again!

Thank you Dr Manmeet, Mel, Sandra and team for beautiful, inspirational, motivational sessions. Sorry I missed 2 sessions. So nice to meet lovely souls from this group. From every session I learnt to try my best to put in practice. Attitude of gratitude. Love, light, Divine blessings to all…Thank you Esther for all your help and guidance.

Thank you for sharing a safe, happy, peaceful space where there is no judgement. I was able to switch off any worries and experience being ‘present’, which I’m grateful for. Enjoyed getting my competitive side out this morning ‘run run’ and it’s good to laugh.

A heartfelt thank you to Dr Manmeet, Esther, Mel & anyone else who made this group possible. Was lovely to meet everyone. I have learned so much and am feeling inspired to continue to learn. I know I must begin to help, love and nurture myself because I’ve neglected myself for a very long time. Thank you.

This was my second time around and I loved it just as much as the first. I have enjoyed meeting everyone and it’s lovely to share and support each other. A big thanks to the ‘team’ for sharing their knowledge and energy. I will be back xx.

What People are Saying About the Breath to Health Workshops

Some positive feedback after my first session. I decided to go for a walk straight after, while I felt warm and energetic. To my surprise I was not feeling breathless climbing the hill/s of Radyr which I have experienced before. It would be great to carry on with these sessions, it will do wonders!

Such an amazing 3 day on Breath to Health workshop. Learned a lot about myself: that I need to take care of myself, as well as others. Breathing work I found very powerful. And relaxation was the best I’ve experienced ever. Thank you all: Manmeet, Esther and Sandra for your wisdom, kindness and support.

Thank you all so so so much. These 6 weeks in total have been a wonderful and beautiful experience/journey in itself. I have met some beautiful souls along the way with no judgement in what background or experiences we came from which I thought was/is a beautiful thing on its own so we could share what’s in our minds and hearts at ease. So big thank you for that. Manmeet thank you for sharing your wisdom and knowledge with us all! I thoroughly enjoyed; just wish I could put you in my pocket for whenver I need your guidance. Sandra, Esther and Mel thank you very much for helping and supporting us in whatever we needed. The workshop wouldn’t have happened without you. Brilliant team and I would recommend anyone and everyone to join this workshop. Again thank you all!

Thank you to everyone, this really has helped me get through the past few weeks with the worry about my mum. Still have days where it’s all too overwhelming and I get very angry about it, but I believe I can bounce back wquicker from those days with everything we have learned and soken about and I’m grateful for meeting such lovely kind people and hearing your brave stories. xx

Well thank you all; it’s been a pleasure meeting you all wonderful bunch of people. Thank you to the Mind and Body team, it’s been a beautiful beginning to my journey: learning the tricks to be one with myself and I’m so excited to take my journey even further with all. Take care all and have a lovely journey – you never know we might meet again!

Thank you Dr Manmeet. It has been an amazing experience and I feel I have gained insightful knowledge that will stay with me for life.

Testimonials from Hospital Staff, Dental Consultants, PHPs and GP Trainees (MBW Taster Sessions)

Thank you for the session yesterday, it was very successful. The feedback is very positive..!

Education Centre Manager at Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr

Just wanted to say, firstly; that the Thriving Communities team that we met (yourself included!) were fantastic in sharing their expertise and knowledge in a way that encouraged us to engage with conversations about holistic wellbeing whilst reflecting on how we look after ourselves and promote holistic wellbeing with our patients.

The delivery of the presentation was digestible and again, engaging in such a way that it encouraged us to connect with the content more than just cognitively. It was a truly experiential session!

Caerphilly Psychological Health Practitioner Lead with ABUHB

It is evident that your team are the right people to deliver the Thriving Communities work and all of you were and are so passionate about the work that it is infectious. Not only that though, it felt as though we were sat with true experts who guided us to engage with breath work, laughter yoga and chair yoga in such a way we benefitted from the experience personally whilst learning how to apply the learning to our clinical work.

Personally, I really enjoyed learning about the yogic cup of coffee technique and have shared that with the wider PHP service and my loved ones!

Caerphilly Psychological Health Practitioner Lead with ABUHB

It was indeed a wonderful session. Looking forward to more such sessions.

Ystrad Mynach Hospital Member of Staff

Thanks for your session today. Thanks for the reminder that we need to look after selves to be able to look after others. The mind and emotions influence the body, as the body, in turn, influences the mind and emotions. Breathing Yoga is a good way to destress and get in that balance to be happy.

Cardiff and Vale UHB Member of Staff (Online Session)

Very fun and interactive. Really enjoyed it! I now have my own mindful techniques to try. 

Ystrad Mynach Hospital Member of Staff

Very useful tips to put into practice. Energising session!

Ystrad Mynach Hospital Member of Staff

Wonderful session to calm the mind and learn more about mindfulness.

Ystrad Mynach Hospital Member of Staff

Mind & Body Wellness Free Weekly Sessions – Locations & Dates

We’re super excited to announce that we have managed to tap into 4 sources of funding to be able to extend the Mind & Body Wellness Programme from Caerphilly area to Newport and Blaenau Gwent.

See below for details of all forthcoming programmes across these locations.

Blackwood, Caerphilly

Blackwood Jobcentre

Vision House
High Street
Blackwood
NP12 1BE

Fridays, 10th January to 7th February 2025

Eighth of our 5-weekly cohorts

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9.30am-11.00am

Mind and Body Wellness Programme Blackwood Cohort 8 - January and February 2025

Registration Now Open

To secure your place for the Blackwood Mind & Body Wellness Programme, Cohort 8, please complete the following registration form.

Ebbw Vale, Blaenau Gwent

Ebbw Vale Institute (EVI)

Church Street
Ebbw Vale
NP23 6BE

Thursdays, 20th February to 20th March 2025

Second of our 5-weekly cohorts

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9.30am to 11.00am

Registration Not Yet Open

To secure your place for the Ebbw Vale Mind & Body Wellness Programme, complete the following registration form.

Newport

Coffee 'n' Laughs (Women's Group)

Community House
Eton Road
Newport
NP19 6BL

Thursdays, 19th September to 17th October 2024

First of our 5-weekly cohorts

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2pm to 3pm

Mind and Body Wellness Programme Newport Cohort 1 (Coffee 'n' Laughs)

Registration Now Closed

To register you need to be a member of the Coffee ‘n’ Laughs Women’s Group (a community group for women of all ages). Please contact Azra on 07482 308482 for more information or consult: Coffee n laughs — COMMUNITY HOUSE Community House Newport (communityhousemaindee.org).

Breath to Health  Workshops – Locations & Dates

We’re super excited to announce that we have managed to tap into 4 sources of funding to be able to extend the Breath to Health Workshops from the Caerphilly area to Newport and Blaenau Gwent.

See below for details of all forthcoming workshops across these locations.

Blackwood, Caerphilly

Blackwood Jobcentre

Vision House
High Street
Blackwood
NP12 1BE

Wednesday, 23rd October to Friday, 25th October 2024

Seventh of our Caerphilly area Breath to Health workshops

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Day 1: 10am-1pm; Days 2 & 3: 9.30am - 12.30pm

Breath to Health Workshop Blackwood October 2024

Registration Now Closed

Please check back here soon for details of the next Blackwood Breath to Health Workshop

Ebbw Vale, Blaenau Gwent

Ebbw Vale Institute (EVI)

Church Street
Ebbw Vale
NP23 6BE

Wednesday, 27th November to Friday, 29th November 2024

Second of our 3-day Breath to Health Workshops in Blaenau Gwent.

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9.30am to 12.30pm

Breath to Health Workshop EVI Blaenau Gwent November 2024

Registration Now Open

To secure your place for the Ebbw Vale Mind & Body Wellness Programme, complete the following registration form.

Newport

Coffee 'n' Laughs (Women's Group)

Community House
Eton Road
Newport
NP19 6BL

Thursday, 21st November to Saturday, 23rd November 2024

First of our Newport Breath to Health Workshops

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Day 1: 2-4pm (in Hall); Day 2: 10am-12pm (in Coffee Lounge); Day 3: 1.30pm-3.30pm (in Coffee Lounge)

Breath to Health Workshop Newport November 2024

Registration Now Open

To register you need to be a member of the Coffee ‘n’ Laughs Women’s Group (a community group for women of all ages). Please contact Azra on 07482 308482 for more information or consult: Coffee n laughs — COMMUNITY HOUSE Community House Newport (communityhousemaindee.org).

More Information (For Weekly Sessions & 3-Day Workshop)

Who's it for?

This programme is open to all adults to support their physical and mental health. If you’re feeling stressed, anxious or are suffering from mild to moderate depression or from PTSD, then we would like to hear from you.

We will be seeking referrals from GP surgeries and PHPs (Psychological Health Practitioners). However, patients/adults can self-refer too.

Project Lead

This project is led by Dr Manmeet Kaur, a GP Partner at Pengam Health Centre, Winner of ABUHB Staff Recognition Award 2024 (Category: Population Health & Wellbeing), EMMWA Award Winner 2022, Certified 500hr Yoga Instructor, Breath & Meditation Instructor.

What to bring with you

A yoga mat (a mat can be provided if you don’t have one), blanket, water bottle/flask. Come in comfortable clothing.

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How to sign up

Please complete the registration form (where applicable). The weekly sessions are free, but the 3-day workshop (total 9 hours) is only £50 (heavily subsidised from £250 thanks to funding). You can select both, or one or the other. Many of our participants love to do both to maximise the impact on their lives.

Background to Programme

 

The Mind and Body Wellness programme has been developed off the back of a highly successful voluntary service evaluation project called “Yoga and Mindfulness Therapy”. This took place at a community centre in the Blackwood area from April to November 2022.

A total of 48 people participated and the results were impressive!

Participants reported significant improvements in their mental health, including a reduction in anxiety and depression. They felt calmer, happier, more energetic, supported and positive in their lives. A few even reduced their dependency on anti-depressants and others reported physical benefits, including improvements in arthralgia, fibromyalgia and acid reflux.

Photo Gallery

 

Photo Gallery – Mind & Body Wellness Taster Session for GP Trainees at The Heath Hospital, Cardiff  July 2024

Photo Gallery – Mind and Body Wellness Taster Session with NHS Staff at Ystrad Mynach Hospital October 2023

Photo Gallery – Mind and Body Wellness Taster Session with Caerphilly PHPs (Psychological Health Practitioners) September 2023

Photo Gallery – Mind and Body Wellness Sessions October/November 2023

Photo Gallery – Mind and Body Wellness Sessions September/October 2023

Photo Gallery – November 2023 Breath to Health Workshop

Photo Gallery – July 2023 Breath to Health Workshop

Photo Gallery – 2022 Sessions

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