- Event Date: 31/05/2025
The Monkey Mind & Inner Critic: Exploring Patterns of Mind with Yoga, Meditation and Writing
Event Details
- 09:30
- Whirlow Spirituality Centre, Whirlow Grange Close, Sheffield, S11 9SY
- From £40
Event Description
In this session, we turn our attention to the inner awareness of mental activity.
In yoga and meditation, we aim to develop the capacity to observe or witness the mind’s activities, recognising that we are not defined by our thoughts or feelings. This practice of witnessing is a lifelong journey. Yet, as anyone who practices mindfulness or meditation knows, it often feels like an endless return to the breath, accompanied by the chatter of the “monkey mind” and the commentary of the inner critic.
Freewriting, integrated with yoga and meditation, offers a powerful tool for navigating this mental chatter. It helps us make sense of what arises, allowing us to notice and gradually loosen the grip of unhelpful thought patterns. This combination of practices helps us make steady progress in taming the monkey mind and the inner critic, creating more ease and clarity in daily life while also freeing us for creative expression.
What to Expect
The yoga and meditation practice is suitable for all, including beginners. You will be encouraged to move at your own pace and comfort. Chairs are available for seated practice. The writing requires no prior experience and serves as a personal tool for self-expression. Writing takes place in short, guided bursts of about five minutes, using prompts to get started. This writing is purely for you – unfettered by grammar, spelling, or any inner critic. You are free to follow the prompts or let your pen flow wherever it leads you.
There will be opportunities to share your experiences if you wish, but sharing your written work is entirely optional. Any feedback focuses on emotional resonance rather than craft. The workshop also includes a tea/coffee and cake break, where you chat with each other. The venue is beautiful, spacious with a garden we can use for our break if the weather is good enough!
Typical Morning Schedule (may vary slightly)
9:30–10:40 – Slow, mindful yoga movements and breathing
10:40–11:10 – Writing prompts, writing, and discussion
11:10–11:30 – Tea/coffee break with cake
11:30–11:50 – Meditation
11:50–12:10 – Writing prompts, writing, and discussion
12:10–13:00 – Yoga Nidra and final writing session
Note
This is a therapeutic practice for personal wellbeing, not therapy or a creative writing course. The focus is on self-exploration and expression, not critique. My role is not that of a therapist or writing critic. While your writing may inspire ideas for future development, the emphasis is on personal reflection and discovery.
Details
• Date: Saturday,31st May 2025
• Time: 9:30 AM – 1:00 PM
• Location: Whirlow Hall, Sheffield
Please Note:
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Zoom Link
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85163678537
About the Lapidus Living Research Community
The Lapidus Living Research Community (LLRC) meets on the first Saturday of every month via Zoom to discuss all things research, with a focus on qualitative arts-based research practices, theory and methods.
All Lapidus members are welcome, regardless of research experience. FREE AND NO TICKETS REQUIRED. Use the Zoom link above to access the event.
Practices that connect our mind and bodies, like yoga and yoga nidra (a type of relaxing meditation) can help to support our wellbeing – but could they also help us tune into our sense of play and creativity?
Join us for an intimate (10 participants max) playful workshop, designed to connect body, mind and creativity. We’ll use a mixture of yoga practices and fully guided writing exercises to open up to new possibilities. Our ambition is for you to leave with a renewed sense of freedom and confidence to keep exploring your creative life.
Come as you are, whether that’s writer or non-writer, beginner or experienced yogi.
What the workshop includes
A chance to practise three kinds of yoga (physical practice, guided meditation designed to boost creativity, and restorative relaxation)
Practices designed to open up your body and get ‘unstuck’
Simple, playful writing exercises to reconnect with your own creativity (e.g. writing in response to image prompts)
A chance to connect with likeminded others
Tea and nibbles, including specially selected writing enhancement snacks
A goodie bag, with a book, a notebook, a pen, a room spray to support relaxation
Who is it for?
Anyone who wants to reconnect with and develop their playfulness and creativity in a safe and collaborative space.
In these troubling times it can feel hard to find any joy in life. Yet it is there – in the flowers blooming as spring arrives, the birds singing, the blue skies and clouds overhead, the laughter of a child, the gentle touch of a friend’s hand.
Join me in a simple four week series of Zoom gatherings on Wednesdays at 11.00 am UK time, beginning on Wednesday 7th May running through to Wednesday 28th May.
The fee for the four the four Zoom gatherings, plus a private recording of each one, and photos of the cards I draw for you, is £80, with payment in two instalments available if that helps, and I also have some concessionary places at £60.
If you are in the UK, payment by bank transfer is good, if you prefer or if you are overseas, there is a PayPal link on the ‘Ticket URL’ link below.
To ask any questions, to book your place or to pay by bank transfer, please contact me
The flow of each Zoom gathering will be similar to other sessions you may have attended, opening and closing with Your Compass Rose Speaks, drawing Dare to Blossom Cards for each of us, and taking us on a Magic Carpet Ride guided visualisation. The circle is a quiet safe space to hear yourself think, and to share as litte or as much as you would like – we are all here to witness for each other and be companions along the way for a while, walking our way home together.
There will be no Facebook group for this programme so could be ideal for you if you prefer not to interact there. I will send photos of the cards, and a private link to the recordings of each Zoom to you by email or via Messenger, whichever you prefer.