Courses and Events
Below is a current list of Amanda’s courses she will be teaching. Please note, all “More Info / Register” buttons will lead you to an outside website to complete your registration and make your payment.
Living Fully: Creating a Wise Relationship with Fear
Online Course
IDEAL FOR: All levels
WHEN: April 7, 14, 21, 28 from 8:00pm to 9:00pm
DESCRIPTION: During times of uncertainty and change, fear can be pervasive and at times overwhelming. However, it isn’t that fear hasn’t been there all along. In fact, it has, and may manifest itself in different forms such as anger, resentment/judgment, and anxiety. Certain circumstances can bring it from a “lurking” nature into a full-blown existence. When fear is seen for what it truly can be -an invitation- we can begin to work with fear as our greatest awakener to the limitless reservoir of love, compassion and safety within ourselves. Fear can individually and collectively awaken us if we have the skillful tools to work with it.
In this 4-week online course, we will discover how mindfulness allows us to approach fear from a larger presence. We will learn attitudes that help us depersonalize from our fear and allow for more space to work with it. We will explore ways that fear shows up in our body, mind, emotional state, and behaviors so we can be aware of when we are caught in the headlock of fear. We will learn natural ways of calming our nervous system and gently begin to turn towards the fear rather than away from it. With mindfulness and compassion, we will begin to build inner safety to transform fear and enter our heart.
This course will meet live each week via Zoom. There will be a guided practice to coincide with each week’s teaching along with journal prompts and poems found on the Copper Beech website in the password protected Living Fully class page. A private Facebook group will also be available for those who wish to join for added support and community during this course.
To join the live, virtual session, a link and specific instructions will be provided and sent to you before the class is scheduled. You can learn more about zoom platform here.
TUITION: $105: covers all the expenses of the course and supports others who cannot afford to attend
$75: covers most of the expenses of the course
$45: covers some of the expenses of the course
MBSR Evening Spring 2020
Copper Beech Institute, West Hartford, CT
MANDATORY ORIENTATION: Monday, April 27, 2020, 6:30pm to 8:00pm
CLASS DATES: Monday’s, May 11, 18, June 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, July 6 (skipping May 25)
CLASS TIME: 6:30pm to 9:00pm, with the first class extended by a half hour and last class by one hour
ALL DAY RETREAT: Sunday June 7, 2020, 9:00am to 4:30pm
DESCRIPTION: Mindfulness is a way of learning to relate directly to whatever is happening in your life. It is a way of taking charge of your life, a way of doing something for yourself that no one else can do for you – consciously and systematically working with your own stress, pain, illness, and the challenges and demands of everyday life. Restoring within yourself a balanced sense of well-being requires increased awareness of all aspects of self, including body and mind, heart and soul. Mindfulness-based stress reduction is intended to ignite this inner capacity and infuse your life with awareness.
MANDATORY ORIENTATION: As a first step toward enrollment in the Course in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, we conduct a pre-program Orientation Session before the start of class. This Orientation Session is required of all participants before beginning the program. During this session you will have the opportunity to:
– Learn about Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and explore whether it is right for you
– Experience, first-hand, mindfulness methods and approaches you will be learning during the program
– Meet with your program instructor for a brief, informal conversation about MBSR
At the conclusion of the orientation, if you and your instructor discern that the MBSR course is a good fit for you, the balance of your registration is due. If you choose to withdraw, your full $100 deposit will be refunded.
TUITION:$650 for household income of $50,000+
$575 for household income of $40-$49K
$475 for household income of $39K & under
If you would like to retake this course we are pleased to offer a 30% discount to returning students.
Visit our MBSR page for more details and benefits >
MBSR Graduates All-Day Silent Retreat
Copper Beech Institute, West Hartford, CT
WHEN: All day retreat on May 31, 2020 from 9:00am to 4:30pm
DESCRIPTION: We welcome all graduates of the 8 week course in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction to join current MBSR participants in their All-Day Silent Retreat.
The All-Day Silent Retreat is an intensive 7.5 hour session of mindfulness practices intended to assist participants in firmly and effectively establishing the use of mindfulness across multiple situations in their lives, while simultaneously preparing them to utilize mindfulness far beyond the conclusion of the MBSR program. Graduates from any MBSR Course, even those not conducted at Copper Beech, are welcome to attend. There are 20 available spots for MBSR graduates.
TUITION: $125, includes lunch
Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) Course
Copper Beech Institute, West Hartford, CT
CLASS DATES / TIMES: Wednesdays April 15, 22, 29, May 6, 13, 20, 27 and June 3, 2020 from 10am to 12pm
IDEAL FOR: All levels, including beginners
DESCRIPTION: Mindful self-compassion is a practice that directly cultivates goodwill toward ourselves, especially when facing challenges. This course combines the skills of mindfulness and self-compassion to promote healing and well-being. While mindfulness teaches how to turn toward our challenges (whether physical, emotional or mental), self-compassion allows us to respond to these challenges with kindness and understanding. This course teaches how to befriend ourselves rather than judge, how to soothe ourselves in times of difficulty and how to to maintain a sense of well-being despite our challenges.
This is the standard eight-week Mindful Self Compassion course developed by Kristin Neff, Ph.D. and Chris Germer, Ph.D., both world-leading experts in self-compassion.
Studies have reported benefits of self-compassion practices, which include less depression, anxiety, and stress, improved coping skills, and greater social connectedness, optimism, and happiness.
In this 8-week course you will learn how to:
- Handle challenging emotions with greater ease.
- Quiet the inner critic.
- Befriend yourself.
- Relate to suffering from kindness.
- Transform difficult relationships.
Class Format will include lecture, discussion, guided meditation, written reflection, and small group sharing.
TUITION: $475