What you get from this course…

• Ways to decrease mindless eating, emotional eating and binge eating.
• How to reconnect with your body’s own built in systems of hunger and fullness.
• How to release yourself from negative judgments about food and your body.
• How to slow down, savour and more fully taste and enjoy food.
• How to become less reactive and more calm; especially when making food decisions.

What’s included in this course…

• Four weekly 60-minute group classes
• Three guided mindfulness meditations for you to download
• Handouts with useful reflections and practices
• Opportunities for questions and answers. 

No weigh-ins, no calorie counts…

• There are no weigh-ins or calorie counts required for you to get benefit from this course.
• The course encourages you to use your own insight and awareness to guide you.
• The course is designed by expert psychologists and delivered by experienced trainers.
• There is no religion or dogma in the course; just a focus on your own everyday experience.

Week 1: What is Mindful Eating? 

• What is mindful eating and how can it be helpful?
• What evidence do we have that it works?
• How can we cultivate mindful eating behaviour?

• We will look at internal and external triggers for hunger and eating.
• We will discuss how our patterns and habits of thinking can influence when we eat and how much we eat. These thought patterns can lead to mindless eating, emotional eating and binge eating.
• We will cover black and white thinking and behavioural chaining.
• We will discuss the benefits of taking a non-judgemental stance towards ourselves and the food choices that we make.

Week 3: Chasing Taste: Mindfulness of Our Taste Buds

• We will demonstrate how mindfulness of how our taste buds operate can influence how much of any one type of food we consume.
• We will look at how we can shift our focus from quantity of food to quality of food: we can eat less yet feel more satisfied.

Week 4: Cultivating Connection and Kindness Towards Yourself and Your Body

• Many people with food issues make negative judgements about themselves and dislike their bodies. Guilt about food intake is common.
• We will discuss some ways to move away from this pattern and towards kindness and acceptance and a more positive relationship with food and with our bodies.

What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness means “paying attention in a particular way; On purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgementally.” – Jon Kabat Zinn (Professor of Medicine Emeritus Stress Reduction Clinic and the Centre for Mindfulness in Medicine)

Mindfulness and meditation are both gaining in popularity as more and more people discover how this simple skill can have a profoundly positive impact on your life. Organisations such as Google, Apple, Nike and Yahoo! now run mindfulness programmes and sessions for staff during work hours. Modern research about mindfulness and meditation shows measurable and significant benefits to people including less stress, less anxiety, greater focus, calm and happiness.

This particular course emphasises your own natural wisdom, your own innate OKness, right here and now. The instructions and guidance will be explicitly inviting you to embrace your whole human experience as it happens, moment by moment with a radical acceptance.  

"Mental Health Foundation mental health promoter, Grant Rix, says mindfulness has been shown to benefit our brains to such an extent that we can feel calmer, more aware, have an increased ability to focus and concentrate, remember things better and feel happier." - NZ Mental Health Foundation Press Release July 2012 

Refund policy and money back guarantee

Should you attend the entire course and not be satisfied, you are entitled to a full 100% refund should you wish.

Your trainer is Kate Brandram-Adams

Kate is excited to be part of bringing mindfulness courses to Christchurch, Rangiora and North Canterbury, where so many people have suffered losses and are experiencing ongoing stress in their lives.

Kate has a love for practising and teaching mindfulness as it allows for a way of being with people “as we are” in any moment…… sad, happy, anxious, joyful, frustrated, lonely…. the whole caboodle of this life as a human being! The 10 thousand joys and the 10 thousand sorrows. Mindfulness’ values of friendliness, openness, curiosity and not just going with what is said but checking it out in our own experience, resonate deeply with her. She loves the fact that you can’t get it wrong….. your experience is your experience!

Mindfulness is a fundamental part of Kate’s life and infuses every part, imperfectly, with difficulty at times and ease at others, but it is always there. Even if it is simply the awareness of not being at all mindful! She has a daily meditation practice, attends regular meditation and mindful living retreats and has done personal development work with mindfulness therapists. It is a value of hers not to teach anything that she is not willing to experience herself, allowing her to teach with authenticity and compassion.

Kate has completed and continues to do ongoing training in teaching mindfulness: including Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) through “Openground’’. She teaches MBSR and mindfulness in other settings and groups. She is supported to teach by experienced mindfulness teachers from around the world.

Kate is also a registered mental health nurse who specialises in addictions and holistic approaches (integrating body, mind and spirit for wellbeing) including training in naturopathy, nutrition and massage.

Kate has a passion for the integration of ancient wisdom with modern day neuroscience. Thus uniting the art and science of supporting people to discover their own source of wisdom, wellbeing and healing; connecting with their own “inner teacher”.

Kate is grateful to the many mindfulness teachers in her life that include animals and the nature around her that she is part of.

Testimonials for Course Designer Heidi and The Mindful Eating Programme:

"I attended a 1-day workshop with Dr Heidi Douglass in October 2014, introducing us (providers and public) to Mindfulness Based Eating Awareness Treatment.  Dr Douglass has a lovely calm manner and “practiced what she preached’’ leading us in a day of mindfulness and eating awareness. I work with clients with eating disorders, and see benefits of this programme for people with disordered eating. The skills they would learn in this non-threatening environment could be very effective on their journey towards change.”

Lynne Blake, Consultant Clinical Psychologist. Hamilton NZ.

"Heidi established a warm and inviting setting for the workshop. She moved through the workshop at a pace that allowed one to absorb and consider the information. The content of the workshop had a good balance between presenting the empirical information and real life events. The experiential exercises were fantastic and provided a sample of how mindfulness and mindful eating would be beneficial for myself and the clients I work with in my practice."

Vanessa Burrett, MSocSci, DipPsych(Clin), MNZPsS
Registered Clinical Psychologist, Hamilton, NZ.

“I have attended Dr Douglass’s workshop. The workshop was well organised, the content was relevant and linked to the everyday challenges I face. Dr Douglass used structured guided meditations. I recommend this professional workshop for those managing their relationship with food.”

Andrea Cullen, PhD│Registered Clinical Psychologist│Te Kohao Health

Questions or More Information:

If you have questions or require more information, please email

Email: karen@mindfulnessworks.co.nz 

Ring or text: 027 664 9281

Website Contact Form: Mindfulness Works website contact form