Mindfulness Ottawa

Mindfulness Ottawa is a secular community of like-minded practitioners interested in gathering in fellowship while embodying the principles of mindfulness. Mindfulness Ottawa was officially launched in November 2012. The founding organization of Mindfulness Ottawa is Mindfulness Toronto which started in March, 2009. 

Our mission: 

1. Bringing professionals together to practice mindfulness, discuss mindfulness related topics and to socialize with like-minded individuals. We meet 9 times a year at The Royal on the last Monday of the month with the exception of June, July, and August.
2. Provide opportunities for professional training/development in Ottawa. Programs are organized in collaboration with The Royal and any proceeds generated will be used to finance our social program.
3. Through a social program provide mindfulness or compassion training and practice to individuals in the community who might otherwise not be able to access such opportunities.  
4. Provide information about mindfulness and compassion related events happening in Ottawa.

In addition, we are organizing a public meditation group at the Royal Spiritual Centre. The goal of this monthly hour long sitting group is provide a venue for anybody who would like to practice or who has recently graduated from a mindfulness program an opportunity to meditate with others. We are looking for experienced volunteers to lead these meditations. 

How to join us
Membership is open to all professionals who are either personally or professionally interested in mindfulness practice. We invite you to join our mindfulness community (Please set your spam filter to accept e-mails from this website). To be accepted you will need to answer three short questions about your personal and professional connection to mindfulness practice. While the membership is now free of charge we hope you will make a donation at each of the event you are attending. 

Benefits of Membership

• MindfulnessOttawa.ning.com is a social networking website where members can post events, create a blog, start a special interest group or join discussions.
• We send out monthly newsletters, which includes information about our meetings, professional development, mindfulness retreats, and other events. (By registering with MO you provide your consent to receive our newsletter).

Scent Free Policy
Please be aware that the Royal Ottawa Hospital adapted a Scent Free Policy. Please do not wear perfumed products when coming to our meetings. Thank you. 

Mindfulness Ottawa Network Monthly Lecture Series:
Teaching mindfulness to promote therapeutic presence

by Guilhème Pérodeau and Jessie Bossé authors of:  Pleine conscience et relation d'aide. Théories et pratiques

Date: Wednesday, May 22, 2019
Location: The Royal Ottawa Hospital, RM 1425
Time: 7-9pm 
 
Summary:
Learning how to become a good health care practitioner is, in most university programs, based on gaining knowledge (to know) and learning how to use techniques (to know how). Little is taught about how to be. This is partly explained by the abstract nature of the “knowing how to be”, which is more closely related to attitudinal aspects rather than behavioural techniques. Teaching such skills is therefore quite challenging. 

According to researchers (Gockel et al., 2013) this is problematic because of the importance ofdeveloping such attitudinal techniques, especially with regard to therapeutic presence (Solhaug, 2016).They also deplore the existing lack of proper training to that effect. Interestingly, dimensions related to therapeutic presence, such as awareness of self and the client, concentration on the present moment without judgments, are very similar to mindfulness practice (Hemanth & Fisher, 2015). This analysis suggests that health care practitioners could benefit from learning mindfulness. This presentation will outline key issues around relational mindfulness along with a short experiential mindfulness practice. 
 
Links: 
Facebook : Pleine conscience outaouais
http://www.imavi.ca/jessie-bosse
https://www.pulaval.com/produit/pleine-conscience-et-intervention-clinique-theories-et-pratiques 
 
Bios :
 
Jessie Bossé holds a doctorate in clinical psychology (D. Ps) and is a lecturer at the Université du Quebec en Outaouais (UQO). They teach about the theoretical foundations of mindfulness as a model of intervention and the different clinical applications of mindfulness. Jessie has been leading mindfulness groups since 2013 and obtained a Mindfulness-Based Symptom Management (MBSM) certification in 2015. As a psychologist in private practice, Jessie also uses mindfulness with a clientele suffering from anxiety, adjustment disorders, chronic pain, PTSD and depression. Finally, they recently went to study at Kopan Monastery in Nepal to deepen their knowledge of Buddhist teachings and to expand their understanding of the theoretical underpinnings of mindfulness.

 
Guilhème Pérodeau holds a Ph.D. from York University. She is a registered clinical psychologist with the Order of Quebec psychologists, and a tenured professor of psychology at the Université du Quebec en Outaouais since 1991. Her research interests lie in the aging process.  Certified teacher from the Ottawa Mindfulness Clinic, she co-leads mindfulness groups since 2016. With Devault, she has co-edited the book ‘Pleine conscience et relation d'aide’ (2018), Presses de l’Université Laval.