Mindfulness Workshop at Pärnu College

On April 22^nd, 2014 Pärnu College hosted a mindfulness workshop led by Douglas Andrew Tooth http://www.douglasandrewmindfulness.com/About.php, who has been practicing meditation for 17 years and teaching for 8 years in various settings, including corporate environments as a Business Communications Consultant. His business Douglas Andrew Mindfulness brings mindfulness practice into the workplace. Originally from the US, his roots are from New Jersey though he has been living in Helsinki for 7 years. He was visiting a friend, Josée-Ann Cloutier, a student at Pärnu College in the Wellness and Spa Service Design and Management program who organized the session.

It was a warm sunny spring day at 19C, the kind of day to be outdoors and yet the room was also quite warm with people trickling in surprisingly 17 in total. There was a mix bunch from various backgrounds and nationalities. Half were Estonians, six from the Wellness and Spa Service Design and Management Master’s program, others from the Couchsurfing network. Nationalities included Nepalese, Armenian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Canadians, Americans, and two teachers from Pärnu Vabakool. Valter Kolberg was kind to offer translation into Estonian. Most came to learn and try something new; some came for a break from their studies, others out of curiosity.

Participant’s levels of experience varied ranging from beginners to experienced practitioners with mixed spiritual and non spiritual backgrounds. The discussion and questions were rich, poignant, direct and at times challenging.

Thereafter, we had some refreshments with cookies, biscuits, tea and juice and continued on to have some dinner and drinks at Fookus.

Participants share their experience:

“I felt the mindfulness activity we practiced to be like a deep mental activity that takes practice and patience to achieve the benefits of it. The practice itself did not seem really complicated, but maybe achieving the overall benefits could be?! As for my experience, I did also feel sleepy like many others, but I felt the benefit of not having to do something but to let the mind be at peace, kind of like letting everything go, even though thoughts were still circling around in my mind.”

“One of the things I most appreciated in the workshop is to remind me to live in the present.”

I am very thankful for joining the "meditation class" I hope I will use and it will help to improve my well-being!!!!

For those wishing to continue the practice, they have been given some resources, are encouraged to do it together, and have some contacts if they need it. If interested in learning more you can contact Doug or Josée at [email protected]