Sowing Seeds of Change
Here is a guest blog I wrote for the Network of Wellbeing.
In a climate of chronic underfunding across the NGO sector, cultural narratives that prize productivity over wellbeing and growing divisions within society, the risk of burnout for people working toward social change has never felt greater. A recent study found that 75% of charity professionals had personally experienced burnout or knew colleagues who had.
The Seeds of Change course is designed to meet these challenges. It’s a six-week mindfulness course tailored specifically for people working for social good – whether in charities, social enterprises, community organising, activism, campaigning or volunteering. The course aims to create communities of wellness in support of a flourishing, energised and compassionate social justice sector.
The course weaves together the personal and the political, recognising that our inner worlds shape our relationships and actions just as systems and structures shape our daily lives. Mindfulness is approached not as an individualistic practice, but as a practice of tending to ourselves and one another with care, helping to cultivate kinder, more connected cultures. We acknowledge the systemic roots of burnout and through shared practice and reflection, we strengthen our capacity to meet these challenges with clarity, resilience and collective courage.
The course draws on evidence-based approaches shown to reduce stress and prevent burnout, including mindfulness, self-compassion practice and The Work That Reconnects – a powerful model of personal and collective empowerment for social action.
It’s designed to fit within a busy schedule. Sessions run over six weeks, meeting on Fridays at lunchtime for an hour and fifteen minutes. It’s a commitment (to yourself!), but one that’s intentionally shaped to feel manageable rather than overwhelming. The home practices follow the same principle: we explore how to weave mindful moments, gentle movements and restorative pauses into the flow of your day, helping you thrive in the work you do.
There are three core components to the course:
Mindfulness: The first half of the course centres on grounding in mindful awareness. This helps us tune into how our minds and bodies respond to stress, so we can take more empowered, compassionate action to care for ourselves and others. We also explore how mindfulness deepens our connection to joy, beauty and the small moments of nourishment that sustain us on the path to resilience and meaningful change.
Self-compassion: We then move into self-compassion, drawing on the ground-breaking, evidence-based work of Kristin Neff and Christopher Germer. Together we explore simple but powerful practices that help us meet difficulty with kindness rather than criticism, soften the inner voice that drives exhaustion and cultivate a more supportive relationship with ourselves.
Compassion and connection with others: In the final part of the course, we draw on The Work That Reconnects to widen the circle from self-care to collective care. We explore practices that help us reconnect with our values and our communities and tap into a sense of inter-connection to strengthen both inner and collective resources.
Through this course, I aim to share the practices that have benefitted me personally with others, supporting people to connect more deeply with themselves and others and to find an authentic contribution to a better world. I am an accredited mindfulness teacher, Active Hope facilitator, social justice researcher and a mother. I draw on my experience in the social justice sector and my own experiences of burn out to offer mindfulness and compassion for our times.
The next course starts on 24th April – details here. I would love to see you there! All are so welcome and any questions can be sent to info@changeinmind.uk.
And if you’re curious but not sure if it’s for you, there’s a free taster session on 20th March where you can try out mindfulness and find out more about the course.
