Breathing Space London

mindfulness for health

Apply for free places on Breathing Space retreats 

Breathing Space is funded by Tower Hamlets Social Services to provide some free places on two-day Breathing Space retreats for people living on a low income in Tower Hamlets.

To be eligible for a free place you need to be:

  • Resident in Tower Hamlets
  • Unemployed, on benefits or low income
  • Between 16 and 65 years old
  • Able to take part in monitoring and evaluation

About the retreat

If you are new to Mindfulness Based Approaches, these retreats are an excellent introduction to meditation as a tool to help prevent relapse into depression and addiction. If you have already done a Breathing Space course, the retreats can help you learn in a more intensive way the practices and techniques you learnt on your course - helping you to stay well.

These retreats are held at our beautiful retreat centre in the Suffolk countryside. They are for two days and two nights. There will be a balanced programme of activities including: led meditation - like the ones you learnt on your course; group discussions; walks in the countryside; as well as time to relax and meet new people, or get to know people from your course or other Breathing Space courses.

We will provide transport to and from our retreat centre. The retreat centre is in a very quiet part of rural Suffolk, surrounded by gently rolling countryside. Accommodation is in shared rooms. The retreat centre has pleasant gardens, a pond and a purpose built meditation hall. All the rooms are centrally heated. All the food on the retreat is vegetarian. Our head cook is very talented and the food is very tasty! 

What will we be expecting from you?

The retreat will include a well balanced programme of activities - and there will be nothing too strenuous for you to do. However, to get the most out of mindfulness practice, you will need to feel able to interact and engage with the material on the retreat. So the retreat will not be suitable for you if you are currently feeling significantly depressed, or if you are engaging in any addictive behaviours. So if you don't feel up to attending just now, you might want to go on our waiting list for the next retreat we run, or let us know when you feel well enough to attend. Please also make sure you read the information about monitoring and evaluation towards the end of this application form.

How to apply

You can fill in an online application form here - scroll down this page. The information which you provide on this form will be seen by the teachers on your course, the Breathing Space Director and Manager in order to help us maintain and improve the quality of the courses and to help us secure funding for assisted places. It will also be seen by the monitoring officer who will record some of your answers for statistical purposes for our funders. It will not be possible to identify you by name in those statistics.


If you need help completing the form or if you have any questions, call us on 0845 4584716 and ask for a member of the Breathing Space team, or email info@breathingspacelondon.org.uk

Your Contact Details 
 
Address
Postcode
Phone
Mobile
Email
Date of birth (dd-mm-yyyy)
Income and benefits
Jobseekers allowance yes  no
Disability allowance yes  no
Incapacity benefit yes  no
Living on an income below £15,000 yes  no
Other income - please tell us
 
Important notes for applicants:
  • For people who have done a Breathing Space course before: if you attended an MBCT course at Breathing Space, please fill in PART ONE below. If you attended an MBRP course at Breathing Space, please fill in PART TWO.
  • People who have not done a Breathing Space course before: if your main reason for applying for this retreat is to learn how to prevent relapse into depression, please fill in PART ONE below. If your main reason for applying for this retreat is to learn how to prevent relapse into addiction, please fill in PART TWO below.
 
 PART ONE: If you have suffered from Depression
 
1: How many episodes of depression, in your opinion, would you say you have had?
2: What kind of things have you tried to help with your depression in the past?
Antidepressant medication yes  no
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy yes  no
Counselling yes  no
Psychotherapy yes  no
Other - please give details
3: Are you on any antidepressant medication now? yes  no
4: Have you ever consulted your GP about depression? yes  no
5: How would you say you are feeling now? Do you feel up to taking part in the retreat?
6: Why have you chosen to come on this retreat?
 
 PART TWO: If you have suffered from Addiction
 
1: What is / was your main addiction?
2: Are you currently abstinent (or not engaging in your addictive behaviour)?
If 'yes', for how long?
3: Have you tried other ways of remaining abstinent (or refraining from your addictive behaviour)? If 'yes', what methods have you tried?
12 Step self-help groups yes  no
Individual counselling yes  no
Medication yes  no
Non-residential group work e.g. day programme yes  no
Residential rehabilitation yes  no
None yes  no
Other - please give details
4: Are you on currently making use of any of these other methods of remaining abstinent (or refraining from your addictive behaviour)? If 'yes', which one(s)?
 
5: How many periods of abstinence / not acting on your addiction would you say you have managed before?
 
6: What is the longest period that you have remained abstinent / not engaged in your addictive behaviour in the past?
 
7: Have you ever consulted your GP to about your addiction?
  yes  no
8: Very briefly would you say why you would like to come on this retreat?
 
 
FOR ALL APPLICANTS
How did you find out about free places on this retreat?
 
If other please give details 
Monitoring and evaluation

As we want to make sure the retreat is of lasting value to you, we would like to monitor your progress. If you are awarded a free place we will ask that you take part in this.
  • End of retreat evaluation The leader of your retreat will give you an evaluation to fill in at the end of the retreat. All our courses and retreats are evaluated so everyone will be doing this.
  • Follow-up evaluation We will contact you around 6 months after the retreat to find out how you are and if you are still able to make use of what you learnt on the retreat.
What happens now?
We will let you know if you are eligible for a free place within the next two weeks. If requests are very high we may need to ask you to go on a waiting list.

Thank you for filling out this application form.

Do contact the Breathing Space team (numbers above) if you need to know more.


Yours truly,

Tim Segaller
Breathing Space Manager (Charity No:255420)
 
The following information is required for statistical purposes and does not form part of the assessment — all the below will be treated anonymously.
Gender
Sexual orientation
Do you consider yourself to have a disability as defined by the Disability Discrimination Act?
("a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person's ability to carry out normal day to day activities")
  Yes – I am a registered disabled person
Yes – I am a non-registered disabled person
No – I have no disability 
Please tick any of the following that apply to you – you can tick more than one:
Hearing impairment
Speech impairment
Visual impairment
Learning difficulties
Dyslexia

Do not wish to disclose
 Reduced physical capacity including difficulty with physical co-ordination
Severe disfigurement
Mental illness
Reduced mobility
Progressive condition (e.g. cancer, muscular sclerosis etc)

Other (please specify)
If there are practical ways in which we can assist you (e.g. written materials in large print format, induction loop, assistance during tea breaks, etc) please speak to the course/retreat leader or a member of the team.
Ethnic background
if other or dual please specify  
Religion
if other please specify