“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.
I finally managed to catch up on the latest announcements from the Oxford Mindfulness Centre. The 20th October 2015 was a landmark day for mindfulness here in the UK and potentially even globally. On that day, was published a parliamentary all party group report into the benefits of Mindfulness and its implications for health, wellbeing and social care here in the UK.
The Mindfulness All-Party Parliamentary Group (MAPPG), began an inquiry into the possible wider benefits of mindfulness practice over a year ago. Eight hearings later, and having listened to the testimonies of eighty expert witnesses, the group was ready to publish its report. Among the recommendations are expanding the availability of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) courses in the NHS, developing mindfulness in education by supporting pioneer schools programmes, offering courses for government staff, and introducing the training to offenders in the criminal justice system. All these measures would be supported by care to ensure high quality mindfulness teaching.
The report covers:
- 1. What is mindfulness?
The twelve recommendations that cover the following areas
- 2. The role of mindfulness in health
- 3. The role of mindfulness in education
- 4. The role of mindfulness in the workplace
- 5. The role of mindfulness in the criminal justice system
Finally, how to implement the recommendations backed by well trained and informed Mindfulness teachers and leaders.
- 6. The implementation challenge
And that is that. I would encourage you to download the report and if nothing else read the twelve recommendations. If you are new to Mindfulness, the introduction gives a great overview of what Mindfulness is.
The Oxford Mindfulness Centre launch article:
http://www.oxfordmindfulness.org/launching-mindful-nation-parliament/
You can listen to an audio recording of the Mindful Nation UK report launch event here.
The Mindfulness All-Party Parliamentary Group (MAPPG) report:
http://www.oxfordmindfulness.org/launching-mindful-nation-parliament/
I leave you with the following quote that touched me. Having worked in the prison service for three years as a volunteer, I came to know some of the isues discussed in the report.:
“It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones.”
Martin Summerhayes 