About NGMP
Company Overview
Our mission at North Georgia Mindfulness Project, LLC is to provide people who are struggling with various life challenges with research-based strategies related to the practice of Mindfulness in order to help them cultivate awareness and an appreciation for the present moment. We want to share the Mindfulness practice with as many people as possible so that they can be happier and healthier individuals. By bolstering compassion and acceptance, we hope to improve our community and promote kindness toward ourselves and each other.
What is Mindfulness?
Jon Kabat-Zinn, the professor and researcher who dubbed the term “Mindfulness”, defines Mindfulness as the practice of “paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally.” Mindfulness helps to keep your thoughts from influencing your emotions. It is a way to create a sense of well-being in oneself through the participation in research-based Mindfulness strategies such as meditation, breath focus, and moment-to-moment attention to the present.
What We Do
North Georgia Mindfulness Project offers a number of programs related to Mindfulness to teach people how to adopt a practice of their own. We come to you at a time and location of your choice to facilitate Mindfulness courses tailored to your group’s needs.
Services Offered
- 8-week Mindfulness Course. Participating in an eight-week Mindfulness meditation program appears to make measurable changes in brain regions associated with memory, sense of self, empathy, and stress (Sara Lazar, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 2011). The course covers topics that are relevant to a group of people with similar life/work situations. The curriculum is catered to the needs of the group. The class meets one day a week at a designated time and location of the group’s choice for 1.5 to 2 hours per class. In the class, students learn how the brain functions, the premise behind a Mindfulness practice, how to meditate, the different types of meditation, and how meditation relates to the regulation of thoughts and emotions. The course also provides daily activities students complete on their own to become more acquainted with the practice. A password to the course website will be given to allow students access to activities, guided meditations, and videos related to the class.
- 3-Hour Workshop on Mindfulness. This workshop provides a group of people with similar life/work situations an overview of Mindfulness, an introduction to meditation, an introduction to body scan, guided, walking, eating meditations, and group-led discussion on topics related to Mindfulness, and strategies on how to incorporate Mindfulness into their lives.
- One-on-One Mindfulness Coaching for Athletes. It is our belief that Being in the Zone, or The Flow State as it is often referred to in athletic circles is where we experience life at it's fullest. The other times, where we are struggling with stress, anxiety and caught up in our minds is secondary and we needn't spend more time there than we have to. Mindfulness helps to expand the Zone or Flow to more than just a few seconds or moments during our day or game. It becomes where we can spend the majority of our lives. The athletes we work with come to understand Mindfulness and experience the benefits on and off the field. We teach the Mindfulness-Acceptance-Commitment (MAC) Approach (The Psychology of Enhancing Human Performance) by Frank L. Gardner and Zella E. Moore. This is an 8 - 10 week program that is used by professional, college, high school, and athletes of all ages. The MAC program is currently the only research-proven program designed specifically to improve athletic performance.
- First-Responder Mindfulness Program (Police, Fire and Rescue, EMT etc.) Mindfulness is the practice of present moment awareness. First-Responders work under incredibly challenging conditions. A Mindfulness practice can provide relief from burnout, reduction in stress and anxiety, a sense of calm under pressure, and the ability to be “in the zone” while on the job. This program was created to teach First-Responders to respond rather than react, cultivate calm under stressful circumstances, foster self-compassion, aid in emotional regulation, help when dealing with difficult people and situations, allow for emotional space in making split-second decisions, provide perspective and self-awareness, bolster working memory, focus and attention, facilitate better communication, ease various forms of pain, bring about non-judgmental awareness, understand how to bring less of your own baggage to the job, and heighten your ability to be in the present moment. This program consists of 4 weeks of the stress and anxiety portions of the Mindfulness program taught to the community along with 4 weeks of the MAC program that was developed specifically for athletes.
- Organizational Mindfulness Program. In today's high paced world, it has become all too easy to be increasingly distracted, stressed out, and overburdened which can quickly lead to becoming burned out and overwhelmed. Corporate leaders face unprecedented rates of change in industries that range from manufacturing to technology or the financial sector. Many people don’t have or were never taught the skills to navigate these demands successfully. The Mindful Organization Program is a simple, secular and scientifically proven curriculum that teaches tools for the reduction of stress, anxiety, increased focus, self-awareness and resilience, so that we can help people to create a better word for themselves and those who they encounter in life. Supported by research in neuroscience, mindfulness and emotional intelligence, the program will provide individuals skills to improve themselves and therefore directly benefit their employer.
- A two-day Mindfulness retreat. The package includes meals and accommodations. The program will be led by Dr. Delaney & Dr. Place. There will be group-led discussions related to Mindfulness, and strategies on how to incorporate Mindfulness into one’s life. An introduction of the different types of meditations will be provided: sitting meditation, guided meditation, body scan meditation, eating meditation, walking meditation, and other types of meditation to aid one increasing the ability to stay present throughout the day. The two-day retreat also provides time for participants to practice during short sessions of Noble Silence and then report back and ask questions before they leave the retreat.
