Joyce Chiu Broadbent: Reiki Master, Counsellor/Psychotherapist, and Life Coach

MINDFULNESS COURSE / COACHING / THERAPY TESTIMONIALS

The gratitude I have for Joyce is beyond words. Her suggestion of the eight week mindfulness course and my acceptance has become a landmark in my life, a journey that has sparked a way of being, a path of discovery of my own freedom, choice and responsibility.

The course was well structured and insightful, Joyce practised the mindfulness practices in session and each week supplied a home work task. The practices were varied and each aimed to develop an awareness of the present moment, these included; focused breathing, mindful eating, full body scan meditation, mindful yoga and sitting meditation. Through this practice my mind has become clearer and more able to choose thoughts skilfully rather than my mind completely taking control of me. At the end of the course I believe I have learnt the skills to start to take ownership of my Self.

Joyce held my emotions and feelings and respected what I brought to each of the sessions. I felt encouragement, understanding and humour, most importantly she challenged me, my goal was to become exactly who I am and not live for other people. She stayed true to my vision; I was overwhelmed by her belief and acceptance even when I wanted to give up.

I'd like to share a few reflections of my experience of Joyce, I saw her as an anchor, made with endurable strength, I felt her as a hand holding mine guiding and being present with all my darkness and daemons, I felt an energy of warmth and love whenever I saw her, I heard her as a negotiator; an advocate for both darkness and light.

Thank you for showing me the way.

Debs Cottrell - Youth worker

I really enjoyed the Mindfulness course with Joyce and would definitely recommend this to people. Since doing the Mindfulness course, I have found myself able to think more clearly and take action on problems I have rather than constantly procrastinating. I now find it easier to doing physical activities such as running and cycling as my mind is not plagued with self-doubt, or if it is I now have the tools to observe these thoughts as just thoughts and not real! I found the 8 week Mindfulness course to be very well structured and the homework each week really helped. I really enjoyed the information Joyce gave on mindfulness and how it came about and the people involved in its development. I now meditate regularly and have even given a copy of the Body Scan CD to a friend for her to benefit from as well.

Beth Campion - Musician

I contacted Joyce at a time when I felt my emotions, mainly anger and frustration, were beginning to damage not only me but more importantly the people I loved. I knew nothing about the mindfulness course but following a brief review of the basic principles involved and my trust in the wonderful Joyce, I decided to give it a go.

When I started the 8 week course I felt my life was in chaos - I had just lost my job and I was moving out of my long term flat. The course required finding a little time each day for me to be calm and still and with the help of guidance tapes as necessary, to go through a routine of concentrating on my breathing. Simple really! I had never practised any form of meditation before so of course my mind constantly drifted away from the focus of my breath and my body. The beauty of mindfulness however is there is no correct way of doing it; there is no success or failure. All that is required is to be aware and present and each time thoughts appear simply recognise them, welcome them and then let them go. Practising mindfulness on a daily basis is the key. My feelings of anger and frustration have not gone away but I now feel I have a technique to help me deal with them and in time I hope I will retrain my natural fight response to difficult situations to a more measured, less confrontational and less damaging response. Thank you Joyce!

Dr. Jennifer Fallon - Scientist

Mindfulness practice has provided me with a humane way to stay with whoever I am at any time. I find that comforting as I am not always sure who emerges and if I can accept that person. I often even hate myself but with mindfulness practice, I even accept the part of me that hates myself. Easier said than done though.

The teacher/vehicle is important. Though I have been married for 16 years to someone who devoutly practises Insight Meditation all this while and surrounded by his many books, the message never really got to me. The "light", exploratory, pragmatic, peer-based (respectful) counselling/teaching approach adopted by Joyce works especially well for someone like me who rebels against institutionalized approaches with a passion. I also believe that it is a matter of "ripe" timing that has brought together the teaching, guide/Joyce and my increasing need for a way of life that can include all aspects of me, the good, the bad and the ugly.

Moh Sin - officer with the United Nations regional development secretariat, Bangkok

I have found my mindfulness sessions with Joyce grounding and uplifting in equal measure. She is happy to talk about the nitty gritty of mindfulness, my personal difficulties and banal questions in such a non-judgemental way that without anything changing I feel differently about my practice and my life. All that laughter is good for me!

Flora MaClay - Counselling Psychologist

Joyce is a knowledgeable and compassionate teacher who guided me through the 8-week mindfulness course with insight and encouragement drawn from her own regular practice. I feel like a caged bird that has been set free to fly and I am eternally grateful to Joyce for showing me the way out through her teachings.

Mindfulness is a simple and practical tool accessible to anyone - there is no philosophy to study, no right or wrong way to do it. The course is well paced and structured so that you can begin to integrate Mindfulness into your daily life right from the beginning. As the weeks progressed my perspective changed and I felt as if for the first time in my life I was waking up to who I truly am, in a loving and accepting way.

From that has flowed courage, self-esteem, clarity of mind, less stress and anxiety, less anger, self-acceptance, self-love, letting go of a destructive relationship, an improved relationship with my parents, taking control of my life and making some bold decisions, trusting my intuition, acknowledging my worth and more moments of contentment and peace with things as they are .... This may seem like an exaggerated list but it really isn't. These are not all fully fledged trees, but they are seeds of potential I didn't acknowledge or know before, which through practicing Mindfulness, are beginning to blossom - I feel blessed.

The changes in me have been so noticeable that family members have gone on to do the course too. It has been the best investment I have made in myself. I cannot recommend it enough.

Aafke - Management Accountant

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