Bringing together mindfulness and playfulness
(They’re the SAME THING!)

Sitting perfectly still on a meditation cushion isn’t the only method of cultivating awareness.

Mindfulness experts encourage people to practice being in the moment while walking, exercising, eating, talking and even washing the dishes. But it turns out that it’s not that simple……to be truly “mindful,” we have to approach these experiences in a very specific way: with curiosity and openness, engaging our whole self, yet with a certain lightness of spirit to let go of prejudices, mental habits, and attachment to outcomes.

But wait just one moment!

Doesn’t all of this complicated adult gobbledygook boil down, in the end, to something quite obvious to any five-year-old? Isn’t it just another expression of the crazy shenanigans we used to get up for hours at a time as kids? To the simple act of PLAY, which all children regard as the best possible way to spend each waking minute of their lives?

This workshop, inspired by imaginary spiritual traditions such as the Tao of Pooh, the Poppins School of Perfect Presence and the Ministry of Mindful Silly Walks, will provide a resounding answer to these urgent questions.

Over the course of five hours, Alex Menhams and Eduardo Jáuregui will guide us not towards a distant “enlightenment”, but to a lightness of being available to everyone at all times. They will encourage us to stop treating meditation as mental “training”, a difficult “discipline”, or even something to be “achieved” or “attained”, and to finally give ourselves the permission enjoy the present moment as a place of wonder, ease, freedom, adventure and play. Just like we did at age five.

Silent meditation will give way to bodily movement, inner work to creative interaction. We will recapture the spirit of school recess, believe in impossible things, laugh at our inevitable mistakes, fears, and imperfections. All of it within in a safe space of mutual care, where the simple wisdom and spontaneity we once knew can be liberated, free at long last to skip, hop, whistle and dance.

Thanks to these mindful games, designed to help us dive headfirst into the roiling uncertainty of the present moment, and to the rediscovery of the endless creativity within each and every human being, we’ll have astonishing amounts of pure unadulterated fun while learning a number of super serious lessons. Or at least that’s what we’ll try!

Details:

– 10:30am to 3:30pm
– Sunday 13 July
– Jackson’s Lane Arts Centre – Highgate, London
– £40 per person

The venue is wheelchair accessible and we offer free access companion tickets. We also offer payment plans and bursary places for anyone in need of financial assistance. 

Facilitators

Eduardo Jáuregui is the director of the Spanish mindfulness school Modo Ser (www.modoser.com). A social psychologist with a doctoral thesis on the topic of humour and laugher, he has taught undergraduate courses in psychology and sociology at Saint Louis University (Madrid Campus), as well as participating in numerous masters programs. Since 2002, Eduardo has facilitated hundreds of workshops in Europe, the UK and the United States on applied humour, mindfulness and other areas of positive psychology and wellbeing. His clients have included IKEA, Sony Pictures and General Motors, as well as numerous organizations in the worlds of health, education, entrepreneurship, art, activism and NGOs. For the past two years he has been focused on designing and delivering courses exploring the connection between play and contemplative practice, in collaboration with leading European mindfulness centers such as Nirakara Lab (Madrid) and Centro Mindfulness Firenze (Florence). Eduardo is the author of over 15 books published in 20 languages, including five psychology monographs, three novels, several children’s books and the biography of the Beatles’ hairdresser. He is currently working on Playfulness: Despierta tu espíritu lúdico (“The Way of Play: Awaken Your Playful Spirit”), to be published by the Spanish imprint Destino in September 2025. He’d like to be an astronaut when he grows up.

Alex Menhams is the founder of improv school Here & Now People in the UK (www.hereandnowpeople.com) that brings people together in ways that feel joyful, playful, mindful and hopeful. He teaches and performs improv across Europe and explores the connections between presence, play, laughter and mindfulness. Alex has taught sessions on Improv for the Spirit and connecting playfully with the natural world at numerous festivals, retreats and conferences.

Alex works as a trainer and facilitator (www.alexmenhams.com) and is passionate about the power and possibilities of applied improvisation and creative group work. He has had many adventures with training, team building, and creating spaces for forward-thinking organisations. His clients have included Channel 4, AstraZeneca and Theatre Royal as well as many other charities, companies and NGOs. When he’s not doing this kind of stuff he’s usually to be found in the garden or wandering in the woods.