Finding Peace in a Frantic World
Finding Peace in a Frantic World
Slow down without stepping away from life.
Life rarely gets quieter.
The emails keep coming. Responsibilities continue to grow. Our minds learn to live in constant motion, often without us even noticing.
Finding Peace in a Frantic World is an evidence-based mindfulness programme developed at the University of Oxford. It helps people step out of automatic pilot, respond to life's challenges with greater awareness, and discover a calmer, more resilient way of living.
This isn't about escaping the world.
It's about learning to meet it differently.
What is Finding Peace in a Frantic World?
Many people hear the word mindfulness and imagine sitting cross-legged, emptying the mind, or trying to feel calm all the time.
This programme is something quite different.
Developed by Professor Mark Williams and Dr Danny Penman at the University of Oxford, Finding Peace in a Frantic World combines mindfulness practice with modern psychology to help people relate differently to stress, worry, and difficult thoughts.
Rather than changing your circumstances, it changes the way you experience them.
Over eight weeks, you'll learn practical skills that can be integrated into everyday life, whether you're at work, at home, or navigating periods of uncertainty and change.
Why it works
This programme draws on more than three decades of research in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), one of the world's most extensively researched psychological approaches to wellbeing.
The UK's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recognised its effectiveness, and leading researchers, including the MYRIAD Project at the University of Oxford, continue to study it.
While the science is robust, the practices themselves are surprisingly simple.
Small moments of awareness, repeated consistently, can change how we respond to stress, relate to difficult emotions, and care for ourselves.
What you'll experience
This isn't a meditation course where you'll be expected to "clear your mind" or get mindfulness right.
Each week introduces simple practices that fit into everyday life, alongside guided reflection and discussion in a supportive group environment.
Over eight weeks, you'll gradually learn to notice your thoughts with greater awareness, respond to stress with more choice, and cultivate a steadier relationship with yourself and the world around you.
You don't need any previous experience.
Only curiosity and a willingness to practise.
The Journey
Week 1-2
Waking up from automatic pilot
Notice how much of life happens without awareness.
Week 3-4
Creating space in a busy mind
Learning that thoughts don't have to control your day.
Week 5-6
Changing your relationship with difficult emotions
Meeting challenges with greater kindness and resilience.
Week 7-8
Living with greater intention
Bringing mindfulness into work, relationships, and everyday life.
What You'll Take Away
A different relationship with your mind.
The goal isn't to eliminate stress or stop your thoughts.
It's to develop the awareness and practical skills to meet life's challenges with greater clarity, steadiness, and self-compassion.
Over time, you'll learn to:
Notice thoughts and emotions without immediately being swept away by them.
Step out of automatic pilot and respond with greater intention.
Navigate stress and difficult moments with more ease and resilience.
Build a mindfulness practice that supports your wellbeing long after the programme ends.
Bring greater presence, kindness, and clarity into your work, relationships, and everyday life.
Is this programme for you?
This programme may be right for you if...
✓ You find it difficult to switch off.
✓ Your mind often races ahead to what's next.
✓ Stress has become your normal.
✓ You'd like to respond rather than simply react.
✓ You're looking for practical, evidence-based ways to cultivate greater calm and resilience.
Meet your instructor, Victoria
Over the years, I've worked with professionals navigating stress, burnout, and major life transitions.
Oxford Mindfulness became part of my own practice because it offers something beautifully simple: practical skills that people continue using long after the course ends.
My role isn't to teach you how to become someone different.
It's to guide you in discovering a different relationship with the mind you already have.
Practical information
NOW AVAILABLE
The complete Oxford Mindfulness (OMF) programmes
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MBCT-D is an 8-week evidence-based group programme specifically developed to help people who have recovered from depression stay well and reduce the risk of relapse.
Recommended in clinical guidelines (including NICE, UK) for individuals with a history of recurrent depression, this programme combines mindfulness practice with cognitive therapy techniques to help participants recognise early warning signs, interrupt unhelpful thought patterns such as rumination and self-criticism, and respond to low mood with greater awareness and self-compassion.
Sessions run weekly for 2 hours in a structured group format, making it suitable for delivery within counselling centres, hospitals, and mental health services.
Enquire about bringing MBCT-D to your organisation →
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Mindfulness for Life is an in-depth 8-week programme that blends the ancient wisdom of mindfulness with cognitive-behavioural techniques, designed to create lasting, sustainable change rather than short-term relief.
Going beyond stress management, this course helps participants work with recurring patterns of thought and behaviour that quietly create suffering, while also building the capacity to savour life and flourish. It is suited for those ready to engage deeply with their inner life and commit to a structured practice.
Sessions are group-based and run weekly. The programme includes a 5-hour Day of Practice, providing an extended opportunity to deepen learning outside the classroom.
Contact us for upcoming intake →
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A gentle entry point for anyone who is curious about mindfulness. Whether you are completely new to it, or returning after some time away.
Over three weekly sessions, this short course introduces the core themes of mindfulness practice: how to pay attention differently, how to work with a busy or unsettled mind, and how to bring a little more awareness into everyday life. Sessions combine guided practice, group discussion, and simple home exercises to try between weeks.
If you have been wondering whether mindfulness is right for you, this is a low-commitment way to find out.
Enquire for upcoming dates →
Get In Touch
If you’re interested in the Oxford mindfulness programmes or would like to offer MBCT-D in your clinic or counselling centre, let’s connect.