‘How to be more creative and more centered with Mindful Cooking™’ with Lina Mbirkou | Monday May 9, 2016 | 5.30pm

As a facilitator, you are probably dealing with people and organisations experiencing major and rapid change, over-scheduling and increased pressure to perform in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous environment. This leads to stress, poor decision making, lack of clarity, anxiety, and other negative impacts. While the practice of Mindfulness has been around for centuries, it has surged in popularity in recent years with highly regarded institutions such as Harvard, Monash and Melbourne Universities developing clinical studies showing that people who spend more time being mindful tend to experience clearer, more focused thinking, improved memory and attention, and heightened performance and achievement. Mindful Cooking™ is one the most effective ways to teach us to pay attention by using food as the object of meditation. It’s not about clearing the mind, but rather learning to gently bring our attention to the task at hand or the food in front of us. By having a mind-body experience, participants have better chance to integrate and embody the teachings they can use in their daily lives, and use every meal as an opportunity to practice and remind themselves to be in the here and now as opposed to being distracted, stressed or overwhelmed. Mindful Cooking™ helps train the mind and develop a sense of patience and appreciation. It’s also an opportunity to get back in touch not only with the food you eat but with every action you take in life. Although we won’t be cooking at this workshop, the interaction with the food provided is designed to introduce you to a mindfulness toolkit that you can use in helping groups become more aware of the beliefs and preconceptions that color and distort their perception of reality, by opening them up to the possibility of seeing things and other people clearly, as they are, without the lens of stories and expectations. You will walk away feeling calmer and more relaxed, with ideas about creating quiet and still environments in which people can observe and reflect on their own thoughts and behaviours,and tips about how you personally can become more self-aware, less reactive, and develop a greater ability to focus and enjoy life in general. About  Lina Mbirkou  Lina Mbirkou is a corporate wellbeing consultant, an intuitive chef and a certified yoga and meditation teacher, who is blending her extensive Moroccan culinary experience with proven stress reduction techniques to provide a taste of what mindfulness is and make it a delicious part of daily life. Lina Mbirkou has an MBA and a Master of Commerce and has pursued a corporate and academic career in Marketing and Communication before launching “Mindful Cooking” in 2015 to share her love for creativity, mind-body connection and good food… She will be offering a highly experiential one-day workshop in Sydney on the 26th June. This is an opportunity to deepen and extend your skills in facilitating mindfulness while learning to cook and enjoy an amazing Moroccan feast! For more information, please contact Lina on 04 66 322 399, by e-mail on lina@mindfulcooking.com.au or visit mindfulcooking.com.au You can find out more about Lina here and visit her website here Venue: University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Jones Street, Ultimo corner Thomas Street. Room 5.580 Level 5, Building 10, Take the lift to level 5, cross the atrium footbridge, walk straight ahead to room 580. Time: From 5:30pm to 7:30pm sharp | No RSVP - Just turn up | Donation $5 Blog www.facilitatorsnetwork.blogspot.com Enquiries | Eoin Higgins  eoin.p.higgins@gmail.com : 0407 411 684