About Karen
Practising mindfulness and compassion has had a huge effect on my life. Like many others I juggle work with a family and other responsibilities and was often overwhelmed by all the things that needed to be done. I have seen the benefits for myself – reduced stress, being able to respond and not react in difficult situations, truly appreciating things in the moment, developing compassion for myself and others, developing an overall sense of peace, calm and wellbeing as well as many other numerous benefits. Because of these I am not only motivated to continue practising myself, but also wanted to share this with others. I have been an accredited Breathworks mindfulness teacher for several years now (www.breathworks-mindfulness.org.uk) and offer their courses in Mindfulness for Stress and Mindfulness for Health to groups and individuals.
“Every moment, every glance, every thought, and every word can be infused with love.”
I came to coaching through studying for a course in counselling skills and then a great deal of subsequent self-development. I soon realised that we don’t need to wait until people are in distress and need therapeutic interventions, but that we can actively prevent a lot of distress from happening in our lives by increased self-awareness. Coaching creates the space for us to be listened to and be heard, to help us find our own solutions so we can move from where we are now to where we want to be. Life is complex and demanding and we often forget about the things that keep us positive, motivated and excited – these are often sacrificed for the day to day grind of meeting other people’s expectations and getting things done. Coaching for me helps redress the balance and puts our own needs and wants higher up the agenda.
Through further study in mindfulness, coaching and mentoring, I have incorporated this learning into my professional and personal life. I continue to work part time in academia doing research in health sciences, personal tutoring and mentoring. I have also used these skills to create the right work/life balance for me which led to me setting up my own business sharing mindfulness and coaching skills and working as an academic on a freelance basis.
Qualifications and Training:
Karen Rees BSc, MSc, PhD
- Counselling Skills (Certificate, University of Warwick)
- Coaching and Mentoring (Certificate, University of Warwick)
- Coaching (Diploma, University of Warwick)
- Accredited Breathworks Mindfulness Teacher (www.breathworks-mindfulness.org.uk)
- Trained to deliver “Mindfulness: A Practical Path of Finding Peace in a Frantic World” course (Oxford Mindfulness Centre)
Breathworks is a participating member of the British Association for Mindfulness Based Approaches (BAMBA) which sets standards for mindfulness based teaching. I adhere to their good practice guidelines for teachers and am listed on their website having demonstrated that I adhere to these guidelines by an assessment process https://bamba.org.uk.
I am a member of the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC – https://emccuk.org) and abide by their code of ethics (https://emccuk.org/EMCC-Code-of-Ethics.pdf).
Get in touch!
If you require more information please email me and I will contact you as soon as possible.