Jim Pescud

 

Jim is a Breathworks Teacher, a rehabilitation counsellor and an experienced meditation practitioner. Jim believes the power of compassion and loving kindness are integral to the healing process.

 

For more than 10 years he has worked with adults who live with an acquired brain injury, and before this he worked with ex-prisoners in a half-way house, assisting residents in their transition from institutional life to community living.

 

Jim has an Associate Diploma in Welfare Work, a Bachelor of Social Science and a Graduate Diploma in Rehabilitation Counselling. For three years Jim lived in Buddhist communities and retreat centres in the UK, including six months’ intensive training at a meditation retreat centre in North Wales.

 

A practitioner of mindfulness meditation for more than 20 years, Jim has used mindfulness techniques widely in his work both with ex-prisoners and with people living with an acquired brain injury, as well as their carers.

 

Jim developed and ran a mindfulness meditation course for the Pain Clinic at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney, for those living with chronic pain.

 

He runs one-to-one mindfulness meditation courses with private clients, as well as Breathworks courses. He is a keen student of Tai Chi.

 

What Jim Offers Through One–to-One Mindfulness Training

 

This training in mindfulness meditation is provided in course form and has a strong emphasis on body-based awareness. Clients are taught to use direct bodily experience to open to an awareness of the many ways they may be blocking their movement to healing and spiritual/personal growth. Deep somatic awareness can lead to profound positive life changes.

Through seeing into our perceptual and behavioural patterns we note how we have been defending our life, rather than living it fully. With awareness, we can open to life and accept all that this moment holds. This is where true freedom lies.

The course consists of weekly, one and a half hour sessions, run over eight weeks. Clients are encouraged to be in touch with Jim by phone and email during the course, to whatever extent is useful.

jim@breathworks-mindfulness.com.au

“I approached Jim in mid-2012 to coach and mentor me in meditation. Over an 8 week period Jim and I worked together one-on-one using his tailored mindfulness program. For me this helped to deepen my meditation and mindfulness practice and provided an opportunity to explore my own experience of meditation with an experienced practitioner. Jim has years of experience and wisdom which he readily shares with skill and compassion and patience I enjoyed working with him a lot. I felt at the end of the mindfulness course my knowledge and awareness of mindfulness and meditation had greatly increased.”

 Anne-Marie, 31, Community Services Consultant

 

 “Learning about mindfulness has been, quite literally, life-changing for me.  After a brain haemorrhage and living with the effects of an acquired brain injury, I’ve struggled hugely with anxiety and depression. I was fortunate to meet Jim (through my local brain injury organisation) and undergo eight week, one on one mindfulness training.  Having a very active and anxious mind, I initially found it hard to get used to the different meditation practises.  However, Jim’s style of teaching made the process interesting with a combination of ‘learning’, discussion, meditations and inquiry into my personal experience.  It’s been nearly three years since I did this training and in reflecting on my time since then, I’m certainly a calmer, more grounded person.  I feel less reactive, more aware of my thoughts and able to detach from them (rather than let them control me), and I’m able to notice my feelings as they arise. Of course, it’s not always this way, but with the practise of mindfulness I’m building a solid foundation from which I can “know my own mind”… and go from there.  For me, Jim’s greatest strengths are his ability to teach the concepts of mindfulness in a personal and relevant way, his capacity to be fully present and that he genuinely cares about his clients.  I highly recommend Jim as a teacher for anyone wanting to explore mindfulness and improve their quality of life.”

Kelly