Lisbon, Portugal
Conhecer-Se
A FEW FIGURES
- Created in July 2013
- 9 board members, including 5 certified Mindfulness teachers: Inês Águas, Jorge Nunes, Albertina Oliveira Lima, Cristina Quadros and Teresa Ranieri
- 20 active associate members
Conhecer-Se is a non-profit association founded in 2013 to promote the development of consciousness and awareness, active citizenship and social responsibility, through mindful awareness programs and practices, namely Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Mindful Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), Mindful Self Compassion (MSC), Mindful Eating, The Fundamentals of Mindful Attention (SIT) and our own MindSerena, a programme developed for schools.
Conhecer-Se is committed to fostering Mindfulness and providing high quality, affordable and sustainable mindfulness practices and programs. Conhecer-Se has nine volunteer board members, including five certified Mindfulness teachers and twenty active associate members who make key contributions by participating in specific projects and tasks.
In the first few years, Conhecer-Se focused on promoting mindfulness in Portugal, as there was very little available, and facilitated regular mindfulness awareness practices and programs for the general public in its own venue: 60 one-day workshops (Sept-Jun), 5 SIT programs, 3 MBSR programs, 2 Mindful Eating programs, 5 Mindful Self Compassion programs, 2 weekend retreats, 5 one-day silent retreats.
From 2017, as MBSR, MSC & MBCT teacher trainings started to be available in Portugal with a consequential increased offer of programs, Conhecer-Se took the opportunity to focus on its original intention – promoting mindfulness in the education, justice & health sectors – and on forming partnerships.
In 2018 and 2019, Inês Águas and Anne-Sophie Dubanton were part of the initial team implementing mindfulness practices for teachers in the French Lycée in Lisbon.
In 2019, Conhecer-Se organised a free 3-hour conference with mindfulness teacher Martin Aylward in Lisbon, with the support of the UNESCO Chair on Education for Global Peace Sustainability.
Conhecer-Se also jointly co-facilitated a yearlong U.LabS pilot to support school directors, teachers, students and home-schooling associations implement mindfulness practices within their educational communities, an opportunity to establish connections and partnerships with other stakeholders in the education sector.
Conhecer-Se is actively implementing MindSerena® – a mindfulness-based programme developed with the University of Coimbra for school teachers and students – in various schools in Portugal.
The Conhecer-Se board members working on MP4s are:
Inês Águas has been formally facilitating mindful awareness practices and training since 2013. Co-founder and executive director of Conhecer-Se, certified Mindfulness Teacher (Mindfulness Training Institute) and coach, Inês has been meditating for 29 years, a daily practice she started during an illness that led her to focus on personal development. Over the years, Inês had the opportunity to explore and deepen various practice forms and methodologies with, namely, Martin Brofman, Louise Hay, Lise Bourbeau, Shakti Gawain, her own mother Christiane Águas, Mark Coleman and Martin Aylward. Inês has regularly worked as a volunteer to teach mindful practices for the last 20 years.
Cristina Quadros holds a Psychology degree from the University of Coimbra and is a Educational Psychology Specialist by the Order of Portuguese Psychologists. Cristina worked for 26 years as a school psychologist, in which she promoted several projects and training on wellbeing with students, teachers, staff and parents. Since 2017 she‘s facilitated several Mindful-Based Stress Reduction Programs. She is a co-author and trainer of the Mindserena® and has extensive experience in organizing events, seminars and projects on the voluntary and non-formal education settings.
Teresa Ranieri has 30 years experience both in body awareness and mindfulness practices. Born in Italy, lived 20 years in Germany while working as an international recognized dancer/teacher/choreographer. She holds a Master degree in Pedagogy and Movement Research by the Bruckner Universität, Linz (Austria). Since 2014, she has facilitated Mindful-Based Programs for stress reduction and eating disorders in different social contexts. Teresa completed her Master’s degree in Teaching Mindfulness-Based Interventions at Bangor University (UK), based on the application of the MBCT program.
A FEW PICTURES
