About Everyday Mindfulness

Everyday Mindfulness consists of a whole range of people! It was set up by the teachers Eva Ruijgrok-Lupton and Dan Lupton, who were taught and inspired by many great teachers, and supported by peers, colleagues, family and friends. But most importantly, it is the wonderful people learning with us about mindfulness and compassion that make this community so special. You can read more about them here below.

I founded Everyday Mindfulness in 2008, which my husband Dan Lupton and I have run together since 2013. I am a highly experienced and qualified Mindfulness and Self-Compassion teacher, having run courses and workshops for groups, individuals and organisations, and taught mindfulness to more than 1000 people. I am particularly interested in ways that mindfulness can be applied in wider society, such as the empowerment of women through mindfulness practice, and mindfulness at work, as well as supporting sustainable living. I have now stepped back from running regular courses, focusing on part-time bespoke workshops and writing, as well as my deepening Zen meditation practice.

I first started practising Buddhist and mindfulness meditation in the late '80's, taking part in retreats with Western and Eastern meditation teachers, and co-facilitating various meditation groups. In addition I practice Qigong and Daoist meditation with Master Zhixing Wang.

I hold an MSc in Teaching Mindfulness (Distinction) and the Certificate in Competence in Teaching Mindfulness-Based Courses (Distinction) from the leading UK centre for mindfulness, the Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice of the University of Bangor, Wales, and was awarded the CMRP Masters Award 2016.  I have followed further teacher training in MBSR with Jon Kabat-Zinn, founder of the US Center for Mindfulness, and its current and former co-directors Saki Santorelli and Melissa Blacker. I am also a Trained Teacher of Mindful Self-Compassion, taught by Kristin Neff and Christopher Germer of the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion. I have completed the Mindfulness in the Workplace Programme at Oxford University, and deliver a range of tailored programs within organisations to meet needs around managing stress-reduction, change, and leadership.  I am a qualified teacher of the .b Mindfulness for teenagers program with the Mindfulness in Schools project, and am qualified to teach their .b Foundation mindfulness program for teachers and parents. I am also a qualified supervisor of other Mindfulness teachers.
 

In  conjunction with Bangor University I have conducted research into  Mindfulness Teacher Training and its impact on course participant outcomes, which I have presented at a number of international conferences and published in the scientific journal Mindfulness. I regularly attend meditation retreats, professional development seminars and conferences, both in the UK and internationally, and have studied subjects including Buddhist Background to Mindfulness-Based Courses and the Neuroscience of Mindfulness.

Born and bred in The Netherlands, I had a multicultural upbringing, and have lived most of my adult years in England. I started professional life as a linguist, then retrained with post-graduate degrees in European business, politics and economics, and worked in ethical investment research. This career was cut short through serious illness, my greatest teacher of mindfulness. Dealing with health challenges deepened my understanding of mindfulness in everyday life. I was also very fortunate in experiencing significant healing with the help of my teacher Zhixing. I find mindfulness and Qigong greatly enhance each other, and help me live and teach moment-to-moment. My teaching is continuously enriched by the people I work with, their courage and commitment and great humour .
 

I trained in Humanistic & Integrative Counselling at Bath Centre for Psychotherapy & Counselling (BCPC), and with Relate and Jill Gabriel (Relationshapes) in Couples work. I am a Member of the National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society (NCPS). I trained to teach Mindfulness with Bangor University, and have meditated and practiced yoga for over 25 years. I attend regular Continuing Professional Development courses in Therapy and Mindfulness. I am passionate and curious about my work and about living more simply and fully. I regard both Counselling and Mindfulness as joint ventures, where we explore insight and change together. For more information about my Counselling practice, please click here.

We met in 1993 on a silent retreat, married two years later, and haven't stopped talking since! With more than 6 decades of meditation and other mindfulness practices between us, this is an integral part of our lives and a continuous work-in-progress. In the past few years we have continued to deepen our meditation practice with on-going training and retreats with the American Buddhist meditation teacher Reggie Ray and Zen priests Melissa Blacker Roshi and David Rynick Roshi. We aim to teach from our own experience of the reality and humanity of life, rather than any illusion of perfection. We live in a small village near Frome, on the Somerset-Wiltshire border, and have a grown-up (step)daughter. We are both fully insured and receive regular individual supervision, and work according to the Good Practice Guidance of the British Association of Mindfulness-Based Approaches, BAMBA.


Everyday Mindfulness community
It has been a great joy for us to connect with so many different people over the years of our teaching. In fact, it has been a deepening relationship of joint learning. Many people continue to do various courses with us, return to do a retreat day or workshop, or meet up with us and each other in a drop-in session. As we learn more, we share and evolve this learning with so many who are passionate about bringing mindfulness and compassion into their lives.

Connections grow, and friendships blossom. Now that we have been forced to do all our teaching online, the community of people practicing with us has also grown geographically, stretching across large distances. At times without social distancing, people have formed their own peer groups, and some have gone on to do further training and are now passing on their learning to others. And when we're able to, we also celebrate together!