Different types of 8 week courses

[Vixine]

I am doing the 10 day intro on Headspace right now. They do have lots of great info on the site, but I am sad about how much the program costs after that. I suppose if you think of it as a gym membership it's not so bad, but if you already have a gym membership then it's just more money you have to spend. I don't think I'm going to do it but I do really like his style in the videos and guided meditation. It is quite different from the Williams' course but I'm sure quite effective. He is tapping into a little bit of a different market and I guess anythign that will bring more meditation into the world is good!

[JonW]

The eight-week course I did in Brighton earlier this year (it ended up being nine weeks as the teacher threw in an extra session) cost me £140 and I consider that money well spent as it gave me an excellent grounding. I attended a wonderful Mindfulness Day In nature on the South Downs last Sunday and that cost £50 including a sumptuous lunch. Again, money well spent as it proved to be an excellent refresher.
How much is the full Headspace course, out of interest?
Cheers, Jon

[Vixine]

It's about 60/year in pounds, or 8 per month if you go monthly. it's not terribly expensive but depends how you think of it - paying for something you can do on your own for free, or a paying for a helpful resource on something that is really important in our lives. Hmmm.....

[FeeHutch]

I think I know where you are coming from Vixine.
On one hand I paid £20 last year to attend a mindfulness day in a local Buddhist center and found it a very valuable experience. I also have several mindfulness books, I've bought guided meditations and a meditation stool so spending money isn't exactly the issue. One the other, we don't actually need any of those things although we may derive a lot from them. Maybe the discomfort comes from the idea of paying for an online environment like this is new and different?

[JonW]

This is a fascinating question. What price mindfulness?
I would judge it solely on whether the investment is either a/ giving me a good grounding in the practice, and/or b/ effective in helping me maintain the practice.

[Vixine]

After talking about it here I decided to go for it and get the year subscription. I am really enjoying the headspace meditations, for whatever reason they seem to really work for me and I actually look forward to them each day. I found a discount code for 3 months off so it ends up costing less than one lunch per month or one really nice dinner in a year. When I put these two together I realized that is really worth the money. I was hesitant b/c it cost more than a book or CD for a year, and then I still didn't 'own' anything but it was only a subscription. But I realized that if it helps me cement my mindfulness practice over the course of a year and I enjoy doing it, that will be well worth the money. I could have dropped that much money in one day on a pair of jeans so I'll just keep my old ones