Half an Hour of Calm with Mindful Manchester

Carmel Smickersgill, Tours & Activities Editor

Book now

Half and Hour of Calm with Mindful Manchester

1 January-31 July 2023

Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.

Bridget Fitzpatrick
Book now

We’ve all had times this year where we’ve felt the need for a bit of grounding. Half an hour to calm your mind, where you can focus on just being rather than doing. It’s easy to dismiss the practice of meditation as ‘not your thing’, especially if you prefer to live an energetic lifestyle, slowing down can seem like the least helpful thing to do. This is how Bridget Fitzpatrick felt when she discovered Breathworks. Since then, she has firmly embraced the practice and found an enhanced enjoyment of life. Now she’s keen to share these easy and practical techniques to find stillness, in her Half Hour of Calm weekly guided meditations.

allow your brain the space to be creative

Each Wednesday, Bridget leads a half hour session every Wednesday between 6 – 6:30pm. These small moments of calm, are a place for you to join Bridget and a community of people, to be present, feel grounded and just allow yourself to exist without demanding anything else of your mind. There is no presumption, no pressure and no previous experience required, it’s so relaxed, you don’t even need to turn your camera on.

Each session has some kind of focus or loose theme, however, as a secular practice these topics are usually quite simple and often related to whatever uncertainty we’re facing this week. The session then begins with a short grounding exercise. This may be a small bit of movement or an idea to focus on, but the aim is to let you shake off whatever else is going on, leaving the ‘faff’ behind. Bridget will then guide you through a short meditation. Her approach focuses on practical methods and building a toolkit to use, for example, when it comes to dealing with intrusive and unwanted thoughts. After the meditation Bridget may leave you with small breath exercises to practice throughout the week as well. She also sends you a recording of the session’s meditation to use whenever you need it.

focus on just being rather than doing

Although mindfulness and meditation have been proven time and again to benefit mental ill health, what seems to often get neglected is how much more enjoyment you can bring into your life by practising little and often. It can also be massively beneficial for your creativity, allowing your brain the space to be creative and opening up pathways of imagination and inventiveness which may have otherwise been closed off.

Bridget is also a freelance graphic designer who gravitated towards Breathworks as it too is based in Manchester. This secular and practical practice helped her break past the stigma attached to meditating and transformed her own experience of anxiety and depression. After qualifying four years ago, she taught regular sessions, moving them onto zoom in March when we all made a similar transition. Since then they’ve become widely popular. With a collection of regulars, as well as new faces popping up most weeks, it’s a very welcoming zoom room to enter.

Where to go near Half an Hour of Calm with Mindful Manchester

The Beacon at Cliffe Castle Park
Bradford
Park
Cliffe Castle Park

Cliffe Castle Park hosts the Beacon, a stunning performance space that will be touring the district throughout Bradford UK City of Culture 2025.

Hern Food
Leeds
Restaurant
Hern

This produce-driven bistro in Chapel Allerton, Leeds, prides itself on cooking with the only finest ingredients and his headed up by Cordon Bleu-trained chef Rab Adams.

Indie Makers
Leeds
Shop
Indie Makers

Indie Makers, located in Leads’ corn exchange, trades in art and gifts from independent makers across the UK.

Plant Point
Leeds
Shop
Plant Point

Plant Point is designed to help you bring the jungle into your urban or suburban space. The home of beautiful plants in Leeds.

Leeds
Restaurant
Eat Your Greens

Eat Your Greens is a vibrant, organic restaurant bringing a hint of European flair to the city’s plant-based dining scene.

Sela opened in 2004 with an idea to provide quality imported beers from around the world, fun cocktails to compliment the beer selections and a stage for the region’s finest and most talented musicians to play on.Over ten years later, we’re still all about the beer, cocktails, live music and pizza!We carry over a selection of over thirty different beers spanning the globe from Pickering with The Great Yorkshire Brewery’s Yorkshire Blackout, to New York with a selection from Brooklyn Brewery, and Belgium with longtime Sela favourite, Vedett.Our cocktails change regularly too. Our best-sellers are joined by fun, new offerings and our pizza menu is regarded as one of the best the city of Leeds has to offer.As for the live music, Sela has had not only the great and the good from the region. Local funksters, The New Mastersounds are regular visitors and we stage the amazing Mojah Reggae Band for their weekly Wednesday residency.  Our other long running programming incl
Leeds
Restaurant
Sela Bar & Pizzeria

Sela Bar is a cosy Leeds basement spot with live music, great drinks, and a cool, laid-back, atmospheric vibe.

Leeds Beckett SU
Leeds
Restaurant
Leeds Beckett Student Union

Leeds Beckett Student Union hosts big-name artists and supports students through events, live music, and a vibrant campus venue.

Located on Cardigan Fields Leisure Park, Vue Leeds Kirkstall is a nine screen cinema with almost 2000 seats. There's ample parking and the cinema is surrounded by various restaurants and entertainment facilities, making for a great evening out!

Watch the latest film releases and enjoy the industry-leading Sony 4K Digital screens, boasting spectacular picture quality, along with enhanced audio quality courtesy of Dolby 'Profound Sound'. Stepped SuperVue seating means you will never miss a second of the action while VIP seating guarantees you an extra touch of luxury whenever you want to upgrade.

Three of the nine screens showcase the newest 3D releases while Vue Classical brings the latest stage sensations to the big screen, and parents can save as they go with Family Tickets and Kids AM screenings offering great value for money.
Leeds
Cinema
Vue Cinema – Leeds Kirkstall Road

Located on Cardigan Fields Leisure Park, Vue Leeds Kirkstall is a nine screen cinema with almost 2000 seats. There’s ample parking and the cinema is surrounded by various restaurants and

What's on: Activity

Manchester Town Hall
TourManchester
The Magical Mystery Bike Tour

Hop on your bike for this guided cycling tour, exploring fascinating corners of Manchester you may never have seen before.

From £25.00
St Peter's Square
TourManchester
The Peterloo Massacre Tour

Visit key locations associated with a moment that helped shape the future of the nation, tracing the footsteps of those who stood for change.

From £20.00

Culture Guides

Star Nhà Ease
Cinema in the North

July's cinema highlights include spotlights on international cinema, a new cult classic, plus a visit from one of our favourite directors.

Blondshell by Hannah Bon.
Music in the North

From Lyra Pramuk’s sacred synths to the sugar rush of YAANG, our latest music picks bring ritual, rebellion and ridiculous levels of fun.

Exhibitions in the North

Monumental sculptures, charcoal confessions and a show of two paintings only - all this and more in this month's exhibition picks.

Theatre in Manchester
Theatre in the North

Summer signals theatre festivals, world premieres and open-air spectacle - from MIF25 to comedy, outdoor circus and beyond, here’s what we’re looking forward to.