By Toni Lazarou, Senior Healthcare Practitioner, Princess Alice Hospice Wellbeing Centre – The Wellbeing Centre at Princess Alice Hospice has been supporting patients and carers to pause, notice and connect through mindfulness practice as well as time spent in nature.
Weekly sessions offer a gentle space to explore the present moment, often at a time when life can feel overwhelming or uncertain.
Creating space to pause can support calm, self-compassion, and connection—both with ourselves and with others.
A Space to Pause
The Wellbeing Centre offers a weekly mindfulness group as part of a wider programme of support. Simple awareness practices are incorporated into talks and support sessions exploring pain management, emotional care and breathlessness. These short, accessible practices provide simple tools that can be used in everyday life.
With guidance, participants are invited to notice their experience through the breath and body. Sessions include short mindful practices, periods of silence, noticing our sensory experience and gentle mindful movement.
“Just for now, without asking how, let yourself sink into stillness. Just for now, lay down the weight you so patiently bear upon your shoulders. Feel the earth receive you, and the infinite expanse of the sky grow even wider, as your awareness reaches up to meet it.” — Danna Faulds
Meeting People Where They Are
An important part of the work is adapting to each person’s needs and acknowledging that participants may be busy with treatments and appointments. Often, patients may be fatigued and overwhelmed, making a commitment to a regular formal course impracticable. Sharing shorter practices that create space to move from ‘thinking and doing’ to ‘sensing and being’ can offer support.
Alongside mindful awareness, self-compassion is a central thread, influenced by the work of Kristin Neff and Christopher Germer. These approaches invite participants to respond to difficulty with kindness, learning to support themselves as they might a close friend.
The weekly Relax and Relate session closes with a shared mindful practice. Feedback suggests that people feel calmer and value having a space where it is ‘okay not to feel okay’.
“I’ve been able to bring mindfulness into my daily life”
“The sessions have given me permission to be kind to myself. The care and compassion sustain me.”
There is a quiet strength in the group through shared mindful awareness and self-compassion, participants are supported both by the facilitator and by one another, fostering mutual care, presence and connection.
Stepping into Nature
In 2024, the Princess Alice hospice ‘Love of Roses’ bursary supported the development of Wellbeing in Nature sessions—weekly gatherings held in the hospice gardens. Stepping outside often brings a visible shift. There is a moment of taking a breath, softening the shoulders and noticing the feet on the ground.
Research from the University of Derby highlights how connection with nature—through contact, beauty, emotion, meaning and compassion—supports emotional regulation and a sense of meaning. This reinforces the value of combining mindfulness with nature-based practices in palliative care.
The sessions follow a simple rhythm:
- A short check-in
- A shared theme or reflection
- Guided mindful awareness in nature
- Time to share our experience
Seeing the garden change through the seasons offers a gentle way to reflect on our experience and change in our own lives. This way of working reflects the writing of Mary Oliver and Robert McFarlane who both invite a quiet attentiveness to the natural world and our place within it.
The impact on participants is profound:
- “Being amongst nature in the garden was so beautiful, I felt completely at peace.”
- “I would never have thought to just sit outside and take time to notice.”
- “I noticed after each session that my pain decreased significantly.”
- “The sessions have given me permission to be kind to myself. The care and compassion sustain me.”
Staying Connected Through the Seasons
During the winter months, our sessions move indoors, yet they remain deeply rooted in the natural world. The invitation remains the same: a gentle call to explore our own experience.
We lean into the senses—the scent and textures of aromatic herbs, the warmth of a simple herbal tea. We explore the textures of the earth through clay and the delicate beauty of nature art with pressed flowers. Working with these natural materials draws our attention away from the “thinking mind” and toward a direct, sensory connection with the present moment.
Through poetry, music, and shared reflection, we find comfort in nature’s own momentum—an understanding that life is held in a steady, unfolding rhythm.
“Watch the slow rhythm, the constant change that happens without you doing anything at all, and feel the comfort of this.” — Rachel Holstead
Looking Ahead
Mindfulness and nature-connection sessions continue to evolve. There are plans to extend this work through collaboration with Citizen Zoo, a local rewilding charity, offering opportunities to support patients and families to connect with nature in their own community.
The practices offer a way to meet our experience as it unfolds, with curiosity, compassion, and care. Sometimes, this begins simply—by stepping outside, taking a breath, and allowing ourselves to be held by the earth.
Toni works in the Wellbeing Centre at Princess Alice Hospice. She facilitates mindfulness and nature-connection sessions, focusing on creating gentle spaces where patients and carers can pause and connect. Her work is informed by her own experience of finding support and grounding in nature. She loves to listen to birdsong and to notice the sound of leaves rustling in the breeze.
Resources
University of Derby: Richardson, M., et al. The Nature Connection Handbook: A Guide for Helping People Connect with Nature.
The Lost Words in Hospices: ehospice (2018). “The Lost Words: A ‘spell-book’ for the natural world to be gifted to every hospice in the UK.”
Kristin Neff: Neff, K. D. Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself. New York: William Morrow.
Christopher Germer: Germer, C. K. The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion: Freeing Yourself from Destructive Thoughts and Emotions. New York: Guilford Press.
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