Ed Halliwell is a mindfulness teacher, coach and supervisor. He discovered mindfulness in 2001, during a period of depression and anxiety, and found it transformative. After several years developing his practice, including a year-long stay at a meditation retreat centre, he trained to teach at the Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice (CMRP) at Bangor University, and has been teaching mindfulness full-time since 2010.
He is director of Mindfulness Sussex, and author of three books: Into The Heart of Mindfulness, How To Live Well By Paying Attention, and (as co-author) The Mindful Manifesto. Ed's books have sold more than 30,000 copies and been translated into seven languages, and he has also written widely on mindfulness-related topics for newspapers, magazines and organisations, including The Mental Health Foundation and Mindfulness All-Party Parliamentary Group (MAAPG). He taught on the Mental Health Foundation's Be Mindful Online training course.
Ed has taught the gold standard eight-week group mindfulness course more than 200 times, and introduced and taught mindfulness in workplaces such as Accenture, NHS England, Imperial College Business School, the Houses of Parliament, Tate and Ardingly College. He has worked on the Parliamentary mindfulness teaching team, leading sessions for MPs and their staff, and for more than ten years he also worked variously as co-director and trustee of The Mindfulness Initiative, which supports the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Mindfulness to develop mindfulness-based policies for the UK. After many years teaching mindfulness to groups in the community, in workplaces, and on retreats, Ed now specialises in teaching mindfulness one-to-one to individuals, in Sussex and online via Zoom. Ed also supervises mindfulness teachers and is a member of the Mindfulness Network supervision team.
Ed's first career was in journalism - after graduating from Emmanuel College, Cambridge, he worked for newspapers and magazines including Arena, Time Out, the Independent On Sunday, Elle, the Observer, Empire and FHM.
He lives near Haywards Heath, West Sussex, with his wife, Vee and their two sons.
Watch a video of a talk Ed gave for Action For Happiness at Conway Hall in London, which describes his journey into mindfulness practice. This was also the subject of his book of the same name.