Major Pat Burgess joined the Army in September 1992 in a career that saw him from Trooper, through Tank Commander to Regimental Sergeant Major and Commission to officer. He has deployed on operations to Northern Ireland, the invasion of Iraq (and subsequent tours) and a further three tours of Afghanistan.
He has created and delivers Mindfulness courses for Defence, the online version of which is on the Army’s external webpage. He has also created an innovative approach to bringing Mindfulness based coping strategies into the existing culture of physical training and runs weekly defence-wide online Mindfulness sessions. His course content and delivery is endorsed by the Counselling and Psychotherapeutic Central Awarding Body (CPCAB) and he has his own website: www.oneworldmindfulness.co.uk.
He has also delivered numerous presentations on Mindfulness and coping strategies across Defence, to Glasgow Caledonia University, UK Border Force, Primary and Secondary schools, Erlestoke Prison, The Samaritans, MIND mental health charity and to those working in welfare and support roles (delivering training to over 15,000 personnel to date). He also taught Mindfulness at Glastonbury Festival in 2019 and Camp Bestival in 2021, 2022 and now again in 2023!
This is not his day job!
He was awarded an MBE in the 2020 New Year's Honours List and was more recently made an Honorary Doctor of Science (DSc) in recognition of his tireless work in bringing mindfulness to Defence.
He has a BSC(Hons) in Psychology, a Diploma in Mindfulness, and has been trained in Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy at Oxford.
