The Return of In-Person Mindfulness Groups at New Pathways
Reclaiming Third Spaces for Mental Health
This April, New Pathways Therapy Centre opens the doors to a new gathering place for in-person mindfulness groups in Toronto.
We begin with an eight-week Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) group, co-facilitated by myself and Dr. Pat Rockman.
This inaugural MBCT group is intentionally designed for people who have already begun their therapeutic work and feel ready to go deeper. While many people enter therapy seeking relief from anxiety, depression, or stress, this group offers an opportunity to move beyond insight into a more active, embodied process of change.
MBCT is an evidence-based program that integrates mindfulness meditation with cognitive therapy. Over eight weeks, participants develop practical skills to relate differently to thoughts, emotions, and bodily experience—supporting people working with anxiety, depression, stress, and patterns of rumination.
But MBCT is more than a set of techniques. It is a shared experience.
Participants meet weekly to practice meditation, explore patterns of thinking and feeling, and engage in a process of guided inquiry. This group will also include an emphasis on somatic awareness and nervous system regulation, helping participants cultivate a deeper sense of safety within themselves and in relationship with others.
When mindfulness is practiced in a group and in a physical setting, something shifts. People begin to recognize they are not alone. And the group itself becomes part of the healing process.
The Return of In-Person Mindfulness Groups in Toronto
For many years, Toronto was home to a hub for mindfulness education: the Centre for Mindfulness Studies.
Known internationally for its excellence in training, it was also a place where people could participate in in-person mindfulness groups to support their mental health.
When the Centre closed last year after fifteen years, it left a noticeable gap.
Dr. Pat Rockman, founder of the Centre, spent years training clinicians and co-facilitating groups, helping bring MBCT to individuals navigating depression, anxiety, and stress.
It feels especially meaningful that this first group in our new space will be offered with Pat as facilitator.
For those who have missed practicing mindfulness in community, this is something simple—but important: the return of in-person mindfulness groups in Toronto.
A Personal History with MBCT Groups
My connection to mindfulness groups goes back more than a decade.
At St. Michael’s Hospital, I facilitated MBCT groups within the outpatient psychiatry program. Participants were referred by their social workers, psychiatrists and family doctors and attended as part of their care. I loved this work.
Each group carried its own energy, and again and again I witnessed how powerful the group process could be. Often, shifts unfolded more quickly than in individual therapy alone.
When people practice awareness together, something becomes visible: we see our patterns reflected in others, and new ways of relating begin to emerge.
Why Physical Space Matters for Healing
When I started New Pathways just before the pandemic, I imagined offering in-person mindfulness groups in Toronto as part of our work. We ran one small group—then everything moved online.
Online programs expanded access which was important at this critical time. They allowed connection across distances. I ran several myself and valued what they made possible. But something essential was missing.
Online spaces rarely create the same depth of connection as gathering in person. When we step out of our daily environments and into a space designed for reflection, the experience changes.
Before the pandemic, yoga studios, meditation centres, and learning spaces functioned as what sociologists call “third spaces”—places outside of home and work where people gather for shared experience.
From a nervous system perspective, these spaces matter.
Humans regulate through co-regulation—the subtle signals of safety we receive from being physically present with others.
Healing does not happen through insight alone. It happens through embodied experience, relationship, and environment.
And that requires physical space.
Opening the Third Space at New Pathways
When a space became available on the third floor of our building at 720 Spadina, I recognized what it could become.
Many of the places that once supported in-person mental health and mindfulness practice have disappeared. But the need for them has not. If anything, it has grown.
We call this new environment The Third Space—a place for groups to gather for the purpose of transformation in mental health. These can include mindfulness programs, therapy groups, movement, and community gathering.
Reclaiming Space for Mental Health
The Third Space is an experiment in reclaiming something modern life has quietly lost: places where people gather intentionally to support their mental health.
These spaces do not replace therapy. They deepen it. And they remind us that healing is not only individual— it is also relational.
As we open the doors, we invite those who feel drawn to reconnect with the power of in-person mindfulness groups in Toronto.
This inaugural MBCT group is both a learning experience and an opportunity to help bring a new healing space to life.
