About Nick Cooke
Founder of the Mindfulness Now Programme
Nick Cooke is the founder and creator of the Mindfulness Now Programme and has over 40 years of personal mindfulness and meditation practice experience.
Although his professional life began in the fast-paced corporate world, from a young age Nick developed a deep passion for understanding the mind and helping others better understand their own inner experience. In his twenties, he trained as a psychotherapist and began working with clients, while continuing to pursue his lifelong commitment to meditation and mindfulness practice.
At that time, mindfulness was still largely outside mainstream healthcare and psychological services in the UK. It was not until the 1990s, when Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) became more widely recognised, that Nick began to see the possibility of bringing mindfulness more directly into his therapeutic work with clients.
A Personal Journey Through Illness and Trauma
Around this same period, Nick himself became seriously unwell.
Over the last three decades, he has lived with several long-term and progressive health conditions, including diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, and cancer. Nick openly describes the profound trauma and emotional impact that followed these diagnoses, and how his mindfulness practice became not simply a professional interest, but a lifeline.
As his health challenges deepened, Nick realised he needed to relate to mindfulness in a very different way. Traditional approaches did not always reflect the realities of living with illness, trauma, pain, uncertainty, or a changing body.
Through his own lived experience, he began developing what he later called the Mindfulness Now Approach — an approach rooted in compassion, flexibility, acceptance, and meeting people where they are.
For Nick, mindfulness became a way not only to cope with suffering, but to live alongside it with greater kindness, resilience, meaning, and even joy.
Nick has also learned never to take himself too seriously! Bringing lightness, gentleness, and humour into both his mindfulness practice and his approach to life has been incredibly important to him and his teaching style. “Even during difficult times, humour can reconnect us with our humanity, resilience, and inner strength. Sometimes a smile, a moment of softness, or the ability to laugh at ourselves can be deeply healing.”
Nick believes mindfulness must be adaptable, trauma-sensitive, inclusive, and person-centred. Rather than expecting individuals to fit into a rigid model of practice, the practice itself must adapt to the needs, abilities, experiences, and realities of each person.
Mindfulness Looks Different for Everyone
One of the core understandings Nick developed through illness was that mindfulness practice does not look the same for everybody.
He has spoken openly about the experience of living with Parkinson’s disease and the moment he realised he could no longer comfortably sit still in meditation groups because of his tremors. He describes feelings of grief, loss, embarrassment, and shame during that time.
Over the years, however, his practice evolved into one of deeper acceptance and compassion toward himself and his changing body.
This lived experience became central to the philosophy behind Mindfulness Now.
The Creation of Mindfulness Now
The Mindfulness Now Programme was first taught at Nick Cooke’s clinic in Birmingham, UK, around the year 2000.
Since then, the approach has grown internationally and has supported people around the world in learning mindfulness in ways that feel accessible, safe, compassionate, and sustainable.
Today, Nick leads a successful mindfulness training school alongside a small and passionate team of colleagues who share his vision for a more inclusive and trauma-informed approach to mindfulness teaching.
A Vision for the Future
Nick’s hope for the future is simple but deeply heartfelt: to make mindfulness as accessible as possible to as many people as possible.
Mindfulness was there for him — and continues to support him — during some of the most difficult periods of his life. His wish is that others may also discover the strength, wisdom, compassion, and healing potential that can emerge through mindful awareness.
At the centre of the Mindfulness Now approach is the belief that everybody deserves access to mindfulness, regardless of their background, health, age, experience, or circumstances.
The programme continues to grow from this vision: creating safe, compassionate, trauma-informed spaces where people can reconnect with themselves and discover new ways of living with greater awareness, kindness, and resilience.
