Mindful Photography Walk with Shamash
A slow morning walk across Hampstead Heath, using your camera as a way of paying attention.
Shamash Alidina
- Sat 17 October
- 10:30 to 12:30
- Six places
- £45
- Kenwood, Hampstead Heath
Book a place · £45Give it as a gift
All ages and backgrounds welcome. No experience of photography or meditation needed.
Play, with attention
Led by a mindfulness teacher, not a photographer. You won’t learn camera settings. You’ll learn to see.
Most of the time you walk through a place. On this morning you’ll walk in it. The camera is the excuse: it gives your attention somewhere to go, and then something to keep.
Between the photographs there are a few short guided practices, spoken plainly, with your eyes open. Nobody has to sit on the ground or close their eyes for long.
You’ll photograph less than you expect and see more than you expect. And it’s fun. That’s allowed. Mindfulness isn’t only for the hard days; it’s also for a Saturday morning with the light coming through the leaves.
Two hours, gently
Half past ten to half past twelve. I won’t give the practices away here. Part of seeing freshly is not knowing what comes next.
- ArriveAt Kenwood Viewpoint
We meet at Kenwood Viewpoint, on the Heath just east of Kenwood House, where London sits on the horizon. A few minutes of standing still, and then we look again, as if for the first time.
- WanderThrough meadow, water and trees
A slow walk down across the Heath, with a few short practices along the way, each one a different way of seeing. You’ll take fewer photographs than usual, and like them more.
- ShareTea at the Brew House
We finish over tea or coffee. Everyone shows one image and says a sentence about it, if they’d like to. No critique, ever.
What you’ll take home: a handful of photographs you love, a simple way of paying attention you can use on any walk, and a slower Saturday morning.
Your phone is enough
- Your phone, or any camera you like. A film camera is very welcome.
- A charged battery.
- Shoes you’re happy to walk on grass in, and a layer for the wind at the top.
- That’s all. No experience of photography or meditation needed.
Anyone who’d like a slower morning
Complete beginners and keen photographers alike. People who meditate and people who’ve never tried. All ages, all backgrounds. If you can walk a mile and a half over a couple of hours and you own a phone, you have everything you need.
It’s a small group, six at most, so the morning stays quiet and nobody gets lost in a crowd.
Kenwood Viewpoint
We meet at Kenwood Viewpoint at 10:20. It’s the viewpoint looking out over London, on the Heath a short walk east of Kenwood House, at the top of Hampstead Heath. Search “Kenwood Viewpoint” in your maps app, or use the buttons below.
The Heath in October
We walk in light rain; the Heath is lovely in it, and so are the photographs. In a heavy shower we go under the trees or into the house. Only a storm cancels, and then you get a full refund or a place on the next date, whichever you prefer. I’ll email you the evening before either way.
Hello, I’m Shamash
I’ve taught mindfulness for over twenty years and written a few books about it, including Mindfulness For Dummies and The Mindful Way Through Stress. Every weekday morning I guide a live meditation for the Daily Mindfulness Club.
Photography came later, and it changed how I practise. I photographed the hundred images in Mindful Poems, mostly abstract, mostly close, all of them found by walking slowly and looking twice. I’m not a professional photographer, and this isn’t a photography class. It’s mindfulness, with a camera to point it. This walk is that habit, shared. It’s the first one I’ve run in person, and I’ve kept it small on purpose.
What people say about learning with Shamash
“I walk away from our interactions always learning not just more about what to DO, but how to just BE, because he truly lives and embodies what he teaches. ...and he tells some great dad jokes along the way.”
Tyler W.
“He is a great human and a wonderful teacher. Thanks to him, the triad mindfulness, kindfulness and playfulness became the pillars of my meditation practice.”
Ana R.
“Beautiful experience. Very thought provoking, positive and joyful.”
Hayley R.
Mindful Photography Walk
£45
Saturday 17 October 2026, 10:30 to 12:30. Meet 10:20 at Kenwood Viewpoint, Hampstead Heath. Finish at the Brew House café (drinks are your own). The Heath is free to enter.
Book a placeGive it as a giftFull refund up to seven days before, or a transfer to the next date any time.
A question first? WhatsApp me on +44 20 7060 3392.
Let’s keep in touch
I’ll keep you posted about this walk and the ones after it, and you’ll get my weekly email too. Unsubscribe any time.
Before you decide
Is my phone good enough?
Yes. This isn’t about equipment. Most people come with a phone, and the best photographs of the morning are usually taken on one. If you love a particular camera, bring that instead.
How far do we walk?
About a mile and a half over two hours, on paths and grass, with plenty of standing still. There are benches along the way and we never hurry.
I don’t know anything about photography.
Good. I’ll say nothing about apertures or rules of thirds. We use the camera as a way of paying attention, which needs no knowledge at all.
I’ve never meditated.
That’s fine too. The practices are short, spoken plainly, and you do them with your eyes open and your feet on the grass.
Can I come on my own?
Most people do. It’s six of us, so nobody stays a stranger for long.
Can I book for a friend, or as a gift?
Yes. Tap Give it as a gift, and at checkout there’s a box for their name and email. I’ll send the joining note straight to them. Booking for two? Book once for each person.
Do I have to show my photograph at the end?
No. Most people want to by then, but it’s an invitation, not a rule.
What if it rains?
We walk in light rain; the Heath is lovely in it. In a heavy shower we go under the trees or into the house. Only a storm cancels, and then you get a full refund or a place on the next date.
What if I need to cancel?
A full refund up to seven days before, or a transfer to the next date at any time. Just reply to your receipt email.
Come and look twice
One morning, six people, a camera each, and the Heath in October. That’s the whole idea.
If this one is full or the date doesn’t suit, leave your email above and I’ll keep you posted about the next.