All of the MINDFULNESS PROGRAMS offered here are practice-based, interactive and experiential learning programs to connect you with your deepest inner resources for living, healing, and coping with stress.
• Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)
General Information:
MBSR was developed by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center’s “Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care and Society” in 1979. MBSR is a form of complementary medicine offered in over 250 U.S. hospitals and is currently the focus of a number of research studies funded by The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. It is now taught in every state in the U.S. and in more than 30 countries. Mindfulness, an important element in Mind-Body Medicine, is a complement, not a substitute, for whatever medical treatments a person may be receiving. The program is suitable for people of any religious belief or background. You need not subscribe to any spiritual path to learn and benefit from this program.
"This 'work' involves above all the regular, disciplined practice of moment-to-moment awareness or mindfulness, the complete 'owning' of each moment of your experience, good, bad, or ugly. This is the essence of full catastrophe living." - Jon Kabat-Zinn
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In 1979, Jon Kabat-Zinn recruited chronically ill patients not responding well to traditional treatments to participate in his newly formed eight-week stress-reduction program which we now call Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). Since then, substantial research has demonstrated benefits, including a reduction in chronic pain levels, an increased ability to relax, a greater enthusiasm for life, improved self-esteem, and an increased ability to cope more effectively with the stress of pain and illness; thus, greatly improving their quality of life.
Tens of thousands of people have attended these programs wordwide. Research shows MBSR to provide effective complementary care for a wide variety of medical and psychological conditions including anxiety, asthma, cancer, chronic pain, depression, diabetes, fibromyalgia, gastrointestinal disorders, heart disease, hypertension, mood disorders, sleep disturbances, and stress disorders.
The majority of those learning MBSR report lasting decreases in both physical and psychological symptoms. Pain levels reduce as people learn to cope better with chronic pain. Most people also report an increased ability to relax, a greater enthusiasm for life, improved self-esteem, and an increased ability to cope more effectively with the stress of pain and illness; thus, greatly improving their quality of life.
Mindfulness is the practice of present-moment awareness. It promotes personal wellbeing and enables us to experience life more fully by developing the ability to return with kindness to the present moment rather than being lost in repetitive thoughts and worries about the past or future. In this way, we become more able to respond by making conscious choices, rather than to react out of habitual and often unconscious patterns.
For the program to be effective, your commitment to 45 minutes of daily practice and active participation in all classes, as well as the daylong retreat is key. Its success requires a strong commitment to daily practice.
The standard 8-week course meets for 2.0 hours weekly depending on the size of the class. The day-long (10am-4pm) silent retreat, held on a Saturday towards the end of the course, provides an opportunity for participants to experience more deeply the mindfulness techniques learned in class.
Other formats may also be offered:
(Please contact us if you are interested in the Weekend or 'Sandwich' Format)
Mindfulness: A Weekend Program, meeting 4 times usually for 4 hours, every other Saturday or Sunday for the 8 weeks combined with a day-long (10-4pm) meditation retreat.
Mindfulness: A ‘Sandwich’ Intensive Program, meeting for 4 hours each day on Saturday/Sunday, 2 hours M-W (times TBD), a day-long (10-4pm) meditation retreat the following Saturday, final session M (times TBD).
about MINDFULNESS
Experiential Learning Programs for Managing Stress & Cultivating Awareness
• HEART of the MATTER Series:
These series covers the elements of MBSR and are expanded to include additional practices focused on specific situations.
HEART of the MATTER –
Mindfulness Tools for the Challenges of Caregiver Stress
HEART of the MATTER –
Mindfulness Tools for the Challenges of Chronic Pain
HEART of the MATTER –
Mindfulness Tools for the Challenges of a Recent Life-Limiting Diagnosis