Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) 8-Week Course Details
Classes are offered in-person and on-line. The MBSR 8-week course is held one night per week for 2 to 2.5* hours per night, for 8 weeks. In addition, there is an “all-day” (7 hour) silent retreat on a Saturday.
*Allow 3 hours the first day.
Benefits of MBSR
This class structure and tested curriculum have been proven to result in a variety of benefits. Results, however, are not guaranteed. What you get out of the class depends on your dedication, commitment, and practice of the material over the 8-week period. Continuing to practice mindfulness beyond the class helps to maintain health and well-being.
Experiential Learning
During these classes, you will learn and use different forms of formal meditation and yoga, as well as, group discussion for learning the material. This class is highly experiential and is considered participatory medicine. In other words, you are participating in, and bringing about, your own healing.
Class sizes
Class sizes are small with no more than 20 participants per class. Group learning is very effective and helps participants recognize that they are not alone in their suffering. Group learning helps to build empathy and compassion between the participants.
Who is it for?
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction is for anyone who would like to reduce suffering in their life. Stress, work or family relationships, trauma, physical or psychological pain, disease, and illness, unhappiness, or a sense of not belonging in the world all add to the suffering. MBSR can help increase overall physical, emotional, and mental health, well-being, joy, peace, and contentment.
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, or MBSR, is ideal for beginners as well as experienced meditators, and others with a basic understanding of mindfulness.
Participants in this MBSR program must be at least 18 years old. Additionally, there are some situations that will preclude participation. Those will be discussed at the class orientation. Attendance at the class orientation is mandatory for participation.
What you will learn
Through practice and reflection, you will learn to stay present with your current experience, bringing awareness, non-judgment, and a gentle curiosity to what is unfolding in the moment. You will learn to identify ways to manage unpleasant body sensations, thoughts, and emotions in order to short-circuit habitual reactivity and develop new, more skillful responses to negative or unpleasant events.
You do not need to know how to meditate. You do not need to know how to do yoga. The yoga that we teach in this class is very gentle. You are encouraged to take care of yourself first rather than to defer your own judgment to what the instructor does. This learning is not about blindly following the leader. It’s about learning what real or perceived limitations you have as well as identifying opportunities for expansion that exist based on your own experience.
Fees, Deposits, and Refunds
The Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction course is based on a sliding scale $195 – $395 for the 8-weeks and includes supplies, guided meditations for home use, and a workbook. Please pay at the highest level you are able to allow others to attend. A $100 deposit is required at the time of registration to hold your space in the class and will be applied to the total amount. The balance will be due prior to the first class unless other arrangements have been made. In some cases, the class fee may be split into two payments.
The deposit will be refunded in full if after the orientation, and before the first class, you decide that the class is not for you. If you start the program and drop out within the first three weeks, you will be entitled to a 50% refund. Dropouts after the third week of class will not be refunded. However, you may choose to re-enroll in another session and apply those funds to another class within the year.
Participants who drop out after the class starts will be required to return all materials or pay an additional $50 fee for replacement.
Ready to register?
If you’re ready to register, head on over to the registration page.
Questions or Concerns?
If you have any questions or concerns about the class please feel free to contact me via email at: [email protected] or by phone: 541.350.3049