Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)

Course Outline as described by UMASS Medical School Center for Mindfulness

Stress is seen by many as a "given" in today's world, but in fact it is neither normal nor healthy. Stress actually compounds difficulties in our lives, creating greater challenges for our health, relationships, work productivity, and more. Among the difficulties people report when they come to our mindfulness classes are stress and anxiety, relationship difficulties, feeling out of control, chronic pain or illness, depression, and more. Before you begin to read the information below, we invite you to take a moment to pause and consider what brought you to this point. What is in your mind and heart and body that caused you to bring this web page onto the screen of this computer?

Now, take a moment to step back from your definition of the problem or problems and notice that there was also an aspect of you that was aware of this difficulty and was open to working with such challenges in a different way. After all, if you were satisfied with how you were dealing with the things you face in your life, would you have sought out a program about stress reduction? Perhaps that “inner voice” was seeking peace, balance, equanimity or a sense of control.

That awareness can be thought of in many ways, but we like to consider it your inner wisdom. You have had that sense of what feels right or wrong for you as long as you can remember, even though there have probably been times when you could not hear it, or you ignored or misunderstood it. That inner wisdom knows the fundamental principle upon which the foundation of mindfulness programs are built, that there is more right with you than wrong with you.

Our Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course is unlike any sort of program you may have encountered before. It involves cultivating a different relationship between you and the things that challenge you in your life, and relies completely upon the tools you already have. Specifically, mindfulness helps you access the ability to be non-judgmental, compassionate, patient, present and aware. You wouldn’t have come this far if these qualities did not exist in you somewhere.

However, just because you have the inner wisdom and resources to contend differently with your life and all its aspects, does not mean that you routinely use them. Most of us are on “auto-pilot” much of the day and tend to react much more than we respond to the decisions and situations we face. Our courses are intended to develop the innate ability to cultivate mindfulness over “mindlessness”, with which we are all familiar. Those moments when we are unaware of where we are, what we are feeling and why we are doing what we are doing. Quite frequently, those are the moments that contribute most to our suffering. Just a few examples are: eating foods that we know we would be better off not eating; spending time with people that cause us great difficulty or emotional pain; or engaging in activities that are stressful, harmful or unnecessarily distracting.

The overriding focus and intention of our 8-week MBSR course is to reconnect you with that inner wisdom and deep knowing that resides within you. Mindfulness-based groups have a huge and growing body of research supporting their usefulness to address the kinds of problems we have described. If you are interested in reviewing a small part of the books and research articles covering mindfulness-related topics, please view the bibliography (in PDF format) we have compiled.

This is an opportunity to rediscover yourself and to access the qualities and strengths you possess deep inside. Sit back, take a moment to become aware of the surroundings you are in, the sensations in your body, the thoughts in your mind and the feelings in your heart. Are you feeling curious, excited, skeptical, nervous, hopeful or bored? Are you aware of physical sensations of tension, pain, warmth or numbness? Can you hold all of the amazing and varied things in your awareness for a moment without having to change them, extinguish them or get lost in them? Can you experience this very moment for the precious, fleeting and beautiful thing that it is?

You have just tasted some of your own ability to be mindful and we invite you to cultivate it further through participation in the Florida Community of Mindfulness MBSR program.

What is Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction?

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD., is an eight-week program that systematically teaches mindfulness practices and therapeutic yoga to help understand and reduce stress, increase well-being, and support health, healing and personal growth. The weekly meetings support participants in integrating the practices into their daily life.

Through this MBSR course, you will learn skills that can noticeably enhance your ability to:

• Take care of your own body and mind and enhance a sense of well-being
  
• Cope with stress, pain, illness, and the challenges of everyday life
  
• Deal with distressing events, such as grief and loss, with grace and a sense of inner balance
  
• Be fully present and alive as to enjoy life as it unfolds moment by moment
  
• Be connected to yourself and others

The course schedule consists of eight weekly classes and one All Day Retreat. This highly participatory, practical course includes:

• Guided instruction in mindfulness meditation practices
  
• Gentle stretching and mindful yoga
  
• Inquiry exercises to support self-understanding and enhance awareness in everyday life
  
• Individually tailored instruction
  
• Group dialogue/activities
  
• Daily home assignments (30 to 45 minutes of personal practice)
  
• Guided audio files for home practice and a workbook

The course is challenging and life-affirming. The instructor, a fully qualified teacher of MBSR, aims at supporting this journey by creating a safe, supportive, and deeply engaging learning environment that allows participants to seek, explore and inquire.

In this program, you will learn to:

• Articulate the key aspects of mindfulness as it relates to stress reduction, coping with pain and illness and enhancing well-being
  
• Differentiate MBSR from relaxation and techniques that may seem similar but are fundamentally and theoretically different in relating to life difficulties and enhancing one's own quality of life
  
• Apply mindfulness practices in both personal and professional settings as to foster greater effectiveness in relating to the demands of both settings
  
• Integrate mindfulness into social interaction with colleagues, supervisors, clients/patients, family and friends to facilitate more effective and mindful communication
  
• (For those in the helping professions) Articulate the potential benefits of mindfulness-based stress reduction (and mindfulness in general) to educate patients and their families about the benefits of such programs in their own lives
  
• Implement brief mindfulness practices with patients/clients and family members as to foster resilience in the face of acute pain, anxiety and distress.
  

Please click here for information about our upcoming MBSR classes and to register. We look forward to sharing this transformative program with you!

* Florida Community of Mindfulness, Inc. is approved by the Florida Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage & Family Therapy and Mental Health Counseling to provide continuing education credits through CE Provider # 50-14766. Total in-class time is 25 hours over 8 weeks.

Mindfulness Institute Grievance Procedure

Mail a statement describing your complaint to: Director of Continuing Education, 6501 N. Nebraska Avenue, Tampa, FL 33604.