What is mindfulness?

Mindfulness is a way of learning to relate directly to whatever is happening in your life so that you can experience greater vitality and well-being in the present moment. Pain, whether physical or emotional, tends to force our attention to contract. Rather than thinking about what may lie ahead or events from the past, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction offers a way of living more skillfully which can help you expand your awareness, discover choices where none were seen before, and live your life in a more deeply satisfying way. It is a way of doing something for yourself that no one else can do for you. It teaches an approach for systematically transforming stress, whether from pain, illness, or the challenges and demands of everyday life.

Understanding and Managing Your Stress

Stress is a frequent part of our complex lives. It often results from trying to juggle multiple responsibilities and relationships. It can also arise as a result of pain or illness and can heighten discomfort and suffering. Stress affects people differently. Sometimes we may not even be aware of feeling stressed until we find ourselves suffering physically or psychologically. It is a symptom that may signal that we are off balance and have lost some of our innate ability to experience contentment and well-being.

The core of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Program is mindfulness meditation and its integration into the rich potential of everyday life. This course provides a supportive and therapeutic environment where participants can learn to:

• Recognize signs of stress
• Learn relaxation techniques
• Discover how thoughts can help or hinder stress management
• Cope more effectively with stressful situations
• Decrease psychological suffering
• Reduce pain and cope with pain that may not go away
• Develop new responses to sleep disturbances and fatigue
• Communicate effectively
• Build self-confidence
• Tap into greater energy, well being, enthusiasm and appreciation of life

People participate in the MBSR program for conditions as diverse as