MBSR Center of NJ
My life is not this steeply sloping hour in which you see me hurrying."
- Rainer Maria Rilke
An Invitation to Learn
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction 
 
Desert flower
Photo by Barbara Carr

 

 

Learn to live with greater vitality, health and well-being at an eight-session Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program. Presented by the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Center of New Jersey, the program offers powerful methods for reducing stress in your everyday life.

 

Diane Handlin, Ph.D. is the only instructor in New Jersey and one of the few in the world (not just trained) but actually Certified by Jon Kabat-Zinn's and Saki Santorelli's Center for Mindfulness at UMass Medical School. 


 

To commit oneself to too many projects,

to want to help everyone in everything

is to succumb to the violence of modern times.

 

- Thomas Merton

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finest of all the things I have left

is the light of the sun,

Next to that the brilliant stars

And the face of the moon,

Cucumbers in their season, too,

apples and pears.

                     

trans. Bernard Knox Praxilla of Sicyon 5th Century B.C.

Greek Lyric Poet 

  


Upcoming Events

 


July 2012 Course in Metuchen / Edison Area

 

 All are Welcome

 Temple Emanu-El, 100 James St, Edison NJ

 

(Winter 2012 / 2013 Course in Summit NJ) 



For more information or to reserve a place for course, please contact Dr. Diane Handlin at 732-549-9100 or diane@drdianehandlin.com 

 

 

 

For more information go to  www.mindfulnessnj.com 

 


(Please note that MBSR is an educational course and not psychotherapy. If you suspect that you have medical or psychological issues, please pursue appropriate treatment.) 

Worthy of Note

   

10th Annual International Scientific Conference 

Investigating and Integrating Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society

with Jon Kabat-Zinn, Saki Santorelli

and the top researchers in the field 
March 28 - April 1, 2012
at the Four Points by Sheraton, Norwood MA
www.umassmed.edu/cfm/conference  

 


 

Videos with Jon Kabat-Zinn

 

Jon Kabat-Zinn discusses MBSR and the stress of modern life, YouTube.

 

Jon Kabat-Zinn discusses the significance of MBSR for leading a healthy life,
Google talk, YouTube, Oct 11, 2007.

 

Jon Kabat-Zinn discusses the scientific research on MBSR and its relationship to health,
Google talk, YouTube, March 8, 2007.



Jon Kabat-Zinn's new book
Mindfulness for Beginners: Reclaiming the Present Moment--and Your Life

New York Times article 

"Mindful eating as food for thought"
Jeff Gordinier, February 7, 2012.

 



Dear Reader ,

During the first class in the currently running MBSR series in Summit NJ, I found myself asking, "How do we wait?"  The word wait came to me because I had just read an editorial by Tom Friedman in the New York Times that a computer company was marketing an iPad-like device that would make it unnecessary to have personal "waiters" or "waitresses" attending to people in restaurants.  Human contact and attention would no longer be necessary.  It's not clear how the food would actually be delivered.  This device would also offer, according to Friedman, games for people to play in case they were bored with the conversation at the table.  It is projected to be one of the new "hot" items which will save restaurants a lot of money.

A complementary approach to living a technologically-driven life has been described by Jon Kabat-Zinn, whose MBSR program offers a well-researched curriculum on how to reclaim being a human "being" rather than a human "doing."  In an article entitled, The Healing Power of Mindfulness in Shambhala Sun, January 2011, Kabat-Zinn responds to Barry Boyce's question about the benefits of mindfulness -- both the practice and the state of mind -- in the following way:  Jon Kabat-Zinn says, "To be in relationship to what you are going through, to hold it, and, in some sense, to befriend it -- that is where the healing or transformative power of the practice of mindfulness lies.  When we can actually be where we are, not trying to find another state of mind, we discover deep internal resources we can make use of.  Coming to terms with things as they are is my definition of healing ...."

In the technologically-driven world in which we live today, there is the tendency to fill up every potential space.  Empirical research reveals that re-learning the skill of how to take even a momentary pause can have a profoundly positive impact on our health, well-being and even our longevity.  To read the rest of the article entitled, "The Healing Power of Mindfulnesss," which includes interviews with Kabat-Zinn, Daniel Siegel and Susan Bauer-Wu, please click here.

                    Diane Handlin, Ph.D.
                    Licensed Psychologist 





A Sampling of Current Research
on the benefits of mindfulness for body and Mind

(For more empirical research, please visit our website: wwww.mindfulnessnj.com)

  • Ninety chronic pain patients following the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program at the University of Massachusetts Medical School reported less present-moment pain, less difficulty with physical activity, and fewer medical symptoms than those following traditional pain treatment.

  • A recent Swedish study found that the practice of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy caused a 42% reduction in the primary symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome.  Binge eaters who took part in mindful eating programs at Duke University and Indiana State University reduced the frequency of their binging by approximately 75%. They also reduced their levels of insulin resistance, a precursor to diabetes.

  • Studies from the University of Manchester and the University of Montreal found compelling evidence that people who meditate have a higher pain threshold in comparison to people who don't meditate.

  • At the University of Washington, patients in recovery for substance abuse took part in a Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention program. Two months later, they reported 50% lower substance abuse levels and significantly less craving than the group in regular treatment.

  • A study from the Cleveland Clinic reported that mindfulness practice decreased negative emotions and increased well-being in people with risk-factors for coronary artery disease.

  • Mindfulness meditation helped people with multiple sclerosis cope with the depression, fatigue, and anxiety associated with the disease, reports a Swiss study in the September 2010 issue of Neurology.

  • Working with clinically depressed patients in remission, a study at Oxford University found that only 36% of patients in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy eventually relapsed, compared 62% of patients in traditional cognitive therapy.

 

The Living Moment 

 

There is a stillness at dawn
asking for me

I hear the note not played

I see the line not written

I understand the word not spoken
I am in stillness

I am the Living Moment
uncommitted.

           Cliff Woodward
     (with Stephen Damon)

Diane Handlin
Diane Handlin, Ph.D.

Founder and

Executive Director

"As to the value of the course, I would note that the group workshop designed to work through Jon Kabat-Zinn's curriculum is very effective. The workshop / course added a great deal of depth and opened my mind to a different way of looking at things and fostered exploration. When mindfullly present, time seems to expand for me. I relax, freed from thinking about the next place I have to be or the next thing I have to do ... I have discovered that if I hold off, I usually do not act along the lines of my first reaction. I've realized that I almost always have time not to act immediately. I've also rediscovered my happy me, what I remember from soooo long ago ..., and that is really wonderful."       - Jane Dobson, Corporate attorney



IMPORTANT NOTICE: Although Dr. Handlin is a licensed psychologist and has a separate psychology practice, please note that this is an educational course and not psychotherapy. In addition, information contained in this document is informational and not to be construed as medical advice. If you suspect you have medical issues, please pursue appropriate treatment. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction is a separate educational course for those interested in developing mind-body connections. MBSR is a non-psychological service offered apart from Dr. Handlin's psychology practice and is not meant to substitute for personal or professional psychological advice which must be received from a licensed mental health professional.

NJ Lic. #3306, NY Lic. #015840

 
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Center of New Jersey™

328 Amboy Ave, Metuchen NJ 08840

Tel:  732-549-9100,  www.mindfulnessnj.com