Mindfulness MBSR-Stuartsyogacara www.stuartsyogacara.co.uk

Mindfulness MBSR-www.stuartsyogacara.co.uk

What is Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction ?

I trained and qualified to teach MBSR Courses with

Bangor University Centre For Mindfulness Research & Practice

MBSR was developed in the USA by Prof. Jon Kabat-Zinn evolving from his personal interest in zen meditation and yoga. Developed at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. The programme assisted those finding traditional medical care unproductive, those difficult to cure, or seemingly impossible to treat. The evidence of successful treatment using MBSR methods lead to the development and investment in the Stress Clinic at UMMC; following very humble beginnings in the basement of the facility. Peer reviews and academic research have lead to the establishment of a global system of delivery and training in MBSR and its derivatives offering improved health and support to millions.

An MBSR course is often delivered in a group setting in 2.5 hour sessions over eight weeks. Each week has a theme which studies and informs us of an aspect of mindfulness that will help us understand how present moment mindful awareness can in practice be healing, repairing and empowering. We learn aspects of how our mind interprets evidence from our experiences., how it may run on auto-pilot and how sometimes it may not always serve us helpfully or accurately. Content is devoted to understanding the stress response systems in human biology. We look at how we can understand both negative and positive life experiences more mindfully as we share together and feedback into the group. What are thoughts? How can they affect us? How can we work with our thinking more mindfully? These are all threads that we consider and discuss.

All of our learning is supported by our practises working in the present moment with our body and our breathing. Each class will contain instruction and practise of mindful awareness. This takes the form of a body scan, breathing meditation, simple yoga, walking meditation, sensory awareness, mindful eating and the breathing space. We establish a regular daily practise using these mindful skills. Building from fifteen to forty five minutes in duration this practice supports our learning as we develop an understanding of how present moment awareness from the right perspective can lead us back to balance and wellness.

The early weeks of our course do not directly address our greatest problems yet help us understand how helpful it can be to give full attention to each present moment. Our mindful practises help to develop our skills to connect to our body and breathing in the present moment and develop an appreciation of why that may be helpful in face of difficulty.

Over the course we benefit greatly from enquiry. Interactions, interpretations, questions and answers that we share as a group can lead us individually to begin to resolve our difficulties and find a path forward in mindful living. Our conversations are protected by helpful boundaries that we respect to uphold as a group including not telling another person how to be or what to think. We work things out for ourselves supported by the group as a whole. When several weeks into the course we look to develop the breathing space practise we will feel ready to learn the structure in MBSR that helps us to work with difficult challenges. We start with something very mild and rehearse our learning cloaked in mindfulness for support.

Each week requires a full commitment to practise mindful skills. Be it meditation, bodyscan, yoga, experience diaries it is very important to practically experience working with body mind and breathing in the present moment. Each practise builds and strengthens upon the last.