Tuesday Evening MBSR (Online) with Rachel Ardagh
This is an online course which is suitable for those with prior meditation experience as well as those who have none.
You are asked to make a commitment to daily home practice of around thirty to forty-five minutes per day for the duration of the course.
Course dates:
Week 1: July 11th
Week 2:July 18th
Week 3:July 25th
Week 4:August 1st
Break: Week of 7th August
Week 5: August 15th
Week 6: August 22nd
Online Retreat: Sat 26th August time TBC
Week 7: August 29th
Week 8-Final Session: 5th Sept
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) was developed by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in 1979 for patients living with chronic pain originally and then adapted for all kinds of stressors.
Programme Content
In this MBSR course we will explore what we mean by the term ‘stress’ and how it manifests in our lives. We will explore the ways in which mindfulness can support us in responding to the events in our lives rather than being caught up in reactivity - how can we pause in the midst of the everything that is demanding our attention and tune into what is actually happening within and around us, and thus afford ourselves the opportunity to respond in more helpful ways. The programme promotes the development of self-awareness and general well-being. Stress is part of life, we cannot avoid it. We are encouraged to acknowledge life as it is, with all its joys and sorrows, and thus live more fully, with whatever is here.
We practice different forms of mindfulness practice including sitting meditation, the body scan gentle mindful movement and walking meditation. The emphasis is on bringing mindful awareness into everyday life.
Participants will receive a programme handbook in the post to support learning and a weekly email summarising the content and practice instructions for that week, plus guided meditation recordings.
When the course finishes there are online meditation groups you can join. This support can make a big difference to keeping up practice so that when we experience stressful times in our lives it is there to support us.
Programme Aims
The programme aims to help us to:
● Use mindfulness to relate in healthier ways to chronic pain, worry and feelings of anxiety and to better manage stressful situations in both work/home life
● Become familiar with the workings of the mind, including the ways we avoid or get caught up in difficulties
● Sustain the practice of mindfulness as a self-care tool that can be integrated into our work and home life
● Explore ways of releasing ourselves from old habits of mind that increase anxiety levels
● Get in touch with a different way of knowing ourselves and the world
● Recognise the harshness of self-judgement and develop self-acceptance
● Be able to exercise greater choice in life
● Manage interpersonal relationships and conflict more effectively
● Experience improved feelings of self-worth and compassion for ourselves and for others
Programme Certification
Participants who attend the programme fully will receive a Certificate of Completion in the “Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Programme” from The Mindfulness Centre, on request.