Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction

Five Saturday afternoons 1.15-5.15: February 4 & 18; March 3, 17, 31

On a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course you'll learn new ways of handling difficult physical sensations, feelings and moods by developing 'mindfulness' - a way of paying attention, on purpose and non-judgmentally to what is happening in the present moment in your body and mind and in the world around you. That can help you break habitual patterns and respond more creatively to challenges and difficulties, from stress at work and physical pain to anxiety, depression and other conditions.

Who is the course for?

The MBSR programme is known to help with a wide range of problems, both physical and psychological, and enhance your capacity to cope. It's entirely secular and useful for anyone who's ready to learn new ways of responding to what life brings.

Sometimes people come because they want to work with a particular issue such as depression or anxiety; others want to learn how to cope better with stress in their work or at home; and others simply want to let go of preoccupations and appreciate their lives more fully. The principles and practices explored in the course are relevant to all, and through dialogue we'll explore how they can apply in your life.

This course covers the same material as Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), which is approved by NICE as a method to avoid relapsing into depression. However, it isn't suitable for people in an acute stage of mental illness or severe depression. If you'd like to discuss the course and whether it's suitable for you, please feel free to contact us.

What happens on the course?

You'll learn several mindfulness practices and have the chance to discuss your experience of them. Home practice is an important part of the course, and you'll need to spend 30 and 50 minutes a day between each class. To get the most from it, you need a strong commitment to working on yourself through this gentle but rigorous daily discipline of mindfulness exercises.

This course covers the eight modules of the standard MBSR/MBCT course in four double sessions running from 1.15 to 5.15. The meeting on March 17 is a practice session.

Who'll teach the course?

Vishvapani Blomfield, the trainer, has taught mindfulness and meditation for 19 years. He trained with Breathworks, one of the leading UK mindfulness organisations, and teaches Breathworks courses in pain and stress management and also trained in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction with Michael Chaskalson and the University of Bangor's Centre for Mindfulness. He is also known for his broadcasts from a Buddhist perspective on BBC Radio 4's Thought for the Day. His biography of the Buddha: 'Gautama Buddha: the Life and Teachings of the Awakened One' was published this year.