What is mindfulness-based stress reduction?
Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is an eight-week, evidence-based program that offers mindfulness training to assist people with stress, anxiety, depression and pain that was created at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in 1979 by Professor Jon Kabat-Zinn. MBSR uses a combination of mindfulness meditation, body awareness meditations, yoga, and behavioral awareness techniques to reduce stress, anxiety, and increase health. Kabat-Zinn would later explain the MBSR program in his book, Full Catastrophe Living, which was published in 1990. The book includes using the body and mind’s innate wisdom process and overcome “stress, pain, and illness.”
What is does the MBSR curriculum teach?
MBSR curriculums cover a range of meditation, mindfulness, and behaviorial trainings to reduce stress and anxiety.
While MBSR curriculums will vary from provider to provider, some common themes include the following learning goals:
Dealing with challenges and setbacks
Taking responsibility for ourselves and how one responds to stress
Managing pleasant and unpleasant events Expanding one's awareness to the world of experiences around us
Cultivating the power to respond to stress in a healthy way
Developing practices that improve resilience to stress
Improving discipline so mindfulness meditation becomes fully integrated into our routines
Strategies for maintaining and deepening one's practice on one's own throughout one's life
In general, courses include guided mindfulness activities, group dialogue and personal reflections, and home practice assignments.
How long are MBSR courses?
Typical Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction courses are 8 weeks long and consist of 1 session each week which vary in length, but average between 2-4 hours in duration. When applying for an 8-week MSBR course, carefully review the course curriculum and syllabus to understand what modules will be taught, how sessions are organized, and if there are special requirements to complete each session such as all-day retreats.
How many people are enrolled in an MBSR course?
The total number of participants that collectively take an MSBR course will range anywhere from 10-12 people per class for smaller, in-person programs, to upwards of 30-40 participants for online MBSR programs.
Where can I complete an 8-week MSBR course?
Practitioners interested in completing an 8-week MSBR course can sign up for programs conducted by universities, lead by healthcare institutions, or by many MSBR-certified instructors.
1. University-based MSBR Programs
The most popular MSBR courses are taught at universities such as Brown University and the Mindfulness and Health Institute, University of California at San Diego, and University of California at San Francisco.
2. Healthcare-based MSBR Programs
Hospitals and medical facilities offer mindfulness-based stress reduction courses online and in-person. One example is Sutter Health’s online MSBR course.
3. Programs Taught by MSBR-Certified Instructors
Besides healthcare providers and universities, companies and individual instructors certified to lead MSBR trainings offer courses both in person and online. Some examples include the Copper Beech Institute and the East Coast Mindfulness center.
Who can teach MSBR courses?
All prospective instructors should meet the Qualifications and Recommended Guidelines for MBSR Teachers as developed and implemented by Oasis Institute for Mindfulness-Based Professional Education and Training at the UMMS Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society (CFM).
Additional information about teacher readiness can be found on the CFM website and printed materials describing Mindfulness-Based Professional Education and Training Programs, and Teacher Certification in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction.
Where can I get certified to teach MSBR?
Professionals and meditators can get certified to teach mindfulness-based stress reduction courses through a variety of certifying institutions including universities like Stanford, UC San Diego, and Brown University.
