Developed by Dr Jon Kabat-Zinn, the MBSR course is an engaged program in mind and body training equipping you with tools for greater resilience in the face of life’s challenges and stressors. MBSR is for any one and we welcome people from all walks of life. Specifically, the practices and exercises explored in this course offer tangible methods for interrupting cycles of stress reactivity as well as providing a context for bringing life choices into perspective and reflecting on these in a structured way. If this resonates, MBSR is for you. 

Offered in this MBSR course:

• an initial individual session with your teacher via phone call
• eight weekly classes (2.5 hour duration) held for 8 weeks
• one full day of mindfulness retreat from 9am - 4pm on Sunday after session 5 or 6 of the course at Prince Henry Centre, Little Bay
• mindfulness meditation and body awareness training
• tools for investigating and transforming engrained habits and patterns of thinking
• teachings on theory and group discussions
• specifically tailored individual guidance and support
• guided audio and practices
• access to a community of practitioners and the latest in scientific findings on mindfulness and neuroscience
• the Openground MBSR app available on your Smart Phone or Tablet for guided meditations and a high quality course book.
• being in a group of between 12 and 25 people between the ages 18 and 100 years old – who are all interested in learning and growing.  

What are the advantages of learning mindfulness?

With a backing of over forty years of rigorous evidence-based research, the mindfulness trainings specific to this program are known to:

• improve mental and emotional functioning
• support a more balanced nervous system
• increase focus and attention
• improve sleep, overall ease and wellbeing
• decrease symptoms of negative thinking, fatigue, poor concentration, muscle pain, and emotional reactivity
• clarify goals, priorities and life purpose

Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction can help with physical health improving chronic pain management relative to usual treatment. Evidence shows MBSR participants experience improved mental health with reductions in anxiety, depression, and PTST symptoms. Eight week Mindfulness Based Programs can also improve cognition and mood by improving attention-related outcomes (e.g., sustained attention, working memory) and affective outcomes (e.g., reducing rumination).

Mindfulness-based stress reduction will teach you to:

• Redirect your focus away from the spiral of worry
• Experience a calmer nervous system, day by day
• Explore difficult emotions without analysing, suppressing or drowning in them
• Explore how your mind works and how to intervene in patterns that constrict you in your life
• Face your fears and take direct action in line with your values
• Open to the good things in your life

Learn to live in the present, becoming more aware of your thought patterns. Calm your nervous system, soothing your body and mind. Learn how to live more on-purpose, reducing reactivity and negative self-talk. Understand the effects of chronic stress, and improve your focus, your productivity and your relationships.

What sort of commitment is involved?

In order to get the most out of this course it is necessary to really jump in. Just like undertaking training in a sport or musical instrument, to notice the benefits of mindfulness requires practice and regularity. Enrolling in this course means a commitment to dedicating time for daily homework mindfulness meditation practice between 30 and 45 minutes six days a week (in addition to the weekly classes and day-long retreat). 

You might ask yourself: am I ready to really give myself to this? To fully dive in is the most reliable approach for discovering new possibilities and creating lasting change right from the centre of your own life.