Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction
A mauli ola-nourishing course in conscious living
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is an empirically-supported 8-week psycho-educational group intervention that teaches mindfulness as a health support. MBSR is not therapy (though it can be a healing process).
Adapted from Buddhist teachings, it was first designed by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn in 1979. MBSR offers participants the possibility to develop a different relationship to stress. It will be delivered for Kanaka 'Ōiwi, BIPOC, and LGBTQ/MVPFAFF providers and helpers working toward recovery from the Maui wildfires.
We will be sending the final days/times for the course by September 12th. For the Maui wildfire recovery cohort, we plan to start the week of September 15th (day/time will be based on responses from the interest forms).
Research suggests positive improvements in physical and psychological symptoms, as well as supportive changes in health attitudes and behaviors when engaging fully in MBSR.
This highly participatory, practical course includes:
Guided instruction in mindfulness meditation practices
Guided instruction in applied mindfulness (e.g., eating, walking)
Gentle stretching and mindful movement (gentle Yoga āsana)
Inquiry exercises to enhance awareness in everyday life
Group and small group dialogue
Daily home activities
Guided audio files for home practice
Participants describe MBSR as challenging and life-affirming. Certified MBSR instructors are accomplished and skilled at creating a safe, supportive, and deeply engaging learning environment that allows participants to seek, explore, and inquire. For this course, your instructor will be Jo Qina'au :)
In MBSR, you will learn to:
Identify the key aspects of mindfulness as it relates to stress reduction, coping with pain and illness and enhancing mauli ola (wellbeing)
Articulate the difference between MBSR from relaxation and other distraction techniques that may seem similar but are fundamentally and theoretically quite different in contending with difficulty and enhancing quality of life
Apply mindfulness techniques in both personal and professional settings
Apply mindfulness in social interactions with others to facilitate more effective and mindful communication
Describe the potential benefits of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (and mindfulness in general) to educate others
*Adapted from UC San Diego’s Integrative Health site
Class Contents:
Required orientation (2-2.5 hours), held the week before your first class (week of Sep 15th for Maui cohort)
Eight weekly classes (2.5 hours each) via Zoom
One all-day silent retreat, held on a weekend, usually between weeks 6 and 7 (a variety of mindfulness activities, all online)
Daily home practice, about 45-60 minutes a day
Optional one-on-one check-in with the instructor.
Class Attendance & Planning
The classes are held over 9 weeks. To truly feel the full benefit, we ask you make the time to commit to being at all 9 classes (1 orientation, 8 classes). If you need to miss a class, please let us know ahead of time and we can share weekly assignments and any other relevant information.
Our classes are held on Zoom.
After registration, you might want to watch this introductory video on MBSR.
In class, we encourage you to dress comfortably in loose-fitting clothing (sweats or loungewear works well) and bring a mat or pad upon which you can lie on the floor for a part of the time.
If you’re really hungry to learn more about mindfulness from an MBSR lens, Full Catastrophe Living is a solid start!
NOTE: Cohort kākou is important. We recommend that if your schedule will not allow you to attend the first session, or prevents from attending any two sessions of the course, that you consider waiting until the next offering of the program.
We hope that after having read this material and reviewed the expectations of the class, you are still interested in attending the next MBSR course! Let us know if you have questions!
*Adapted from UC San Diego’s Integrative Health site
Summary of Weekly Flow
Orientation occurs one week before your first class and is required so you can really understand what to expect before you jump in!
You will:
Meet the instructor and other participants
Receive a full overview of the course, ask questions and make an informed decision about enrolling.
Engage in MBSR practices
You'll also learn a bit about MBSR’s evidence-based practices can complement other kinds of treatments and positively impact your daily life.
Week 1
Receive a more in-depth overview of the course, explore the mind-body connection, and discover what it means to be fully engaged in the present moment. You'll experience mindful eating, the body-scan meditation, and review your at-home practice for the week.
Week 2
Changing your perception and response to challenges can reduce stress. How you see things (or don't see them) will determine in large part how you respond. You’ll examine your perceptions, assumptions, and the way you view the world. You’ll further explore the body-scan practice to create more awareness of how you react to stressful situations. This week’s homework includes a focused awareness practice and ways to bring mindfulness practice into your daily routine.
Week 3
This week you’ll practice mindful movement, sitting meditation and walking meditation. You’ll discover that there is both pleasure and power in being present. This is an ideal time to share your experiences and ways you are integrating mindfulness into your daily life.
Week 4
This week, your practice will focus on your ability to concentrate and expand your field of awareness. You'll learn how your body and mind react to stress, and how to use mindful methods to respond positively and proactively to stressful situations.
Week 5
By now, you’ll understand and use the basics of mindfulness to manage challenges and stress. We'll focus on identifying and interrupting recurring unhealthy patterns through mindful awareness. You’ll also discover how to apply mindfulness when encountering physical sensations, intense emotions, or difficult conditions.
Week 6
Resilience refers to our ability to recover and restore balance after stressful events. You’ll draw on inner resources and develop practices to strengthen your ability to handle stress. You'll also learn how to be more aware and present in difficult conversations by experimenting with different styles to improve how you connect and engage with others.
All-Day Session
This guided online retreat typically takes place on a weekend between weeks 6 and 7. This meeting is an intensive 7.5-hour session essential to helping you integrate MBSR skills into your daily life and equip you to apply them long after the program ends.
Week 7
We'll look at how you can bring mindfulness into every part of your life. MBSR is not just about having a formal meditation practice, but also being aware in everything you do and using non-judgmental mindfulness in your self-reflection and decision-making. You'll learn how to maintain your daily practice even as circumstances change throughout your life.
Week 8
In the final week, we'll revisit everything you've learned, focusing on how to maintain your progress in the months and years ahead. You’ll explore resources to deepen your mindfulness practice as your life evolves, along with support systems to help you keep integrating, learning, and growing. Mindfulness is most effective when it’s a lifelong commitment. This final class marks the end of the MBSR program but the start of your ongoing journey with mindfulness.
*Adapted from U Mass Memorial Health Mindfulness Center
Practice Tips
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction program is an eight week course designed to teach people how to work with various types of “stressors” or suffering that might be limiting the life they would like to live. Before participating in the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction course we ask that you please watch the MBSR Orientation Video (from UCSD) and consider a few things before you enroll.
To make a personal commitment to MBSR meditation practice.
We encourage 45-60 minutes daily meditation 6 days per week for the next 8 weeks. Your commitment is essential to get the kind of outcomes MBSR can provide. It is the practice of mindfulness that will enable you to realize its benefits. This commitment can be a challenging one, and may require a lifestyle change. You may have to rearrange your schedule to allow time for daily practice, carving out time from other activities. Once you taste the benefits of MBSR, then you may find that maintaining a daily practice becomes easier and highly rewarding.
To make a personal commitment to practice mindfulness in daily living (informal mindfulness practice).
We can bring mindfulness to eating, walking, driving, interpersonal relationships, anytime throughout the day. This conscious act of remembering and bringing attention to the present moment and simple activities throughout the day, enhances your formal meditation practice. Both formal and informal practice are just that, practice at being fully present to each moment as life unfolds just as it is.
To put goal attainment on hold.
Putting aside any desire to use MBSR to reach a certain objective (e.g., relaxation, pain relief, inner peace) will allow you to fully experience a primary part of the program, which is “non-doing” or “non-striving.”
To approach your practice with an attitude of kindness, compassion, gentleness, openness and inquisitiveness toward yourself and others.
We encourage you to simply observe with a friendly attitude, developing a deeper awareness.
To share relevant events, materials or experiences for the good of the group.
You are invited to share, in whatever manner you are most comfortable, a brief summary or copy of an article, book, poem, movie, idea, story or anything that is relevant to the formal or informal practice of mindfulness or stress management. This information may be shared during any session.
*Adapted from UC San Diego’s Integrative Health site
