Free Orientations

Before enrolling in the Stress Reduction course (see description below), you can attend a free evening orientation onorTuesday, Sept. 21, 6:30 pm, or Wednesday, Sept. 29, 6:30 pm, at 580 California Street (Kearny/Montgomery). This free orientation will help you understand what the eight-week program is all about:

• Learn about Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction and explore whether it is right for you.
• Meet the course instructor, Suvanna Cullen.
• Experience, first-hand, mindfulness methods and approaches you will be learning during the program.
• Have the opportunity to enroll in the course.

To attend a free orientation class, choose a date (both classes start at 6:30 pm) below:
Sept. 14 or Sept. 21. or email sfstressreduction@gmail.com.

Introduction to Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)

Founded in 1979 by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is the systematic application of mindfulness training to stress and to health problems related to stress. MBSR has proven highly effective in diminishing anxiety and panic, and in lessening the ill effects of stress on heart disease, cancer, chronic pain, skin ailments, asthma, and many other conditions. Even with our greatest challenges, mindfulness can teach us to live more satisfying lives, and to nurture our health and well-being.

Register for the eight week course.

Course outline

The course in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction takes place over eight weeks. Classes are 2-1/2 hours and are held in the evening once a week. Each class consists of guided meditations, gentle movement exercises, lecture, and group discussion. The course includes an all-day session on a Saturday. Between classes, students will enhance their participation through working with meditation CDs, homework assignments, and readings from the course textbook,Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn. The in-class curriculum includes the following components:

Week 1: Introductions ° Program and materials ° Foundations of Mindfulness ° More right with you than wrong ° Introduction to Body Scan meditation

Week 2: Patience ° Seated gentle yoga ° Working with perceptions °The Wandering Mind ° The STOP exercise

Week 3: Non-Striving ° Introduction to Awareness of Breathing Meditation ° Mindful Lying Yoga ° Attention vs. Disattention

Week 4: Non-Judging ° Responding vs. Reacting ° Seeing Our Patterns ° Sitting Meditation ° Standing Yoga ° Research on Stress & Stress Hardiness

Week 5: Acknowledgment ° Group Reflections on Halfway Point ° Small & Large Groups ° Sitting Meditation ° Qi Gong

Week 6: Letting it Be ° Skillful Communication ° Avoiding Difficulty vs. Entering and Blending ° Lovingkindness Meditation ° Walking Meditation

Daylong Session (see description)

Week 7: Sitting Meditation ° Mindful Movement ° Trust & Self-Reliance ° Learning How to Practice on One’s Own ° Mindfulness in Everyday Life

Week 8: Sitting Meditation ° Mindful Movement ° The Class Never Ends: Practice for the rest of Your Life ° Course Review & Group Reflection

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Contact Us

email info@stressreductionatwork.com

phone 415.820.1533