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Body scan
Sitting meditation

Guided mindfulness practices

The concept of mindfulness has existed for over five thousand years, however mindfulnes-based stress redution is considered the first form of its introduction into the western culture. MBSR was developed at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in the 1970s by Professor Jon Kabat-Zinn. MBSR uses a combination of mindfulness meditation, body awareness, and yoga to help people become more mindful. This video provides a short introduction to the beginnings of  MBSR narrated by Jon Kabat-Zinn amongst others.

How mindfulness came to be

Mindfulness in practice

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In this video Jon Kabat-Zinn and Anderson Cooper offer a small insight into how mindfulness looks like in practice.

If we spend our lives planning and worrying about the future instead of living the moment our days and lives can pass us by without us actually being there.  Mindfulness reminds us of being present and aware. To just eat when you eat, or just shower when you shower. As Jon Kabat-Zinn puts it, next time you are in the shower check you are in the shower. You may be in your next meeting, with 50 people in the shower with you! Through mindfulness we can learn to savour each moment and live stresfull events in a healthier way.

This MBSR course is based on the work of Dave Potter who is  a certified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction instructor. Dave trained at the University of Massachusetts Medical School where Jon Kabat-Zinn founded the Center for Mindfulness and specialises in anxiety, stress and trauma. Each week you will be able to find a short introduction to the week as well as some readings, worksheets, formal and informal practices for the week, videos and additional readings.

MBSR course

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Professor Mark Williams narrates a 10 minute relaxation exercise, which incorporates a series of breathing and visualisation techniques.

Experience 10 minutes of mindfulness

* NOTE: Much of the material in this course is drawn from the works of other teachers and writers in the spirit of making mindfulness more widely available. Thanks to them for contributing towards making this free Online MBSR course possible.

Mindfulness based stress reduction

Visit Jon Kabat Zinn's web where you will be able to purchase a series of 3 guided meditation programs, in addition to his books, videos, CDs and MP3s. The MBSR program is an eight-week workshop which consists of weekly group two-hour long meetings/classes and a one-day retreat which includes six-hours of mindfulness practice between sessions six and seven, 45 minutes a day of formal home practice is required for six days a week. Instruction in three formal techniques is given: mindfulness sitting meditation, body scanning and simple yoga postures. MBSR is based on the following tenets: non-judging, non-striving, acceptance, letting go, beginner’s mind, patience, trust, acceptance, and non-centering you can find more information and videos of the techniques and tenets in the free online course material below. Even though the best way to learn mindfulness is by attending a course in person, for logistic or economical reasons this may not be possible, therefore this page aims to provide you with the same content. 

Here is an introduction to the three major formal meditation technique used in MBSR. Body scanning is the first prolonged formal mindfulness technique taught during the first four weeks of the workshop and entails quietly lying on one's back and focusing one's attention on various regions of the body, starting with the toes and moving up slowly to the top of the head. Sitting meditation is the second formal meditation technique it consists of meditating while we are sitting in a dignified position, during the first week it is recommended it is done with the audio guidance but from there on it can be done both with and without audio guidance, whichever is preferred. The third formal meditation technique is mindful yoga. where we bring awareness to our mind and body while we do yoga. 

Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is a program that incorporates mindfulness to assist people with pain and a range of conditions and life issues that were initially difficult to treat in a hospital setting. Clinical research studies have documented various physical and mental health benefits of mindfulness in different patient categories as well as in healthy adults and children.
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