What is Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)?

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is an 8-week programme where participants meet once a week and learn how to integrate mindfulness principles into the challenges of every-day life.

The central focus of MBSR is to empower the participants in using their own resources towards stress-related issues experienced in the form of pain, anxiety, depression, chronic or potentially terminal illness, difficult thoughts and emotions, fatigue, anger, irritation, losses, painful life events and more. It is also suitable for individuals who would like to deepen their mindfulness practice, or just anyone who value well-being and wants to live a more balanced and harmonious life.

The Live Online MBSR programme consists of:

• • Free orientation (1 ½ hrs, required for enrollment), scheduled before your first class
  • Eight weekly classes (2 ½ hrs each) live on Zoom
  • One All-Day Silent Retreat class on a Sunday
  • Attention exercises
  • Sitting practice
  • Lying down practice
  • Walking practice
  • Easy mindful yoga movements
  • Weekly home assignments that consist of daily home practice for 45-60 minutes
  • Group sharing
  • Audio files and reading materials which can also be used in future when the program is completed. This is to ensure that your mental strength and well-being keeps being strong in the long term.

• All participants must complete the MBSR Intake Form prior to taking the MBSR Programme. 

Click here

• Please note that, in order to receive a completion letter for the course, you may not miss more than two classes, and you must attend the All Day Silent Retreat class.
• This MBSR course qualifies as a prerequisite to become an MBSR Teacher.  

Background of MBSR

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Programme was founded by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn in 1979 at the Stress Clinic in the University of Massachusetts Medical School. The 8-week programme focuses on empowering the individual in all stress-related issues by cultivating a mindful approach that is based on “befriending ourselves and our experience by paying attention in a particular way; on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally” as Jon Kabat-Zinn defines it. It is an educational programme with a curriculum that has been offered in more than 700 hospitals in the United States and Europe as a participatory medicine intervention. Over the years, MBSR has been the subject of various studies that show beneficial effects on the physical and mental health of those who practice it. The 8-week MBSR Programme includes exercises that are easy to comprehend and implement, making it a widely used intervention in hospitals, schools, clinics, institutions and corporations all around the world.

Benefits of MBSR

MBSR is a scientifically proven programme that helps:

• enhance coping skills
• pain relief
• reduce anxiety
• improve immune function
• better sleep quality
• increase empathy
• decrease burn-out
• strengthen attention and focus
• reduce stress levels
• increase self-esteem
• improve brain functioning
• build up non-reactivity
• cultivate more compassion and calm
• elevate vitality and feelings of joy
• feeling connected

MBSR Teacher

ESEN SEKERKARAR: Certified MBSR Teacher by Mindfulness Center at Brown University. She has completed the MBSR Teacher Training Pathway by Center for Mindfulness at University of Massachusetts Medical School.

To read more about Esen, please click here.

What You Need

• PC/Laptop/Macbook or Tablet that is able to access Zoom. Mobile phones are not recommended for this course.
• Webcam and microphone
• High-speed stable internet connection
• A private space where you can be undisturbed.