Mindful Boston

Hello- Lately, I've gotten a number of emails from folks who want to know how to become MBSR teachers.  I decided to post my response here for those of you who are interested.   -GB ------------------------------------------------------------------ If you are interested in a career in MBSR, the Center for Mindfulness (CFM) has an info page at http://www.umassmed.edu/cfm/oasis/index.aspx   When you go to that page, you will see that the very first requirement is to engage in "beginner's mind" and take the MBSR program as a normal participant. You are welcome to apply for my program in Cambridge MA that starts on Oct 6th if you would like. The application for my program is at http://mindfulboston.com/stress.html#application But, of course, the CFM runs their own MBSR. So if you would prefer to take your first MBSR program there in Worcester MA instead, that would make a lot of sense.  These days, my classes have included a pretty large number of people ...

The couples who have come to my classes together usually do so because they want to learn some skills in stress reduction.  They view MBSR class as a way to learn a skill, like tennis classes can be a way to learn a skill. If the tennis analogy worked, then both partners could learn the skill at the same time and that would be a nice addition to their relationship.  In my experience, this is not a good way to view MBSR training. A better analogy for MBSR class is a kayak trip. It is a journey where you might learn some good skills, but it’s not really book-style-learning.  In a kayak journey, each kayaker is faced with all kinds of water terrain, and needs to figure out a way to handle it.  For some types of water, it’s best to be in an individual kayak so you can make personal choices and be in control of your own boat.   If a couple chooses to paddle down a river in a double kayak instead of taking two individual kayaks, both people might have a ...

We modern Bostonians do work hard to achieve our goals. And then once the goals are achieved, there is a sense of satisfaction about the achievements.  This is a great thing.  Miraculous accomplishments that we have in our lives (such as, for example, working plumbing) would not exist without our abilities to have goals and to achieve goals. It is also clear from media articles, medical reports and our own experiences that there is a side effect to having and achieving so many of the modern goals that we have: stress . During my meetings with MBSR applicants, I have been hearing them say, "I have a goal to reduce my stress."  And I have been hearing the ways in which these folks have been addressing this goal.  Because it works well for achieving their other life goals, they have been approaching stress reduction in the same way that they might approach the goal to fix their own sink.  They read about it. They take classes. They consult with experts. They ...

MBSR class will be starting in two weeks.  Before class starts there are a number of things that the students need to understand about the format and structure of class.  And, there are a number of things I need to understand about where each student is coming from.  So, there needs to be an orientation process before the start date.  In MBSR, there is some leeway about class structure.  Each teacher can decide how they want to run the orientation process for their class.  Some teachers do group meetings or skype calls.  My preferred method is to hang out in a coffee shop for an hour with each student.   There are some drawbacks to this method.  Primarily, if I am going to have 30 students in my class, I will need to budget my time to include about 40 hours of sitting in a coffee shop.  When I reflect upon the concept of 40 hours in a coffee shop, I do laugh out loud at myself for this decision.   But, we all weigh our o...

I am aware that I have not blogged in a while.  So, I'll start off slow with a quote.  The following is from one of my yoga teachers, Ken Nelson .  He is writing his newsletter from Belize where it makes sense to reflect on who the Maya were and how the "Maya Prophecy" can be viewed with sanity and wholeness. What is the Maya Prophecy? More than 5,000 years ago, Mayan astronomers calculated a cycle that began on the summer solstice of 3114 BC and will end on the winter solstice of 2012. Theories abound as to what the cycle means. Doomsayers call it the end of the world. What does the Mayan calendar mean? The director of the Belize Institute of Archeology, James Awe, says that the end of this cycle in 2012 is like the end of one year and the beginning of another, only on a very long scale. He says it's not the end days, but a time for reflection, for considering future direction. Making meaning of experience As transformational teachers our craft is practi...

At this time of budget cuts, layoffs and other manifestations of economic crisis, it is not uncommon to react with feelings of fear, horror, etc. As a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction teacher, I am not able to change these outside stressors for you.  I can't do anything about your bills.  I can't find you a new job. If you have health concerns, I can't cure your body.  I am deeply sorry. What I can do is help you with an "inside job."  I can assist you in addressing your own feelings of fear and horror.  I can show you strategies for transforming knee-jerk emotional reactions into measured responses . In mindfulness, we work towards creating sane responses that give us more control over our inner experience of happiness regardless of the outside circumstances, even when circumstances are dire.  In MBSR class, we work on our inner perceptions of reality. We work on seeing a feeling of horror as a feeling instead of perceiving the feeling as a reality...