Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)

MBSR is an 8-week group programme which has been developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Worcester Medical School, Massachusetts, USA, in 1979. Since then, a multitude of scientific studies indicate positive effects on health and well-being, e.g., on attention, emotion regulation and mood, and benefits for coping with stress, pain, and chronic diseases. The programme and several adaptations are taught around the world.

Mindfulness is a secular form of meditation that helps to be present and aware of experiences in our body and our mind. By practicing mindfulness, we cultivate a new way to relate to these experiences. In this way the practice opens a path to support more moments of steadiness and joy.

When you find yourself moving through your life on autopilot (as a lot of us are), and your mind being occupied with thoughts about the past or the future, the practice of mindfulness may be helpful to reconnect with your inner experience in the present moment. This may help to step out of autopilot and to regain the freedom to make supportive choices.

The course sessions include guided mindfulness practices, involving practices in stillness as well as movement practices. These are followed by reflections on your experiences in a guided dialogue that supports the learning. Besides the practice each session will focus on a topic related to mindfulness. The course includes a handbook with material supporting your practice as well as recordings for your home practice.

Practicing mindfulness in a group can be supportive in many ways. It inspires us to engage with the practice and helps motivate us to practice. You also experience and practice being mindful of communication and relationships. Furthermore, listening to other people's experiences and, if you want to, sharing your own experience within the group, deepens the learning and reveals that a lot of experiences are - because we're human - common ground, beyond individual differences.

The MBSR courses are open to everyone who wants to experience the potential impact of mindfulness on their lives and to find out how mindfulness can be beneficial for them. A lot of people find mindfulness helpful for dealing with stress and stress-related conditions and for building up resources in times when life feels challenging.

MBSR online (8-week course with weekly sessions of 2-2 1/2 hours, including an additional full day of practice) delivered on the platform Zoom.

Dates:

Monday evenings Jan 15th until March 11th 2024, 6 pm to 8.30 pm (CET) (except Feb 12th)
All-day retreat (10 to 4 pm CET) on February 24th

Wednesday mornings Jan 17th until March 13th 2024, 10 am to 12.30 pm (CET) (except Feb 14th)
All-day retreat (10 am to 4 pm CET) on February 24th

Find more dates and other formats beginning in 2024 right here.

Although mindfulness can be helpful in dealing with psychological distress, like worrying or ruminating, the course is not a substitute for psychotherapy. If you suffer from psychological symptoms, the course may not be suitable for you at this time. This is especially the case if you have a history of trauma or panic attacks. For specific psychological symptoms specific mindfulness courses may be more suitable than MBSR.

To find out whether the course fits your needs and expectations, we'll have a one-to-one online meeting ahead of the course.

• Please arrange, if possible, to attend each of the 8 weekly sessions as well as the practice day. To experience the potential impact of mindfulness on your life it is also important to arrange to spend up to 45 minutes for home practice daily.
• You should have a private room for yourself during the course sessions with some space around you for movement practices.
• Please use a desktop computer or laptop to join the sessions and make sure that you have sufficient internet bandwidth to support the audio and video connection on the Zoom platform.
• Please make sure that you have a mat and a blanket and maybe cushions for lying down meditation and movement practices. If you prefer to sit on a meditation cushion or bench, please have it available.
• Cost: 80 € total, including the all-day retreat.

I am a psychologist and cognitive-behavioural psychotherapist in private practice located in Munich, Germany. I first learned about mindfulness in 2008. I participated in several workshops related to mindfulness in psychotherapy and have been working with mindfulness in psychotherapy since then.

Since 2021 I am training to become a teacher of Mindfulness-based group programmes within a Master's degree (Teaching Mindfulness-based courses) at Bangor University, UK. As I am now starting to provide the full eight-week programmes the fees for my courses will be reduced until summer 2024.


Contact details:

mindfulness@beate-knott.de
+49 (0)175 491 5056
www.beate-knott.de/mindfulness

If you have any questions about the courses or whether it may fit for your purposes, please send an E-Mail or leave a voice mail via phone. I will get back to you as soon as possible.