8-week MBSR Stress Reduction Course (online)

My name is Joanna Malinowska, I am a certified mindfulness teacher, and I invite you to take part in the 8-week certified MBSR stress reduction course.

It will be an 8-week experience of meeting yourself with full acceptance and awareness of the present moment, one that helps you reach an inner calm and teaches you how to draw on it in everyday life.

WHAT IS THE MBSR COURSE (mindfulness-based stress reduction)?

The MBSR course is an 8-week mindfulness training developed in the late 1970s by the neuroscientist Jon Kabat-Zinn at the Stress Reduction Clinic of the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

It was created to help suffering patients lower their mental tension, reduce the stress of hospital stays and ease anxiety and depressive states, by drawing on their emotional resources through focusing attention on present-moment experience. Today the programme is used in business, education, clinics, counselling practices and support centres.

Many studies confirm that the course raises participants' mood and overall wellbeing, and that this happens thanks to beneficial changes in the brain at the level of neural connections (neuroplasticity).

It has been observed and proven that after just 8 weeks of mindfulness practice, the brain areas linked to learning, memory and concentration, to planning and problem-solving, and to emotional regulation are strengthened, while the area of the brain responsible for feelings of stress, fear and anxiety becomes smaller.

WHAT BENEFITS CAN THE MBSR COURSE BRING:

• you will cope better in stressful situations, responding to a stressor with greater calm and in a measured way

• you will learn to conserve your life energy through a clear-headed assessment of situations, no longer burning yourself out over minor matters that used to cause stress

• you will live more consciously and assess each moment with greater presence of mind

• you will notice the moment when your mind pulls you away from the present towards worry or rumination, which worsens how you feel, and learn to return to the present

• you will recognise your own autopilots, the unhelpful habitual actions, reactions and ways of thinking, and consciously replace them with new ones that serve you

• you will discover the value of doing only one thing at a time, improving your concentration, effectiveness and sense of agency

• you will develop your creativity, since a calm mind focused on one thing is more creative

• you will learn to recognise and trust your emotions better, and so take better care of yourself, knowing what serves you and what does not

• you will treat yourself gently and with empathy

• you will communicate better with others and build more satisfying relationships, thanks to the skill of mindful listening and growing empathy

• you will tolerate pain better, by reducing its subjective intensity

• by listening to your body's needs, you can improve the quality of your sleep

• you will connect with your own breath, your ally in stressful moments

  
  

HOW DOES THE MBSR COURSE WORK ONLINE?

The MBSR course consists of eight meetings, once a week, each lasting 2.5 hours. During the sessions we practise different forms of meditation, with time to share experiences. We also hold a Day of Mindfulness, 7 hours of guided practice during which you can deepen and consolidate your skills.

The course takes place on Zoom. Each participant receives an access link before the session.

The online version lets you practise from the comfort of home, or wherever you happen to be.

PRICE:

299 euros or 1250 zł. If needed, payment can be split into two or three instalments.

The course price includes:

• 2 individual consultations: one before and one after the course

• 28 hours of guided online sessions in a small, intimate group

• recordings of the formal meditations for your own practice at home

• educational materials for each session

• a certificate of completion

ONLINE SESSION DATES:

8 meetings on Sundays, 18:30 to 21:00, on:

28 June 5, 12, 19, 26

July 2, 9 and

16 August

plus a Day of Mindfulness on 5 August, 9:30 to 15:30

REGISTRATION for the MBSR course:

Please write to ahimsajoannayoga@gmail.com with the subject line "MBSR course registration", or contact me on WhatsApp at +34 622 080 983.

After you register, we arrange an initial conversation in which I tell you about the course, learn about your expectations and motivation, and together we decide whether this course is what you need right now.

ABOUT ME:

I am a mindfulness teacher in the MBSR method (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Training). I completed the Mindfulness Teacher Training run by the Polish Mindfulness Institute, which trains teachers in Poland in cooperation with The Institute for Mindfulness-Based Approaches (IMA) in Germany.

By training I am a Polish philologist, a graduate of Polish Philology at the University of Warsaw, and I worked for many years in various publishing houses as an editor and proofreader. After a long time working at a desk, though, I redirected my career and qualified to teach Iyengar yoga, which I have now been doing for 13 years. Meditation, as one element of yoga practice, has therefore been with me for a long time.

I am passionate about Ayurveda, and being in nature nourishes me; there I rest, restore myself, create and find inspiration.

I have lived in Spain for over 7 years, and here I have met with many personal and professional challenges that led me to reach for further tools to support myself in difficult moments. That is how mindfulness, which had long intrigued me, came into my life.

It brought new qualities into my daily life, freshness, clarity and calm, and it helps me live more fully and see and understand myself and others better.

You can read about the research on meditation on the Polish Mindfulness Institute's website: https://www.polski-instytut-mindfulness.pl/badania-naukowe/