Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction in Mind-Body Medicine: A 7-Day Residential Training 

oasis-7-day-walking
Participants engaged in walking meditation
 

Instructors: Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD and Saki Santorelli, EdD, MA

For more than three decades, Drs. Jon Kabat-Zinn and Saki F. Santorelli and their colleagues at the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) have pioneered mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and the integration of meditation and mindfulness into mainstream medicine, health care, and society through patient care; rigorous research; academic medical, and professional education; and leadership and educational initiatives in corporations, nonprofit organizations, governmental agencies, and educational institutions.

In continuous operation since 1979, more than 19,000 people with a range of medical and psychological conditions have completed MBSR training at the Center's Stress Reduction Clinic. Worldwide, hundreds of thousands of people have participated in MBSR programs. More than 10,000 health-care professionals have participated in Center for Mindfulness professional training programs and more than 250 clinics offer programs based on the MBSR model developed at UMASS.

Since the inception of the Stress Reduction Clinic, MBSR research at UMMS and other academic medical centers has shown consistent, reliable, and reproducible demonstrations of major and clinically relevant reductions in medical and psychological symptoms across a wide range of medical diagnoses, including chronic pain conditions, over the eight weeks of the MBSR program. Maintenance of these changes continues, in some cases, for up to four years of follow up. Most clinic participants experience long-lasting improvements in both physical and psychological symptoms, as well as major positive changes in health attitudes and behaviors and in perception of self. Studies have also shown changes in the brain and the immune system consistent with greater mental and physical health.

Taught by Jon Kabat-Zinn and Saki Santorelli, this 7-day program is an opportunity for health-care professionals to train intensively in mindfulness meditation as it is taught at the Stress Reduction Program.

Specific themes and areas of focus include:

  • Seamless cultivation of mindfulness throughout the retreat, through both formal and informal practices, in silence, conversation, and dialogue
  • Mindful approaches to the experience and expression of stress, pain, grief, and anxiety within ourselves and when working with others
  • Examination of the language and methods used for instructing and guiding others in the formal and informal methods of mindfulness meditation in various settings
  • Review of research supporting the clinical value of mindfulness-based stress reduction
  • Exploration of the essential components of MBSR, including specific program structure and content, assessment and screening of program participants, as well as teacher readiness and competency
  • Exploration of the ethical and moral principles and the domains of non-harming, compassion, and wisdom that underlie mindfulness meditation practice and MBSR

This program is open to health-care professionals and educators who come prepared for the intensive nature of the workshop and who understand the primary necessity of embodying mindfulness meditation practice in their own life before attempting to teach it to others.

The schedule and the work are rigorous and include both intensive training in mindfulness meditation, including extended periods of silence, and an ongoing exploration of mindfulness meditation's practical applications in health care and other settings.

Since the cardinal principle in doing this work is that it must come out of one's own extensive personal experience with mindfulness meditation practice, participants who do not already have a strong daily personal mindfulness meditation practice should not attend this retreat with the expectation of immediately returning home to open a mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program.

Ultimately, it is the depth of one's personal commitment to learning and growing using the MBSR approach that is most important. Integrating mindfulness into one's professional life comes out of that commitment and the imagination and effort it inspires.

 

Learning Objectives

After attending this workshop taught by Jon Kabat-Zinn and Saki F. Santorelli, participants will be better able to:

  • Demonstrate the ongoing practice of the principles of mindfulness in silence, conversation, and dialogue
  • Describe mindful approaches to stress, pain, grief, and anxiety within ourselves and when working with others
  • Demonstrate the language and methods used for instructing and guiding others in the formal and informal methods of mindfulness meditation in various settings
  • Discuss research supporting the clinical value of MBSR
  • Describe the essential components of a viable mindfulness training program, including MBSR teacher readiness and competency criteria
  • Explore the ethical and moral principles and the domains of nonharming, compassion, and wisdom that underlie mindfulness practice and MBSR

 

Important Program Notes:

A letter containing the retreat schedule will be sent upon registration. Required reading before the program: Jon Kabat-Zinn, Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness; and Saki F. Santorelli, Heal Thy Self: Lessons on Mindfulness in Medicine. Also recommended but not required: Jon Kabat-Zinn, Coming to Our Senses: Healing Ourselves and the World Through Mindfulness.

This program fulfills one of the requirements for MBSR Teacher Certification offered by the Center for Mindfulness. Attendance at this retreat does not constitute authorization by Jon Kabat-Zinn and Saki F. Santorelli to teach Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction.

Please note: this program does not fulfill the requirement for a 5-10 day, silent, teacher-led, mindfulness meditation retreat that is a prerequisite for other Oasis training programs including the Practicum in MBSR and the Teacher Development Intensive. Such silent retreats are offered at meditation retreat centers in the USA and in many other countries.

 

Dates and Fees

Winter 2012
February 26 - March 4, 2012 -- Mt. Madonna - Watsonville, California

Summer 2012
June 1-8, 2012 -- Omega Institute - Rhinebeck, New York

Program tuition: $1,525*, payable to the Omega Institute 
*tuition subject to change per the Omega Institute
Room and board costs are additional. Please inquire directly to Omega Institute for costs and housing options.

 

How to Register

This program is offered annually at different locations in the USA in collaboration with the Omega Institute, Rhinebeck, NY. 

The Omega Institute will manage all registration and payment matters for the 2012 sessions of program in the USA.

To register and/or for more information, please contact
Omega Institute
150 Lake Drive, Rhinebeck, NY 12572-3212
Tel: (877) 944-2002 or (845) 266-4444
Fax:(845) 266-4828
www.eomega.org 

Please note that both sessions of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction in Mind-Body Medicine course in 2012 are full with long waiting lists. No additional sessions of this course will be offered during 2012. Please contact the Omega Institute directly to inquire about placing your name on the waiting list.

We hope to offer this program again during 2013 at approximately the same dates and locations. Information about 2013 programs will be posted on this web page during the summer of 2012. All registration for this course will continue to be handled by the Omega Institute.

Please consider the Practicum in MBSR as an alternative starting place for your training.

 

Continuing Education Credits:

Please inquire directly with Omega Institute regarding credit hours awarded for this training.

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