In this experiential workshop, we will practice a range of methods for cultivating mindfulness, as used in mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) programs, and engage in dialogue about our first-person experience of them, and about their potential clinical applications with clients and patients, as well as their potential value for people seeking to enhance quality of life and optimize well-being.
Time and circumstances permitting, we will practice the body scan, sitting meditation, mindful yoga, walking meditation, and eating meditation as “different doors into the same room,” familiarizing ourselves with spacious wakefulness and silence, and shifting from the domain of doing mode (of mind) to the domain of being. We will practice coming to our senses, literally and metaphorically, through bringing open-hearted, non-judging attention to our direct experience of sight, sounds, smells, tastes, touch, and the non-conceptual knowing that attends these and other senses, such as proprioception and interoception, and learning how to rest in awareness itself. Group dialogue grounded in our first-person experience will be interspersed throughout, as will brief informal didactic commentaries by Dr. Kabat-Zinn about the state of the field and its theoretical and evidence-based scientific underpinnings and promise.
Note to enrollees: Please wear comfortable and casual clothing that will allow you both the stretch, and to lie down on the floor.
