A diary of my 8-week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction program.
In November of 2021 I received an general email from the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction program at UMASS Medical School. This is a program designed to help people reduce stress in their lives, regardless of the origin of their stress, they also offer additional programs supporting pain management and meditation.
Beyond excited, because I had explored attending this program in Shrewsbury, MA over many years and not being willing to invest the time and dollars in exploring the opportunities of Mindfulness, I quickly signed up for the 8-week online Zoom course, beginning in February 2022 so as not to be excluded due to too many other signing up before me!
I was initially rewarded with confirmation that I was accepted and would need to submit my application and attend an Orientation with an overview of the program.
I was ecstatic at the opportunity to explore mindfulness more fully as I had read books like 10% Happier by Dan Harris, The Power of Kindness by Piero Ferrucci, Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn, The Art of Happiness by His Holiness the Dalai Lama & Howard C. Cutler among others and they opened my eyes to seeing my life as more than the things I had done (work, family, children, maturing) yet never fully appreciated the extent to which I was truly “doing things” by habit or rote.
It was time to explore if there was “more” to the things I had “done and do each day” and I was tickled at the opportunity to explore my curiosity and sit with myself and see, feel and hear what was happening, within and without me.
I had actually and “finally” given myself permission to take part in something educational and for me (I felt selfish taking advantage of stuff like this)…..perhaps you have felt the same at one point or another?
I waited for the January 18 Orientation with a lot of excitement and curiosity, wondering “can an online course on mindfulness actually work? How do you “come together” for meaningful conversation or meditation?”
Finally the day had arrived, Orientation….about 35 people were on the Zoom call, a large number that validated my desire and answered the question about Zoom meeting participation for mindfulnesss!
We learned a bit of the history of the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction program at UMASS Medical School, begun by Jon Kabat-Zinn, a scientist, meditation practitioner who was curious as to whether practicing mindfulness had any medical possibilities or potential or possibilities for practitioner; could mindfulness effect chronic pain; could it lower blood pressure; would our immune system function better; can it affect anxiety?
Beyond the opportunity to explore my curiosity (as well as exploring a wide array of resources for Solo Passages!), I was startled to discover that there are specific, documented health benefits for those who practice mindfulness meditation as a part of their lives!
In 2003, Richard J. Davison, Jon Kabt-Zinn, Jessica Schumacher, Melissa Rosenkranz, Daniel Muller, Saki F. Santorelli, Ferris Urbanowski, Anne Harrington, Katherine Bonus and John F. Sheridan authored a clinical trial on Alteration in brain and immune function produced by mindfulness meditation.
The results are profound, documenting a connection between mindfulness meditation practices and our health! And this is 2003….I felt somewhat astounded thinking of all the time I had “wasted” by not practicing (or being aware of mindfulness long ago!) mindfulness sooner in my life.
I was soon to learn more about “regret and wanting” during our practice!
We also learned another amazing health documentation resource – American Mindfulness Research Association - !! Large amounts of documented research on mindfulness and health.
All resources I discover will be posted on the Solo Passages.com website under a relevant category – Mindfulness – Empathy – Resilience – Compassion – Kindness –
Because Solo Passages is about our relationship with mindfulness and health, my thoughts are to take you along on my solo passage through the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction class through my podcast and this blog. It’s an 8-week course and I’ll be giving my take on my experiences…I hope you’ll enjoy these programs as they are interspersed with Solo Passages interviews with practitioners and examples of mindfulness-based health and wellness.
I’ll leave you with this …
“It’s your road, and yours alone. Some may walk it with you, but no one can walk it for you”