Studio for the Healing Arts
Eight Week Intensive
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction
While people have practiced mindfulness for centuries, for the past 30 years Jon Kabat-Zinn, molecular biologist and founding director of the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, has designed a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program to help people reduce symptoms of stress, pain, and illness. This course is modeled on that program.
For 8 weeks you will be part of a living container—a group of individuals devoted to exploring mindfulness as a means to living fully in the only moment there is: now. Highly experiential, the course requires you to come with a sense of curiosity. You will be provided all necessary instruction and materials to guide you in formal practices, gentle movements, body scanning, and more. Much practice will be done in silence; there will also be time for group dialogue and mindful communication exercises.
The Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course does not have a prerequisite; it is open to anyone willing to commit to an intensive training mindfulness where participants draw on their own resources to explore what it means to care for themselves, find peace, and experience healing.
Most people who participate fully in an MBSR course report decreases in physical and psychological symptoms, an increased ability to relax, reduction in pain levels, an enhanced ability to cope with chronic pain, greater energy and enthusiasm for life, improved self-esteem, and an ability to cope more effectively with stressful situations.
More About Mindfulness and MBSR
Mindfulness is awareness of the moment as it is occurring—without being carried away by thought, worry, fear, and so on. Sometimes referred to as “bare awareness,” living mindfully means that we are keenly present in our lives, experiencing our environment sensorily, as well as ourselves and others with curiosity, gentleness, and respect. We all know the opposite of mindfulness: mindlessness—living mechanically, being forgetful, carried away by distractions, feeling off, and so on.
Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is an intensive training in mindfulness where participants draw on their own inner resources to explore what it means to care for themselves, find peace, and experience healing. The program began 30+ years ago under the direction of Jon Kabat-Zinn at the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Most people who participate fully in an MBSR course report results such as decreases in physical and psychological symptoms, an increased ability to relax, reductions in pain levels and an enhanced ability to cope with chronic pain, greater energy and enthusiasm for life, improved self-esteem, and an ability to deal more effectively with stressful situations.
About Rebecca Eldridge:
Rebecca's meditation practice, work, and life are fueled by the daily intent to live soft in a hard world. She practices under the guidance of her teacher, Pema Chödrön, who tells her, Keep going just as you are. Rebecca recently created a guided meditation produced by Shambhala Publications as part of an online course taught by Pema Chödrön: Making Friends with Yourself.
Rebecca is one of a limited number of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) teachers worldwide to receive full teacher certification through the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at UMass Medical School, and is a founding board member of the Integrative Medicine Alliance of Coastal Virginia (IMACV, a nonprofit alliance of wellness professionals educating Coastal Virginians in health, healing, and happiness.
She has extensive teaching and retreat experience, including lengthy solo retreats, and is also a registered 200-hour yoga teacher (Yoga Alliance). Additionally, she has trained as a teacher of iRest®, an adaptation of the ancient practice of yoga nidra that has been approved by the Veteran’s Administration as treatment for PTSD.
Before beginning her work in mindfulness, Rebecca taught full-time at Christopher Newport University where she was nominated for Professor of the Year by the student body.
For more information about Rebecca and her work, visit www.rebeccaeldridge.com or rebeccaeldridge.blogspot.com
ORIENTATION DATES/TIMES:
Mon, Aug 29, 6-7:30PM
Sun, Sept 4, 1:30-3
Sundays, 1:30-4
1: Sept 11
2: Sept 18
3: Sept 25
4: Oct 2
5: Oct 9
6: Oct 16
7: Oct 23
8: Oct 30
HALF-DAY RETREAT
Saturday, Oct 22, 9:30-3:30
Fee:
This class is self-pay (not covered by insurance). For that reason we have created a sliding scale to accommodate more people. Generosity policy applies—to cover facility and material costs, and to ensure adequate compensation for the instructor, please use the guidelines below, and your integrity, to determine the level that applies to you. If at the orientation you decide not to participate, you may request a prompt, full refund.
LEVEL 1—annual household income over 45,000: $450 (~$16 per class hour).
LEVEL 2—annual household income 30,000-44,999: $400 (~$14 per class hour).
LEVEL 3—annual household income less than 30,000: $350 (~$12 per class hour).
REPEAT STUDENT—all students who have previously completed the MBSR course may retake the course for $300.
NOTE: The MBSR course is limited to 25 participants. A waiting list will be created once cap is reached. In the case of student cancellation, those on the list will be called in order and can register at that time.
Location:
1611-D Colley Avenue
Norfolk, VA 23517
For directions click here
To register:
Please email Rebecca at rebecca@rebeccaeldridge.com
