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Hi all, I'm one week into the MBSR course and really enjoying it. Looking forward to more !

@ias206 Tara Brach has many guided mediations and also talks freely available on her site: https://www.tarabrach.com/guided-meditation-basic-meditations/ which work well with the MBSR course. Please let us know which one you enjoy the most in the resources overview. ?

Hello Tyrell, it is impressive how clear you see and describe your challenges. In MBSR (meditation-based stress reduction) we say "acceptance proceeds change" and when I read your post in the forum and what you write on your profile I think you are at this vital step. Have a look at the free MBSR online course here, it helped me a lot with helping myself and if you have questions about it, feel free to get in touch with me any time. :-) All the every best! Tine

@Danica2020 Thank you for adding that. I haven't looked deeper into it yet, but it already resonates. One of the most hands-on (or hands-off for that matter) learnings through MBSR for me was related to eating. Listening to my own needs and not mistaking the need for a break for hunger as I used to, not mistaking thirst for hunger. Not mistaking the need for self-care for hunger, not trying to ease stress through eating. As the amount of food I consumed did shrink, I also got more conscious about what, when and how much I eat to be fully satisfied. I'll take a closer look into intuitive eating. :-)

i have recently joined the MBSR course. in the week 1 it is been asked to practice body scan meditation. there are 5 body scan meditation given. am i supposed to do all or choose 1 which i feel is right

Dearest Colin, Warmest welcome, and thank you for joining. I'm so sorry to hear you're feeling lonely and struggling with anxiety. Please know that you're not alone, as very many of us all across the world are experiencing the same or something similar. I hope you'll find here a small yet wonderful community of people to interact with, or you can use the search function to check if there are other members in your area. You might like to try the free MBSR course in the forum, or read a few uplifting articles from the happiness Magazine? Please do reach out if we can be of any assistance, and I wish you the very best on your journey. Candy

Ive just completed week 2 MBSR and as always find the whole journey fascinating. Whether it is at this present time in my life that it is most needed? Even the science behind it all blows my mind away - I think what if I knew this when I was 20 (I am 50 in a few days) I totally get the more you practice the stronger you become and yes I do struggle still with thoughts in the beginning but find they eventually float pass me like clouds. I can relate to the post - Hi, I am on day 2 of week 2 and I am really struggling with the sit down meditation. I find my mind is wondering loads in the quiet parts of the meditation. With the body scan meditation my mind felt more focused on the words ?❤️

Thank you for your replies ... I already feel the happiness think it is a great site. I have completed the first week of the 8 week MBSR and it has great content and videos. I look forward to expanding my knowledge of Mindfulness and hope to share it with others ?

Hi, I am happy to have started the MBSR course and am very impressed so far. Looking forward to the next 8 weeks and beyond....

Wow.... I have found here more about the MBSR on non-judgemental curiosity and openness. This is something I simply haven’t given a thought yet that such a colour or ball or evoking sensation to be not a non judgmental. This has made me understand better, deeper about MBSR. Thank you for sharing. I’m feel grateful for becoming aware of this.?

Mindful yoga, meditation, and walking are powerful combinations. My wife loves it, and it is a yoga for everyone without the skimpy outfits - plain folk stretching and getting in touch with their body. I am really loving the MBSR class. Mike

Welcome to happiness, and good luck with the MBSR ✨

Hello everyone. I just started the MBSR and so far its been a great way for me to focus my energies. Anyway today we had a Sunshower! The sky was very dark blue-grey, and then with the sun shining on the dark clouds there was the most vivid arc of rainbow! I was so thrilled to see it as I have not seen one in years. So I will take it as a sign that there is hope. A very joyful moment.

Hi.Sending Best wishes to all !!

Hi everyone, Thanks a lot for sharing these meditations! Very helpful. I've also just discovered Rick Hanson's series of meditations (and talks). They are really great, just like all his other work. Hope you enjoy them: https://www.rickhanson.net/teaching/wednesday-meditations-with-dr-rick-hanson/. I'm now in my second week of the MBSR programme and am loving it. Cheers, Laura

This is my second 8 week MBSR course. The last one was through Brown University. I did it during the school term so I was distracted, but did enjoy it. I learned a lot. I am trying to get certified to teach but it is expen$ive through the normal channels. Thousands. Or at least from what I can tell. I was delighted to find this opportunity. If you search online you can find just about anything. Sometimes. I know the body scan is very important, but it is, or can be, a difficult skill. It is not so much my mind but my body. Oddly enough. I think I get it now though. why the body scan is so important. It is a holistic practice which involves everything but movement. I would like to know where Jon picked it up. The story behind it.

I'm finishing up week 3, and simply blown away by this incredible resource. Deep bows to everyone that makes this happen!! A few questions and comments. First, I'm about halfway through the Altered Traits book and I'm really grateful Richie and Dan wrote it. They humbly describe how their observation and testing methods have improved over the decades, and thoroughly describe how difficult it is to quantify states of mind. It's great to see pioneers in the mindfulness field dial back any unwarranted claims about the "mindful" panacea. Second, is anyone aware of any studies that measure heart activity during meditation (other than simple heart rate)? I've heard that when Richie first measured the brain activity of Tibetan monks they laughed and told him that the the skull monitors were useless cuz the mind is focused in the heart. I feel a ton of energy course through my body during meditation and at the end of 10 day retreats I've actually noticed thoughts be a byproduct of subtle heart activity. I'm aware of heart coherence meditations and the HeartMath Institute, but they seem either too fringe-y or unstudied. Finally, I'm noticing that so far in the course, there are almost no teachings from POC leaders. Many leaders in the insight meditation field are very active in undoing racism and unconscious bias, including Joseph and Sharon's Insight Meditation Society (where JKZ first thought of MBSR). Mindfulness is particularly useful in uncovering hidden states of mind and it might be good to speak about this type of work, and incorporate its lessons into the structure of the course as well. Apologies if this subject comes up later! I just figured I'd mention it here.

Welcome to happiness Dev ? I hope you find our community useful on your journey! Make sure you check out the Academy and magazine for more information about MBSR and other topics you might find interesting too. We're glad you found us ✨

Hello everyone. I hope you are all safe and well. My name is Devashish and I am a new member from India. I have been exploring mindfulness meditation off and on for the past 2 years, in an unstructured manner. I have been keen to learn more about MBSR for some time, and finally got the chance to do so now. I look forward to this journey and to getting to know all of you. Regards, Dev

@Temjen Sorry for the late reply! The experience is different for everyone, and every time you practice, so there's no right or wrong. You listen to your body sensations, your thoughts and emotions, and after the practice, you write some of the things down that came up. Here in the thread, there are already plenty of examples ranging from describing a peaceful experience to a tough time. I often recognize that some areas are quiet while feeling into the hands usually quickly experience some tingly feeling, and I easily recognize the temperature there. I hope this helped, and I am looking forward to reading about your experience. You already wrote another post about your experience. There you raise two questions. The first one you already answered for yourself. It doesn't matter, but then again, it does matter if it matters to you. So do the bodyscan in a way that is most beneficial to you. Your second question is "Is there any difference between breathing in & out through the mouth and breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth?" There are many answers to this from a medical, yogic or energetic perspective, and I do not have the expertise to give those answers correctly. From an MBSR perspective, I would emphasize the attitudinals of "beginners mind" and "curiosity". How are those ways of breathing different to you? Can you feel a difference? Where? How? This is an excellent invitation for further investigation into your own experience.

I love the videos about the body in the MBSR course. Becoming one with the body, all bodies are valuable. I have been learning to accept this. I obsess about my body daily, telling myself the importance of taking care of it. The more I think about it the more likely I will go over my calories, Yes I count them. I lost some weight and obsess about losing another 20 lbs. I know what helps is letting go of the judgement of myself and my body. Acceptance is key, self love is key. I am back to doing my mirror exercises. I do exercise most days even if it's a 30 min walk. Today I choose to celebrate my body, and be thankful that I have one with a spirit and a soul. I am ALIVE!!

I just completed the first week and I'm reminded of how profoundly grateful I am to have this wisdom. I started my 12-year daily meditation practice in the vipassana tradition (MBSR has it's roots in this Buddhist lineage). However, I took a break from that method and focused on other approaches over the last few years because a tremendous amount of painful energy, sensations, and emotions were arising in practice and the traditional insight/mindfulness meditation, as it was taught to me, could not hold or help process my experience. After years of focusing on more somatic and experiential practices (mindful exercize, hatha and kundalini yoga, yoga nidra, visualization journeys, automatic writing, tapping, etc.) I'm delighted to dive back into my roots and re-approach mindfulness with a fresh perspective and more resilience. The body scan was a perfect way to start this course, as I primarily did body scans for years when I first began meditating. Perhaps my psyche was so disembodied and the mind so deafening that open awareness or simple breath meditation resulted in more stress, not less. This week reminded me of how body scans show me all the unconscious tension the body holds, even first thing in the morning I'm also noticing that body scans are a gentle and centering way to start the day, especially when the urge to tap on my gmail app to get the morning news seems so appropriate during this pandemic. While body scans are centering, I also notice a deep primal fear that if I relax all the way, something terrible is going to happen. Ugh! I've been meditating for over a decade and that belief is still so strong! So I always visualize comforting forces holding me. So, very grateful for this course and the people running it! Can't wait to dive into week 2.

There are lots of scientific studies out there that point towards a negative impact of chronic stress on not only our mental health but also on our physical health. This matches my personal experiences as since I had taken the MBSR course six years ago and I meditate almost daily I have had close to no sick leave days. So I would say I see scientific evidence AND I experience the connection. However, it's "only" a connection; it's not a necessary consequence. Even if I do all the right things, I might still get sick. I think the best example is smoking. Most of us by now agree that smoking is a good way to get lung cancer, but it's no guarantee, and neither is not smoking a guarantee to stay cancer-free. My point is "Never get sick again" is too much of a bold promise and might foster false hopes and expectations. At the same time, I am 5 stars supportive of consciously making the best of the connection and working on our physical and mental health and keeping our chronic stress levels low. For those interested in the status quo of the research, Google Scholar is an excellent start. Here's a predefined search for "stress", "immune system" but leaving out the results dealing with space flight.

Our event system isn't yet able to handle online events, but we are working on it. Until then, I'd use the forum to collect some ideas for those who are looking for ideas. Then again if this is the time for you to slow down, recharge and watch series or play world of warcraft, that's ok too. Be honest with yourself - push yourself a little, but also be gentle. It depends on what you need right now. This is not a competition about who has the most to show during this time but who used it best - and "best" is only defined by you! (I do a bit of everything - not putting too much pressure at myself) Jon Kabat-Zinn - the founder of MBSR - gave a live talk on the 25th of March: Mindfulness, Healing, and Wisdom in a Time of COVID-19 Tara Brach has a talk from the 18th of March on youtube too: Facing Pandemic Fears with an Awake Heart Tara Brach has lots of fantastic talks and guided meditations on her website for free. The UC Berkeley greater good science centre also already has lots of great resources like Six Daily Questions to Ask Yourself in Quarantine, they even already have a full-on COVID-19 guide for individuals, families, and educators. Follow us on Instagram: We have collected tips around mindfulness, and we are regularly posting motivating and encouraging quotes and ideas. Do you miss the theatre, museums, exhibitions or opera? There are exciting opportunities our there like the Metropolitan Opera's nightly stream. Here's a full list of museums which offer online exhibitions. Art class anyone? I watch Lewis Rossignol teach art live, but the recordings are also available afterwards. Take the free MBSR online course in our happiness academy. Stress has a negative impact not only on our overall well-being but on our health and immune system as well. You can always reach out to me directly or post in the MBSR course forum if you have question. All great resources, but maybe you are like me - I seem to have much less time now that I can't go out. So once again - no pressure. ? Be healthy, be happy, be safe!

I go through phases. I had a Tara Brach phase, where I would listen to her talks and draw mandalas. Training to be an MBSR teacher, I naturally read a lot by Jon Kabat-Zinn. Part of my journey has let me to investigate the work on self-compassion by Kristin Neff deeply. Through a Vipassana retreat, I focused on S.N. Goenka's teaching, and in the same year, I went to Plum village and dived into the world of Thích Nhất Hạnh and his monks and nuns, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I guess I like looking at life from different angles and through the lenses of different teachers again and again as I keep having new and deeper insights even with seemingly "easy" topics like thoughts.