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MBSR
September 25, 2023 @ 9:30 am - 11:30 am
If you have ever wondered how your meditation practice and living mindfully can contribute to the well being of the world, all beings and the planet itself, this class is for you!
Why MBSR? Why now? When Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn first created and offered MBSR 44 years ago, he took his long dedicated Buddhist practice, into the heart of a New England Medical Center where he worked as a molecular biologist. He did it by using non-Buddhist, inclusive language, combined with stress physiology, adult learning theory, and neuroscience hoping to open these beneficial practices to as wide a range of suffering people as possible. It worked. Since then, overwhelming research has shown that this program has myriad health benefits and significantly increases empathy and compassion. Originally, his focus was not only to help individuals, but he saw it as a Public Health Initiative, knowing that everything is truly interconnected. As others suffer, we suffer. As we change the world changes.
This 8-week program, founded on Buddhist teachings and practices, is also informed by physiology, neuroscience and Kabat-Zinn’s experience as a social activist. When we practice mindfulness, it increases our capacity to face our own suffering, the suffering of the world, and to foster the courage and resilience to take wise action to benefit others and the planet. This particular class, taught by Dr. Dennis McLeod and Beth Mulligan, is informed by our experience training a group of BIPOC MBSR teachers, and learning how to offer the class in way that is “Bigger Than Self Mindfulness,” founded on anti-oppression and an imperative to decolonize the program. Join us as we explore our innate capacity to transform our own suffering, which, if cultivated skillfully, leads us to express the true values of our hearts and recognizes that we are all deeply interconnected.
Who is this class for?
* People interested in developing a personal mindfulness meditation practice, for stress reduction and increased well being.
* People with an established or invested in creating a meditation practice, who wish to take the most widely researched structured program, to cultivate greater health, physically, mentally and emotionally, while cultivating the strength to face the greater suffering in Society, and benefit the world.
* People who have primarily learned Mindfulness from white teachers in white communities, and want to experience it from highly skilled and culturally sensitive teachers .
* People who want to take their personal practice into the world, addressing the limits and harms of white dominant culture, developing awareness to see where they can engage with inequities in society, and make change happen.
WHEN: Mondays starting July 31 (Orientation), then Aug 14 – Oct. 3, 9:30-11:30am (no class 9/4), Daylong on Sept 23, 8:00am – 2:30pm
COST: Sliding Scale $50 – $250. No one is turned away for lack of funds.
Dr Dennis McLeod is psychologist, mental health consultant, a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion practitioner, and mindfulness teacher. He is a proud alumnus of Morehouse College and he completed graduate studies at the University of Florida. His clinical interests and areas of expertise include Black men’s mental health, identity, trauma and coping. You can find more info here.
Beth Mulligan has completed all steps of the professional Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teacher training program through the University of Massachusetts under Jon Kabat-Zinn PhD and his colleagues and is a certified MBSR teacher. She teaches Mindfulness at many major medical centers, Universities, schools, non-profit organizations and corporations. She also trains professionals in mindfulness based interventions and participates in research on the benefits of mindfulness. With her partner Hugh she is the co-founder of Mindful-Way Stress Reduction programs which serves diverse populations across the country and in England. You can find more info here.
With deep gratitude to Mindful-Way, Insight Community of the Desert and Meditation Coalition for making this happen.