An Outline of the Eight Week Journey into Mindfulness

If you had to build an 8 week course in Stress Reduction, how do you suppose you would begin? What structure would you use in order to facilitate people in the discovery of mindfulness… waking up where you are.

Since it is only in the present that we can heal, grow and learn to reduce stress, the entire structure of the course is built upon cultivating this moment by moment awareness. It reminds me of the sign in the Bingo Hall that says, "Must Be Present to Win!" (This reflection, humorous and so true, comes from Jack Kornfield, a long-term and esteemed teacher of mindfulness.)

As I write this article the words of one very great Tibetan Lama that I have aspired to learn from also come to mind. He teaches that mindfulness is thinking globally and acting locally. What could possibly be more local than one's own mind, the essence of this well-developed training. And how does our own awareness effect our bodies and lives? Reaching further still to a global view, what effect do our own thoughts and actions have upon those with whom we share our lives? We can only know by being here now.

You can see how we work with techniques such as Breath Breaks/ Brakes for slowing down and centering. We learn to cut through habitual negative thinking by Exchanging Worry for Wonder through conscious effort and practice. Slowly and with good foundation, participants discover new vistas and insights. A glimpse into this comprehensive Behavioral/Medical Program will give you a clear overview of the travelers journey through the course.

Week One

We establish clearly that whatever is said within these walls, stays here. Sensing we are held with safety & respect, we begin sharing why we’ve come, and a little about our interests, work, and family. Folks begin to relax. Shoes off, slowing down, they choose to kick back in this 2.5 hours they have carved out for themselves each Tuesday evening for 8 weeks. Early on, this precious time becomes a refuge.

Theme: From our point of view, there is more right than wrong with all of us, no matter what our challenges. We establish that meditative awareness is fundamental to this work since the present moment is the only time anyone has to perceive, learn, grow, change.

Week Two

We have choices if we can slow down enough to see how we interface with life’s challenges. How do I choose to live day to day with Lupus, for example? It is vital for the participant to gain insight to the perceptions that drive our lives. How do we perceive marriage, challenges at work? This is so across the board from harried housewives to terminal illness.

Theme: Perception and creative responding: how you see things (or don’t see them) will determine how you will respond. How we see pain, stress, pressures in our lives; we explore the level of commitment we will bring to the program and the personal discipline it requires to take time for daily meditation 6 days a week for 8 weeks!

We establish the universality of the wandering mind and the art of coming back to the present. We emphasize that not suppressing or repressing thoughts in meditation is essential. Let it come let it go! We can’t force ourselves to fall asleep, anymore than we can force falling into wakefulness and relaxation.

Week Three

We introduced the Body Scan in week one, to be in touch with stress in the body as well as appreciation for this organism we live in and sometimes a distance from! Now in the third week we begin Hatha Yoga to relax, balance and strengthen the body. We also begin a few minutes of sitting meditation to dip our toes in the quiet waters of the mind.

Theme: There is pleasure & power of being in the present. You only have moments to live. Martha Graham: “Make the moment vital and worth living. Do not let it slip away unnoticed and unused.”

Week Four

Longer periods of sitting meditation with the presentation to the central core of the relationship of meditation practice to stress.

Theme: Awareness of being stuck in one’s life and how to get unstuck. Dealing with the shadow side of stress. This is the reactivity to our stress. Do we “water the seeds of suffering,” as suggested by Thich Nat Hanh (Vietnamese Monk & Nobel Prize Peace recipient).

In other words, do we come home and overeat, have too much alcohol, smoke, disappear into the TV when stressed? We explore that its not the stress, but how you choose to handle it.

Week Five

We discuss that the program is half over today. How is it going? Take stock. Am I fully committed and doing my best? Let go of expectations from the first half of the course and take each moment as a new beginning.

Theme: Reacting vs. Responding to stress. Are you a Type A...more hostile and cynical or a Type C who suppresses emotions? We role play various choices and discuss the stressors of relationship. Can we learn healthy assertiveness vs aggression or not speaking up for oneself in a healthy way. Every night is lively, but this one is especially animated with role playing, much laughter and also many powerful insights.

Week Six

We are deepening our sitting practice and introduce the metaphor of sitting like a mountain. No matter the internal weather of emotional storms, darkness, sun or high winds, the mountain continues to sit, immovable, unshakable, We are learning to let thoughts, which have no inherent reality, come and go. We are less, disturbed by the busy mind and more confident.

Theme: Maintaining your center under acute or chronic stress (caring for an elderly parent or handicapped child), strong expectations of others, past habits of emotional expression/suppression and the presentation of self in everyday life.

All-Day Session

We meet Saturday in a 6-hour day of silence and custody of the eyes. I lead the group through the many meditations we have been practicing together and at home every day. We do the Body Scan, long, slow and delicious yoga, walking meditation. There are moments ornamented with contemplative poetry and stories. We eat lunch alone mindfully and have a break to explore the lovely grounds of Shimmering Pines. The All-Day Session is powerful, full of insights and weaves our work together into new vistas.

Week Seven

We discuss in detail the All-Day session which we experienced the past Saturday and share continuing insights that are still arising.

Theme: How what we take in (diet in the broadest sense of the term) affects health and well-being. This includes food, chemicals in our diet, water and air. We also look at the diet of emotions—such as low self-esteem, depression, anxiety and how to move from self-destructive to healthy patterns. Also mindfulness of obstacles to change, especially our own thoughts!

Week Eight

Keeping up momentum developed over the past 7 weeks in meditation and yoga. Also informal practice...relaxing into whatever activities are before you. We do a final body scan which is where we began.

Theme: The 8th week of the course is the rest of your life; it is not a dress rehearsal. review supports to help in the process. We give a booklet of hints and reminders. All are invited back indefinitely to the All Day Session as Alumni, free of charge. Everyone contributes a few words of the journey in a closing circle. We end with 3 strikes of a Tibetan Gong as I read the Poem Enough by David Whyte

Enough. These few words are enough.
If not these words, this breath.
If not this breath, this sitting here.
This opening to the life
We have refused
Again and again
Until now.
Until now.

The weekly class materials in this course were developed directly by Jon Kabat-Zinn and Saki Santorelli at U Mass Med Center. Each facilitator makes the course work their own through their unique lives, hearts and direct experiences. Mimi Bailey, RN, B.S. Ed. January 22, 2008

Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction | 8 Week Outline | Why Stress Reduction
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