stress reduction

The Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Program (MBSR Training) began in 1979 at the Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. Its initial mission was to treat people for various stress related illnesses that hadn’t responded to traditional approaches. It became apparent after a short period of time that not only were people greatly benefiting from the mindfulness based stress reduction therapy using this alternate approach, but that the results we often better than the traditional approaches.

The realization of the potential broad based benefits of this practice gave rise to initial studies in the area of pain management. Outcomes were excellent and along the way it was noticed that people were benefiting in many other ways. Since 1980 there have been over 3000 studies from all over the world attesting to the effectiveness of mindfulness in many different areas of illness also in areas of human performance. It is being taught in health care settings, school systems, athletics, corporations and every area of our society.

The studies touch upon physical, mental and emotional conditions of every imaginable kind. Everything from heart disease, immune disorders, digestive problems, pain, fear, depression, anxiety, anger, inability to focus and many others have been studied and published over the past 35 years. MBSR training at the Scottsdale Institute for Health and Medicine Center for Mindfulness serves the entire Phoenix area and teaches the same program pioneered at the Center for Mindfulness by Jon Kabat Zinn, PhD.

The good news about MBSR training is that it is simple to understand. The knowledge that practicing present moment awareness reverses the stress cycle by counteracting the disconnect coping mechanism caused by the fight or flight experience makes sense and is easy to grasp quickly. The other news is that practicing mindfulness meditation and mindfulness in everyday life takes a fair level of commitment and determination.

Our culture is a high adrenaline, multi tasking experience. From an early age we are bombarded with stimuli that tear down our ability to focus and be in the present moment. The resulting strain on our healthcare system attests to the inherent problems of living life in the fast lane. Yet to go against the “norm” in our culture is to create other problems where we feel like we don’t belong and a sense of alienation creeps into our lives. To slow down and focus on the present moment is like swimming against the current and creates its own stress.

So, we have to ask ourselves if it is worth the discipline of practicing MBSR training since it is likely to be a permanent requirement of our new lifestyle as long as we live in a culture like ours. Even if we don’t there are many reasons to practice mindfulness once a baseline norm is reached and peak performance mode appears as a permanent possibility. An important realization is that mindfulness gets easier the more you practice. After awhile it simply becomes the way you are and practice becomes easy and fun. Considering the rewards it seems obvious to me that the commitment is worth making. MBSR Scottsdale serves the needs of the MBSR Phoenix community and is available to all who are willing to make the commitment.

Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn developed the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. Since its inception, MBSR has evolved into a common form of complementary medicine addressing a variety of health problems. The National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine has provided a number of grants to research the efficacy of the MBSR program in promoting healing (see “Studies” below for information on this research). Completed studies have found that pain-related drug utilization was decreased, and activity levels and feelings of self esteem increased, for a majority of participants. More information on these studies can be found on the University of Massachusetts Medical School website: Center for Mindfulness

Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction brings together mindfulness meditation and yoga. Although MBSR is a training with potential benefits for all types of participants, historically, students have suffered from a wide range of chronic disorders and diseases. MBSR is an 8-week intensive training in mindfulness meditation, based on ancient healing practices, which meets on a weekly basis. Mindfulness practice is ideal for cultivating greater awareness of the unity of mind and body, as well as of the ways the unconscious thoughts, feelings, and behaviors can undermine emotional, physical, and spiritual health. The mind is known to be a factor in stress and stress-related disorders, and meditation has been shown to positively effect a range of autonomic physiological processes, such as lowering blood pressure and reducing overall arousal and emotional reactivity. In addition to mindfulness practices, MBSR uses yoga to help reverse the prevalence of disuse atrophy from our culture’s largely sedentary lifestyle, especially for those with pain and chronic illnesses. The program brings meditation and yoga together so that the virtues of both can be experienced simultaneously .