This evening will provide an introduction to Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) in anticipation of the 8-week MBSR course which will be offered at SIM starting September 2018. Designed by Jon Kabat-Zinn in 1979, MBSR is an integrative and scientifically validated approach that combines mindfulness practices with group processing and psycho-education around stress. MBSR helps participants mobilize their inner resources to alleviate suffering associated with chronic pain and illness, as well as conditions such as anxiety, depression, headaches, high blood pressure, sleep disturbances, gastrointestinal problems and the stresses of everyday life. This work was featured in Bill Moyers’ television special, “Healing and the Mind” in a dated but still compelling piece.
Matt Russell is a UMass Med School Center for Mindfulness qualified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teacher and has been a member of the SIM community since 2010. He has sat over a dozen multi-day silent retreats with teachers such as Joseph Goldstein, Steve Armstrong, Kamala Masters, John Travis, Bhikkhu Anālayo, Dennis Warren, and others. Matt is a graduate of the Sati Center for Buddhist Studies’ Chaplaincy Training Program in Redwood City. He has completed trainings with Mindful Schools and taught mindfulness to teenagers.
Sacramento Insight Meditation events are sustained by the generosity of instructors in offering teachings freely and on the generosity of students and members of the meditative community in the form of financial support, service and participation in events. With our practice of dana, we support our Sangha.