Finding Peace: A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Course

It matters that you care. It matters that you feel. It matters that you notice. - From “Hokusai say” Roger Keyes.

This course is based on the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn. It will be offered over 8 weeks and is facilitated by Amanda Thiessen, MSW, RSW. The sessions will be approximately 2 hours long and will shift between mindful meditations and reflective exercises. The aim of the sessions is to support you in building awareness, gaining insights, and developing mindful-based tools to manage stress more effectively.

Our goal is to make this training as accessible as possible to anyone who could benefit from the practices. We have learned through past training that participants do best when they have a quiet, uninterrupted space to practice. However, we recognize that this might not be realistic for everyone so please access for yourself how you might best (and most realistically) benefit from the course.

We have also come to recognize there is a depth of learning between participants as the course progresses. To offer both accessibility and holding of a sacred space for learning, participants are invited to drop in to try the course out for the first two sessions. By the third class participants are asked to commit to attending the last 5 sessions if they feel they would like to continue with the course.

The Course is split into the following sessions

-Weeks 1-3- Designed to assist us in becoming increasingly familiar with the connection between our mind and body.

-Weeks 4-6 - An in-depth look at stress and the ways we are conditioned to react habitually and often ineffectively to stress and how we can mitigate this reactivity by applying mindfulness as a means of seeing more clearly, understanding situations more fully, and acting wisely.

-Weeks 7-8 -we will explore how to apply our learning to bring peace and joy into our lives and explore personal themes throughout the course.

Instructor: Amanada Thiessen BA MSW