ELPIDA Course - English

What is mindfulness?

Mindfulness is  defines as an ability to be fully present from moment to moment, without judging or evaluating what is happening - with a friendly and curious attitude towards yourself and others. 

Mindfulness is an inherent quality of human consciousness and it means that everyone is able to meditate, consciously focusing on something. Paradoxically, this is both very simple and time-consuming as we are often distracted by our thoughts and emotions and therefore struggle to be present. By brain training methods like mindfulness you can increase your ability to be mindful. This will allow you to look at your life in a different and more creative way, and have better access to your own strengths and wisdom.

At CSB, we use Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) as a starting point for mindfulness training. This program was developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn, Professor of Massachusetts University, USA in 1979. It is a method with a scientific basis developed for coping with stress, depression, pain and other stress-related symptoms. Since then, numerous scientific studies have shown that the MBSR program has a positive effect on different physical and mental disorders, such as stress, depression, anxiety, pain, sleep disorder, headache, overweight, etc.

However, everyone can benefit from meditation exercises. For example, training mindfulness strengthens the immune system and thus prevents diseases. Through an MBSR course you can learn to take better care of yourself and regain a meaningful connection between your body, thoughts and emotions.

Training mindfulness can help people to cope with life’s minor or major challenges, such as worries, a racing mind or tiredness in often hectic everyday life. A high number of our problems are linked to our thoughts and emotions. We spend a lot of time and make an enormous effort to be in the past or in the future, for example, when we worry about, contemplate on or plan major or minor chores. Thoughts and emotions can easily escalate and create a negative spiral of stress, anxiety and depression. By systematic training in mindfulness, it is possible to learn to stop that and choose a beneficial way of acting in pressured situations instead of reacting automatically and perhaps inappropriately.

By mindful attention it is possible to train the ability to be more present and gain greater mental / bodily calm and balance in life - even when life is difficult;  it is a way to generally create higher levels of well-being and greater joy in life.

From MBSR parenting course:

Interview: In this video, you will meet a woman, who was a participant at a MBSR parenting course.

(14 min. 38 sec.)

 

 

Evaluation report from the MBSR parenting course:

Evaluation of a mindfulness course January – March 2018

Guided meditations:

Guided body scan, Jon Kabat-Zinn (YouTube) (29 min. 2 sec.):

Guided sitting meditation with Jon Kabat-Zinn (YouTube) (39 min. 54 sec.):

Guided mountain meditation with Jon Kabat-Zinn (YouTube) (10 min. 2 sec.):

Activity

Try out the guided meditation methods listed above - hopefully they will give you a sense of peace and well-being.

Links to other videos:

What is mindfulness? (YouTube) (5 min. 17 sec.):

Life is right now (YouTube) (7 min. 13 sec.):

A new pair of glasses (YouTube) (4 min. 4 sec.):