Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR)
Jon Kabat-Zinn's eight-week structured programme — the most researched format for learning mindfulness practice.
What it is
MBSR is not therapy and not relaxation. It is an eight-week course teaching one specific skill: noticing what is happening in the body, thoughts and emotions without trying to change or judge it immediately.
The format is tightly structured: eight weekly meetings of 2–2.5 hours, one extended day of practice and daily independent practice between meetings — around 30–45 minutes. It is the regularity that produces the result, not the meetings themselves.
Why it works
A substantial part of stress is produced not by events but by the automatic reaction to them: instant judgement, the attempt to get rid of an unpleasant sensation, running through scenarios. This reaction happens faster than awareness.
Mindfulness practice inserts a pause into that sequence. A gap appears between sensation and reaction in which choice becomes possible. The skill sounds modest, but its consequences are substantial: the intensity of the stress reaction falls, the number of impulsive actions decreases, and the ability to concentrate returns.
What the programme consists of
- Body scan — systematic attention to bodily sensations.
- Sitting practice — working with attention on the breath, sounds and thoughts.
- Mindful movement — simple stretching exercises with a focus on sensation.
- Practice in everyday life — transferring the skill into ordinary activities: eating, walking, conversation.
- Working with the difficult — how to handle unpleasant sensations and emotions without running from them.
- Group discussion — a substantial part: participants’ experience, difficulties, questions.
What the programme does not do
It does not guarantee calm and does not remove stress from your life. What changes is not the number of difficulties but the way you react to them. Practice also does not replace psychotherapy in clinical conditions: for severe depression or PTSD a different approach is needed, and we will say so directly.
Requirements of participants
A willingness to practise daily for eight weeks. That is the main condition and the main difficulty: the programme produces a result only with regular independent work.
The format at the centre
MBSR is one of the centre’s programmes. Group enrolment will be announced — send a request if you want to hear about the start. Elements of mindfulness practice are also built into individual therapy.
Find a specialist
Write to us — a coordinator will clarify what you need and suggest a therapist who works in this approach.