What is MBSR?

The Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program was developed at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. MBSR is a common form of complementary therapy addressing a variety of health problems – most commonly stemming from stress.

Completed Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction studies have found that pain-related drug utilisation 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; http://www.umassmed.edu/cfm/index.aspx

The Online mindfulness-based stress reduction course  (MBSR) I run is designed to help you learn new ways of handling difficult physical sensations, feelings and moods.

The core skill that you will learn is mindfulness: Mindfulness is a basic human quality, a way of learning to pay attention to whatever is happening in your life that allows you a greater sense of connection to your life inwardly and outwardly. Mindfulness is also a practice, a systematic method aimed at cultivating clarity, insight, and understanding.

In the context of your health, mindfulness is a way for you to experientially learn to take better care of yourself by exploring and understanding the interplay of mind and body and mobilizing your own inner resources for coping, growing, and healing.

Most people completing MBSR programmes report that they gain lasting benefits, such as:
 

• More energy and enthusiasm
• A greater capacity for relaxation
• More self-esteem and confidence
• An increased ability to handle stressful situations
• Decrease physical and psychological symptoms from illness
• Reduce pain levels and an enhanced ability to cope and deal with chronic pain

Who is MBSR for?

I would say everybody! But particularly it’s  for you if you want to learn how to take better care of yourself and discover a deeper sense of ease and peace of mind—and if you are willing to actively engage in your own health and well-being.

Mindfulness practice is ideal for cultivating greater awareness of the unity of mind and body, as well as of the ways our unconscious thoughts, feelings, and behaviours can undermine emotional and physical health. The mind is known to be a factor in stress and stress-related disorders, and mindfulness has been shown to positively affect a range of autonomic physiological processes, such as lowering blood pressure and reducing overall emotional reactivity.

In addition to mindfulness practices, MBSR uses different forms of body movement to help reverse disuse atrophy attributable to our culture’s largely sedentary lifestyle, especially for those with pain and chronic illnesses.

Let Me Know Now If You Want To Do It.

So, what are you waiting for?  if you think you are interested, either in the group 8 week course, or an individual course. Just contact me now.

Peace,

Gavin J Gowans

P.s. If you are ready to commit to do the work, you can find more balance, control and participation in your life, than before.

Locusts! Have you seen what they can do? They can literally decimate a crop in minutes.  Rendering whole villages , farmers and their families without food or income. Can you imagine the pain and stress that having your livelihood taken away like that brings?  Having your crops destroyed may create a struggle for your very survival.

I know for myself that my life at times seems to be  as stripped bare and threatening as a locust storm. So far thankfully not in food, clothing or shelter but in terms of my appreciation for what I have or the seeming lack of progress in the intentions I have made. Primarily in reduction stress and helping others be the person they were born to be. But the real lack was in awareness of a real sense of purpose, and of the abundance and liberation that I already have. Right now, right here. 

Economic recession. Depression. The great recession, whatever it is, can seem like a storm threatening  to destroy everything we have built up.  Or take away the little we already have.

The difficult times, when seen for what they are, as the opportunity to learn and grow and develop your true purpose and infinite potential.  It can then become the portal to a new life, new strength and new courage.

If money is causing you stress right now.  Or you are looking for stress relief. It might help you to watch this video by Lynn Twist.  If you are wanting to reduce stress in your life , discover awareness find inner peace, love and liberation.  Maybe A radical change in your understanding and experience of money will help. Let go of all this stuff.

If you have been watching recently the Blood, Sweat and Takeaway series on BBC1 on Monday nights, I could not help be struck once more that the real poverty is not lack of abundance it is the deeply ingrained subconscious belief that I am not enough, I am not good enough.  This sense of lack is the root of pshychological spiritual poverty in our age from which stems the seemingly un satisfiable desire for more.

Have a look at this BBC series and see the reality of life for the people who are trying to exist by satisfying our consumer societies madness. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00kmtb1/Blood_Sweat_and_Takeaways_Tuna/

Looking again at my life I cannot but be struck by the abundant provision of everything  I have in terms of life, relationships, health and resources.  I may be temporarily suffering a seemingly lack of abundance right now.  But the truth is I have enough, I am enough, I do enough I am good enough.

What about you?

Are you too finding yourself struggling with a lack of peace, money, lack of relationship, employment, lack of true enjoyment or sense of purpose or destiny whatever it is.

Do you think you are  sufficient?  Do you think you have enough. Do you want more? Let me know.

Wherever you are in life right here, right now, trust me, if you take the time to look deep enough you will find within you the sure realisation that there is enough, right now, for you to be, do and have. There is a Source of Life which is unlimited and which has the Power to restore the years that the locusts have eaten, and to make all things new.

Peace,

Gavin J Gowans

You are stuck in traffic and your mind wanders to all the unfinished chores and responsibilities. 

The deadline for a project you are working on is coming up and you are nowhere near completing it.

You work at home and your children are screaming at each other, you are behind in your work and you still have a load of house chores to complete. 

You were just laid off from work and you really needed that income to help support your family. You barely have any savings to depend on.

You took a chance in the stock market and lost all your life’s savings and even your children’s education funds.

You are stuck in a troubled relationship and you do not know how to deal with it.

These are some examples of situations that might result in stress, you can’t concentrate, you lose your appetite, you cannot sleep very well, your nerves are on edge and you are easily angered. It is in situations like these that people become overwhelmed by all the responsibilities, issues and problems weighing them down. 

This is what stress is all about.

Eventually, you may start getting headaches, migraines, stomach upsets and a whole host of medical conditions as a result of extreme stress that were left untreated. In this modern society, stress over work, money and relationships has become the norm. Not a day will pass that many people will not experience some form of stress, regardless of whether it is job-related, love-related or money-related.

Stress has become a common feature of our fast-paced and modern world and it is also one of the most common reasons people fall sick or call in sick at work. This is not because they want to escape from a stressful environment but because stress has brought about unhealthy symptoms.

So, how do you recognise stress?

You know you are stressed when: 

• You are more irritable than normal
• You are panicky and anxious alot of the time
• You cannot concentrate at all
• You feel helpless and useless
• You avoid socialising
• You feel depressed or low in mood all the time

Frequently, you will also begin to get:

• Headaches / migraines
• Under-the-weather feelings
• Insomnia
• Colds and infections easily and frequently
• Stomach aches
• Back pain
• Nervous breakdown
• Trembling / shaky hands
• Profuse sweating

There may also be long-term effects of stress such as an inefficient immune system, high blood pressure, weak bones, weight gain, deteriorating brain cells and a reduced ability to fight diseases.

Luckily, stress management is now taken seriously and there are so many different ways to de-stress for a healthier and more cheerful life. Many people are acknowledging the adverse effects of stress and they are doing something about it.

Helping people to manage their stress, if not to eliminate completely, is one of the main objectives of the information on this  site.

If you need any help or more information, you can always contact me.

Peace and Love,

Gavin J Gowans