The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Mindfulness Program is offering the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Program online starting Sept. 28. Participants will learn mindfulness techniques that foster positivity, inner strength and peace, while providing useful skills for navigating difficulty, stress, illness and pain.
Professor of Psychiatry Puru Thapa, M.D., is director of the UAMS Mindfulness Program, which offers Mindfulness teachings and courses to the UAMS community and the general public. The program is eight weeks long, and includes nine sessions of training in mindful awareness and meditation skills. Classes meet weekly online for about two hours, and for one all-day session toward the end of the course.
MBSR was developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., in 1979 at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and is a form of mindfulness and meditation that is well-documented and supported by scientific studies. Participants learn different meditative tools to mindfully explore healthier relationships with the day-to-day challenges and demands of life.
The course is taught by Yu, associate director of the UAMS Mindfulness Program, and certified Koru Mindfulness teacher who has completed the MBSR Teacher Training Intensive through the University of California San Diego Mindfulness-Based Professional Training Institute.
Orientation will be 5:30-7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 28. The first eight classes will meet from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesdays, Oct. 5 to Nov. 23. The one all-day class and retreat is 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 13.
The cost for the course is $300, which covers materials. UAMS employees may take the course for $250. Couples or families can receive a group rate of $225 per person. Scholarships are also available.
To register or apply for a scholarship, visit mindfulness.UAMS.edu.
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