Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is a highly structured, 8-week program (eight class sessions and a day-long retreat) that supports the development of practical mindfulness skills. These completely secular skills can lead to greater overall awareness and enhanced well-being.
Join others seeking greater ease in response to the challenges of modern living and learn new ways of understanding our shared human experience through mindfulness.
This highly participatory, practical course includes:
- Guided instruction in a range of mindfulness and meditation practices
- Gentle stretching and mindful yoga
- Inquiry exercises to enhance awareness in everyday life
- Group dialogue and small group exercises
- Daily home assignments
- Guided audio files for home practice
- A workbook with a guide to the course, short readings, and other resources to support your ongoing investigation of mindfulness
Free Orientation
Every MBSR course has a one hour free orientation prior to the start of the 8-week class. Orientations are free of charge and a great way for both those registered for the course and those interested but not yet registered to experience the class environment, the instructor and a sample of what the course will be like.
Use the orientation to:
- Ask questions
- Meet the instructor
- Meet fellow class participants
- Learn about mindfulness and the potential benefits of starting a practice
8 weeks of 2.5 hour Group Instruction Sessions
Each weekly 2.5 hour session offers participants new mindfulness concepts and practices:
- Guided formal meditation practices
- Presentation of mindfulness concepts
- Group discussion and interaction for mutual support
- Support for informal out-of-class mindfulness practice
- Discussion of mindfulness practice joys and challenges
- Question and answer to clarify and reinforce understanding
1 day-long retreat
The day-long retreat is usually held the Saturday (9am to 4pm) after the 6th class session. The retreat day is an opportunity to dive deep into the practice and experience the effect of silence on the practice of awareness:
- Gentle yoga and movement practice
- Walking meditations
- Guided meditations
- Mindful lunch
Register Now for CMI’s Flagship Mindfulness Course
Please join us for our flagship program Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). This course is a great way to begin your exploration of mindfulness. Participants of the course often report less stress, improved focus and more happiness. When you choose CMI for MBSR, you know you are getting the best mindfulness education available through only experienced, certified teachers. CMI is excited for you to share our passion for the practice of mindfulness as we cultivate greater awareness and well-being.
Options and Pricing
Free MBSR Orientation
- Next class to be determined
- 1 open invitation session
Full MBSR Course
- Next class to be determined
- 8-week course, 1 Saturday all-day retreat
Your Instructor: Kurt Hoelting
Kurt is a Certified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Teacher through the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care and Society. A Zen student for thirty years, he has taught mindfulness in a variety of contexts for over twenty years. Kurt has taught MBSR for ten years in the Seattle Area, at venues including the VA Hospital, King County’s Healthy Incentives Program, the Samaritan Center of Puget Sound. Kurt grew up in Seattle, and has a lifelong love affair with the Cascadia bio-region. Since 1994 he has led mindfulness-based wilderness retreats in Alaska through his Alaska wilderness guide company Inside Passages, Inc. (www.insidepassages.com), where he brings decades of experience as a commercial fisherman in Alaska, and his lifelong love of the Northwest Coast bio-region, into his teaching.
Free Orientation – no commitment necessary
Want to learn more before committing to the full course? RSVP and attend the free orientation with no commitment required:
Your Training Destination: Samaritan Center in Seattle, WA
Samaritan Center of Puget Sound located in Seattle’s Greenlake neighborhood
Free Orientation
The free orientation is an opportunity to learn more about mindfulness, the MBSR course and the instructor (no commitment required). The free orientation is usually held one week before the start of the first course in an 8-week MBSR course series. Please RSVP for the free, no-commitment orientation
MBSR Benefits
Benefits of MBSR include:
- More skillful coping strategies for life, work and relationships
- Reduced stress reactivity and improved emotional resilience
- Decreased muscle tension and improved sleep
- Enhanced immune system function
- Reduction in distress associated with depression, anxiety and PTSD
- Reduced risk of depression relapse
- Lowered blood pressure and faster wound healing
- Improvements in nutritional habits through mindful eating
- Brain change associated with greater focus and problem solving
- Greater resilience in the face of life’s inevitable ups and downs
CMI’s Clients
Customer Feedback
My mother took your class years ago and still talks about it!
The workshop leader was great!
The series exceeded my expectations, particularly with regard to the level of participation you were able to draw out from the participants.
Thank you for the wonderful workshop on mindfulness. I loved it and thought of it as a nice introduction to the practice.
I absolutely loved the mindfulness workshop!! The raisin experience was life changing!! I held onto the feeling from it for several days. It’s hard to truly put into words.
I really liked the mindful workshop. It is an eye opening for me. As an educator we always have to stay on top of schedule what’s coming ahead every day. It’s easy to forget ourselves and try to catch up things.
Thank you for scheduling this workshop. I loved it and want more of it for us. I think we so desperately need this type of internal care for sustained alignment with our mission and goals..
I really appreciate how encouraging and motivational you are – I think it made mindfulness seem really accessible to people, and I know it increased my motivation to make mindfulness a more regular part of my day.
