Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program
A structured eight-week program to develop awareness, presence, and practical tools to bring into everyday life.
MBSR — Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction — is a structured mindfulness practice program developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn.
Through a progressive eight-week journey, the practice explores the relationship between body, breath, sensations, thoughts, emotions and reactions, developing a greater capacity to remain in contact with present-moment experience.
The aim is not to eliminate stress or achieve a particular state, but to develop a more conscious relationship with what is happening, both within and beyond formal practice.
A Structured Practice
The defining characteristic of MBSR is continuity.
It is not simply a series of meditation classes: the program progressively guides participants through learning and practice, creating dedicated time each day for cultivating awareness.
Throughout the eight weeks, different forms of practice are explored, including:
- seated meditation;
- body scan;
- mindful movement;
- walking meditation;
- informal mindfulness practices in everyday life.
Practice is progressively integrated into daily activities, so that awareness does not remain confined to the meditation session.
From Focus to Openness
During the program, attention is initially stabilised through Focus Monitoring Meditation, in which the attentional field is maintained on a specific object, such as the breath or bodily sensations.
As attention becomes progressively more stable, the field of awareness can expand towards Open Monitoring Meditation, in which thoughts, emotions, sensations and other aspects of experience are recognised without continually narrowing attention to a single object.
This is not a practice of attentional decentering.
The practice does not simply consist of creating distance from one’s thoughts or observing them “from the outside”. Attention is first stabilised and then expanded, maintaining a direct, receptive and conscious presence with experience.
Eight Weeks of Practice
MBSR is a progressive eight-week program.
Each week introduces and deepens different aspects of the practice, gradually developing greater familiarity with the body, breath, attention and mental experience.
The program includes group sessions, individual practice and opportunities to integrate mindfulness into everyday life.
An important feature of the program is the intensive practice day, during which continuity of attention is explored through a more extended period of practice.
Practice Between Sessions
Personal practice is an essential part of MBSR.
Between sessions, participants are given structured home practice, allowing them to continue practising independently and bring mindfulness into their everyday lives.
This personal work helps transform what is experienced during the sessions into a concrete and continuous practice.
MBSR is therefore not a course to follow passively: it is a path to be practised.
Who Is It For?
MBSR is intended for those who wish to:
- develop a structured mindfulness practice;
- cultivate greater presence and awareness;
- better understand the relationship between body, thoughts, emotions and reactions;
- develop tools to approach everyday situations with greater awareness;
- dedicate a sustained period of time to their own practice;
- deepen their understanding of mindfulness through a progressive and supported program.
No previous meditation experience is required.
However, participants are expected to attend the sessions consistently and dedicate time to individual practice between sessions.
A Journey, Not a Single Technique
MBSR brings together different practices within a coherent structure.
Seated meditation, body scan, mindful movement, walking meditation and informal practices are not presented as isolated techniques, but as tools through which to progressively develop stability of attention, awareness and the capacity to observe.
Practice thus becomes a laboratory in which we learn to recognise more clearly what is happening and how we respond to it.
How to Participate
MBSR is offered as an eight-week program, in specific editions throughout the year.
To find out about upcoming dates, the program and participation details: