In-Person Daylong Retreat for Current and Past Mindfulness Center Course Participants To Be Held March 1 All current and past participants in any course held through the UVA Mindfulness Center…
A Mindfulness Course Decreases Burnout and Improves Well-Being among Healthcare Providers Healthcare providers are under increasing stress and work-related burnout has become common. Mindfulness-based interventions have a potential role in…
Transitions can be difficult. We often want things to stay as they are, and we can find ourselves resisting change. Yet change is inevitable. Everything is impermanent, although some things change more quickly than others. Mindfulness teaches us that the only moment we can be sure about is the one that we are presently experiencing. If this moment feels pleasant we tend to want it to continue, and we may resist it changing. We can notice this resistance, and the thoughts that come up about how we want things to stay as they are, with kindness. We can then see if we can let the thoughts go and just be with whatever is arising in this moment, without judgment, accepting that change is inevitable. With this in mind, the Mindfulness Center is about to go through a major transition, and will now be focusing just on offering mindfulness programs for UVA Health employees. We have been teaching Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and other programs for anyone who was interested in taking them for 30 years, ever since the Mindfulness Center was founded by Allie Rudolph and Maria Tussi Kluge. At that time, it was one of the few Mindfulness Centers in an academic health center in the country. Allie and Maria were in the first class of MBSR teachers trained by Jon Kabat-Zinn and were pioneers in bringing mindfulness training to the University of Virginia.
Space Is Still Available in the Mindful Eating Course Beginning in January The Mindful Eating course will be offered again on Mondays from January 13 – March 3 from 5:30…
Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Cancer Patients and Survivors are Associated with Positive Health Outcomes This study is an analysis of the effects of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) on positive health outcomes in…
The holiday season is here again, a time that has many different meanings for people. For some it is primarily a religious holiday, for others it is more about giving, and for still others it has no real significance, and may even be considered an annoyance. Whatever one’s beliefs about the holidays, it can be an ideal time to practice pausing and noticing what is arising within us. Our usual routines are often altered, with different work schedules and leisure plans. These changes may be experienced as pleasant, unpleasant or neutral. If we are not paying attention, we may not even notice what we are feeling although it may still influence our behavior. We tend to automatically want to continue activities that are pleasant, and to not continue those that are unpleasant. Pausing can be helpful in shedding light on this process so that we are not just reacting to our circumstances. The acronym STOP stands for useful steps to follow when pausing. The S is for Stopping, remembering to pay attention to what is present right now. The T is for Taking a few breaths to center ourselves. If the breath does not feel centering, we might instead place our attention on our feet or our hands. Focusing on anywhere in the body that feels like it helps stabilize the attention is fine. The O is for Observing our present moment experience, without judging it. We can ask ourselves, in this moment, what am I thinking?
