Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is a practice-based, interactive learning program. Research shows MBSR to be an effective complement to a wide variety of medical and psychological conditions. These include anxiety, asthma, cancer, chronic pain, depression, diabetes, fibromyalgia, gastrointestinal disorders, heart disease, hypertension, mood disorders, sleep disturbances, and stress disorders.
Developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D. (University of Massachusetts) in 1979, MBSR is now taught in every state in the U.S. and in more than 30 countries. MBSR classes include instruction in mindfulness meditation, mindful movement, and other mindfulness practices, all guided by a skilled instructor.
For the program to be effective, a commitment to 45 minutes of daily practice and active participation in all classes as well as the daylong retreat is key. The 8-week course meets for 2.5 hours weekly. The all-day silent retreat, which is held on a Saturday toward the end of the course, provides an opportunity for participants to experience more deeply the mindfulness techniques learned in class.
Susan Carol Stone, Ph.D. is a long-time UVA MBSR instructor, established an MBSR program at Rockingham Memorial Hospital in Harrisonburg VA, and has taught MBSR in a diabetes research program at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond VA. She is author of At the Eleventh Hour; Caring for My Dying Mother, a memoir on mindfulness and caregiving, which authors Stephen and Ondrea Levine called "an exquisite exploration of the heart." She is co-author of The American Mosaic, a research study on workforce diversity, and is author of articles on mindfulness. Her most recent book is a historical novel, The Kosambi Intrigue; A Tale in the Time of the Buddha. Susan has meditated for almost 30 years, has lived in monasteries for 3 years and has received mindfulness training from nationally recognized teachers. A guiding teacher with the Insight Meditation Community of Charlottesville, Susan is currently on sabbatical. She has taught mindfulness in middle school and founded and taught weekly mindfulness groups in men's and women's maximum-security prisons. She was on the staff of the Being with Dying program at Upaya in Santa Fe NM for two years. She was a hospice volunteer and is a Reiki master who has worked with AIDS patients.