Our next MBSR class will be offered at Wabash college for employees, family members, and students, and will have an orientation on Monday, September 10th. Registration information is below.

Image credit: Ryan Adams, “Calm Daylight” – flickr

About Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction

MBSR is an 8-week course developed in the 1970s by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, to help patients who were dealing with chronic pain. Since it was created, more than 25,000 people have completed an MBSR course.

Mindfulness is an awareness that comes when we pay attention, on purpose, to the present moment, with kindness and without judgment. Mindfulness can help us to better see ways that we can deal with stress in our lives, and change our relationships to parts of our lives that we find challenging or painful.

And, while we all may experience moments of mindfulness in our lives, programs such as MBSR can help us to be more mindful in our daily lives, much like taking music lessons or a fitness class can help us improve in ways that would be difficult to do without the support and structure of a class.

While many mindfulness-based programs exist today, MBSR has been studied extensively, and research has shown that this program can help us:

For example, a study published in 2022 found that MBSR performed similarly to a common medication used to help treat anxiety.

The 8-week program

The 8-week mindfulness-based stress reduction course is intensive, and involves approximately 25 hours of class meetings, as well as daily mindfulness practice:

  • We meet once a week for about 2.5 hours
  • After the sixth class, we have an all-day class which meets for approximately 7 hours
  • And, there is daily homework that will take between 45 minutes to an hour each day

MBSR classes and daily homework focus on mindfulness exercises (meditation, gentle stretching, body awareness) and bringing greater awareness all parts of our life. Class sessions are interactive, including guided mindfulness exercises and discussions stress, how we perceive the world, how we handle challenging social situations, and more.

Each class builds on the previous sessions, and it is important for each person to attend all of the scheduled class sessions.

If you are interested in the MBSR class, but you know in advance that you will have to miss two or more of the scheduled class sessions, it would be better to wait for another opportunity to take the MBSR course in the future.

Fall 2025 Classes

Neil Schmitzer-Torbert will be offering our next next mindfulness-based stress reduction class starting on September 10th at Wabash College. This class is open to all Wabash employees, retirees, family members, and students.

Wabash class schedule:

  • Monday, June 15th (6:15-7:30pm): Orientation session meeting in the Allen Center Aerobics room.
  • Mondays, September 22nd through November 10th (6:15-8:30pm): Weekly class meetings in the Allen Center Aerobics room.
  • Saturday, November 1st (9am to 4pm): All-day class meeting in the Rogge Lounge in Baxter Hall.

Registration for the September 2025 MBSR course

Registration is open, and the class will be limited to a maximum of 15 people.

Please our form (https://forms.office.com/r/1YJhLvHk7h) or reach out directly to Neil (neil@mindfulinmoco.com). After registering, Neil will reach out with more information about the course.

Questions about MBSR?

If you would like to know more about our MBSR courses, or have a question about an upcoming class, please feel free to reach out to Neil (neil@mindfulinmoco.com).