The tree of resilience at Big Bear Retreat Center in California. Image description: interior view of an ancient cypress. The tree trunk is burned as if struck by lightning, the tree still thrives.
Participating in the co-creation of a dedicated community has been deeply nourishing for me and inspired me to return to sharing my own meditation practice. It’s my hope that what’s been so nourishing for me may also be of benefit to others.
From September through December 2023, I’ll be offering space for silent midday meditation practice online Mondays from 12-12:30 (EST).
Nourish resilience by slowing down, allowing space for stillness at midday. Come through! No previous meditation experience is necessary. Basic meditation instruction and light guidance may be offered as needed. All are welcome.
For more information or to join, please contact me at double.earth.mindfulness [at] gmail [dot] com. I’ll send out links to join closer to the time. Be well!
Late summer flowers: purple, white, yellow, maroon
This website has been dormant over the past few years. To be honest, I almost forgot about it completely. This site is used primarily for my MBSR classes and I’ve taken a long step back from teaching mindfulness practices for the time being.
Rather than delete the site, I’m inserting a placeholder here. I haven’t abandoned teaching MBSR, yoga or meditation practices, it just remains on pause for now. These practices are an essential part of my life and I believe they can be incredibly useful tools for people. In order for me to share them, I need supportive contexts in which to do so.
I hope to return to the practice of teaching some time in the future when conditions are more favorably aligned.
Beginning next month, Fall offerings are available. I’m offering two cycles of the 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course online.
Thursday evenings: September 9th through October 28th 6-8:30 pm EST Friday afternoons: September 10th through October 29th 12-2:30 pm EST
The practice day for both sections will be on Sunday October 17th 9am -5pm.
What is MBSR? Originally used with patients experiencing chronic pain, MBSR has been of enormous benefit to people in addressing everything from routine daily stress to stress experienced as overwhelming. The majority of people who complete the 8-week program have reported a range of positive results from increased coping ability and decreased pain levels to greater energy and more joy.
Through a variety of formal and informal mindfulness practices, participants will learn to bring awareness to thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations to cultivate the resources necessary to move through stress and reactivity with greater presence and ease. Creating space and flexibility to respond to life more fully.
I’ll give more detailed information about MBSR’s history and an overview of the course in the free orientation sessions. There’s also more information available here. Attendance at an orientation session for these Fall offerings is required to participate in the course. Orientations will take place Thursday September 2nd 6-8:30 pm EST and Friday September 3rd 12:2:30 pm EST.
Pricing
There are many things to consider in establishing a pricing scale. I value the course highly and have seen the benefits of the practice in my own life and in the lives of many others. For that reason, I want to make it available to as many people as possible. I also value my own time, training and have life costs that need to be met. Balancing these considerations, I’m currently offering tiered pricing for the 8-week course on par with other offerings in NYC. Fees (including materials and all-day retreat) are $600 – $500 – $400.
Paying at the supporting side of the scale subsidizes those who may not otherwise have access to the course. Please reach out if the regular pricing tiers are not accessible to you right now. I offer at least one free space per course, based on need.
Moving into April, I’m just finishing up an 8-week MBSR cycle at Mindful Leader. I’ve decided to put a hold on my upcoming offerings in the spring so that I can regroup and resource to get back to balance. It’s my intention to offer another MBSR cycle in the Fall.
Betsy stands in a yoga balance pose (Warrior III/Virabhadrasana III) on a beach
In the meantime, there’s a brief meditation from me available for folks to enjoy on the Mindful Leader site. If you have any questions about upcoming offerings (or anything else) please reach out.
Registration is now open for the winter cycle of MBSR I’ll be offering with Jon Aaron through Mindful Leader.
From February 19, 2021 – April 9, 2021 8 Fridays from 12:00 pm – 2:30 pm (EST) Practice Day: Sunday, March 21, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm Free Orientation: Friday, February 12, 12:00 pm – 2:30 pm (required if you intend to register for the class)
Tuition: $723 – $297 includes materials and Practice Day There are a limited number of partial scholarships.
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction online with Betsy Fagin and Jon Aaron offered through Mindful Leader.
I’ll be co-facilitating a cycle of MBSR with Jon Aaron offered online through Mindful Leader on Fridays 12-2:30 pm (EST) from February 19th through April 9th, 2021. The orientation session (required to participate in the course) will be Friday February 12th and the all-day practice session will be Sunday March 21st. Registration details available soon.
What is Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)?
“Mindfulness is awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally.” Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD.
Originally used with patients experiencing chronic pain, MBSR has been of enormous benefit to people in addressing everything from routine daily stress to stress experienced as overwhelming. The majority of people who complete the 8-week program have reported a range of positive results from increased coping ability and decreased pain levels to greater energy and more joy.
There is now a solid body of research on the benefits of mindfulness, based primarily on studies of the evidence-based MBSR curriculum as taught at the University of Massachusetts Medical School’s Center for Mindfulness where I trained and received my qualification to teach the 8-week program. (My training has also been recognized at Brown University’s Mindfulness Center.)
Everyone experiences stress. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction is an 8-week program developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn in 1979 to address the stress we all face by supporting the development of tools that provide a more effective response to stress– shifting our relationship to our stressors through mindfulness. The MBSR program was one of the first to usher the form of meditation known as mindfulness into the medical mainstream.
The MBSR program is both experiential and educational and requires practice between classes. This course is suitable for both beginning meditators (no meditation experience required) and for experienced meditators looking to deepen their practice and understanding of mindfulness.
The course schedule consists of eight weekly classes and one day-long workshop. This highly participatory, practical course includes:
Guided instruction in mindfulness meditation practices
Gentle stretching and mindful yoga
Group dialogue and discussions aimed at enhancing awareness in everyday life
Daily home practice, including guided meditations
More on MBSR: Highly respected in the medical community, MBSR has been featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show, NBC’s Dateline, ABC’s Evening News, and in hundreds of newspapers and magazine articles. In February 2014 it was featured on the cover of Time Magazine.
The next cycle of the 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) will meet on Saturdays 12:00-2:30 pm EST from September 12 – November 7, 2020 with an all-day practice session Saturday October 24th 9:30-5:00 pm EST.
The first step to registering for the 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course is to attend the free Orientation Session August 29th at 12:00 pm EST to find out if the course is right for you now.
Stress-free Summer? Is that even possible? Probably not, but you can learn some tools and practices to help reduce stress and relate differently to the challenges life brings. The next cycle of the 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction course begins online via Zoom August 5, 2020. Join the free orientation session July 29th 6:30 pm EST to find out if the course is right for you now. For more information, contact double.earth.mindfulness@gmail.com.
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction begins August 5, 2020
