mindful movement

I first encountered Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) in 2014 when I was about as stressed as I ever remember being. I was one of the named plaintiffs in a lawsuit brought by Occupy Wall Street Library against then-mayor Michael Bloomberg, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and the NYPD and the NYC Department of Sanitation. Friends were having the FBI show up on their doorsteps and being thrown in the back of unmarked vans. I was both stressed and low key paranoid and was looking for anything that might be helpful.

The internet led me to a sign up for an 8-week MBSR class that was starting the next day. The timing seemed auspicious so I joined. I thought I’d learn something about meditation which I’d already been practicing off and on for about 10 or 15 years by then but was mostly just curious about what this “gold standard” of stress reduction was all about. I came in cynical with my usual bad attitude and aversion and left the course 8-weeks later with a different worldview.

For me, the course changed how I related to myself and other people, cleared the lenses through which I view the world and set me off on a trajectory into devotional practices and the world of Dharma. That’s what it was for me– it’s different for everybody, ymmv.

It was meaningful enough to me that I studied and trained in it for years. I attended my first course in 2014 and after a few years of training, began teaching meditation and yoga in 2017. In 2019 I qualified as an MBSR teacher through the University of Massachusetts Medical School’s Center for Mindfulness and continued studying MBSR at Brown University along with additional trainings in somatics, and relational mindfulness all while deepening my own study and practice of Buddhadharma.

As my own practices grew more devotional, I stopped teaching MBSR because I had some aversion toward the secular nature of the curriculum. I felt like leaving out the ‘smells and bells’ was stripping some of what was most profound from the practice. I was also keenly aware as I offered the traditional MBSR curriculum how anchored it was in conditions of white supremacy culture, run through with ideas of individualism and separation.

I was reflecting on a question someone asked me recently, whether I had a spiritual practice or not and I laughed and said ‘yes, absolutely, I don’t know how anyone is surviving these times without one.’ I wouldn’t have had a spiritual practice if I never learned to slow down and pause and I might not have found that without encountering MBSR and the opportunity it offered to nurture change through 8 weeks of supported and guided practice. That’s what’s encouraged me to offer the course again, if anyone’s interested.

Everyone carries stress. As the systems around us begin to falter and collapse— the sources of stress are endless. Everyone here experiences suffering. We are also equipped with wondrous capacities for resilience and creativity. One key to accessing creative response is mindfulness. Compassion and curiosity present in each arising moment are always available. We can rediscover these gifts with patience and practice. If you’d like to find out how, please do join me.

8 Wednesday evenings 6:30 – 9 pm (est) online
September 17 – November 5, 2025
Practice Day on Saturday October 18 9:30 am – 5 pm (est)
Orientation on Wednesday September 10 6:30-8 pm (est) online required if you intend to register for the class.

Tuition = $600 – $500 – $350 includes materials and practice day

Regarding my pricing scale, I deeply value the course 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. 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.

To register for the course or attend the free orientation session, contact me at betsy.fagin@proton.me

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.

To register for the course or attend the free orientation session, contact me at double.earth.mindfulness@gmail.com.