Find Trusted Providers Offering Online Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Therapy

What is MBSR Therapy?

Founded by American professor Jon Kabat-Zinn in the 1970s at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, mindfulness-based stress reduction is a meditation therapy. It was originally designed for stress management and emerged as one of the possibilities for incorporating the teachings and practices that make up Buddhist meditation traditions into the conventional settings for therapy and healthy living. However, it is now used to treat various disorders, including cancer, diabetes mellitus, depression, anxiety, chronic pain, immune disorders, and hypertension.

Mindfulness-based interventions normally run once a week for eight weeks. Each session's duration varies depending on the program, although it often lasts two to three hours. In each session, participants learn a mindfulness technique from a qualified instructor. They are required to put these into practice in a group setting.

The sessions also require individuals to work to develop a stronger awareness of the present moment. They seek to achieve a deeper sense of calm by improving their practice of mindfulness while simultaneously making efforts to lower their overall arousal and emotional reactivity. While this treatment is to be practiced with a qualified instructor in a group setting, independent mindfulness practice is also covered in the program.

What are the Benefits?

The advantages of MBSR sessions depend on your particular circumstances. However, studies have indicated that this treatment approach has positively affected those managing stress and several other physical and mental health conditions. Some potential benefits include:

• Pain Relief: This treatment approach may help people with chronic pain disorders benefit psychologically and physically. It enhances the quality of life for persons with lower back pain. It might also improve the quality of life of individuals struggling with headaches and migraines. This treatment also lessens pain-catastrophizing; this is when a person reports excessive amounts of pain and/or feels helpless in the face of their anguish.

  Mindfulness can enhance the subjectivity of pain. In other words, compared to someone who doesn't practice mindfulness, those who do may have a higher pain tolerance and feel more equipped to deal with the negative impacts of pain on their mental health.

• Stress Management: We can react to stress and feel overwhelmed by our emotions while we are unaware of our thoughts and feelings. However, mindfulness allows you to be aware of when you are experiencing physical and emotional distress.

  You may escape the turmoil by practicing mindfulness and giving yourself the time and space to analyze your emotions. This may lower stress levels and encourage relaxation. Practicing mindfulness slows down bodily processes like heart rate, nervous system activity, and blood pressure. Because of this, this treatment can benefit those with hypertension and those who are managing their stress.

• Reducing Anxiety and Depression: Our ideas, actions, and behaviors might become unconscious when we don't stay in the present moment. Ultimately, you could find that the things you think don't correspond with your beliefs. For instance, many of us unwittingly suppress our painful emotions and self-criticism. In general, improved psychological states are associated with keeping our attention on the present. Even though it could be difficult at first, this treatment can assist develop this ability to stay in the present. This is because participants become more aware of their inner selves and more accepting of their ideas and emotions. This can lessen how severe the feelings of depression and anxiety are.

• Bias Reduction: Another advantage of mindfulness-based methods is that they frequently assist people in getting rid of unhelpful belief systems.

• Cognitive Improvements: Mindfulness-based techniques are beneficial for the brain. They have proved helpful for enhancing the long-term memory and attention of participants.

Common Techniques

Participants in an MBSR course study put mindfulness, meditation, and yoga into practice. Together, these evidence-based health strategies enable individuals to notice and stay aware of the difficulties while detaching themselves to live completely in each moment. During the eight-week training, individuals gain the ability to observe thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations while remaining calm and detached. Some techniques used are:

• Deep Breathing: Slow deep breathing helps deactivate the sympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for the fight-or-flight/stress response. So, people learn to control and concentrate on their breathing. Deep breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which is associated with a state of calm relaxation.
• Mindful Body Scans: These are a crucial part of MBSR programs because they enable participants to become aware of the stress, tension, and pain they hold in their bodies. This is done to relax those areas deliberately and to calm the stress reactions of their bodies.
• Formal and Informal Mindfulness Meditation: Both formal and informal mindfulness practices focus on an aspect of the present moment, such as sound, sight, texture, physical sensation, or the breath. However, while mindfulness is a way of experiencing life "on the go," meditation entails setting aside time specifically for focusing attention.
• Seated and Walking Meditations: These aid mental and physical relaxation and divert attention from issues. In general, meditation encourages people to halt and maintain their composure in the midst of difficulties instead of reacting with strong emotions immediately.
• Mindful Movement Practices: Yoga is a form of the conscious movement that focuses on the breath and specific postures to link the mind and body and improve both physical and mental health. Purposeful, mindful yoga practice aids individuals in achieving and sustaining a level of peaceful awareness and general wellness.

What Conditions Can it Help Treat?

The effects of MBSR include enhanced general health, less psychological distress, and decreased pain brought on by medical symptoms. Through MBSR training, individuals learn to identify their mental and physical reactions to stress before they start causing problems. This treatment approach allows people to choose their response as they become aware of issues and symptoms early on and observe them objectively and neutrally rather than emotionally and negatively.

MBSR is beneficial for situations like:

• Chronic pain
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Mood Disorders
• Stress
• Sleep Difficulties

Mental health issues caused by chronic illnesses like cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis, autoimmune disorders, and other medical ailments.

Get Counseling from a Trusted Therapist With DocVita

Mindfulness-based stress reduction teaches mindfulness, meditation, and yoga as a technique to deal with challenges while also enhancing well-being and quality of life. Whether you have a mental health problem, a chronic illness or pain, or are otherwise healthy but feeling stressed, a structured program (in person or online) can improve your well-being. To regain control over stress, anxiety, sadness, pain, and other illnesses and diseases, places you in control of your thoughts, feelings, actions, and experiences.

Finding the ideal MBSR practitioner for yourself may be challenging and time-consuming, but it's essential to keep looking. The sooner you can begin the therapy and commit to it, the sooner it will improve your quality of life. And at DocVita, we can connect you with providers specializing in mindfulness-based stress reduction therapy. All you have to do is visit our page, browse through a comprehensive list of experts, and book your first therapy session today!