This online MBSR
training course is 100% free, created by a fully certified MBSR instructor, and
is modeled on the program founded by Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of
Massachusetts Medical School.
The site provides all interesting students a complete
eight-week MBSR course, designed for people who are not able to take a live
MBSR course for financial or logistical reasons. All of the materials used in
the live course, including guided meditations, articles and videos, are freely
available here by the course facilitator Dave Potter.
Offering something for nothing does seem a little
suspicious these days and I get many emails about this free online MBSR course,
many of which ask one or more of the following questions:
Is this online MBSR course really, truly,
100% free?
The short answer is “yes”. There is no catch: no fees, no spam, you
don't even need to identify yourself or give an email address. I receive no
income personally from the site, not even indirectly. Contributions make the
course even more accessible to people around the world, but this is not
expected nor required.
What are your
credentials and why don't you charge for the course?
In Dave Potter words: “I am fully certified as an MBSR
instructor by the University of Massachusetts Medical School and have been
teaching live, in-person MBSR classes in my community for 12 years. I'm also a
professional psychotherapist who has had a daily meditation practice for 25 years,
and when I discovered MBSR, I wanted to offer it to my clients and my
community. I started teaching my twice-yearly in-person classes in 2004 and, as
a service to my students, began to put some parts of the class online. I soon
realized that with a little work, the material could be useful to people who
might not ever be able to attend a live MBSR class.
Creating and incrementally improving this resource has
been a labor of love, and I'm happy to provide these materials without asking
for a fee, something that is made possible given the economies of the internet,
how the course is structured, and the generosity of other teachers. It pleases
me to know that anyone with an internet connection, whether they live in
Moscow, Idaho or Moscow, Russia, can find and use the rich set of materials
here”.
Is taking an
online course an effective way to learn MBSR?
A live, in-person Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction
(MBSR) class is still the best way to learn mindfulness, because it is more
likely that you will complete the course, due to the live interaction and group
support. (NOTE: To find in-person MBSR offerings in your area, try a web search
such as "MBSR Minneapolis" or "MBSR London".)
But doing an in-person course is not always possible, for
financial and logistical reasons. This online course uses precisely the same
course curriculum and resources that are used in my local in-person course, and
if you follow the suggestions and practices for each of the eight weeks of the
course, the learning can be just as deep and profound. In fact, the
end-of-course reports I've received from online graduates indicate that they
benefit just as much as people who complete the in-person course. For some
recent end-of-course reports, see Testimonials / Gallery of Learning. There are
currently over 800 graduates of the Palouse Mindfulness course, from 72
countries.
It is a significant accomplishment to complete a course
such as this on your own, and for that reason, I've done my best to make the
experience interesting and varied, something made possible by the generosity of
the world-renowned teachers whose videos and writings are posted on this site,
including Jon Kabat-Zinn (Wherever You Go, There You Are), Pema Chodron (When
Things Fall Apart), Tara Brach (Radical Acceptance), Sylvia Boorstein (Don't
Just Do Something, Sit There), Sharon Salzberg (A Heart As Wide as the World),
Robert Sapolsky (Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers), Marshall Rosenberg (Non-Violent
Communication), and Jack Kornfield (A Path with Heart).
To get more of a sense of what the course is about...
The Introduction is designed to give you a sense of
mindfulness and an idea of how this course is structured. For each of the eight
weeks, videos, readings and practices help you build a base of both knowledge
and experience. MBSR "At a Glance" provides a brief outline of the
MBSR course.
All of what you will need is accessible through this web
site, and whether or not you actually take yourself through the course, the
wealth of material here, including videos and writings by the teachers
mentioned above and others, is freely available to you.
No registration required - begin whenever you are ready.
This course is completely self-guided (there is no
registration and only you will be monitoring your progress, using the provided
practice sheets). If you successfully complete the eight weeks of practice and
study and send the materials indicated in Requesting a Certificate of
Completion, you will get a personal note from the teacher with congratulations and
a certificate of completion. There is no cost for this. You simply submit the
seven sets of practice sheets and a one-page description of what you've learned
and how you will be incorporating what you learned into your life.
