Evidence-based Online Mindfulness programs include free Information sessions, 8-week MBSR programs, as well as programs for graduates.
“You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.”
Free Mindfulness/MBSR Information sessions
If you’ve recently completed an INFO session and are planning to take the course, register for the next 8-week MBSR course here.
If you haven’t been to an INFO session and would like to learn more about MBSR before registering for the 8-week course, and how it can help you manage stress more effectively, register for a FREE info session by choosing on the following dates in the form below:
Info session registration
What Is Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)?
MBSR is an evidence-based program that uses the tools of mindfulness to help people meet their lives and their circumstances in a more healthy and balanced way. Developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn and the University of Massachusetts in 1979 as a new kind of public health initiative for patients living with chronic illness and pain, it has helped thousands of people to improve their lives using the tools of mindfulness and meditation. With a history of over 40 years, this highly respected program is now taught across the world and helps people to live better lives by teaching them how to use mindfulness to deal more effectively with illness, pain, and the stresses of an increasingly busy and stressful world. As the most researched program of its kind MBSR stands alone as a public health initiative as it teaches participants to engage with their minds and bodies allowing them to tap into their own innate resources for wellbeing and healing.
Over the course of 8 weeks, this hands-on course uses guided meditation practices, short lectures, group sharing, and dialogue to explore several themes including how we perceive ourselves and the world around us, the physiology of stress, the automatic nature of our stress responses, communication and how we can bring mindfulness into our daily lives.
Who Is This Mindfulness Course For?
MBSR is intended for people who are looking to learn how to manage their stress in more effective ways or to bring more peace and balance to their daily lives. It’s open to individuals with no previous experience in mindfulness and experienced practitioners looking to deepen their practice. MBSR is a valuable tool to bring into our lives but it is not meant to replace traditional or psychological treatments but serves as a complement to them. This MBSR program is available to Canadian residents 19 years or older.
What Will You Get?
MBSR is an immersive program where you and your classmates will explore mindfulness and stress over the course of 8 weekly meetings and a full-day silent retreat.
- One information/orientation session that outlines mindfulness, MBSR and how it can bring well- being into our daily lives (1.5 hrs). Session is Free and open to all.
- 8 weekly sessions (2.5 hrs). With the exception of the first and last session (3 hrs);
- Weekly exercises to build mindfulness skills and serve as topics of discussion during group and open session time.
- Silent Retreat (7.5 hrs);
- Supportive Handouts + Recorded Guided Meditations (MP3’s);
- Maximum class size of 20.
What Will You Leave With?
At the end of this immersive course, you will leave with several skills that you can bring into your daily life to manage stress more effectively and cultivate feelings of acceptance, peace, and overall wellbeing. Some of these include:
- An understanding of how perception shapes our world and individual experiences;
- The ability to recognize and explore habitual “ways of being” or “relating” to ourselves (ways of thinking and reacting) and others and how these patterns can be detrimental to our sense of well being;
- An understanding of the habitual nature of stress and it’s physiology;
- Flexibility of attention;
- How to bring mindfulness to moments of difficulty (unwanted physical sensations, emotions etc.);
- Bringing mindfulness to and exploring how unmonitored reactivity can affect your health;
- How to bring mindfulness to interpersonal communication and different communication styles;
- How to develop a mindfulness plan for your daily life (even though it’s busy!).
What Will You Need?
Out of an abundance of caution, this course might be provided via Zoom. In order to participate you will need the following:
- A computer or another device with a functional microphone and camera; and Internet Connection.
- We’re asking everyone to turn on their cameras to foster better discussion and involvement in classes. And if you have any concerns, please send me an email, I’d be happy to talk.
Please Note
- All participants are required to attend the information/orientation session.
- MBSR is an experiential program that requires a commitment to practice not only the weekly exercises but also to attend and engage with every session.
- MBSR is a valuable tool to bring into our lives but it is not meant to replace traditional or psychological treatments but serves as a complement to them.
About the Instructor
“The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.”
– Joseph Campbell
Dr. Jan Klimas is a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) who’s trained in health sciences. He is also a spoken word poet, mindfulness teacher, writer, and thinker.
Dr. Klimas graduated with a Psychology MSc degree from Trnava University in Slovakia where he specialized in factors conducive to changes in people undergoing substance use treatment in therapeutic communities. After pursuing his Ph.D. in Social Psychology investigating the quality of social interaction and personality characteristics of people who use drugs he continued his studies in Ireland and the University of British Columbia where he completed his postdoctoral training giving him the ability to train other healthcare providers in the care of people who live with substance use disorders and related harm.
Dr. Klimas’ passion for learning and personal growth led him to mindfulness meditation training. In 2023, he became qualified as an MBSR Teacher (Level 2) trained at the Centre for Mindfulness Canada, recognized by Mindfulness Center at Brown University.
As a Research Scientist, Educator, Writer, Poet, and Mindfulness teacher, Dr. Klimas’s passions include communicating his scientific knowledge to the public, sharing his poetry via the Downtown East Side Writers Collective, and improving the care of people with mental health and substance use disorders.