MBSR Course

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)

8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Course

Learn life-long tools to improve your mental well-being & emotional resilience with an evidence-based mindfulness program. The world-renowned and scientifically supported MBSR course was created at the University of Massachusetts Medical school about 40 years ago, to apply secular mindfulness to help people with chronic stress, pain, and illness. As benefits were seen beyond these groups, generally improving well-being as reported by participants and supported by research demonstrating structural changes to the brain, it’s popularity has spread its use worldwide, to corporations, schools, hospitals, military, and even to governments. Scroll down to learn more and to read testimonials.

Convenient & Effective Learning

The MBSR course is currently taught live online via Zoom, which is an opportunity to have a meaningful, participatory, and supportive learning experience in a small group from the comfort and convenience of your own space. Scroll down to learn more and sign up for a free info session to decide if this course is right for you.

Next Course Dates: to be announced.

Wednesdays at 18.00-20.30 WEST / 19.00-21.30 CEST

+ Silent Practice Day Saturday, July 3 at 09.00-15.00 WEST / 10.00-16.00 CEST

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If you are interested in the 1:1 option for the course, click here.

Contact me

WHY MBSR

This program might be for you if you want to:

  • Have more insight into your automatic patterns of thought, emotion and behavior and adapt to more helpful and conscious behaviours and choices
  • Learn how to better and with more flexibility handle difficult experiences, thoughts, and feelings – including workplace situations and relationships
  • Experience more joy, peace and inner stillness, and learn how you can better enjoy your busy life

This ‘gold standard’ program can result in significant physical and psychological health benefits for participants who tend to come with a wide variety of motivations and backgrounds. However, it might be especially worth considering if you struggle with the following:

  • Stress and stress-related symptoms, (preventing/recovering from burnout)
  • Chronic illness, pain, anxiety or depressive moods, (and are looking for a better quality of life)
  • Irritability, impatience, difficulty relaxing

THE PROGRAM

Structure of the program:

During 8 weekly 2.5 hour group sessions in a safe and supportive environment, you will learn how mindfulness can be used to improve your relationship with stress, making you less reactive, and more equipped to take on life’s big and small challenges. The sessions are made up of:

  • guided group meditation techniques including sitting meditation, gentle stretching, and mindful gentle yoga/movement
  • engaging teachings, dialogue, and group exercises to learn how to apply mindfulness to your everyday life
  • daily home practice: 40-45 minute mindfulness meditation exercises supported by guided audio from me your teacher, easy weekly workbook exercises (5-15 min to complete) and the opportunity to discuss and get support in the following class

A note on the home practice:

Learning any new skill takes effort and repeated practice. To reach the full benefit and actually retrain your brain to better handle the stresses and challenges of everyday life, you are strongly encouraged to do the home practice at least 6/7 days a week. You’ll get out what you put in. It might sound like a lot, but you will be fully supported by me and the program. When following the entire program, research shows ACTUAL positive structural changes to your brain, changes that make you more stable and better able to handle challenges. This is in addition to the felt increases in well-being in varying degrees experienced by the participants.

Interested in what the research says? Read my blog post here. What are 8 short weeks that teach you skills you can apply for the rest of your life? Contact me with any questions or attend a free info session (scroll down for details) where I’ll give an overview and attend to any queries you may have.

Testimonials

The course has delivered way beyond my expectations. When it comes to mindfulness, I now can have moments during meditations where it really feels like I am living the full experience of being human (breath, body, sounds, thoughts, and emotions), and I love it. I also find that meditations really help against stress (whether it’s in the realm of conscious or subconscious). We now have a great opportunity to put it to test [referring to the COVID-19 pandemic], and I really feel a big difference before and after. Also, it has really helped me to be more accepting of myself, being able to face my emotions, and to welcome them. Overall, a very positive experience.

Maria K.

I really want to thank you, Emma, for all your patience. I have learned a lot from you and the course and the way you have explained and listened to all of us.  I am relieved by having mechanisms to deal with my emotions, and I trust it will only get better… I am sleeping incredibly well and I have more confidence in myself.  All this is allowing me to think better about what I need. I have truly experienced a change in myself during these weeks. I didn’t have high or low expectations, but it is amazing to see it. THANK YOU!! 

Laura A.

The course really inspired me to be gentle and patient with others and myself. Also it gave me the opportunity to make more time in my daily life to focus on my wellbeing. This was also what I hoped to find in the course. It has offered me a tool to cope with my feelings, respond less anxious and stressed to unforeseen situations or deadlines, and I view it as an enrichment of my life. Thank you for your patient attitude. You feel very open to share my feelings and experiences with, which really helped during the course. What I also think was good is that you set the right expectations and said we could experience lots of feelings, but that we wouldn’t go into the story behind those feelings. Before I always was a little afraid that would happen if I joined a mindfulness/meditation course in a group. Thank you again!

Friede H.

I found this course very informative and engaging. I loved the way it is designed over 8 weeks and the weekly sessions with you over the course were stimulating. I found you very clear and well informed. I am very happy with the course and I will be happy to do another course with you. You are inspiring. It has been an incredible journey of learning and discovery.

The first few weeks of the course was dominated by this phrase that I knew but didn’t think apply to me. In due course I realised I didn’t know how relevant that was to my life and how urgently I needed to address it: “Waking up from automatic pilot”. It is my mantra now! I realised how powerfully this affects my daily life, making it go by without me noticing. It touches upon all aspects of my life, such as my reaction to things. This course gave me the tools to challenge my habits and try to be mindful in all strands of my life. Moreover, I feel like I have the right tools to tackle life’s challenges and stresses. Above all I learned to be kind to myself which I cherish for the rest of my life.

Selam M.

For a long time, I’ve been intrigued by and interested in meditation and the effect it has on people. This course was a great introduction for me and offered a structured approach to different aspects of meditation and mindfulness practice.

For me, the course included several very practical lessons for me to learn how to recognize unhelpful thought patterns that I can fall into both in my personal life as in my work. Learning how to recognize those, how to approach them in a non-judgmental manner, and learning how to choose a different path for my thoughts is a tremendously helpful skill. I am very grateful for being exposed to these lessons and was lucky to have Emma as a kind-hearted, intelligent and supportive guide during the process. I am looking forward to picking up classes with her in the future.

Chris D.

Emma’s course introduced me to concrete ways of thinking about stressful situations that have helped me integrate informal MBSR practices into my daily life. Her lessons made the skills easy to remember and have increased my ability to relax into everyday tasks that used to induce stress. As a result, I’ve developed healthier habits and I’m better able to cope with stress. At first I thought that 2.5 hours was too long, but the class was fast-paced and very interesting. I tend to become uncomfortable doing group exercises, but I found Emma’s group tasks brief, to the point and non-intrusive. This MBSR course has also helped me enjoy life more. As I enjoy more I can be more productive during the day and more relaxed. If you’re on the fence about which course to take, I would recommend you invest in yourself and take the MBSR course with Emma.

Randi B.

FURTHER DETAILS & PRICING

There will be two free online info sessions on [new dates and times to be announced]. Attending one of them is a prerequisite for joining the 8-week course. This 75-minute session is, of course, non-binding, but gives you an opportunity to:

  • learn about the secular, scientific, evidence-based Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program that is accepted as a part of mainstream medicine and discover how it can positively change the quality of your day-to-day life
  • meet (virtually) with me, your instructor
  • experience mindfulness methods you will be learning during the program (there will be guided meditation exercises)
  • receive the intake form (personal details, motivations, health history) after the session via email and thereafter schedule a 10-15 minute call to go over your intake answers and decide if this is the right course for you at this time

Space is limited, so please book your spot by sending me a message. If you are unable to attend any of these sessions due to illness or travel, please get in contact with me to see if we can find a solution.

Sign up for a free info session now

Course Pricing: Standard Price € 349

Course Fee Includes:

  • intake
  • 26 hours of training and class
  • workbook with theory and mindfulness exercises (PDF for online version)
  • guided audio meditations for home practice
  • certificate of completion
  • 8 weeks of professional guidance from your teacher, incl. teacher support between sessions via email
  • alumni perk: retake the course for free in the future, one previous participant spot per each course batch

Once you attend a free info session, fill out the intake form, and have a short intake call with me, you reserve your spot for the course by making the payment via iDeal, PayPal, or bank transfer. Many employers are willing to partially or fully pay for an MBSR course in order to support your well-being. It might be worth speaking with HR or your superior. I have one scholarship spot reserved which gives one participant who currently lacks the funds 50 % off the course price. If you would like to apply for this spot, please get in touch.

PROGRAM DETAILS

Program Themes:

Week 1: What is Mindfulness?

Week 2: How we perceive the World and Ourselves

Week 3: At Home in Our Own Body

Week 4: What is Stress?

Week 5: Stress: Reaction or Mindful Response

Week 6: Mindful Communication « Silent Day »

Week 7: Taking Care of Ourselves

Week 8: Mindfulness & the Rest of Our Lives

Silent Day Class

The silent day is an intensive session of mindfulness practices to help participants effectively establish the use of mindfulness in many situations in their lives and beyond the end of the 8-week program. Having established a daily mindfulness practice during the 6 weeks leading up to this day will better prepare you and maximize the benefits of this class. While the six-hour session might seem daunting, many report finding this day to be very valuable and rewarding.

General Good to Know:

 

YOUR TEACHER

As your teacher, I adhere to the official Best Practice Guidelines for Mindfulness Teachers. In addition to practicing mindfulness on a daily basis, I receive regular supervision and attend continuing professional development opportunities including week-long silent retreats, day and weekend retreats. I am an officially Qualified MBSR Mindfulness teacher through Mindful Academy Solterreno.

What am I like as a teacher? I show up with integrity, authenticity as well as compassion, and care. I’m constantly hungry to learn more to serve you better as a teacher as well as grow myself. I’m easy going, like to be real and casual, and really enjoy supporting my students on their mindfulness journey.

Coming from intense academic studies in the US, I then worked as Marketing Manager at an Artificial Intelligence company (Expertmaker, now eBay) and came to meditation and mindfulness as a way to manage stress. Blown away by the changes I experienced in my life, I eventually pursued formal training to share this with others. I feel lucky that I now get to work with something that is both near and dear to my heart while being supported by science. Click here to learn more about me.

Sign up now

It is important that you find a teacher that resonates with YOU. By attending a free info session for the full MBSR course you have the opportunity to get a feel for both if the course is for you, but also if my teaching style and personality suits you. See course testimonials.

I look forward to meeting you (virtually) soon!

In health,

Emma Ullvin