Intro to Mindfulness

intro to mindfulness
Weekly topics
This 4-week course explores what mindfulness is (and isn’t) through direct experience and discussion. Each week we will investigate a different aspect of mindfulness and its implications for your life.
 
Weekly topics include:
  • Mindfulness of the Body
  • Mindfulness of Thoughts
  • Mindfulness of Emotions
  • Mindfulness of Awareness and Attitudes
 
What you will learn
By the end of the class, you will be able to:
  1. Define what mindfulness is – and isn’t.
  2. Discuss at least two of the benefits supported by scientific evidence that you are interested in.
  3. Articulate if you have seen any changes in yourself or your life with the practice.
  4. Give yourself basic meditation instructions so you can practice on your own.
  5. Identify the challenges you sometimes face when meditating and strategies to address them.
  6. Identify at least two practices that you will do in daily life.
And we hope that you will set an intention to practice at least 10 minutes a day!
 
Who This Class is For
This is a great class for adults (18 and older) who are interested in exploring what mindfulness is and how to start practicing it. It is especially useful for anyone who is looking for ways to address stress and daily anxiety or who wants to be more present, less reactive, and more open in their life.
 
What to expect each week
Each class lasts 1 ½ hours where we:
  • Check in about our practice
  • Do a guided meditation
  • Discuss challenges and strategies
  • Share some interesting research about benefits of mindfulness
  • Learn about ways to practice in daily life
The intention is to provide a safe space to try mindfulness and share your experience with others in the class.  Are you doing it “right”?  The only way to find out is to try, ask lots of questions, and hear from others how normal your perceived challenges are—and how easy it is to address them!
This course intersperses teacher presentations with meditations and experiential or reflective exercises. Each week, we invite participants to discuss their experiences in small groups and the class as a whole. While we offer self-reflective options, you might be more comfortable in class if you are open to sharing with other participants.
We'll provide access to recorded guided meditations for use between classes.
 
Additional course resources
In addition to the weekly sessions, we provide:
  • Instructor-led guided meditation audios so you can practice on your own
  • Suggestions for daily practice activities
  • Text summary of key points from the week
  • Tips to address challenges and enhance your practice
  • Supplemental readings/viewings
 
Outcomes
By the end of class, you will know, through your own experience as well as exposure to the research evidence the benefits that mindfulness could offer you personally.  Most importantly, you will have the ability to practice mindfulness on your own, both as you practice at home and in daily life
 
Instruction
Center courses and workshops are facilitated by our experienced instructors, who have deep experience in teaching mindfulness and meditation courses, workshops, and retreats.

louise delagranLouise Delagran, MA, MEd is a writer, researcher, teacher, and the editor of the popular consumer website: Taking Charge of Your Health and Wellbeing. Louise has a strong interest in personal and community wellbeing and co-authored a chapter on advancing wellbeing in the Oxford University Press textbook, Integrative Nursing. She has a particular interest in mindfulness from a research and teaching perspective and, most importantly of all, has practiced meditation for throughout16 years. 

mariann johnsonMariann Johnson is a wellbeing and mindfulness instructor for the University of Minnesota Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing. Before dedicating her professional life to teaching mindfulness, Mariann Johnson was an accomplished organization development consultant and mediator, having worked extensively with national leaders of Fortune 500 companies, government agencies and nonprofit organizations. Since 2010, she has designed and taught mindfulness programs throughout the United States and consulted on the design of Mindful Leadership and mindfulness at work programs in corporate, professional and academic settings. Mariann has practiced mindfulness meditation for over 25 years and studied with national and international leaders in the field. She completed extensive Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teacher training through the Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts, founded by Jon Kabat-Zinn, and received her MBSR teacher certification from the Mindfulness Center at Brown University. 

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Intro to Mindfulness Webinar

Fall Mindfulness Courses Will Be Held Online:

Your health and wellbeing, and that of the community, are of the utmost importance to the Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing. Due to the public health concern involving the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), we have decided to offer the Introduction to Mindfulness courses online via Zoom. 

All Center MBSR instructors completed the MBSR Teaching Online program offered by Brown University’s Center for Mindfulness, supporting the Center’s instructors in offering the 8-week MBSR program live online, with skill, ease and interactivity. 

Pay What You Can Pricing

The Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing is deeply committed to the wellbeing and flourishing of all communities. In order to make the Introduction to Mindfulness course accessible to a broader audience, we have implemented a pay what you can fee for the course (registration options: $99, $125, $149).

The suggested registration fee is $125, but for those who are not able to pay the standard fee we have a lower scholarship rate available ($99). If you would like to support this initiative and are able to contribute financially, you can select the supporter registration fee ($149) to support others attending at the scholarship rate.

This course is approved by the National Board for Health & Wellness Coaching for 6 continuing education units (CEP # 100057).