"The attitude with which you undertake the practice of paying attention and being in the present is crucial. It is the soil in which you will be cultivating your ability to calm your mind and to relax your body to concentrate and to see more clearly."

MBSR, or Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, is a meditation-based program designed to help people cope with stress, anxiety, pain, and other difficult emotions and experiences. The program was developed by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in the 1970s and has since been widely adopted by healthcare providers and individuals around the world.

The MBSR program typically lasts 8 weeks and includes weekly group meetings led by a certified MBSR instructor. In these meetings, participants learn a variety of mindfulness meditation techniques, including body scan meditation, breath awareness meditation, and mindful movement practices such as yoga and walking meditation. They also participate in group discussions and activities aimed at cultivating self-awareness and emotional regulation.

Participants are also encouraged to practice mindfulness on their own outside of the weekly meetings, often through daily meditation sessions and the application of mindfulness to daily activities such as eating, walking, and even doing chores.

The goal of MBSR is not to eliminate stress or difficult emotions, but rather to learn to relate to them in a more skillful and compassionate way. By cultivating mindfulness, participants can learn to observe their thoughts and emotions without getting caught up in them or reacting automatically. This can lead to increased self-awareness, emotional regulation, and a greater sense of calm and well-being.

MBSR has been shown to be effective for a variety of conditions, including chronic pain, anxiety, depression, and stress-related disorders. It is also used as a complementary therapy for many medical conditions, such as cancer, heart disease, and autoimmune disorders.