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Online Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Course

101 points by tomaskazemekas 11y ago

khorwitz 11y ago
Mindfulness for your work: http://focusr.co/ http://focusr.co/ (i.e., instead of being mindful to your breath or some aspect of your environment, you can practice mindfulness by bringing your attention back to your current task).
- jonsen 11y ago
  That's Flow: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)
  - wpietri 11y ago
    I think flow is the more the state achieved, whereas mindfulness is learning to notice when flow is not achieved, or is achieved for the wrong thing. For example, I can be in flow while coding, but if things get too frustrating I may drop out of flow. Mindfulness for me is noticing quickly that I am frustrated. If I don't, I may end up in flow while reading Hacker News; being mindful helps me recognize that state rather than getting caught in it until noprocrast boots me.
- hmottestad 11y ago
  smoothscroll.js is quite annoying for mac users.
- brianbreslin 11y ago
  There is a chrome extension that does this https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/momentum/laookkfknpbbblfpciffpaejjkokdgca?hl=en https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/momentum/laookkfkn...
- khorwitz 11y ago
  There's also a Chrome extension for Focusr: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/focusr/fgdcnfgmneblnnldmaffhbniomfajlah?hl=en https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/focusr/fgdcnfgmneb... This is especially useful because it prevents downward spirals from happening before they begin. For example, if you want to work on X, you can write "Do X" in this extension. Then, when you open a new tab to do something non-productive (like browsing reddit, etc), you'll see a huge reminder of "Do X" to prevent goofing off before it even happens.
evolve2k 11y ago
Mindful in May is also happening this month and those that subscribe are taken through a great course in mindfulness with daily emails. http://www.mindfulinmay.org http://www.mindfulinmay.org
tomaskazemekas 11y ago
When I was looking for mindfulness resources on HN, one of the fundamental books on the subject was referenced in one of the comments: "Full Catastrophe Living" by Jon Kabat-Zinn. It is a fat book, more than 700 pages, and I proceded to read some shorter books on the field. Eventually, I came back to the book and now have almost finished it. The linked course is based on the materials and the MBSR programe developed by the author of the book, Jon Kabat-Zinn, but I see that the author of the course has found and included some excellent additional audio and video resources.
hans_mueller 11y ago
> whether they live in Moscow, Idaho or Moscow, Russia That's a funny way to put it. I can say from personal experience that actively learning to be mindful - meaning present and sensing - instead of constantly being obsessed with thoughts and mental picturing of the future and the past - has a very positive impact on my well-being and that of the people in my environment who I communicate and interact with. I am definitely going to give this course a try.
wordbank 11y ago
I'm using https://www.headspace.com/ https://www.headspace.com/ for two years and it had a huge impact on my life. Being mindful is a cognition pattern of introspection and self-awareness. More invested hours lead to a higher "skill" like in playing music or programming. So you should train your brain on a regular basis to make this behavior more dominant in your thinking processes.
tomjen3 11y ago
These kind of things turn on all my bullshit/cult flags - does anybody here have any experience with this particular course or better yet scientific evidence that it works?
- tehwalrus 11y ago
  It is used within the British NHS, which means that a standards body has determined that it is evidence based.[1] See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindfulness#Clinical_applications http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindfulness#Clinical_applicatio... Personally, I've found it difficult to keep up the practise (meditating every day), but when I do remember it does improve things. Even as a one-off activity occasionally it is good for introspection, and identifying subconscious sources of stress allowing you to act on them. [1] NICE aren't perfect, but they do a reasonable job.
  - DanBC 11y ago
    > It is used within the British NHS, which means that a standards body has determined that it is evidence based Hang on, that's not how it works. (For one thing health is devolved in Scotland so you have seperate English, Scottish, and Welsh NHSs. (Not sure what happens with NI.) More importantly: http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/homeopathy/Pages/Introduction.aspx http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/homeopathy/Pages/Introduction.a... > Homeopathy is not available on the NHS in all areas of the country, but there are several NHS homeopathic hospitals and some GP practices also offer homeopathic treatment. So, it's possible to get a stupid pointless "treatment" on the NHS. You might want to write to your local clinical commissioning group if you want to stop them spending money (about £4m per year) on homeopathy.
    - joewalker 11y ago
      To be fair on NICE, from the same page: "NICE currently does not recommend that homeopathy should be used in the treatment of any health condition" "Some homeopathic remedies may contain substances that are not safe, or that interfere with the action of other medicines" "there is no evidence that homeopathy is effective as a treatment for any health condition" "Some people who use homeopathy may see an improvement in their health condition due to a phenomenon known as the placebo effect" I'm not sure what the phrase 'NHS homeopathic hospitals' means. Does it mean more than what is implied by the paragraph following the one you quoted, that some people that work for the NHS also work privately on alternative medicine like homoeopathy. I'd also be interested to know more about the £4m per year. The page on mindfulness has a very different tone [1] to the one on homeopathy. [1]: http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/pages/mindfulness.aspx http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/pages...
rdudekul 11y ago
I meditate daily. I use Passage Meditation and it has made my life a lot better. For those interested in exploring, here is a link to the free online course: http://www.easwaran.org/introductory-passage-meditation-course-introduction.html http://www.easwaran.org/introductory-passage-meditation-cour...

101 points by tomaskazemekas 11y ago

Mindfulness for your work: http://focusr.co/ http://focusr.co/ (i.e., instead of being mindful to your breath or some aspect of your environment, you can practice mindfulness by bringing your attention back to your current task).

jonsen 11y ago
That's Flow: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)
- wpietri 11y ago
  I think flow is the more the state achieved, whereas mindfulness is learning to notice when flow is not achieved, or is achieved for the wrong thing. For example, I can be in flow while coding, but if things get too frustrating I may drop out of flow. Mindfulness for me is noticing quickly that I am frustrated. If I don't, I may end up in flow while reading Hacker News; being mindful helps me recognize that state rather than getting caught in it until noprocrast boots me.
hmottestad 11y ago
smoothscroll.js is quite annoying for mac users.
brianbreslin 11y ago
There is a chrome extension that does this https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/momentum/laookkfknpbbblfpciffpaejjkokdgca?hl=en https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/momentum/laookkfkn...
khorwitz 11y ago
There's also a Chrome extension for Focusr: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/focusr/fgdcnfgmneblnnldmaffhbniomfajlah?hl=en https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/focusr/fgdcnfgmneb... This is especially useful because it prevents downward spirals from happening before they begin. For example, if you want to work on X, you can write "Do X" in this extension. Then, when you open a new tab to do something non-productive (like browsing reddit, etc), you'll see a huge reminder of "Do X" to prevent goofing off before it even happens.

evolve2k 11y ago

Mindful in May is also happening this month and those that subscribe are taken through a great course in mindfulness with daily emails. http://www.mindfulinmay.org http://www.mindfulinmay.org

tomaskazemekas 11y ago

When I was looking for mindfulness resources on HN, one of the fundamental books on the subject was referenced in one of the comments: "Full Catastrophe Living" by Jon Kabat-Zinn. It is a fat book, more than 700 pages, and I proceded to read some shorter books on the field. Eventually, I came back to the book and now have almost finished it. The linked course is based on the materials and the MBSR programe developed by the author of the book, Jon Kabat-Zinn, but I see that the author of the course has found and included some excellent additional audio and video resources.

hans_mueller 11y ago

> whether they live in Moscow, Idaho or Moscow, Russia That's a funny way to put it. I can say from personal experience that actively learning to be mindful - meaning present and sensing - instead of constantly being obsessed with thoughts and mental picturing of the future and the past - has a very positive impact on my well-being and that of the people in my environment who I communicate and interact with. I am definitely going to give this course a try.

wordbank 11y ago

I'm using https://www.headspace.com/ https://www.headspace.com/ for two years and it had a huge impact on my life. Being mindful is a cognition pattern of introspection and self-awareness. More invested hours lead to a higher "skill" like in playing music or programming. So you should train your brain on a regular basis to make this behavior more dominant in your thinking processes.

tomjen3 11y ago

These kind of things turn on all my bullshit/cult flags - does anybody here have any experience with this particular course or better yet scientific evidence that it works?

tehwalrus 11y ago
It is used within the British NHS, which means that a standards body has determined that it is evidence based.[1] See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindfulness#Clinical_applications http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindfulness#Clinical_applicatio... Personally, I've found it difficult to keep up the practise (meditating every day), but when I do remember it does improve things. Even as a one-off activity occasionally it is good for introspection, and identifying subconscious sources of stress allowing you to act on them. [1] NICE aren't perfect, but they do a reasonable job.
- DanBC 11y ago
  > It is used within the British NHS, which means that a standards body has determined that it is evidence based Hang on, that's not how it works. (For one thing health is devolved in Scotland so you have seperate English, Scottish, and Welsh NHSs. (Not sure what happens with NI.) More importantly: http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/homeopathy/Pages/Introduction.aspx http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/homeopathy/Pages/Introduction.a... > Homeopathy is not available on the NHS in all areas of the country, but there are several NHS homeopathic hospitals and some GP practices also offer homeopathic treatment. So, it's possible to get a stupid pointless "treatment" on the NHS. You might want to write to your local clinical commissioning group if you want to stop them spending money (about £4m per year) on homeopathy.
  - joewalker 11y ago
    To be fair on NICE, from the same page: "NICE currently does not recommend that homeopathy should be used in the treatment of any health condition" "Some homeopathic remedies may contain substances that are not safe, or that interfere with the action of other medicines" "there is no evidence that homeopathy is effective as a treatment for any health condition" "Some people who use homeopathy may see an improvement in their health condition due to a phenomenon known as the placebo effect" I'm not sure what the phrase 'NHS homeopathic hospitals' means. Does it mean more than what is implied by the paragraph following the one you quoted, that some people that work for the NHS also work privately on alternative medicine like homoeopathy. I'd also be interested to know more about the £4m per year. The page on mindfulness has a very different tone [1] to the one on homeopathy. [1]: http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/pages/mindfulness.aspx http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/pages...

rdudekul 11y ago

I meditate daily. I use Passage Meditation and it has made my life a lot better. For those interested in exploring, here is a link to the free online course: http://www.easwaran.org/introductory-passage-meditation-course-introduction.html http://www.easwaran.org/introductory-passage-meditation-cour...