[MUSIC]
MBSR is based on a form of meditation originally out of the Buddhist tradition,
having to do with this capacity to pay attention, and to actually refine
our capacity to pay attention.
>> Mindfulness is like a deeply embodied experience of wakefulness. And we call
that, in common parlance, awareness. And, it, we only are alive in one moment,
and that's this one. Now. >> Using this capacity that we believe,
I believe, everyone has for being mindful,
being attentive in the present moment, in this way. To base a training program,
for people who are suffering, on that capacity to be mindful.
I think that's what MBSR is.
>> It's a deep engagement with the vitality of the moment, and
the appreciation of life. And all of this is done both alone and
as a group, so that it has the sense of the community learning to it.
>> In the MBSR classes, you know,
we get a whole bunch of people together. And people begin to talk about, like,
what's really going on? And there's a great relief. Because,
like, people realize, like, I'm not alone with my anxiety or my depression or
feeling overwhelmed, or, you know, the whole plethora of our human condition.
And so, I think there's a breath of fresh air of people really,
really wanting to have like a meaningful encounter with another human being. And
I think there's a hunger to be, to connect, to be real, to be loved,
to be seen, to be understood, to be respected for
where you are. To honor, to be honored.
>> It's also utilizing the latest in neuroscience discoveries about
something called neuroplasticity. And neuroplasticity is
essentially this idea that the brain can be shaped by our experience.
So MBSR is also because it's repetitive, because people practice when they're in
class. They practice the meditation methods when they're at home.
They practice them in their everyday lives.
Is that there's a kind of mental muscle being built, if you will.
That has real life implications in terms of you might actually handle
situations in your life differently. The things that used to stress you
out might not stress you in the same way. >> Stress is the word
that John used in '79 when he was coming up with the course. It was his word for
the Buddhist term dukkha, which means suffering. But it means that quality of
things just not being right. And it's a great word to use for what we're doing.
We're reducing the effects that stress might have on the body, but really
what we're reducing is the way that people get lost in their pain and suffering,
and forget that there is this inherent capacity to come back to balance and
ease in our lives. And the program
actually accompanies people on a journey through discovering that.
So, to me that's what the MBSR program is, the Mindfulness-Based
Stress Reduction program, Mindfulness- Based Suffering Reduction program.
[MUSIC]
>> I started talking to physicians at UMass, asking them questions like,
well, of all your patients, what percentage of them would you say you help?
And, again, remember. This is now 1979. And they,
I was completely astonished by their response. They said, well, maybe 20%.
15%. And I said, well, what happens to the others?
They said, well some get better on their own, and the rest? But
what if you sent your patients to a place where, like, we could take that time and
help them to tap into deep inner resources that they have
simply by virtue of being human? So I wrote out a four or five page proposal.
And I directed it to the ambulatory care department in the hospital, and
I said I'll do this two days a week for virtually no money, I mean, you know,
just, like, a pittance, and they said yes to it.
We'll try it. And of course we had to decide well what would we call this.
Well, in 1979, you weren't going to call it the Mind Body Clinic. You weren't going
to call it Alternative Medicine. Why don't we just call it stress reduction?
Anybody can relate to that. Everybody can relate to that. Let's make the mouth of
the funnel as big as possible and bring people into the system.
Because most of the people who will be referred to the Stress Reduction Clinic,
they are falling through the cracks of the health care system.
>> I came as an intern.
I was the first intern in the Stress Reduction Clinic in 1981.
>> I started in 1984,
when there was just John and Saki.
It was very informal. John used to test the air quality in the hospital,
just to see if he could breathe, because we were in
the basement over the animal lab. >> The first 10 or 12 years,
we were a pretty well-kept secret. We had no windows. I'd come in in the morning,
and I wouldn't know if it was sunny out or
snowing out.
>> The rooms were small, dark. We were in the faculty conference room.
We'd go through the library. We had to look very professional because no one knew
who we were. And it was wonderful.
>> So I'm lying on the floor of the faculty
conference room in like this first cycle I think or the second cycle. And
I'm halfway through the body scan. And then the door opens and
they're 30 people on the floor. And this troop of people in
white coats walk in.
>> [LAUGH]. >> And
the guy in front, he comes up to me.
>> [LAUGH] >> And
he looks down at me.
>> [LAUGH] >> And [LAUGH] looks around.
And he says, What's going on here?
>> [LAUGH] >> This is 1980.
And I said, Well, this is the first,
the new stress reduction
program in the hospital.
>> [LAUGH]. >> He sees this guy, barefoot and
karate gi, and all these people lying on these colorful mats,
and he's got a retinue of people and he said, Well, we have this room reserved for
this time.
>> [LAUGH].
>> And I said, That's funny.
>> [LAUGH]. >> I thought... I was... I made sure that we had...
...I double checked, I tripled checked, you know. He looks around, and
he says to me, Are these our patients? And I said, Yes they are.
And he said, Then we will find another place to hold our meeting.