Mindful Skills Development Group Launches April 26th

The Mindful Wellness Center of Austin is excited to announce an on-line group class called Mindfulness Skill Development that will in late April. This 6-week group class will open your mind and body to cultivate mindfulness and build mindfulness-based coping skills to help reduce the intensity of stress and anxiety. 

The group class will meet weekly via Zoom on Tuesday evenings 7:00pm-8:30pm beginning 4/26/22 until 5/31/22. Classes will be co-facilitated by Lindsey Heddleston and Marcus Molina. Classes will be educational and interactive, plus, you’ll get the added support of a small group community.

The Mindfulness Skills Development curriculum was developed by Cyndi Collen, LCSW-S in 2014 and has been taught to over 100 clients. The curriculum pulls from two mindfulness-based therapy models, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Mindful Self Compassion plus brings in neuroscience with two modules on the autonomic nervous system as seen through the lens of the Polyvagal Theory. Previous participants have experienced an increase mindfulness and decreased symptoms of anxiety and depression. 

Participants in this 6-week group will learn: 

  • To build awareness of thoughts and how daydreaming / circling thoughts is your body’s way of protecting you from feeling the discomfort of the ‘here and now’ of the present moment

  • How mindfulness can increase cognitive functioning and mental clarity

  • Tips and techniques, such as meditation and specific breaths, to use daily and/or during times of stress and uncertainty 

  • About the importance of our ‘danger detection system’ and how to use it as a strength and tool in our modern world

Below is a breakdown of what you will be learning each week:

  • Week 1 (4/26): Introduction to Mindfulness

  • Week 2 (5/3): Overview of our “Danger Detection System”

  • Week 3 (5/10): The Vagus Nerve and Emotional Regulation

  • Week 4 (5/17): Becoming Mindful and Processing Awareness

  • Week 5 (5/24): Connecting to our Personal Values

  • Week 6 (5/31): Mindful Self-Compassion

The cost is $15 per class

Click here to reserve your seat before April 24th and register as the class size is limited. 

Benefits of learning mindfulness skills include:

  • Reduction in symptoms of anxiety and depression:
    In one study, participants who learned mindfulness-based stress reduction had significantly less physical distress, as well as a reduction in symptoms of anxiety and depression compared with the control group. (Farb et al., 2010; Williams, 2010)

  • Improved memory:
    Mindfulness skills boost the density of the hippocampus, which is a region of the brain that plays a key role in both working memory and long-term memory. (Greenberg, J., Romero, V.L., Elkin-Frankston, S. et al., 2019)

  • Stress reduction:
    Chronic stress can impair our health and well-being. Practicing mindfulness in the midst of daily stressors increases resilience. One study revealed that those who participated in mindfulness had less stress-related cortisol, anger, and fatigue compared to the control group. (Tang et al., 2007).

  • Reduced rumination:
    Repeatedly thinking about the same thoughts, which tend to be negative, is called rumination. Mindful self-regulation starts with being attentive and curious about one’s present experience, resulting in the development of present moment awareness and alternatives to rumination. Studies have shown that increasing mindfulness was significantly correlated with a reduction in rumination and avoidance. (Kumar et al., 2008; Feldman et al., 2010; Raes and Williams, 2010)

  • Less emotional reactivity

    Finding the space between stimulus and response opens up an entire world of possibilities for individuals. But for people under stress or in defensive states being able to access the space between stimulus and response can feel quite challenging. Numerous studies show the benefit of mindfulness when it comes to reducing emotional reactivity so that individuals are able to maintain healthy access to their executive functioning. (Feldman, G., Lavalle, J., Gildawie, K., & Greeson, J. M , 2016).

References

Farb, N. A. S., Anderson, A. K., Mayberg, H., Bean, J., McKeon, D., & Segal, Z. V. (2010). "Minding one's emotions: Mindfulness training alters the neural expression of sadness": Correction to Farb et al (2010). Emotion, 10(2), 215. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019263 

Greenberg, J., Romero, V.L., Elkin-Frankston, S. et al. Reduced interference in working memory following mindfulness training is associated with increases in hippocampal volume. Brain Imaging and Behavior 13, 366–376 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-018-9858-4

Kumar, S., Feldman, G., and Hayes, A. (2008). Changes in mindfulness and emotion regulation in an exposure-based cognitive therapy for depression. Cognit. Ther. Res. 32, 734–744. doi: 10.1007/s10608-008-9190-1

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10608-008-9190-1 

Tang, Yi-Yuan et al. “Short-term meditation training improves attention and self-regulation.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America vol. 104,43 (2007): 17152-6. doi:10.1073/pnas.0707678104  

Feldman, G., Lavalle, J., Gildawie, K., & Greeson, J. M. (2016). Dispositional Mindfulness Uncouples Physiological and Emotional Reactivity to a Laboratory Stressor and Emotional Reactivity to Executive Functioning Lapses in Daily Life. Mindfulness, 7(2), 527–541. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-015-0487-3


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