Foundations of Stress Management Workshop
self-paced e-learning workshop
Introducing mindfulness research, science and techniques and gaining an understanding of the physiology and psychology of stress. This course will strengthen your understanding of the connection between breath and brain.
We will explore advanced mindfulness topics, such as emotional regulation and positive practice. You will practice integrating various mindfulness practices and consider how to develop mindfulness habits.
By the end of the course, you will be able to identify methods to practice and strengthen mindfulness habits.
This course will consist of the following components:
Participants will learn about mindful science and research, breathing, stress, and learn more effective and skillful responses to the challenges and demands of everyday life. In parallel, we will also explore how to integrate mindfulness practices into our lives through practice and repetition.
In each lesson, participants will learn about and practice different forms of mindfulness including sitting meditation, body scan, and walking meditation as well as learning exercises such as mindful eating, speaking and listening, and mindfulness of daily activities. In each class, there will be periods of formal mindfulness practice, small and large group discussions, as well as practices and exercises related to that session's topics.
Because practice is an essential part of the program, participants are encouraged to practice setting aside 5-15 minutes of recorded practice as well as completing other exercises, activities between sessions.
Before we get started
Workshop Resources and Exercises
Video Introduction
Welcome to the course
Today's Topic: Anatomy of Mindfulness & Awareness
Activity: Mindful Listening (Musical Awareness)
Activity: Mindful Listening, Peter & the Wolf excerpt
Activity Cont'd: Pause & Reflect Worksheet
Presentation : What is Mindfulness?
Video lesson: How Meditation Can Reshape Our Brains: Sara Lazar at TEDxCambridge 2011
Presentation: how do our bodies respond to stress?
Awareness is the first building block of Mindfulness and Stress Management
Activity: 5 Senses Exercise
Activity Cont'd: Pause & Reflect Worksheet
Presentation: Taking awareness and mindfulness from theory to practice
Review Quiz: Day 1
Homework
Closing Exercise
Today's Topic: Breathing to Beat Stress
Why is how you breathe important to stress management?
Activity: 3-minute breathing space
Activity: 3-minute breathing space cont'd: Pause & Reflect Worksheet
Presentation: How is breathing connected to mindfulness and stress management?
Presentation: How do our bodies respond to stress - part 2?
Activity: Full Body Breathing Exercise
Activity: Full Body Breathing cont'd
Presentation and video lesson: How to breathe and why?
Activity: Short Simple Breathing Exercises for Everyday
Activity: Short simple breathing exercises for everyday life cont'd
Review Quiz: Day 2
Homework
Activity Closing Exercise
Today's Topic: Self-Regulation of Emotion
Activity: Four Sentences
Activity: Four Sentences cont'd
Presentation: How Can Mindfulness Support Emotional Regulation and Stress Management?
Presentation: Thought Awareness, How Do We Experience Negative Thoughts?
Video lesson: Getting Stuck in the Negatives (and how to get unstuck)
Presentation: Short and Long-Term Strategies for dealing with negative thoughts
Activity: Thoughts are not facts
Activity: Thoughts are not facts cont'd
Presentation: Understanding Thinking Traps and How to Avoid Them
Video lesson: Thinking Traps: Jumping to Conclusions
Presentation: Putting it All Together
Review Quiz: Day 3
Homework
Activity: Closing Exercise
Today's Topic: Practicing Gratitude & Positivity
Activity: 3 Good Things
Activity: 3 Good Things cont'd
Presentation: How and Why Harness Optimism and Gratitude in Your Day-to-day Life
Video Lesson: Gratitude Letter in Practice
Activity: Gratitude Letter
Activity: Gratitude Letter cont'd
How Does Gratitude Work?
Video Lesson: How Positive Emotions Transform Us
Workshop Wrap Up
Activity: Closing Exercise