Introduction to MS-UK’s eight week mindfulness course

Tuesday 14 April at 10am

This introduction session offers a glimpse into our eight-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course, giving you the chance to explore mindfulness before committing to the full course starting later in April.

About the mindfulness introduction session

In this session

• Discover what mindfulness is and the benefits it can offer, particularly for people living with multiple sclerosis (MS)
• Learn about the research and evidence behind mindfulness
• Explore how mindfulness can help manage stress, anxiety and MS symptoms

Our mindfulness practitioner, Phil Startin, will guide a short mindfulness practice and provide details on our specially designed courses for people with MS. He will also share useful resources and explain how to continue your mindfulness journey, including our full eight-week MBSR course and shorter four-week courses.

The session will last approximately 40 minutes, with time for questions at the end. You will also receive information on how to join the upcoming course.

The full MBSR eight-week course begins on Tuesday 28 April, 9–11am, with weekly sessions at the same time thereafter.

How to book

Please complete the form below, you will receive the Zoom link to join on the day. Simply follow the link to join us live or to watch the recording.

If you would like to know more information about this session or our other online activities, please contact us at register@ms-uk.org or call 01206 226500.

Course structure

Weeks 1 – 3 Beginning to practice and developing awareness

• Mindful awareness
• Looking at things differently
• Awareness of barriers and reactions

Weeks 4 – 6 Awareness of stress and our reactions

• Awareness of thoughts and emotions
• Responding vs reacting when living with MS
• Working with difficult experiences

Weeks 7 – 8 Preparing for the future

• MS Lifestyle modifications
• Identity and taking care of yourself
• Preparing your own meditation practice

Before starting this course, it is worth considering the following points

• The course can be emotionally demanding – is this the right time for you to do it?
• Doing the homework is important and makes a huge difference – few will manage every day but three-four days per week should be a minimum
• Find a space where you will be alone and ideally won’t be interrupted for both the class and your practice
• It’s OK to miss a session over the eight weeks, but if you know that you’ll miss more than two sessions then best to wait for the next course or to register for the shorter four-week course

For this MS-UK MBSR course, we have made some modifications to the standard MBSR course to make it even more relevant and helpful to those with MS, including an additional session on lifestyle changes.

About Phil

I’m excited to be leading the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) courses for MS-UK. Living myself with PPMS for over 14 years, I’ve been practicing mindfulness meditation for over a decade now and have gone from being really quite sceptical of it (“hippy tree-hugging” was my view of meditation before I started), to being an important part of my life and a really positive contribution to my health and well-being, which is why I started teaching mindfulness.

Mindfulness has also helped me deal with some of the symptoms of MS. I think regardless of when you were diagnosed and where you are on your MS journey, typically those of us with MS need to deal with the unpredictability of the course of the condition in terms of disease activity and relapses, as well as progression. But we also have to deal with the wide-ranging uncertainty around future physical and cognitive levels, with the associated impact that these will have on many aspects of our life – dealing with loss of function and the impact this has on our hobbies and careers, and how it affects our relationships – with our partners and family, and our friends.

For this MS-UK MBSR course we have made some modifications to the standard MBSR course to make it even more relevant and helpful to those of us with MS, including a whole new session on lifestyle changes. The feedback from the first courses has been very positive, and I’d be delighted if you could join me on for the next introductory talk about mindfulness.

Course feedback

Please see the feedback below from our participants of our previous four-week course.