Understanding Mindfulness


Understanding Mindfulness

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction

While short bursts of pressure can help us to rise to meet a challenge, a long term stress can have a major impact on our physical and mental health. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) aims to address prolonged periods of stress, which can lead to poor mental and physical health.

As a nation we’re under greater stress than ever , and with symptoms including anger, anxiety, difficulty sleeping, loss of appetite, breathlessness and chest pains, it’s something that needs to be addressed. After bereavement and divorce, work is the third biggest cause of stress. As well as impacting on people’s health and wellbeing, it can also damage social lives and relationships.

MBSR incorporates techniques such as meditation, gentle yoga and mind-body exercises to help people learn how to cope with stress. It gives people greater clarity on what is happening in their lives. People have reported feeling more engaged in their work, more energised, less anxious, as well as sleep better and have fewer physical symptoms of stress, after engaging in a course which employs the elements of MBSR. The core elements of MBSR are included in our online mindfulness course.

MBSR has been developed and studied since the 1970s for its impact on mental health. It has been shown to reduce anxiety levels by 58% and stress by 40%. In a research study by Oxford University into individuals with “problematic” levels of stress, a significant improvement in perceived levels of stress over the course of the online mindfulness intervention was found (Krusche et al, 2013). The findings of this research were consistent with other studies, which showed that changes in mindfulness “precede changes in perceived stress” (Baer et al, 2012).


Baer, R.A., Carmody, J., Hunsinger, M. (2012) Weekly Change in Mindfulness and Perceived Stress in a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Programme, Journal of Clinical Psychology, 68(7), 755-765.

Krusche, A., Cyhlarova E., Williams J.M.G. (2013) Mindfulness Online: An Evaluation of The Feasibility of a Web-Based Mindfulness Course For, Stress, Anxiety and Depression, British Medical Journal, October 2013(3), BMJ Open