MBSR Curriculum

MBSR Mindfulness Training Curriculum

Complete overview of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) training program.

This page explains the full MBSR curriculum of the MBSR training program, including the
themes, practices, and home assignments in each lesson.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) was developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn at the
University of Massachusetts Medical School. The program teaches practical mindfulness
skills for working with stress, anxiety, pain, and the ordinary challenges of life.

The course includes 8 weekly training sessions and a
Day of Mindfulness retreat. Each lesson builds gently on the one before it.

Ready to begin?

You can start the full training here:
Free MBSR Training Program.

Self-Paced Learning

This MBSR curriculum program does not have to be completed in 8 weeks. You are encouraged to go at a
steady, realistic, and kind pace. The heart of this training is not rushing through
information. It is learning, practicing, noticing, and beginning again.

“My working definition of mindfulness is the awareness that arises through paying attention on purpose in the present moment, non-judgmentally.” — Jon Kabat-Zinn

The non-judging part is often the deepest part of the work. Many of us live with habits
of liking and disliking, wanting and resisting, comparing and reacting. Mindfulness helps
us see these patterns more clearly, with less struggle and more understanding.

Helpful related pages:
What Is MBSR? |
Free MBSR Program |
MBSR FAQ

Curriculum Overview

  • Lesson 1: Difficulties are workable
  • Lesson 2: The role of self-responsibility
  • Lesson 3: Bringing mindfulness into everyday life
  • Lesson 4: Developing focus and concentration
  • Lesson 5: Adapting more skillfully to everyday challenges
  • Lesson 6: Applying mindfulness in communication and relationships
  • Lesson 6R: The Day of Mindfulness self-retreat experience
  • Lesson 7: Creating your own blend of mindfulness practices
  • Lesson 8: The end of the course and the beginning of the rest of your life

MBSR Lesson 1

There Is More Right With You Than Wrong With You

Lesson 1 introduces the core practices of mindfulness and the spirit of the program.
Participants begin learning how awareness of the body and breath can support steadiness,
clarity, and emotional balance.

“There is more right with you than there is wrong with you.”

Introduction and Theme

This MBSR curriculum opening 3-hour lesson introduces the spirit and structure of MBSR. Participants
are introduced to mindful eating, mindfulness of breathing, and the body scan. The main
home practice for the week is the guided 45-minute body scan.

The central encouragement is simple: difficulties are workable. Mindful
awareness means paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, with less judgment.
Since the present moment is the only place we can learn, grow, or change, it becomes
the foundation of the whole course.

Class Elements

  • Opening meditation: becoming aware of body sensations, emotions, and thoughts in this present moment
  • Participation guidelines: self-care, confidentiality, and communication with the instructor
  • Guided reflection:
    • What are you here for?
    • What is your intention?
    • What do you really want?
    • What has brought you here?
    • What are your expectations for the program?
  • Introduction to standing yoga, including Mountain Pose and other standing postures
  • Raisin-eating exercise with direct sensory observation
  • Abdominal breathing with beginner’s mind and non-judgment
  • Introduction to comfortable postures for lying down and sitting
  • Guided body scan

Practice Notes

  • Reflect on the experience without rushing into opinions or theories
  • Focus on what can be seen, felt, smelled, tasted, and heard
  • Notice when direct experience starts becoming personal commentary
  • Gently bring attention back to the breath and present moment when the mind wanders

Summary

The session closes with reflection on the body scan and the first lesson. Participants are
invited to notice what it is like to begin meeting experience directly and kindly.

Home Practice

Closing practice: Stopping and Dropping

Suggested internal links:
MBSR Body Scan meditation |
Mindful eating raisin exercise |
Mindful breathing practice

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MBSR Lesson 2

The Pivotal Role of Self-Responsibility

Lesson 2 deepens the early practices and invites participants to explore the role of
perception, responsibility, and commitment in healing and growth.

Introduction and Theme

This 2.5-hour lesson continues skill-building through body scan, reflection, yoga, and
breath awareness. A key theme is the role of self-responsibility in
healing, learning, and wise action.

Perception matters. How we see things shapes how we respond to them. This includes how
we see pain, stress, anxiety, and our own commitment to practice.

Typical Class Sequence

  • Stop and Drop
  • Attitude
  • Reflections
  • Body Scan
  • Standing Yoga
  • Breath Awareness
  • Summary
  • Assignments
  • Closing

Reflection

  • What was your experience with the body scan?
  • How successful were you in making time for it?
  • What obstacles arose, such as sleepiness or boredom?
  • How were those obstacles worked with, or not worked with?
  • What are you learning about yourself?

The busy mind is universal. The coming back is as much a part of meditation as staying
on the object of attention. Mindfulness practice includes repeated recognition and
acceptance of what is happening in body and mind.

“The best way to get somewhere in meditation is not to try to get anywhere… rather just let go.”

A New Way of Learning

The body has its own language and intelligence. Many people begin to sense this more clearly
through the body scan and mindful breathing.

Review

  • What was it like to eat one meal mindfully?
  • What was your relationship with food this week?
  • What did you notice in the 9 Dots exercise?
  • How might expanding awareness help with problem-solving and self-care?

Meditation

Sitting meditation is introduced, using awareness of breathing as the primary object
of attention.

Home Practice

  • Practice the MBSR Body Scan meditation 6 times this week
  • Practice mindful breathing practice for 10–15 minutes each day
  • Complete one Pleasant Events Calendar entry each day
  • Bring mindfulness into routine activities such as brushing teeth, washing dishes, showering, shopping, reading to children, or eating

Closing practice: Stopping and Dropping

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MBSR Lesson 3

There Is Pleasure and Power in Being Present

Lesson 3 broadens formal practice and begins exploring pleasant and unpleasant experience
more carefully. The invitation is to be present with curiosity rather than habit.

Introduction and Theme

This session includes lying yoga, sitting meditation, and walking meditation. A longer
period of formal practice is followed by reflection and inquiry into direct experience.

The theme is that there is both pleasure and power in being present. Yoga is practiced as
mindfulness, with gentleness, curiosity, and respect for the body’s present limits.

Exploration

  • Pleasant and unpleasant experiences
  • The tendency to grasp or push away
  • The role of conditioning
  • The effect of beliefs, self-narratives, and fixed opinions
  • The possibility of pleasant moments even during pain or difficulty

Practice

Review

The Pleasant Events Calendar is reviewed with attention to body sensations, emotions,
thoughts, and the ordinariness of pleasant moments. Participants explore patterns, mind-body
connections, and what they are learning about themselves.

Home Practice

Suggested internal links:
Walking meditation practice |
Mindful yoga practice

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MBSR Lesson 4

Learning to Strengthen the Mind

Lesson 4 deepens concentration and invites closer observation of stress, unpleasant
experience, and reactivity in daily life.

Introduction and Theme

This session combines body scan, yoga, and sitting meditation, while placing more emphasis
on concentration and expanding the field of awareness.

Mindfulness helps us see how conditioning and perception shape our experience. Through
practice, we begin to respond to stress with greater steadiness and clarity.

Key Areas of Inquiry

  • Body sensations, including painful sensations
  • Working with the in-breath and the whole body
  • Unpleasant Events Calendar review
  • Mind-body patterns connected with stress
  • Stress reactivity in daily life
  • Blocking, numbing, or shutting down

Review

Participants reflect on the familiarity of unpleasant moments, the common qualities they share,
and what they reveal about expectations, stress, and habitual reactions.

Exploration

  • What is stress?
  • How does it influence body, mind, health, and behavior?
  • How do we actually experience stress physically, emotionally, and mentally?
  • What are our most recurring stressors?

Home Practice

  • Alternate MBSR Body Scan meditation and mindful yoga practice, 6 days this week
  • Practice sitting meditation for 20–30 minutes each day
  • Notice stress reactions during the week without trying to force change
  • Notice moments of feeling stuck, blocked, numb, or shut down

Optional workbook:
A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Workbook by Bob Stahl and Elisha Goldstein

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MBSR Lesson 5

Responsive Thinking and the Midway Assessment

Lesson 5 of the MBSR curriculum marks the halfway point of the course. It focuses on reacting and responding,
emotional coping, and more skillful recovery from stressful encounters.

Introduction and Theme

This halfway session focuses on emotional coping, recovery from stress, and the growing
ability to respond rather than react.

Theme One: Reactive Thinking vs. Responsive Thinking

Participants examine habitual thought patterns and how they shape life. Some coping
strategies may once have helped us survive, yet may no longer serve us in the same way.

Theme Two: Choiceless Awareness

Participants practice observing body sensations, sounds, emotions, and thoughts as events
in awareness. This creates more space for wise response.

Typical Class Sequence

  • Standing Yoga
  • Sitting Meditation
  • Bare attention to body, sounds, emotions, and thoughts
  • Stillness and choiceless awareness
  • Mid-course reflection
  • Review of reacting and responding in daily life

Mid-Course Reflection

  • How has the course been going so far?
  • How is it showing up in your life?
  • Are you willing to recommit for the second half?
  • How are you engaging with the weekly classes and daily practice?
  • What have you noticed about reacting and responding?

Mindfulness growth is often non-linear. Every moment can be a new beginning.

Home Practice

The body and the breath remain grounding anchors. They help us recognize reactive tendencies
and make more conscious choices.

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MBSR Lesson 6

Interpersonal Communication Patterns

Lesson 6 brings mindfulness more clearly into communication and relationships. The focus
is on awareness, flexibility, emotional honesty, and staying grounded with others.

Introduction and Theme

This session explores stress in communication and relationships. Mindfulness is applied
more clearly to speaking, listening, assumptions, emotional expression, and staying grounded
with others.

The focus is on resilience, flexibility, and balance during difficult interpersonal moments.

Themes

  • Knowing and expressing feelings accurately
  • Awareness of communication habits and barriers
  • Staying balanced in relationships
  • Learning to remain grounded under stress
  • Recovering more rapidly during challenging interpersonal situations

Typical Class Sequence

  • Standing yoga
  • Sitting meditation with awareness of breath, body, sounds, thoughts, and emotions
  • Open presence and choiceless awareness
  • Reflection on daily practice and communication patterns
  • Preparation for the all-day session

Possible Communication Exercises

  • Mindful speaking and mindful listening
  • Exploring passive, aggressive, and assertive patterns
  • Recognizing assumptions and mind-reading
  • Aikido-inspired awareness exercises around contact, grounding, and response
  • Noticing the difference between direct observation and interpretation

The purpose of these exercises is not performance. It is awareness.

Home Practice

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Day of Mindfulness Retreat

A Special Time to Go Within

This retreat day offers a deeper period of silence, formal practice, and inward turning.
It invites participants to step back from ordinary activity and rest more fully in direct
experience.

It is a special time to go within, to simplify, and to let the practices gather into a more
continuous day of mindful presence.

Suggested internal link:
Day of Mindfulness retreat

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MBSR Lesson 7

Daily Mindfulness

Lesson 7 encourages participants to make the practice their own. The training becomes more
personal, flexible, and integrated into daily life.

Introduction and Theme

This session encourages participants to make the practice their own. Greater freedom is given
in choosing the balance of daily formal practices. The emphasis is on maintaining a 45-minute
daily practice without relying on recordings.

The deeper invitation is to integrate mindfulness personally and practically into daily life.

Possible Class Elements

Reflection

Participants reflect on the retreat day, home practice, what they noticed, and how to carry
mindfulness more naturally into ordinary living.

The importance of making the practice one’s own is emphasized. Participants are encouraged
to keep the same time for practice and discover a blend that works in real life.

Home Practice

  • No recordings this week
  • Practice 45 minutes daily using your own blend of sitting, yoga, walking, and body scan
  • Practice informally by being as aware and awake as possible throughout the day

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MBSR Lesson 8

The Rest of Our Lives

Lesson 8 brings the course to a thoughtful close. It honors what has been learned and looks
ahead to how mindfulness can continue as part of daily living.

Introduction and Theme

This closing session offers continued formal practice, time for questions, and reflection on
the journey through the course. It honors both the ending of the program and the beginning of
the rest of one’s life.

The emphasis is on maintaining momentum, deepening personal practice, and carrying mindfulness
forward in a sustainable way.

Class Elements

  • MBSR Body Scan meditation
  • Yoga stretching, guided or self-guided
  • Mostly silent Sitting Meditation
  • Reflection on what participants want to remember
  • Optional short-term and long-term goal setting
  • Review of course highlights, obstacles, insights, and next steps

Questions for Reflection

  • Why did you come?
  • Why did you stay?
  • What did you learn?
  • What costs or sacrifices were involved?
  • What obstacles did you encounter?
  • What helped you continue?
  • How will you carry this practice forward?

Continuing Practice

  • Return to the recordings if helpful
  • Keep practicing in a way that feels alive and realistic
  • Make the practice your own

Suggested internal links:
MBSR certificate information |
Contact the MBSR training team

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Course Summary

The MBSR program gradually builds mindfulness skills through body awareness, breathing
meditation, mindful movement, inquiry, and daily life practice.

Participants learn how to observe stress reactions, develop steadiness in the present moment,
and respond to life with greater clarity, kindness, and flexibility.

Over time, the course encourages a different relationship to pain, anxiety, difficult emotions,
and ordinary daily pressures. The aim is not perfection. The aim is awareness, practice,
and a wiser way of being with life as it is.

Closing Words

Thank you for your interest in the MBSR Mindfulness Curriculum. May this training support
steadiness, clarity, self-kindness, and a wiser relationship with the changing conditions
of life.

Respectfully,
Heidi & Ross

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