It is hard to say it better than John O’Donahue:

Yes, it’s time to register for Summer MBSR!

Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction is an eight-week course that teaches basic awareness skills that ultimately lead to less suffering and better functioning! All human beings have the capacity for moment to moment awareness “built in” but often do not know how to tap into and use it as a resource. MBSR helps develop your ability to navigate life with focus, wisdom and compassion. It’s no surprise that this can greatly enhance overall quality of life!

The course is taught by Geri Wilimek, LICSW, a 40year resident of the Bemidji area, and a Certified MBSR teacher, who studied in the Mindfulness programs at both University of Massachusetts Medical School and Brown University’s School of Public Health.

While meditation can be associated with various spiritual practices, MBSR is fueled mostly by modern neuroscience and social science, and is compatible with whatever spiritual practice a person may or may not have.

Classes this summer will meet on Wednesday mornings.

Click on Class Schedule for details, and Registration to fill out the initial registration form, which saves your spot in the class.

An ONLINE Orientation Session is required in order to take the class: 6:00pm–7:30pm June 1, 2022 . LINK: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88190051252 Meeting ID: 881 9005 1252

I’m looking forward to seeing you! Geri

It’s that time again….all past participants of MBSR are invited to register for the All Day Silent Retreat, a day of silent guided practice, from 9:00am to 4:00pm Saturday March 20,2021 on Zoom. This is a great opportunity to refresh your meditation practice in a supportive setting with others who have taken MBSR. See guidelines below. Contact Geri Wilimek to register if you plan to attend. I will email you a link Friday, March 19, 2021.

  
This food arises from earth;
From circumstances and actions
too numerous to count.
May we receive 
this meal
with eyes
ears
nose
tongue
body
mind
heart.
May we radiate gratitude
in the ten directions.
 

A non-traditional but heartfelt meal blessing, for a unique Thanksgiving Day. With love for all beings, Geri

The MBSR Fall 2020 All Day Silent Retreat was held November 14, 2020 from 9:00am to 4:00pm online. Seven class members and eight alumni from past MBSR classes were present. If you missed the All Day Retreat when you were taking MBSR, or if you’ve taken MBSR and want a one-day “refresher” for your mindfulness practice, consider attending the next all-day retreat, March 20, 2021. The day is teacher-guided and is an opportunity to step back from “doing” and focus on exploring “just being”. To register email geriwilimek@gmail.com with ALL DAY RETREAT in the subject line.

Fall 2020 MBSR is underway online. There are two classes meeting this fall, one in the morning and one in the evening, both on Tuesdays. Participants have completed an orientation that covers the basics of the class. They will begin learning the skills of focused attention, curiosity, and self regulation that are the signatures of mindfulness. I always recommend that people go “all in” without expectations. It is a radical approach that respects that each person has the intrinsic ability to be aware, and to guide themselves purposefully through the training.

If you are interested in a future MBSR class, subscribe to this site in the lower right hand side of the home page for future reminders about Winter 2020 classes!

Who knew? This summer, has been the first time I’ve offered MBSR online and it has gone well for me as a teacher, and for the participants! The All Day Retreat was completed Saturday July 25, and fit right in as part of the online curriculum. Thank you all for bringing yourselves to the day wholeheartedly! May the benefits you experience from mindfulness practice continue to inform and enrich you. Geri

Summer MBSR (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction) is underway! This summer the class is online, for the safety of participants in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The next MBSR Class will be taught online again Fall 2020 and will be offered in Daytime or Evening time slots. See the Fall 2020 Brochure for more information.

Pre-Register now to save a place in class.

You can always contact the teacher, Geri Wilimek, by emailing at geriwilimek@gmail.com using MBSR in the subject line! I am happy to answer questions and place you on an email notification list for future classes!

Subscribe to this site, to get notifications about the upcoming classes!

Just wondering, 
how are you going to do this?
The impossible has happened, 
and everything 
has turned into something 
you don’t want. 
 
You are in life as it is, 
and it isn’t what you want. 
The not-wanting penetrates 
every cell and the spaces 
in between every cell.
 
There is no undoing anything, 
in fact, it’s the other way around: 
you are the thing undone.
How, how on earth 
are you going to do this?

Hi, this is Geri Wilimek. I teach Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction also known as “MBSR“. This is a poem I wrote to myself.

No doubt, the moment described here will be familiar in some way, with details and recollections from your own life. What DID you do?  What DO you do?  What WILL you do?  

Jumping over suffering to bliss is not the answer.  But we do have powerful guidance if we listen deeply and completely to ourselves. 

Mindfulness practice is not a vacation from stress…it is in fact, the opportunity to get to know stress in general…and in particular,  to know more intimately how stress appears in your life and how you might find new ways to navigate stress more skillfully!

Summer MBSR begins June 9, 2020 at 2:00-3:30pm with a required Orientation session. The course will be taught this summer online via Zoom, and the link to the Orientation Session will be posted here by 10:00am on the morning of June 9.

More about mindfulness based stress reduction  Click here

Class space will be limited, so be sure to Pre-register! Click here

It will come as no surprise that Summer 2020 MBSR will be taught online in consideration for the safety and wellbeing of participants in the midst of the Covid 19 pandemic. The changes we experience in everyday life due to the pandemic can be stressful in many ways! MBSR is a course that teaches deeper understanding of stress and its effects on mind and body using an experiential approach, which has been supported by research for decades. The course teaches new ways of seeing ourselves, our surroundings, and our inborn resources for healing and skillful navigation through life .

Check out the information in the Brochure by clicking HERE. Save a space in class by pre-registering HERE. Questions? Feel free to contact the instructor, Geri Wilimek, MSW; LICSW at geriwilimek@gmail.com. Use MBSR in the heading!

Hope to see you at Orientation!