FAQs
How long is a class session?
Classes are two and a half hours long, and meet once a week for 8 weeks, plus one full-day retreat.
Where are classes held?
Classes and the Retreat Day are 100% online! You can join from anywhere, even if you are traveling!
The efficacy of online Mindfulness training is as effective as in-person classes.
What does a typical class include?
Each class includes some learning, conversation, gentle movement, some different styles of meditation, and time for questions and reporting back about how the week has gone.
Eight weeks gives each participant time to integrate new practices into one’s life, and seek wisdom from the group about how to incorporate them going forward.
Ongoing conversations with the instructor, and the invitation to join in future all-day retreats can also add support to one’s practice.
Will there be homework for the class?
Yes! Participants will be given one or two assignments a week, with the expectation that you will spend about 45 minutes a day with the guided meditations (recordings will be given out after each class), as well as with a variety of brief journaling/noticing practices and the occasional puzzle or awareness activity.
This class teaches you how to build a practice~ when the class ends, you will have everything you need to continue to craft a practice that works for you.
What does the class cost?
The 90 minute mandatory Orientation is free. You will get a taste for the course then.
The course costs $450, which covers eight classes of 2 1/2 hours each, and one 7 hour All-day retreat (27 in-person hours, plus check ins as needed). It also covers the workbook pages you will receive as we move through the class, and a collection of at-home practice recordings to keep.
Check with your denomination, adjudicatory, or session- Often these classes may be reimbursable, in part or in whole, under Continuing Education or Clergy Wellness categories.
What if I have to miss a class?
One purpose of the Orientation Session is to speak privately with the instructor, and discuss any schedule conflicts. As a rule it is best if you can attend all the classes, but bring up any questions, conflicts or concerns in your meeting after Orientation.
If I know I want to sign up, can I skip the Orientation Session?
All participants begin with a free 90 minute Orientation Session, where you can
- Learn what MBSR is… and isn’t!
- Ask questions of your instructor
- Experience a mini-session
- Learn about the origin of MBSR
- Hear about the evidence-based practice and ongoing research with MBSR
- Register for an upcoming class
In my experience as both a parish priest and diocesan staff member, I know it can be difficult for clergy to speak openly of their own challenges, their weariness, issues with their own family or their faith, health concerns, depression and anxiety, and other doubts or challenges. Fear of judgement, fear of being vulnerable, fear of looking closely at our own lives- it can be hard to admit the heaviness of our own burdens, even as we carry those of other people.
Maple Tree Mindfulness classes are a safe, non-judgmental space for clergy of any faith tradition to discern the resources needed to reclaim their own strength and health, to access a toolbox filled with resources that they can then pick and choose among after the class in order to maintain and enhance balance and joy.
Although I have heard it said that in an MBSR class, “your life IS the curriculum,” there is no expectation or pressure on you to share anything that feels too “personal”. You are in charge of setting your own boundaries where it is comfortable for you. This is not group therapy.
Your privacy will be respected.
Is MBSR religious?
No. Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction is a secular program designed by Jon Kabat-Zinn to be accessible to anyone. He has said that mindfulness “is awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally.”
Learning to live with our own lives and our own thoughts, without judging them or ourselves, and noticing what is going on around us moment-by-moment – this puts us in touch with our truest selves.
I’m “OK”— is this class just for folks who need some sort of help?
Not at all! MBSR is a way for anyone to discover more deeply the texture and nuance of everyday life.
It can open pathways for self-exploration and knowledge that will enrich all aspects of one’s life, at work, at home, as a leader and as a human being.