The October MBSR Cohort Starts October 15th: What to Expect Week by Week

In two weeks, a group of folks will come together for the first evening of the 8 week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program. By December, they will have practiced weekly together, sat a silent retreat day together, and learned a fundamentally different way of meeting their own minds and hearts.

If you have been circling this course all fall, this blog post might help you decide if the 8 week MBSR course is the right fit for you. Spots are intentionally limited to keep the group intimate, and registration closes soon. Here is exactly what you would be saying yes to, if you were to register.

The details at a glance

Dates: October 15 to December 3, 2026, online via Zoom, on Thursday evenings from 5:00 to 7:30 pm PST (the first session on Week 1 runs until 8:00). There will be two opportunities to practice in person if you live in Victoria, BC. The first class on October 15th has the option of in person, as well as the all-day retreat on November 21st. Otherwise, the course will be held on Zoom. The cost is $500, and sliding scale options are available based on need. Included: a one-to-one phone call with me before the course begins, 8 weekly group sessions, the full day silent retreat, lifetime access to the recordings, and support for your daily home practice of about 45 minutes.

What the eight weeks hold

Each session weaves guided mindfulness meditation, gentle mindful movement, teaching, and reflection around a weekly theme. In the early weeks, we lay foundations: the body scan, mindful breathing, and the radical practice of turning towards what is most difficult with the intention of a kind and open heart.

The middle weeks turn toward stress itself: how we react automatically, what stress does in the body and nervous system, and how mindful awareness can open a gap between stimulus and response. This is where participants often report the first real shifts, catching reaction patterns mid-flight and choosing differently. Then comes the retreat day, November 21st, a mostly silent Saturday that deepens everything the weeks have built. Many participants find the full-day retreat the turning point in their learning and practice.

The final weeks are about integration: mindful communication, working with difficult emotions, loving kindness, and building a practice that survives past the 8 weeks after the course ends.

Is it for you?

People join MBSR carrying many experiences like anxiety, depression chronic stress and burnout, pain and illness, grief, or simply the sense of living on autopilot. No meditation experience is needed. The course is a psycho-educational group, not group therapy: you will never be required to share anything you do not wish to.

One past participant shares their learning experience in the MBSR course:

"Andrea is incredible at creating safe spaces of listening and connection. In the MBSR course, she skillfully lead us through practices in a way that integrated them into our daily lives. I would recommend this course to anyone who is looking to reconnect with themselves, find growth in a community and deepen their human experience."

How to reserve a spot

You are welcome to reach out through the MBSR page or my contact form, and we will set up your pre-course phone call. If cost is the barrier, please do ask me about the sliding scale option.

This poem by Jane Herschfield I think speaks to the decision we make to re-commit to our inner life and try something new. She says…

It is foolish

to let a young redwood

grow next to a house.

Even in this

one lifetime,

you will have to choose.

That great calm being,

this clutter of soup pots and books -

Already the first branch-tips brush at the window.

Softly, calmly, immensity taps at your life.