Online: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Course
with Jon Aaron
Online Course: Mondays, June 16 – August 4, 2025 | 12:00 – 2:30pm ET
Online Daylong: Sunday, July 20, 2025 | 9:30am – 5:00pm ET
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is the ground-breaking and time-tested, scientifically researched program developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn in 1979 for the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
This transformative course is suited for those coming to meditation for the first time or for experienced meditators who realize they have not yet integrated these practices fully into their lives.
What To Expect:
MBSR uses meditation, mindful yoga, and inquiry/discussion as a way of exploring the habits of the mind to discover how these patterns of reactivity become a major cause of stress and where we could intervene to change them. MBSR helps participants learn to alter their relationship with each moment of their lives and through it derive more clarity, joy, fulfillment, and meaning from their lives. Classes usually have 25-30 participants but may be smaller. The course is experiential: by paying attention to what arises in daily and class practice, and through exploring the challenges that arise and how these are met, a supportive and safe container is created for students to feel connected and be inspired. Participants are supported by recorded guided meditations and are expected to practice 30-45 minutes of daily formal meditation as well as various informal practices.
Benefits of MBSR:
Research over the past 41 years indicates that a majority of people who complete this program report a greater ability to cope more effectively with short and long term stressful situations; an increased ability to relax, lasting decreases in physical and psychological symptoms; reduction in pain levels and enhanced ability to cope with chronic pain and most importantly a greater energy and enthusiasm for life.
Some of the Skills People Learn in MBSR Courses:
- Practical coping skills to improve the ability to handle stressful situations
- Techniques for being physically and mentally relaxed and at ease
- Gentle full body conditioning exercises to strengthen the body and release muscular tension
- The ability to be increasingly aware of the interplay of mind and body in health and illness
- The ability to face change and difficult times in life with greater ease
- Greater ability to decrease the physical, mental and emotional effects of the societal stressors of sexism, racism, homophobia, xenophobia and gender inequity among many other challenges
Course Dates
Free Orientation: Monday, June 2, 2025 from 12:00 – 2:30pm ET
Online Course: Mondays, June 16 – August 4, 2025 from 12:00 – 2:30pm ET
Online Daylong: Sunday, July 20 from 9:30am – 5:00pm ET
Sliding Scale Course Fee: Sustaining $715 – Base $420
Please choose your rate mindfully and be as generous as possible so that NYI can continue to offer financial assistance to those in need of other NYI offerings.
If you need financial assistance, we have a limited amount of partial scholarships available. Email registration@nyimc.org for more info.
Participants may register after the orientation for this class takes place, but must still view a recorded orientation, complete the pre-class questionnaire and arrange a pre-class interview with the teacher. Once you have registered, the teacher will contact you to make these arrangements.
Register for the MBSR Course:
Your registration for the course includes your RSVP to the orientation. If you wish to register for the orientation only, use the form below this one.
If you are registering via a mobile device such as a phone or tablet, you can scroll right and left and up and down within the below form if it is partially obscured or cut off.
CLICK HERE to open the registration form in a new browser window.
RSVP for the Free Online MBSR Orientation on June 2:
If you are registering via a mobile device such as a phone or tablet, you can scroll right and left and up and down within the below form if it is partially obscured or cut off.
CLICK HERE to open the registration form in a new browser window.
Teacher(s)
Jon Aaron
Jon Aaron is a Dharma and mindfulness teacher based in New York and Chicago. Since 2006, he has taught at the New York Insight Meditation Center, offering Dharma and MBSR classes. He regularly leads retreats around the U.S. He is primarily grounded in the Theravāda tradition, alongside non-dual and Mahayana approaches. His teaching emphasizes integrating Dharma and mindfulness into daily life to foster clarity in addressing personal and social challenges. His teachers include Matthew Flickstein and, more recently, Kittisaro and Thanissara through their Dharmapala program. Jon also studied contemplative care at the Zen Center for Contemplative Care and completed the Integrated Study and Practice program at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. He is a certified MBSR teacher and teacher trainer and a Somatic Experience Practitioner®. In response to the pandemic, he and his partner, Upayadhi, launched the Space2Meditate community, offering daily meditation since March 2020. Additionally, he co-hosts the podcast Diggin’ the Dharma with scholar Doug Smith, now in its third season. JonAaron.net