Discover what mindfulness is and why so many people are incorporating this simple yet effective way to help quiet the mind, increase attention and build resilience.

Mindfulness meditation is now widely used in Western medicine and psychology to reduce stress, anxiety, to lift mood and promote overall health and well-being. Mindfulness is to the mind what physical exercise is to the body – a way to stay, fit, flexible and focussed.

This workshop will focus on the "what", "why", "how" of mindfulness meditation. It will be primarily experiential, with some conceptual teaching, including a short presentation on the physiological and psychological basis of stress reactivity. This will cover the difference between acute and chronic stress, as well as adaptive and maladaptive strategies for coping with chronic stress.

The session will explore mindfulness as a way to reduce negative outcomes associated with automatic, habitual stress reactivity, and learning ways to respond more positively -- how mindfulness can give us a chance to pause and respond rather than react. There will also be an opportunity to dialogue and ask questions.

Jennifer Innes will be teaching the workshop. She is the founder of Ottawa Meditation & Wellness, which offers mindfulness, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), and Mindful Self-compassion (MSC) workshops and classes, day-long retreats, and talks. Jennifer is a skilled teacher with a broad range of experience working with adults with challenges, such as trauma, anxiety, depression, chronic pain as well as for many of those who are simply looking for new tools to build resilience and meet the stressors inherent in daily life.

She has undergone extensive training at the UMASS Medical School and at the UCSD School of Medicine and is certified by Brown University and the International Mindfulness Teachers Association. She is also a certified yoga teacher. To find out more about Jennifer, or Ottawa Meditation & Wellness please visit www.omwellness.ca