Stress Reduction

The Saratoga Stress Reduction Program is an eight-week stress-reduction and pain management course taught by Dr. Selma Nemer, Caroline Russell Smith, Pierre Zimmerman. Students learn mindfulness meditation as a practice of navigating life's challenges with greater ease.

This course is based on the program created by Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in 1979 and courses like it are taught all over the world. We have been teaching this program in Saratoga Springs since 2006.

The majority of our students use their health insurance to help cover program costs.

What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness is a practice of both waking up and slowing down inside so we can tap into greater energy, clarity and compassion. It is a way of paying attention to the present moment that is hardwired in all of us. Animals in the wild survive by paying close attention to what is happening around them and yet we humans so often forget to do this. Instead our minds race into the future, stagnate in memories of the past or become paralyzed by self-criticism and judgment. Our bodies follow the mind's lead and become stuck in stress reactivity patterns and disease.

This program teaches students a structured way to carve out time each day for the cultivation of mindfulness. From a place of awake stillness, students learn how to unleash the body's innate capacity to rest and heal.

Why do people take this program?
On the first night of class we routinely hear things like

...I keep waiting for life to slow down but I am realizing it never will.
I need to learn how to live differently.

I'm afraid I will be controlled by pain my entire life.

I'm always planning for what's coming next or critiquing what just happened. I can't focus on what is actually happening, let alone enjoy it.

I feel exhausted and overwhelmed most of the time.

My body is tense and I can't relax.

What do graduates have to say?
At the end of the 8 weeks, SSRP graduates say the program has helped them:

Improve sleep
Breathe more easily
Reduce anxiety, and for some, eliminate the need for medication
Better manage physical pain
Increase physical flexibility
Change negative thought patterns
Bring greater awareness to their eating habits
Feel more connected to their bodies
Improve immune system health
Discover a sense of inner calm even during stressful situations