Blog

Dear Folks;Have I told you recently how much I appreciate you all? I do. Every moment of every day. — Brant

Many dozens of you provided generous and thoughtful answers and comments to this simple survey. I am confident we are moving in a direction that is helpful as we enter 2022.

Let’s continue to find ways to meet life’s joys and challenges together during this era of monumental change; social, personal, family, local community.

The main results of the survey seem to be:

1. The large majority folks are very happy with online courses and willing to attend in-person when this pandemic has settled down in 2022.
2. Some folks haven’t or don’t attend online and will come back to classes once classes are in-person.
3. When folks noted which classes they would attend, online or in-person, the majority noted that either one would be fine though most preferred online classes.
4. Many folks noted that in-person once-in-a-while would be very welcomed such as periodic in-person themed workshops or gatherings.

Below is a graphic of the first question you answered:

Below is a graphic of the second question you answered:

Some of your comments and some of my thoughts about this survey:

One student noted, “I would love a retreat.”  I am hoping to offer a New Year’s Day Retreat as we have done for many years and in-person this coming January 1st. I will keep you posted.  I have been thinking about doing a multi-day retreat also.  Let’s see what we can do!  There were a number of folks who mentioned the desire to be in periodic theme-driven workshops and gatherings, even if in-person so let’s lean in that direction, “I would attend an in-person class from time to time if offered.”

There were a few folks who really long for in-person or avoid online classes with these comments, “In-person yoga a must,”  “Looking forward to in-person!!  “Especially weekends and 5:30 weekday classes!”  For those folks who really prefer or only want in-person classes I am going to provide them some recommendations for good teachers who teach in person.  Here to support you even to refer you to someone to support your practice.

Many folks still have concerns about COVID and/or prefer online and made these comments, “Can’t attend in-person classes because I’m out of state,”I may attend in person in 2022 if Covid cases are way down,” “I would feel comfortable if all would show proof of vaccination,” I’ll consider in-person once my son (11) is fully vaccinate,”  ” I do also really like the flexibility of not having to drive since I am in SW Portland so getting to Hillsboro means an hour of driving.”  “. . . my lung disease makes me highly vulnerable to any type of lung infection. And I don’t think I’d enjoy doing yoga while wearing a mask.”  Be assured online classes will continue as long as folks continue to show up!

There were many encouraging and heart-felt comments that help me continue to see value in sharing these practices!  Like these,  “So thankful for all that you do!”  “I appreciate your careful and thoughtful approach to meeting our needs.”Thank you for continuing to find creative ways to serve your devoted clientele.”  

I will continue to keep you informed and ask your opinion as we move forward. This is a challenging time for all of us so let’s find ways to meet life full-on and work with what we encounter with strength, compassion and worthy action.

Much Love —  Brant

 

This fall’s online training for health profession students, instructors and staff, the Toward Healing Presence (THP) for Ourselves & Others course will begin with the Orientation on Wednesday, September 22nd  at 12:30pm.   You may apply at anytime:  THP Online Application

THP is ‘open door’ to all of the other courses offered here this term. No tuition.

Many decades of published research and commentary indicates that the majority of clinicians and  health profession students in a host of fields as well as their patients benefit from the elemental self-care and other-care learned and practiced in mindfulness-based trainings: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Healthcare Providers, Mindfulness & Burnout in Occupational Therapy,  Mindful Practice, Mindfulness and Pharmacists, Mindfulness Burnout & Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy Students & Mindfulness Training, Mindfulness & Dental Hygiene Training, Optometrist View of Mindfulness in Career, and many more.

For students, clinicians, and patients the benefits occur commonly as:

• Less reactivity
• Greater energy
• Reduction in pain levels
• Better communications
• A lasting ability to cope with stress
• Lasting decreases in physical and psychological symptoms
• A lasting ability to cope with stress
• Greater acceptance of difficulty
• Reduced anxiety

The course and orientation will be online via Zoom. You may want to attend the online THP Orientation on Wednesday, September 22nd at 12:30pm – Book Here.  To register for the course you must complete an brief conversation with me and submit a completed an online application.

Contact the Instructor, Brant Rogers, for preregistration if you have any questions what-so-ever

This 8-Week Course is an amalgamation of many years of training here; healthcare providers, first responders, high-stress professionals, students and the general public.  Elements of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Mindful Practice, and many other established and effective  learning modalities mentioned above will be incorporated into your course.

This course is sponsored by OHWI AHEC at Pacific University and the cost is free for students, staff, and faculty of Pacific University’s health care related programs.  Folks from other institutions can attend and contact the instructor if you have particular questions at all.

The curriculum includes elements of these:

• Practicing a healing presence
• Reduce the tendency for burnout
• Colleagues, conflict, and teamwork
• Being with suffering while embodying self-care.
• Better communications with colleagues and patients
• THP is ‘open door’ to all of the other courses offered here this term no tuition.
• Exercises that help enhance effectiveness in student and professional life
• Personal engagement with Brant Rogers, the instructor
• Appreciative enquiry and group dialogue encouragement
• Simple and guided home-practice assignments
• Audio recordings and learning materials

Some History, Research & Clinical Results of Courses Here

You may want to read the review paper about my MBSR program and mindfulness in the Journal of Participatory Medicine coauthored by my colleagues, 15 local referring physicians, therapists, teachers and MBSR participants: Mindfulness in  Participatory Medicine Context and Relevance  Also, you may be interested in my clinical research paper coauthored by my colleague Dr. Michael Christopher there at Pacific University in the same Journal: Mindfulness, Self-Care, & Participatory 
Medicine- A Community’s Clinical Evidence.  Here is a link to some video interviews with recent MBSR students and below you’ll find a YouTube video of comments by alumni of my trainings.

Here is part of the evaluation from some THP participants in 2021:

Getting Started

Reach out to Brant if you have particular questions at all.

Dear Folks;  Our fall MBSR-SH course with ‘Open Door’ meaning you can be my guest in all of my courses begins on Thursday September 30 at 6pm with an Orientation on Thursday the week before.

Note above the word cloud of comments offered by many recent MBSR-SH graduates to describe their experience of the course.

“I walk away from this course profoundly changed in how I see and
deal with everyday stresses.”  MBSR-SH graduate, March ’21

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is an extremely effective way of learning to care for ourselves by moderating the those sharp edges of stress. It has a large library of research proving its effectiveness.  This online version MBSR-SH  preserves that effectiveness using today’s tools appropriately.

“I found the group so nourishing and affirming.
The practice was simple but exponentially richer as we progressed.”  
– MBSR-SH graduate, March ’21

Come to the free online MBSR Orientation on Thursday, September 23rd  at 6pm.  Book Now.

If you have been thinking about the MBSR course there is still room this spring as folks begin registering online. Set aside concerns about tuition if you have been laid off, impacted by illness, or having trouble with funding. Just reach out to me and we’ll make this work for you; scholarships, payments over time, discounts.

“I’ve have been able to live day-to-day and enjoy many moments
without worrying about the unknown..”  
– MBSR-SH graduate, March ’21

With your registration you’ll be included in online courses of your choice with this ‘Open Door’ MBSR course to help you learn the way you wish: See my Course Schedule.

Reach out with questions  —  Brant

I was describing to one of my students the recent travels to natural areas in order to film yoga practices to help illustrate postures and flow for our online classes.  I described the many places that have been filmed.  I hadn’t realized how many!  She looked at me and said, “It’s like ‘Where’s Brant’ and I thought, “Of course . . . and where next?”

So I assembled this, short, 4-minute video to reflect a bit and share the sights and sounds of the past 18 months in the natural world as a way of sharing this practice.  Rather than ‘lock down’ and dread letting go of classrooms we came alive and evolved in a new way . . . in nature, our ultimate home.

Hope you enjoy!  —  Brant

Many decades of published research and commentary indicates that the majority of clinicians and  health profession students in a host of fields as well as their patients benefit from the elemental self-care and other-care learned and practiced in mindfulness-based trainings: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Healthcare Providers, Mindfulness & Burnout in Occupational Therapy,  Mindful Practice, Mindfulness and Pharmacists, Mindfulness Burnout & Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy Students & Mindfulness Training, Mindfulness & Dental Hygiene Training, Optometrist View of Mindfulness in Career, and many more.

For students, clinicians, and patients the benefits occur commonly as:

• Less reactivity
• Greater energy
• Reduction in pain levels
• Better communications
• A lasting ability to cope with stress
• Lasting decreases in physical and psychological symptoms
• A lasting ability to cope with stress
• Greater acceptance of difficulty
• Reduced anxiety

The next Toward Healing Presence (THP) for Ourselves & Others: Pacific University Health Professions students, clinicians, instructors will begin on Wednesday,  July 7th at 12:30pm with an opportunity to learn more at the Orientation the week prior,on June 30th at 12:30pm.  You may apply at anytime:  THP Online Application

• Contact the Instructor, Brant Rogers, for preregistration if you have any questions what-so-ever

This 8-Week Course is an amalgamation of many years of training here; healthcare providers, first responders, high-stress professionals, students and the general public.  Elements of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Mindful Practice, and many other established and effective  learning modalities mentioned above will be incorporated into your course.

This course is sponsored by OHWI AHEC at Pacific University and the cost is free for students, staff, and faculty of Pacific University’s health care related programs

The curriculum includes elements of these:

• Practicing a healing presence
• Reduce the tendency for burnout
• Colleagues, conflict, and teamwork
• Being with suffering while embodying self-care.
• Better communications with colleagues and patients
• Exercises that help enhance effectiveness in student and professional life
• Personal engagement with Brant Rogers, the instructor
• Appreciative enquiry and group dialogue encouragement
• Simple and guided home-practice assignments
• Audio recordings and learning materials

Some History, Research & Clinical Results of Courses Here

You may want to read the review paper about my MBSR program and mindfulness in the Journal of Participatory Medicine coauthored by my colleagues, 15 local referring physicians, therapists, teachers and MBSR participants: Mindfulness in  Participatory Medicine Context and Relevance  Also, you may be interested in my clinical research paper coauthored by my colleague Dr. Michael Christopher there at Pacific University in the same Journal: Mindfulness, Self-Care, & Participatory 
Medicine- A Community’s Clinical Evidence.  Here is a link to some video interviews with recent MBSR students and below you’ll find a YouTube video of comments by alumni of my trainings.

Here is part of the evaluation from THP participants in winter of 2021:

Getting Started

The course and orientation will be online via Zoom. You may want to attend the online THP Orientation on Wednesday, June 30th at 12:30pm – Book Here.  To register for the course you must complete an brief conversation with me and submit a completed an online application.

Reach out to Brant if you have particular questions at all.

Hi Dear Folks;  This summer there will be Mindfulness-Based Yoga sessions shared in local parks on Monday evenings as well as some Sunday morning Mindfulness-Based Contemplative practices also in local parks.

The past week there has been unusual heat for such sessions though we have met and shared practice.  There was no air-conditioning or thermostats to adjust.  We simply made space and were able to offer an attentive, open presence and navigated our way with interest and curiosity.  Practice showed up without the burden of ‘too hot.’

Monday evening the 21st was our first session of the term and it was going to be above 90 degrees according to the forecast.  A number of folks chose to stay home which is of course prudent, especially with illness or physical difficulties.

However, as folks arrived and settled in beneath the Giant Sequoias and Lovely Big Leaf Maples and on the moist lawn of Bagely Park heat ceased to be a concern.  We just practiced each in our own appropriate and nourishing way.  All seemed to sense the value of this simple practice regardless of the concerns about heat that might have been before arriving.

Likewise, on Sunday morning we met for our Contemplative Session at Rood Bridge Park.  It was already very warm.  We sauntered to lovely Woodland Pond and the sweet, babbling creek that meanders in and out of the pond.  It was cool, moist and still for our sitting practice and kind, open conversation for the hour together.

Consider the possibility that meeting the duress of heat, cold, unlikely yoga postures, being still for long periods, and other challenges may evoke our natural, inherent capacities for meeting life’s challenges with robust vitality.  Not through pushing, controlling, ambition, or manipulating.  With openness, interest, patience, and curiosity.  We might be surprised.

Of course, of course there are extremes like this evening the 28th of June at well over 110 degrees where it is best for most of us to care for ourselves and stay inside.  Our session this evening is canceled appropriately.

Consider Dr. Rhonda Patrick’s scientific talk about the physiologic benefits of the duress of extreme heat and cold in Finnish saunas and cold water immersion.  Definite duress yet profound, well-documented and researched benefits: Use of Sauna and Cold to Increase Net Resilience, Mitochondrial Biogenesis, Mood and Longevity

I hope all this inspires and encourages you in the face of life’s challenges to be curious, interested, kind, and creative about how to meet what shows up.

Kindest Regards. —  Brant

This is an ideal series for MBSR alumni who long to continue and enrich personal practice.  Also, for those just beginning an enquiry into a contemplative practice that opens doors to life’s possibilities, this will be appropriate and very accessible.

Learn about and practice ways of waking your unique abilities as we meet the challenges and joys of this era of transformation after this past year and a half.     Scholars, researchers, mystics, sages and everyday people over eons have
shared practices that evoke an inner stance that invites the foundational vitality in us to emerge more generously as we find our unique path in life; heart, mind and body.

This is a course that asks you to participate with your whole heart.  To lean into class time, personal practice, and earnest enquiry.  That whole-heartedness is the foundation for opening the door to remembering the grace, power, and vitality that lives below the surface of our many draining distractions.

This series will invited each of us to explore our unique possibilities for awaking inner life as the foundation for our path forward.  There will be learning about the evidence that points us to capacities most of us have never considered possible in the realms of contemplative/meditative practices, modes of physical exploration, how we nourish ourselves, breathing practices.  This series will be far less about following some orthodoxy and very much about listening, learning, and exploring these realms in our own unique way.

There will be assigned home-practice and study between our sessions with resources provided; readings, podcasts, videos, invitations to attend other classes online and in-person here this summer.  During our sessions we will practice and confer with one another about what and how we are learning.

The underlying purpose here is to awaken our own unique capacities to meet the challenges and joys of this era of immense transformation personally, with family, in community with friends/coworkers, and globally.  A tall order yet all we need is here in our lives and this will be an invitation to point life in that direction.

Online at 6pm on Three Thursdays, June 24th, July 15th, August 5th. Book Each Individual Thursday Class Here

PLEASE NOTE – OPEN DOOR THIS SUMMER:   MBSR registration comes with an All-Class, Workshop & Series Pass for a full learning experience this summer.

My traditional MBSR course, the one I have taught here for the past 12 years, has been adapted to the unique challenges and advantages of this staying-at-home era.  It was devised for ease of access and relevance, availability and diversity of class-learning beyond the weekly MBSR sessions and support of long-term learning.  Please know that this course has far less of the drudgery of typical online classes and more attentive guided personal mindfulness practices which are far less stressful than most online learning.

Below are the details of this training, MBSR-SH.  Use the Contact Form to advise Brant of your interests and ask questions.

 

Program Structure:

• After reviewing the details of the course below complete the online MBSR Application .  With the advice of your instructor complete the written application if you are unable to completed online.  Then. . .
• Complete a brief conversation with Brant at some prearranged time. Reach out to him to arrange this.
• This course will be many hours of class time (1-1.5 hours one day per week) for 8 weeks. Plus. . .
• As part of your learning you are welcome to attend one of Brant’s relevant-level mindful yoga classes or sessions each week, the Shared Meditation Evenings, and  Brant’s workshops.  These all come with your registration and are additional, optional ways of practicing and learning making this a comprehensive learning experience.  Generous depth and breadth of learning is the intention with this offering.  Details will be available after your registration.
• There will be a free MBSR Orientation on Saturday June 26th; 2pm for those interested in the course.  Then the course begins on Saturday, July 10th.
• For the course we will be meeting each Thursday, 6 until about 8pm.
• The sixth class will be and extended up to 3 hour mini-silent-retreat class; 6 until as late as 9pm
• Please make a commitment to do home practice each day you are not in class during the Program; up to 45 minutes.  Home practice is at the heart of learning in this course
• Tuition is $250 for those who have applied by the Orientation day.  After that tuition is $320.
• Also, you will be Brant’s guest at a subsequent All-Day MBSR Retreat once we are able to resume in-person classes.
• Payment plans and partial scholarships can be arranged for those with limited means.  Especially during this difficult time of corona virus, layoffs, and society change I will always find a way to admit you to class if you know this is, without-a-doubt, the right time. Contact Brant for details.
• There will be classroom learning and practice of: Gentle, adaptive mindful movement, Body scan meditation, Sitting meditation, Walking meditation, Mindful breathing practice, Group dialogue, Interpersonal learning
• If you are currently in active treatment with an acute condition consult with your doctor, therapist or psychotherapist to provide the MBSR instructor their written or emailed recommendation/referral for MBSR prior to the beginning of the course.   You may be asked to give your doctor or psychotherapist permission to talk with your MBSR instructor in order to support you appropriately if you and your healthcare provider believe it would be helpful.  Participants often do this to better include their healthcare providers as partners in the learning process.
• The MBSR training is held online this term.  You will be provided a Zoom link for the full 8-week course once you have completed booking the course.

To enter the MBSR program you must  1) complete a brief conversation with the instructor 2) Complete an online MBSR Application   3) after these you can arrange with the instructor for booking your reservation and payment of tuition.

Questions about MBSR? Learn more or contact Brant.  MBSR Orientations are helpful though not required.

 

Dear Folks;  I am so very glad to invite you to this summer’s transformation.  In so very many ways we are transitioning life from the lockdowns and diverse difficulties of the past year and a half.  While, I think, all of us long for things to be back to ‘normal’ I am quite sure that the new normal will be very different than our past ways of living.

With the changes in health status, employment, relationships, and so much more we’ll rely on inward stability, an inner stance that softens our tendency to react and invites appropriate response.

This can come with the practices and learning we have shared here over nearly two decades; Mindfulness-Based Yoga classes, workshops focussing on well-being (breathing, balance, gratitude, grieving, adaptive yoga, etc.), custom-tailored trainings (police officers, firefighters, corporations, universities, governments, etc.), contemplative practice (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Shared Meditation Evenings, etc.).

You were kind enough to share your experience of this over many years here in this recent post about what we long for.

This summer there will be much more to share and learn in new ways.  While there will be many of our usual weekly online classes, we will practice together in-person in nature frequently with mindfulness-based yoga and meditation & contemplation sessions.  There will be some workshops and series  you’ve requested alongside some new ones:  Being a Force of Nature series,  Workin/Workout series and the Progressive Relaxation series.   We’ll also make time for a gathering outdoors this summer for an all-student gathering/picnic with time share with one another nourishment, play, and conversation.

Another benefit I have added to your passes and membership booking is to give you access to a growing library of yoga teaching videos like the ones that we use in our line sessions.  You’ll see the list once you’d booked for the term.

Keep up-to-date with all of this by visiting the Schedule and Calendar pages.  They list everything.  

PLEASE NOTE:  This summer I will ask that you register for each and every class of your weekly course or workshop via the Booking Page.  That way the diversity of these summer courses can be managed directly by you and I will not need to try to manage such a diverse selection of offerings.

I look forward to working and sharing with you all this summer!  —  Brant

Dear Folks;  If you or someone you know/love is facing the consequences of COVID Long Haul difficulties  I am holding spaces for a few folks to attend my spring MBSR course as my guests, tuition-free.

Today on NPR’s Science Friday I heard the very poignant stories of folks who are suffering the mysterious and often very difficult neurological symptoms that linger for long periods after a COVID inflection.  I even have family members and students who describe these experiences themselves.  One of the elements of the story was a physician and researcher who noted that stress is often a trigger for these. symptoms.

Note the word cloud above that is from comments of folks who completed the winter MBSR course here.  Perhaps those words will offer a path forward.

My hope is that an MBSR course will help those coping with this stress-trigger.  If you or someone you know sense that this would be helpful I am glad to offer a place in my spring MBSR course starting on Thursday, April 15th.

Reach out if you have questions.

Kindest Regards. —  Brant