Relaxation class and parking placard

September 23, 2001

Hi Gang,

I went to an info session about Mindful-based

Stress Reduction. I signed up for the 8-wk course

right away. I'm not sure if it's really going to

help me, but I'm going to try. Initially, I was

searching for a class to take that would help me

with my breathing (since exertion and anxiety

make my breathing worse). During the session,

they showed a Bill Moyers interview with the

person who developed this program, Jon

Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D at the Univ. of Mass-Worcester.

They were using meditation techniques during the

show. But on the flier in front of me, it says

you can " learn relaxation exercises, meditation,

and mindful movement and devleop insight into

inner resources for healing. "

A doctor teaches this course and he says that

he's helped cancer patients, people with back

pain,etc. He also mentioned that this method

helped people with fibromyalgia. They do

follow-up surveys, right after the class, and

subesquent years afterwards, so they know the

class has helped patients. There are classes

throughout the country, so I would suggest you

look into it. It's called " Mindfullness-Based

Stress Reduction. " The class is expensive, but

fortunately my EPO is paying for part of it. This

might just be the thing I've needed.

BTW, I finally got my " gimpy " parking placard and

have used it three times already. It's such a

godsend!!!

=====

When choosing the lesser of two evils,

I always like the one I haven't tried.

-- Mae West

__________________________________________________

September 23, 2001