Services

• Individual, couples & family therapy
• Psychotherapy groups & support group therapy
• Stress reduction & meditation classes for individuals and groups
• Dance/movement therapy
• Treatment for chronic pain
• Evalution: psychological testing & evaluation, forensic psychological evaluation, child custody evaluation
• Professional training consultation & supervision for mental health professionals
• Consultations to organizations and businesses

Stress reduction & meditation classes for individuals and groups

The importance of stress reduction

At Temenos, we think that an essential ingredient to leading healthier, more successful, and more fulfilling lives is reducing stress, and simultaneously, being able to stay centered in this highly pressured, rushed, and rapidly changing world. This is the goal of our stress reduction and meditation classes and individual stress reduction sessions.

We are also aware that it can be a tall order to relax while surrounded by overwhelming demands on our time, energy, and patience, and that relaxation can seem like one more thing on our to-do list. Therefore, we use a variety of simple, scientifically validated techniques that are nonetheless powerful enough to foster deep relaxation. Most of them can be done anywhere, including in the midst of a busy day.

More than temporary

Unlike most stress management programs, which give temporary solutions for relaxation, our approach goes to the causes of stress and teaches ways to form a different experience of our thoughts, emotions, physical bodies, relationships and life events. Through our own practices, we have learned that this mindfulness training works, even in the most upsetting situations, when paired with loving-kindness meditation. Through loving-kindness practice, we learn to hold kindly and gently the relationship with others, ourselves, the things that happen to us in life, and life itself. Loving-kindness has helped people transform the most difficult of situations for 2500 years.

Knowing that learning styles differ, we help our clients find those techniques that work best for them as individuals and which are best suited to their lifestyles and time constraints. We also help them find ways to keep the practice going after the class or individual session ends.

Our goal for our clients, as for ourselves, is to use these skills on a daily basis for the rest of their lives, and we know from our own experience that this is completely possible.

Results of the Stress Reduction and Mindfulness Meditation classes

A large body of scientific data shows that classes such as these, based on mindfulness and loving-kindness, are helpful in many situations including:

• Job, family, relationship, school stress
• General life dissatisfaction
• Weak immune function
• High blood pressure
• Chronic pain, including back pain and headaches
• Anxiety and panic
• Gastrointestinal distress
• Addictive cravings for food, drugs or alcohol
• Sleep disorders
• Infertility
• Difficulties with concentration, memory and creativity
• Disability
• Chronic and life-threatening illnesses, such as autoimmune diseases, cancer, heart conditions, and allergies
• Chronic stress
• For those seeking greater self-mastery and joy in living

What is mindfulness?

Mindfulness is a non-religious type of relaxation based on the scientific study of our feelings, thoughts, and bodies in this present moment. We focus on our lives in the present to combat our natural tendency to spend most of our time worrying about the future or regretting the past, two things we can do little about.   The resulting mindlessness causes us to miss our present moments and those of our loved ones, also missing the chance for joy, creativity, and connection. It also makes it hard to handle well the especially difficult times in life.

Fortunately, we can learn how to be mindful in any situation, no matter how disturbing, and also use mindfulness for deep relaxation.   It is the foundation of our classes and of hospital-based stress reduction classes throughout the United States.

Specifics of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Classes

Our classes are two hours long and meet for six weeks. Each student receives a practice tape or CD and reading materials. The class material is adapted to the needs, interests, life-styles, and learning patterns of participants. A valuable adjunct to the learning is the support participants give each other in turning old, stressful patterns into stress reducing ones.

Here are some of the areas addressed in the class:

• What stress is
• The relaxation response and mindfulness
• What stress does to the body, the fight/flight/freeze response, and learning a better way
• The physical body: sleep, exercise, and living with illness
• Emotions, the power of thought, intention
• Relationships & interconnection
• Loving-kindness meditation
• Time stress
• How to keep the practice going

  For more information, please contact Jane Fox at 856-722-0096, ext. 3.

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