Mindfulness Course Testimonials:
Thank you Dr. Voth for all the help and encouragement you gave to me and our group. I’m excited to have started a new chapter in my life while being more accepting of myself. You have an amazing teaching ability and truly gave us the “generosity of patience”.
Before the course, I was the queen of the multi-taskers and proud of it. I am an organized person and I accomplish a lot in a timely manner, but I tended to ignore the toll that it took on me. Practicing mindfulness means not just meditating each day, but as I go through the day, paying attention to how I am responding to events—both pleasant and unpleasant.
I am amazed at differences that I hadn’t anticipated or even thought about. Before taking the class, my sole goal was stress reduction. I hadn’t read much about mindfulness so I was coming in with an open view of what it meant, but I was thinking solely in terms of stress. I have two conditions that are aggravated by stress: back problems and coronary artery disease. So I thought that I would reduce my stress to improve my health and make me generally happier. I have made a number of changes in my life that I hadn’t anticipated. I drive more slowly, I notice the flowers as I walk, I listen more carefully, I get less annoyed. Most surprisingly, my eating habits have changed even before taking the mindful eating class or reading about it. I eat more slowly. I don’t clean my plate, unless I am hungry and feel that I need the food. I don’t grab at food that is sitting around at work. Most interesting to me is that I became a vegetarian. I used to be one for about 5 years, but when I went through menopause I was craving meat so I went back to eating it—that was about 10 years ago. Now, I have no taste for meat and I feel better not eating it. So I feel open to other changes—not sure what happens next.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. This has been life changing for me and I appreciate everything you have both offered.
Practice to me means the opportunity to continue developing a relationship with my mind. When I practice, it seems to bring me to a place where I can actually study and use my brain rather than letting it use me (although this may be my brain playing tricks on me).
I seem to be able to step back more and react less.
…(I) do feel that it has changed the way that I approach some situations or if I reacted in a way that made me unhappy, allowed me to think about why it did.
Overall, I feel the course was extremely useful in formally introducing me to a way of thinking about life that could change my life.