University of California San Francisco Give to UCSF

June-July Tuesday Evenings, 6:00-8:30 pm PT
8-week online course

  • Orientation: June 2
  • Class Dates: June 9–July 28
  • Retreat: Saturday, July 18
  • Instructor: Nichole Proffitt

Register here

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is an eight-week program that introduces mindfulness practices in the form of sitting meditation, body awareness, and mindful movement, modeled by Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD.  

This program can help if stress is having a negative impact on your life, if you are experiencing chronic physical or mental distress, or if you are simply interested in learning ways to maintain health and well-being. Over 6,000 research papers have published findings on the benefits of practicing MBSR including decreased anxiety, depression, pain, and distress, and increased attention, concentration, performance, and quality of life. Recent studies have found that an 8-week MBSR course had comparable effectiveness to a first-line medication for patients with anxiety disorders (JAMA, 2022)

Each MBSR course includes: 

  • An orientation 
  • A 30-minute private interview with the instructor before the first class, 
  • 8 weekly sessions 
  • One daylong retreat on a Saturday or Sunday 

A unique and essential aspect of the UCSF Osher Center MBSR program is a thirty-minute private interview with the instructor before the first class. This is an opportunity to ask questions about the program’s suitability for any personal circumstances. One may also provide information about their health, challenges, and aspirations that one would like the instructor to know so that they can best support one’s well-being.

The orientation session consists of meeting the instructor and participants, an introduction to what participation in the class entails, history and research on the MBSR model, and instruction and practice of mindfulness techniques. 

Visit our website to learn more.

Event Details


UCSF promotes the exchange of diverse ideas and perspectives, acknowledging that the views and opinions of our guest speakers on campus are their own and may not reflect the perspective of the University. We embrace free speech in the pursuit of greater understanding, consistent with our obligations as a public university under the First Amendment.