Mindful Medicin - about mindfulness based stress reduction.
Research shows that mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is an effective method to prevent stress, anxiety and depression. Many also feel that the method leads to improved quality of life and well-being. " Mindful Medicine " follows a MBSR group of eight weeks. Participants of the course have different backgrounds and reasons for participating . We follow three main participants - Rikke, Marlene and David. Rikke has BDS - bodily distress syndrome and struggling especially with fatigue and depression. Marlene has stress and migraine and David would like live more balanced. During the course they all discover new sides of themselves and we get a glimpse of that meditation is hard work - and sometimes can be frustrating. But the method opens a perhaps hidden way into a sense of community, connectedness and an opportunity to contain conflicting emotions.
Lone Fjorback is the MBSR teacher in the film. She is a consultant at the Aarhus University Hospital, conducts research and mindfulness treatment , and is the Director of Education at the Danish Center for Mindfulness at Aarhus University. In the film there are interviews with the founder of MBSR and professor of medicine Jon Kabat - Zinn and neuroscientist, Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry, and founder of the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds at the Waisman Center, Richard J Davidson. The film is aimed at all those with an interest in mindfulness and considering participating in an MBSR course .
" Mindful Medicine " is produced by Mette Bahnsen , Persona Film, with financial support from TrygFonden. Persona film has since 2001 produced educational films , documentaries, ethnographic films for museums , hospitals, schools and universities. Mette Bahnsen has previously made films about mindfulness for children and educational films for schools and psychiatry.
Mindfulness and school
The transition from preschool to kindergarten can be challenging. Children have to concentrate for longer periods of time and pay attention in new ways. The kindergarteners ability to calm down and pay attention in an environment with many external stimuli is not necessarily developed automatically. The teacher plays a crucial role. Using age appropriate mindfulness exercises is a powerful tool to guide children in developing their capacities for attention and empathy.
The ambition with this educational documentary is to inspire teachers in preschools and kindergartens to introduce mindfulness activities in order to support children in the transition from preschool to kindergarten.