Wedge Gardens’ Kendra Neethling has begun the journey to becoming a Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teacher through the University of Massachusetts.
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“The American university is considered a MBSR leader,” said Kendra.
Kendra heads up the occupational therapy department of the Rand Aid substance abuse treatment centre in Wedge Gardens.
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“MBSR is respected within the medical community and is offered to complement traditional medical and psychological treatments, rather than as a replacement,” she said.
She recently introduced MBSR sessions at Wedge Gardens, which prides itself on offering holistic rehabilitation that addresses not only a patient’s addiction, but the root causes thereof.
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The centre also has programmes which enable patients to reintegrate into society so they are less likely to relapse.
Mindfulness teaches participants how to harness their innate abilities to diminish stress and pain and to improve overall physical and mental health.
Kendra said mindfulness is the practice of developing the skills of paying attention in a particular way through non-judgement and acceptance of the present moment.
“It is a skill with many benefits. It reduces stress, decreases impulsiveness and creates fulfilling engagements in daily life,” she said.
She said Viktor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor and the creator of Logotherapy – which is the pursuit of meaning for one’s life – sums up the benefits of mindfulness perfectly for those embarking on a journey of self-discovery and recovery.
“Between stimulus and response there’s a space; in that space lies our power to choose our response; in our response lies our growth and our freedom. In other words, one of the main skills the Wedge Gardens patients are learning is that of pause – a pause or a moment in which one can choose how to respond rather than react to life,” she said.
“Most of us are unaware of this space between stimulus and response because we get caught in habitual patterns of reacting to life. Mindfulness makes us aware of these patterns of behaviour,” she said.
The mindfulness sessions that start the day at Wedge Gardens begin with some theory around the benefits and skills of mindfulness and conclude with the experimental, active engagement with skills such as body scans, meditations, mindful movement and cultivating awareness of thoughts, feelings and behaviours.
Kendra said mindfulness has begun to permeate the lives of the people at Wedge Gardens, with noticeable benefits to their recovery process.
“It is with great anticipation that Wedge Gardens continues to grow in this practice,” she said.
For more information, call Wedge Gardens on 011 430 0320.
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