Zindel Segal generously donated 50 copies of his latest book, The Mindful Way Workbook, to participants in our Social Program at Parkdale Activity-Recreation Centre (PARC). PARC members, staff and volunteers from the Centre gather together on Wednesday mornings for a regular mindfulness sitting group. The group members wanted to share their gratitude with Zindel for this helpful addition to their mindfulness practice.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) have been empirically shown to be both effective—in reducing stress, anxiety, depression, and substance abuse—and cost-effective, because they are delivered in a group setting rather than to individuals. However, these programs follow a structured, sequential format over eight to nine weeks, which limits their effectiveness with a homeless population.

One of our main goals at the Centre is to make mindfulness available to everyone. Thanks to the generous support of the Robert Kerr Foundation, last spring the Centre partnered with PARC to create a customized, drop-in MBSR program that meets the realities and context of the homeless and those who are at risk of being homeless.

The donated workbooks take the program even further: out of the workshop and directly into people’s hands. Thank you, Zindel!

 

Leysa Cerswell