Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction: Sacred Practice

Dr. Rashmi S. Bismark shares how she learned about Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction as a secular tool for the medical world, and how secular became SACRED again.

S.A.C.R.E.D. Practice

When I first discovered Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) as an evidence-based medical intervention for patients with a variety of stress-related indications, I was absolutely thrilled. MBSR was elegant. It teaches contemplative practices and mindful movement through a beautifully thought out curriculum. And better yet, it fits perfectly within the medical professional sphere. It was the perfect way for me to bridge my traditional self-care practices with patient care in a secular format…

My proud use of the word secular was rightly challenged a few years ago while attending my first professional teacher training retreat through the Oasis Institute (University of Massachusetts Center for Mindfulness). Well-respected mindfulness leader, Saki Santorelli, EdD, who co-created MBSR with Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD, was one of the teachers.

In one of his key lectures, Dr. Santorelli expressed that secular literally means devoid of sacredness. “Is this work we do with mindfulness really devoid of the sacred? From the beginning, it has never been anything but sacred. Sacred in the same way the doctor-patient relationship is and always has been sacred. Held deeply in the spirit of the Hippocratic Oath to do no harm.”