The latest addition to The Lotus Tree's roster of health and wellness practioners is Registered Psychologist Joanne Frederick of Regina. Frederick is founder of the Prairie Centre for Mindfulness and teaches Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). She recently led an eight-week MBSR course for 18 people at The Lotus Tree. Based on the enthusiastic response to the sold-out course in Carlyle, Frederick will hold the MBSR course this fall at The Lotus Tree and will also see clients on an individual basis.
“It was the most powerful class I've ever had the honour of working with,” says Frederick. “My colleagues in Regina said 'It'll never work, because people in a smaller community know each other, so they won't share.' But I was blown away - they were a great group and I'm really looking forward to working with groups and individual clients here at The Lotus Tree.”
Brittany Dalziel, registered massage therapist and owner of The Lotus Tree says Frederick came to Carlyle via client Ty Lamontagne's request - and legwork.
“Ty was really interested in a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Course,” says Dalziel. “He contacted me about running it. He did the research and he found Joanne.”
“I was grateful that Brittany and I were able to help bring something like this to Carlyle and I'll take it again,” says Lamontagne. “What I took away from the training - I learned how to disconnect from the stress and negative thoughts that I was having a hard time dealing with. I learned that I cannot always control external circumstances, be we can control what they mean to us and what to focus on.”
“What you focus on you attract,” adds Lamontagne. “I would recommend MBSR to anyone who is looking for an alternative way to deal with stress and anxiety.”
“Carlyle wasn't even on my radar,” adds Frederick. “But Ty called and I said if they could get me a yoga studio and 20 people, I'd do it.”
Dalziel says getting a MBSR practioner to the area was a coup of sorts.
“Joanne is one of two people in Saskatchewan who is qualified to lead this type of stress reduction program,” says Dalziel. “And participants in our first MBSR course were pretty equally divided between men and women.”
“I took the course and we learned about the different ways your brain reacts to different stressors – and the different tools in your toolbox to deal with stress effectively.”
“It's all based on neuroscience,” adds Dalziel. “And I learned a lot - but one example that I took away was the importance of connection and listening to what each other has to say.”
“I learned that the same part of the brain lights up when you feel heard as when you feel loved, but Joanne also backs up that information with medically-proven, scientific evidence.”
After becoming a psychologist in 1995, Frederick eventually studied MBSR - created by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn - through the Centre for Mindfulness, University of Massachusetts Medical School . She says her work “is guided by a passion for helping people find sustainable solutions to life challenges using a mindfulness-based approach.”
“It's hard to be human,” says Frederick. “And stress and stressors - whether it's a tragedy, a break-up, a job loss or any number of things - are a natural occurrence in life. You can't stop the waves, but you can learn how to surf.”
Frederick knows this firsthand. “For me, it was a cancer diagnosis,” she says. “Fourteen years ago, I was living in the fast lane, working and accumulating material stuff. I didn't get off the crazy train and I didn't feel that I could. I needed time off and I didn't ask for it, so in a way, I asked to get sick.”
“A month later, I was in the cancer clinic with a diagnosis. I had a year off - with cancer treatments.”
“When I was finished, I was told that if I remained cancer-free for five years, post-diagnosis that I'd be in the clear,” says Frederick. “But I became super hyper-sensitive to every symptom in my body during that time. A headache wasn't just a headache and every pain - no matter how insignificant - made me so anxious I couldn't stand it.”
“I didn't know what to do or how to handle it,” adds Frederick. “It was humbling.”
“Eventually, I found a meditation class. Three weeks later, I felt like I'd found the volume control for my anxiety. Six weeks later, I realized I could turn it down even more,” she says.
“And I began looking for ways for it to be used with clients who are struggling.”
“The mind is a time traveller,” says Frederick. “And most of us spend a lot of time in the future - where the mind brews anxiety, or in the past - where the mind brews sadness.”
“Instead of operating on auto-pilot, MBSR teaches us to truly awake to life,” explains Frederick. “This program is evidence-based and it's gold standard for mindfulness-based programs.”
The eight-week course combines meditation and gentle yoga as tools in learning how to use mind and body to take charge of one's health and to aid clients in feeling more in control of their lives.
“The classes are weekly and the first and last classes are three hours,” says Frederick. “Usually, the classes are about 2 ½ hours long and include some type of mindfulness practice such as meditation, yoga or body scanning.”
“Then there's a lesson or a teaching about how the human mind and body operate, followed by a discussion,” continues Frederick. “And I must emphasize that no one is under any obligation to speak if they don't want to.”
“The curriculum really emphasizes what shows up every week with our clients' lives,” she adds. “Their experiences and what shows up in their minds and bodies. It's very experiential.”
“But the main ingredient as far as what you bring is curiousity and a bit of courage.”
For more information or to register, visit: www prairiemindfulness.ca or call The Lotus Tree at (306)-453-3334.
