The Course
A 4-week introduction to mindfulness course for anyone with a chronic GI condition to learn how to calm stress & flare less.
People with a chronic GI disorder benefit greatly from learning how to regulate their nervous system & increase stress resilience.
Mindfulness is a proven, effective tool.
Next Class
February ’24: Registration Closed
Next Class: To Be Announced
Share your email here to be notified of future course dates & times.
What to Expect
You’ll learn key concepts for mindfulness & GI psychology through pre-recorded lectures & weekly live classes.
You’ll connect with a community of others sharing a similar journey & practice meditation daily.
You’ll walk away with a practical understanding of how to meditate & incorporate mindfulness into your daily life.
Week 1
Mindfulness | Intro to Mindfulness
GI Psych | The GI Stress Cycle
Week 2
Mindfulness | Working with Thoughts & Beliefs
GI Psych | Worry Focused on Health
Week 3
Mindfulness | Mindfulness of Emotions
GI Psych | Working with Emotions
Week 4
Mindfulness | Our Wise Heart
GI Psych | Self-Compassion for Better Coping
Each week has 3 parts
1 | Two pre-recorded lessons
1 lesson on mindfulness
1 lesson on GI psychology
Each lesson builds on the core concepts of the previous week. By the end of the 4 weeks you’ll have a good foundation for how to practice mindfulness & how it applies to your GI health.
2 | Guided meditations
You’ll have a guided meditations for your daily practice to deepen your understanding and felt experience of mindfulness.
Courses like this one are proven to be effective at helping people make significant shifts and build useful skills. However, it is only the people that actually practice that get the benefits.
3 | A live, online meeting to practice together, connect & discuss
Having a live meeting will be helpful for you to
- Connect with other people with similar health issues
- Practice mindfulness with others
- Have accountability
- Be able to have your questions answered
The live meetings are the part of the class that people tend to get the most learning & meaning from.
Extra | Private Facebook group
Ask questions & connect with others with similar struggles.
After the Course
You’ll be invited to participate in a free, ongoing Sustaining Practice group to keep your meditation practice going. You’ll also have access to all the core content from the course.
Teachers
Emily Martin, MS
Mindfulness Teacher
Scott Rower, PhD
GI Psychology
Why Mindfulness?
When your health is no longer something you can just rely on it adds a lot of uncertainty to life. The loss of control is hard to ignore.
The natural result of living with GI symptoms that keep coming back is a combination of worry, anxiety, depression, social isolation & becoming super sensitive to anything that feels off in your GI tract (visceral hypersensitivity).
Unfortunately these reactions can make things harder and can become the new normal.
Coping better requires better skills.
In the field of psycho-gastroenterology (GI psychology) mindfulness meditation is one of the core skills that’s proven to be helpful for people with chronic GI issues (references).
3 Core Skills Gained from Practicing Mindfulness
1. Respond vs React
Being able to work with the physical (pain, discomfort, etc.) as well as the mental/emotional (anxiety, uncertainty, etc.) symptoms is a huge help rather than being stuck in the human default, which is to work against them in an exhausting & unhelpful way.
2. Stress Resilience
Being able to regulate & calm the mind and nervous system is a vital tool when the GI system is flaring & it feels like there’s so little under your control.
3. Self-Awareness
We all have habitual, self-defeating patterns that make life harder than it needs to be. They usually are happening outside our awareness. Mindfulness helps build self-awareness so that we can start to see how we’re getting in our own way.
Under stress we don’t rise to the level of our best intentions, we default to the level of our skills.
Connect with Others That Get It
Doctors don’t have the time or the specific training to address the mental, emotional components.
Therapists often fall short at really being able to understand the types of challenges that come with a chronic health condition like this.
A meditation app can help you get started but doesn’t get you to the depth needed & doesn’t include a GI psychology component.
This course is offered live instead of being fully pre-recorded for a reason. It would be cheaper & more convenient for you if it were done like most online courses. The importance of offering it this way is that you will have the opportunity to learn alongside other people that have similar struggles.
Learning how to slow down, turn inward & let down your guard is not a straightforward process. The fact though is that humans are social animals and we learn best when we are able to share and connect with other people, especially when they are up to the same task.
Daily Meditation Practice
Courses like this one are proven to be effective at helping people make significant shifts and build useful skills. However, it is only the people that actually practice that get the benefits. This course won’t be worth your time and money if you aren’t able to attempt a daily practice for 4 weeks.
Many people will struggle to hit this goal each week and that is normal. Perfection is not expected. There are many obstacles and hurdles that interfere with making the time to meditate. When you are part of a group of people that are also committed to attempting this goal though you are more likely of achieving it. Having the accountability and support of each other in the group is something we miss out on when we go it alone with an app or book.
Questions?
Send me an email Scott at ScottRowerPhD.com
Testimonials
Frequently Asked Questions
do I need meditation experience?
Nope, the only requirement is that you have a chronic GI condition. Most people will be either completely new to meditation or relatively new to the practice.
That being said, there are some circumstances where meditation can be less helpful or even harmful. The timing might not be right for you if any of the following apply…
- Addiction struggles with < 3 months sober
- Recent, significant trauma
- Some forms of PTSD
- Severe depression with thoughts of suicide
- Struggles with psychosis/schizophrenia not responsive to medication
If you think any of these might apply please contact me at scott@scottrowerphd.com so we can discuss.
will the course be offered again?
Yes, absolutely. If the timing of this course doesn’t work well for you, please let me know. I only know to schedule it differently if I get feedback.
will insurance cover this?
Some insurance plans are starting to cover “mindfulness-based programs”.
If you check yours & it is covered, let me know so we can discuss what paperwork they will need.
Will the meetings be recorded?
Yes, the meetings will be recorded & shared afterward for anyone unable to attend.