Drawing from the latest advances in neuroscience research and millennia-old mindfulness practices, this five-week course offers a step-by-step approach to healing chronic pain.
The current medical and clinical research on chronic pain indicates that while biological factors like tissue damage, inflammation, and system dysfunction generate pain, there are multiple factors that influence how much and for how long we experience it. They include our emotions; our thoughts, beliefs, and expectations; our past experiences and memories; and the context (where we are, whom we are with, and what is happening in the moment). In other words, pain is a very complex and dynamic phenomenon that is both physical and emotional.
In this course, you will learn:
- What is pain, why we have it, and how it works.
- How to distinguish the physical and emotional aspects of pain.
- How to identify and monitor the conditions that tend to increase and decrease pain throughout the day.
- How to observe thoughts and emotions, in particular those related to fear, as they affect the intensity and duration of pain.
- How to be aware of unpleasant experiences in general, not only the experience of pain, as they tend to trigger a sense of aversion in the mind.
- How to transform our relationship to pain, that is, how to move from reacting to pain to healing pain with understanding, care, and compassion.
Details
This course includes five weekly live online sessions conducted via Zoom, each lasting two and a half hours. Prior to the start of the course, participants will meet individually with the instructor for a 30-minute interview. The course also offers weekly suggestions for home-based practices, including guided meditations and practical approaches to cultivating mindfulness in everyday life.
Upcoming Classes
University of California San Francisco Osher Center for Integrative Health
- When: Wednesday from April 22 to May 20, 2026: April 22, April 29, May 6, May 13 and May 20.
- Time: 2.30–5.00 pm PST
- Where: Online, live via Zoom
- Cost: $295.
- Instructor: Valeria Galetto
To register please visit this page: https://osher.ucsf.edu/public-classes/mindfulness-chronic-pain
Samma Sati 