UC San Diego Health’s Center for Mindfulness (CFM) is a multi-faceted program of professional training, education, research and outreach intended to further the practice and integration of mindfulness into all aspects of society.

We offer a broad range of mindfulness-based programs and initiatives to help you better cope with the challenges of stress pain and illness in daily life.

Please select the links on the right sidebar menu to find out information on the selected program.

(Note: CFM requires a minimum of 10 registrants per MBSR class to hold class. Classes with fewer than 10 will be cancelled with options for rescheduling into open classes.) 

The Center’s Mindfulness Programs Include:

+ Expand All

Our Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course (and other mindfulness programs) are unlike any sort of program you may have encountered before. They involve cultivating a different relationship between you and the things that challenge you in your life, and relies completely upon the tools you already have. Specifically, mindfulness helps you access the ability to be non-judgmental, compassionate, patient, present and aware. You wouldn’t have come this far if these qualities did not exist in you somewhere.

Learn more about MBSR

Leaders and employees alike are discovering how bringing mindfulness to work with us can improve not only our own personal health & wellbeing, but also the health & wellbeing of our organization as a whole. Examples of organizations integrating mindfulness training programs into their professional development and wellness initiatives include companies such as Illumina, Genentech, Aetna, and Intel, governmental organizations such as the UK Parliament, multiple branches of the US military, law firms and non-profits all over the globe. Our workplace programs help organizations create a workplace that supports and enhances the wellness and performance of employees through mindfulness practices and principles. Each program will explore a variety of stress reduction methods, educate employees about the important role they play in their own health and wellbeing, and assist employees in creating their own individualized mindfulness practice. Participants will learn tools to help them develop a healthier relationship with stress- one that allows them to be less reactionary and more intentional in choosing responses. By bringing mindful focus and intention to our work, research is showing that we can improve bottom-line performance metrics, connect and communicate more clearly, reduce healthcare and attrition costs, and enjoy our work more.

Learn more about our workplace programs

This cutting-edge 3-day intensive training program is built around the latest brain research related to peak performance, resilience, focus, and "flow". The mPEAK program enhances the human capacity of mindfulness through established and empirically supported practices and exercises, tailored to fit the needs and desires of the team, organization or individual.

Learn more about the mPEAK Program

Our vision is to encourage young people to explore and deepen an awareness of self through mindfulness training. We teach a curriculum that is designed to support social and emotional learning and cultivate awareness of stress reactivity in children and adolescents. Mindfulness-based practices inspire discernment in decision-making and lead to healthier and happier choices. These experiential programs offer youth, and the families who care for them, an opportunity to discover their capacity for a deeper purpose and more meaningful connection to themselves and the world around them.

Learn more about Our Family Programs

The course, Mindful Eating, is based upon the work of Jan Chozen Bays, MD and Char Wilkins, LCSW, and adapted to serve as a course at UCSD’s Mindful Eating Center. In her book, Mindful Eating, Jan Chozen Bays wrote, "This book is not about diets or rules. It is about exploring what we already have and appreciating everything we are doing. Will you lose or gain weight if you bring mindfulness into cooking and eating? I don’t know. What you could lose is the weight of the mind’s unhappiness with eating and dissatisfaction with food. What you could gain are a simple joy with food and an easy pleasure in eating that are your birthrights as a human being." (page 5.) Mindful eating involves purposefully and non-judgmentally paying attention to what is happening right now within your body, mind and heart, as well as, what is happening outside in the environment.

Learn more about the mindful eating program

Interested in meeting with a member of our Teaching Staff? We offer free 30 minute 1-on-1 sessions with our staff in person and over the phone in order to provide advice on which of our Group Mindfulness Courses (Such as MBSR, MSC, & Youth Programs) may be right for you. Keep in mind that our teachers host these sessions on a volunteer basis, so if you are unsure if you are able to attend please refarain from signing up.

Sign up for a 1-on-1 consultation here