Anxiety: It’s Not All in Your Mind
A practical path to freedom from anxiety that honors both ancient insights and modern understanding.
Reflections from Past Participants
I am incredibly grateful for the embodied practices and thoughtfully chosen Dharma lessons that Jill Satterfield taught. These practices have helped quiet my anxiety, which was often intensified by my ADHD.
I have lived with (often debilitating) anxiety since childhood. As a teacher and mentor the most valuable lesson I have learned from Jill is to not be ashamed of the anxiety I experience.
A Gentle, Holistic Path Through Anxiety
Traditional approaches often focus solely on the psychological aspects of anxiety. Yet anxiety touches every part of us – from our racing thoughts to our shallow breathing, from our tense muscles to our activated nervous system.
This nurturing 5-week course offers a different way forward, one that honors your whole experience. Through mindful practices, gentle movement, and breath awareness, you’ll discover practical tools to find more ease and balance in body, breath, and mind.
Where Ancient Wisdom Meets Modern Science
Buddhist wisdom has long recognized how anxiety emerges from the delicate dance between mind and body – an understanding that modern science is now exploring through research into mind-body connections.
This course weaves together gentle contemplative practices with insights from current research, creating a supportive space where ancient wisdom meets contemporary understanding. Here you’ll find practical tools to ease anxiety’s hold, whether you’re just beginning to explore mindfulness or have an established practice.
Together we’ll discover how combining timeless meditation techniques with evidence-based approaches can open new possibilities for finding greater peace and balance in daily life.
Embodied Wisdom, Validated by Science
- Traditional Buddhist practices of body scanning and breath awareness are now confirmed by research showing moderate to large effects in anxiety reduction
- The Buddha’s teachings on mindfulness of the body align with new studies demonstrating how improved body awareness directly impacts anxiety regulation
- Ancient understanding that “the body knows before the mind” is supported by research showing anxiety manifests in physical symptoms before conscious awareness
Time-Tested Methods in a Modern Context
- Practices refined over millennia in Buddhist monasteries, now proven effective in hospitals, trauma centers, and clinical settings
- Traditional emphasis on gradual training supported by research showing lasting improvements through consistent practice
- Buddhist techniques for working with fear and uncertainty, validated by studies on anxiety reduction
Spirit Rock’s Contemplative Foundation
- Grounded in Spirit Rock’s 40+ year tradition of bringing Buddhist wisdom to contemporary life
- Taught by Jill Satterfield, who pioneered the integration of mindful movement at Spirit Rock over 30 years ago
- Emphasizes both relief and long-term transformation through sustained practice
Practical Tools for Real Life
- Learn to recognize anxiety’s early signals in the body before thoughts spiral
- Develop concrete skills for nervous system regulation
- Build a personalized toolkit of practices that work for your unique needs
- Create sustainable change through embodied practice rather than intellectual understanding alone
What you’ll carry with you
Lasting Self-regulation Skills
Develop lasting self-regulation skills rather than temporary coping mechanisms
Anxiety Awareness
Build capacity to recognize and respond to anxiety before it becomes overwhelming
Sustainable Change
Create sustainable change through embodied practice rather than intellectual understanding alone
Real World Application
Empower students with a toolkit of techniques that can be customized to individual needs
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
- De-escalate anxiety symptoms through embodied mindfulness practices
- Regulate their nervous system using breath, body awareness, and visualization techniques
- Recognize early warning signs of anxiety in physical sensations and thought patterns
- Understand the relationship between thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations
- Apply self-compassion and mindfulness to manage anxiety
- Utilize various skillful means to return to present moment awareness
- Recognize and work with thought patterns that contribute to anxiety
- Develop a personalized toolkit of practices for ongoing anxiety management
“Anxiety: It’s Not All in Your Mind” is a groundbreaking 5-week course that offers a comprehensive approach to understanding and working with anxiety. Moving beyond traditional treatments that focus solely on mental aspects, this course integrates evidence-based embodied mindfulness practices, somatic awareness, and time-tested contemplative techniques to transform your relationship with anxiety.
Through a careful blend of body-based practices, breathing techniques, and mindfulness skills, you’ll learn to recognize early warning signs of anxiety, develop practical tools for nervous system regulation, and build lasting resilience.
Unlike conventional approaches, this course empowers you with both immediate anxiety-relief techniques and long-term strategies for sustainable change. Developed from over 35 years of clinical experience and supported by current neuroscience research, these methods have been successfully implemented in hospitals, trauma centers, and addiction institutes. Whether you experience occasional anxiety or frequent symptoms, this course provides a supportive environment to develop practical skills that become more effective with time, helping you move from merely managing anxiety to finding genuine freedom and ease in your daily life.
Practical exercises:
Progressive muscle relaxation
Targeted relaxation for anxiety-prone areas
Developing systematic body awareness
Somatic awareness exercises
Movement practices
Four-part breath practice
Alternate nostril breathing
Deep relaxation breathing
Breath visualization
Understanding thought patterns
Deep listening
Emotional awareness
Mindfulness techniques
Integration practices
Self-compassion practices
Fear and uncertainty work
Sustainable practice
About Jill Satterfield
Jill Satterfield has been a quiet pioneer in the integration of embodied awareness practices and Buddhist teachings for over 30 years.
Her heart/mind and body approach developed from somatic and contemplative psychology, 35 years of Buddhist study, extensive meditation retreat time and decades of living with chronic pain.
At the invitation of her primary teacher, Ajahn Amaro, Jill was the first to offer mindful movement and somatic practices on silent retreats first at Spirit Rock Meditation Center and then the Insight Meditation Society 30 years ago. She has since developed teacher trainings and mentoring programs that integrate embodied awareness with Dharma ever since.
In addition to teaching embodiment and Dharma with Ajahn Amaro, she was also invited to teach on Tsoknyi Rinpoche’s retreats in the US and Nepal. It was at his urging that she teach subtle body practices to his students. She contributed movement practices to his brother Mingyur Rinpoche’s retreats and was a consultant for his 2 best-selling books.
Jill’s Applied Embodied Mindfulness Trainings were part of UCLA’s Mindful Awareness Research Center. She was on the faculty for Spirit Rock’s Mindful Yoga and Meditation Training, and she is currently a mentor for Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach’s Mindfulness Teacher Training. She was the scholar and teacher in residence at Kripalu Center in 2003 and is a graduate of the Sati Center’s Buddhist Chaplaincy Training.
Her organization School for Compassionate Action was a training and service organization that taught mindfulness and somatic practices for chronic pain, illness and post 9/11 trauma in NYC hospitals and at-risk facilities for over ten years. She has been featured in and has written for numerous publications such as Tricycle, Lion’s Roar and the NY Times.
Overcome Anxiety: Self Kindness and Body Awareness
This Course Is Perfect For You If:
- You’re seeking real, lasting change rather than temporary fixes
- You want evidence-based methods in a supportive environment
- You’re ready to develop a new relationship with anxiety
- You’re tired of being told it’s “all in your head”
- You want practical tools you can use in daily life
- You’re interested in both immediate relief and long-term transformation
Payment Plan
- Over 12.5 hours of LIVE Instruction
- Online learning community
- 10 CE Credits
* There is a $100 additional fee for CE Credits that you can add at checkout
Full Payment
- Over 12.5 hours of LIVE Instruction
- Online learning community
- 10 CE Credits
* There is a $100 additional fee for CE Credits that you can add at checkout
Scholarships are very limited and reserved for those who are truly experiencing financial hardship. Click here to apply.
Everything you need to plan
Online Only: We are offering this program online via Zoom.
Class dates are: September 11, September 18, September 25, October 2, October 9; all classes are held on Fridays from 10:00am – 12:30pm US Pacific Time.
Daily Practice
- 10-20 mins of formal meditation (sitting or lying down) practice daily, drawn from any of the practices introduced in the course
- Brief self checks—informal practice—throughout the day: notice how the rubber is hitting the road, or how the practices are changing how you navigate daily life
- Pause and integrate: choose a practice you’ve learned and bring it in for short periods throughout the day, or focus on one practice for a few days
How to Get the Most Out of the Course
- Attend the weekly sessions either live or recorded
- Engage with the group discussions, bringing in reflections from your own practice
- Journaling: support your embodiment of the course by writing reflections on the material and your experience practicing with it
- Send in questions as you experiment with the different practices, so that they are fresh in your mind and not forgotten
Please Note for CEC participants: If you are interested in receiving continuing education credits (CECs), you must register and pay for CECs prior to the start of the program (no retroactive CECs will be given) and you must attend the live program. Please review the CEC information below.
We understand that plans can change, and we’re here to help.
- If you need to cancel before the course begins, we’ll provide a refund with just a $25 administrative fee deducted.
- For cancellations made by 5:00 PM PST on September 18, we’ll happily refund your payment, keeping only a $49 course fee.
- To assist you with your cancellation, please reach out to us directly at courses@spiritrock.org. We’ll take care of the process for you.
- After September 18, we won’t be able to issue refunds, so we appreciate your understanding.
- CEs are non-refundable.
If you have any questions, we’re here to support you.
Continuing Education Credit
Continuing Education (CE) credit available:
This program offers 10 CE credits for $100 for psychologists, and California-licensed MFTs, LCSWs, LEPs, LPCCs, nurses, and chiropractors. Please review our Continuing Education Credit information page to determine if your association or board will accept credits offered by Spirit Rock.
There is a $100 additional fee for CE Credits that you can add at checkout.
Teachings are appropriate for health care professionals as well as the general public. This program equips healthcare providers with tools to manage anxiety by teaching body-based practices that regulate the nervous system, which can improve both their well-being and patient care. By integrating mindfulness, breathwork, and somatic awareness, providers can enhance their ability to remain calm and focused during stressful situations, reducing burnout and improving clinical decision-making. Additionally, the techniques taught in this program can be shared with patients as practical interventions for managing anxiety and fostering emotional resilience.
Learning Objectives for participating health care professionals
At the end of the program you will be better able to:
- Describe the relationship between bodily sensations and cognitive awareness in the context of anxiety regulation;
- List physiological signs of anxiety in the body and the corresponding cognitive processes that exacerbate anxious thoughts;
- Describe strategies for early detection and reduction of anxiety based on patterns of sensations in the body that signal the onset of anxiety;
- Describe how breath practices can be used to regulate the nervous system and enhance emotional resilience;
- Analyze the role of vagal nerve stimulation in creating a sense of connection and reducing anxiety symptoms;
- Describe mindfulness techniques that can be used to foster insight into habitual thought patterns contributing to anxiety and tension;
- Describe the impact of sensing bodily sensations on reducing anxious thoughts, tension, and cognitive contraction.
Continuing Education content level: Introductory
To be eligible for Continuing Education Credits, participants must attend at least 4 of the 5 classes, live, in full, and fulfill all requirements stated on the CEC information page.
- For full Provider information, and additional CEC information, including attendance requirements, cancellation, and grievance policies, please visit our Continuing Education Credit information page.
- For those with a different license than listed above, or with a license from a different board or association than listed on our CEC info page, please contact your licensing board or association directly to request pre-approval/acceptance of CE credits offered at Spirit Rock. Spirit Rock does not confirm the applicability of credit for those with licenses different than those listed.
- Spirit Rock is a provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider Number CEP16905 for 10 contact hours.
- Credit is awarded for instructional time only and does not include extended silent meditation, if offered.
- Potential Conflict of Interest Statement: This instructor may have authored publications relevant to the subjects covered in this course. The instructor might reference these publications during the course, and they may receive financial compensation if these publications are purchased.
Contact Us: courses@spiritrock.org
Course Logistics & Access
Although our Programs are available on any device, we suggest using a computer (if possible) and Chrome or Firefox browser to log in: https://courses.spiritrock.org
Note: The login for our Online Learning Platform differs from your Spirit Rock login.
Accessing Your Program Page: Click on it from your Dashboard after you’ve logged in. Once there, navigate through the sections on “My Courses” on the dashboard.
Are you logged in? Use the “log in” button on the top right of the page. This will give you the access you need to see all the content.
Although the Online Learning Platform works on mobile and tablet devices, for the best experience, use a desktop or laptop. This might be an easier way to find all the areas of the site as you are learning how it works.
The course is delivered LIVE online over a five week period over Zoom.
If you notice a link, content, or anything that isn’t working properly, please email us at courses@spiritrock.org
Try refreshing your browser and check your internet connection. Check another website to see if it’s just our site or something in your system.
Yes, once you’ve completed the course, you will retain lifetime access to all course materials, allowing you to revisit lectures, exercises, and meditations whenever needed.
Only participants signed up to receive CECs are required to attend all sessions live. If you are not receiving CECs you are welcome to watch class recordings, though you will miss the participatory exercises.
CECs are offered for this course for an extra cost. See above for details.
We would love for you and your Sangha to join as a group. Please fill out this form with your group details.
“Anxiety: It’s Not All in Your Mind” is a groundbreaking 5-week course that offers a comprehensive approach to understanding and working with anxiety. Moving beyond traditional treatments that focus solely on mental aspects, this course integrates evidence-based embodied mindfulness practices, somatic awareness, and time-tested contemplative techniques to transform your relationship with anxiety.
Through a careful blend of body-based practices, breathing techniques, and mindfulness skills, you’ll learn to recognize early warning signs of anxiety, develop practical tools for nervous system regulation, and build lasting resilience.
- You’re seeking real, lasting change rather than temporary fixes
- You want evidence-based methods in a supportive environment
- You’re ready to develop a new relationship with anxiety
- You’re tired of being told it’s “all in your head”
- You want practical tools you can use in daily life
- You’re interested in both immediate relief and long-term transformation
