Our mindfulness-based programs are group-based, making them affordable and accessible, with strong evidence for efficacy. Having reached nearly 1000 individuals in workplaces, educational institutions and through open workshops; through our programs, we plant the seeds of being present, gratitude, acceptance, empathy and kindness to the other, hoping these will bloom to develop happy, healthy, compassionate individuals, families and communities.
WHY MINDFULNESS?
In 1979, Jon Kabat-Zinn recruited chronically ill patients not responding well to traditional treatments to participate in his newly formed eight-week stress-reduction program, now more familiarly recognized as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). Since then, substantial research has demonstrated how mindfulness-based interventions improve mental and physical health—comparably so to other psychological interventions.
This is Jon Kabat-Zinn’s definition of Mindfulness:
“Mindfulness is awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally,” says Kabat-Zinn. “And then I sometimes add, in the service of self-understanding and wisdom.”
The very practical purpose of mindfulness and mindfulness meditation is to help you focus your attention and be aware of the present moment, not just while you meditate but as you face challenges throughout the day. Mindfulness is at once pretty simple yet complex to explain.
PROGRAMS & INITIATIVES
MINDFULNESS IN EDUCATION
FriendlyCare aims to bring Mindfulness for Compassion and Wellbeing to colleges and universities to equip students with coping and resilience skills to enhance their personal well-being and relationships.
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MINDFULNESS IN THE WORKPLACE
FriendlyCare’s Mindfulness programs take into account workplaces’ limited time and is divided into 2-hour segments.
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PERSONAL MINDFULNESS
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy helps participants release old mental habits and build new ones that will manage mood.
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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
FriendlyCare offers professional development programs in conjunction with the Centre for Mindfulness Studies Toronto to multiply capabilities in the country. Training in various programs will expand access to MBCT, MCW, MWSR, all proven interventions that can improve well-being and human flourishing.
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PARTNERSHIPS & COLLABORATIONS
TEMPLETON WORLD CHARITY FOUNDATION:
FriendlyCare has been working with the Templeton World Charity Foundation to develop a program for Filipino college age students. This program was qualified via a randomized control trial in the University of the Philippines Diliman and the University of the Cordilleras.
Templeton World Charity Foundation supports a diverse group of researchers to discover new knowledge, develop new tools, and launch new innovations that make a lasting impact on human flourishing.
UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES, DILIMAN :
FriendlyCare has been giving the Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) program to UP Diliman students, faculty and staff since 2018. UP Diliman sent faculty to the 1st MBCT Facilitator Certification Training Program in 2018.
The University has once again played a key role in the Templeton-funded research with its Department of Psychology leading the research design, field implementation and analysis of results which were reported in a conference last July 13 - 14, 2022 by its principal investigator Dr. Gregorio Del Pilar III of the UP Department of Psychology. It has sent its College of Human Kinetics teachers to the Mindfulness For Compassion and Well-being Teacher Training Intensive to be able to offer the course to the university students.
UNIVERSITY OF THE CORDILLERAS:
The University of the Cordilleras is the 2nd university test site of the trial. To introduce mindfulness to the faculty, a group of its professors and staff went through the 6-week Mindful U program and given the successful trial has sent its teacher to the Mindfulness For Compassion and Well-being Teacher Training Intensive to be able to provide the course to its students.
CENTRE FOR MINDFULNESS STUDIES (CMS):
CMS is located at 180 Sudbury Road, Toronto, Canada.
The Center for Mindfulness Studies is a charitable social enterprise founded in 2011 in Downtown, Toronto. It is the leading professional development and service delivery organization for mindfulness-based interventions in Canada.
Its programs follow the Mindfulness-based Teacher Assessment criteria followed in Oxford, Bangor Exeter and University of California in San Diego.
Together with FriendlyCare, and UP Diliman, CS brought to the Philippines the 1st MBCT Facilitator Certification Training in 2018.
GUANG MING COLLEGE:
FriendlyCare together with CMS developed a special online program for asynchronous and synchronous modalities for Guang Ming College–practicing Mindfulness and Mindful U. Focused on life education, the college aims to provide learning that is humanistic and holistic to cultivate in its students’ critical faculties and creative sensibilities to form their character. It has also sent its teachers to the Mindfulness For Compassion and Well-being Teacher Training Intensive to be able to offer the course to its students.