Hi Dr. Greg,

My sister invited me to join her for your class. I hesitated because of the expense and time. Would I be able to be away from the needs of the family for eight weeks for two and half hours? Despite my concerns, my need to change is so great that I accept and haven’t regretted it for a moment. Over the course of the past eight years, I have been carrying so much guilt regarding my response to my son's behavior as well as guilt for how much his behavior has changed me as a parent for my other children. I understand now, that deep inside, I did not see myself as God sees me. I became so reactive instead of proactive and didn’t know how to change. I was trying to be the best multi-tasker I could be so that I could get it all done. In other words, I was Martha! I often felt guilty anytime I did something for myself because then I would be adding more of a burden on to my husband, mother, or sister to help me with the kids so I was inadvertently kept creating a depletion-rich environment. I never lost my love for God, but I certainly didn’t rely on him like I did on myself. I realize now that I lost my trust in Him. I lived in fear. Fear of today, fear of tomorrow, and fear that I messed up in the past. I was faithful in prayer, going to the sacraments, and surrounding myself with holy people. I guess you could say that I knew that God was calling me closer and to change my bad habits, but I didn’t know how to change it in a real and consistent way.

I decided that if I’m going to commit to this class, I’m going to be “all in.” Right before the class began, I chaperoned at my daughter’s confirmation retreat, John 6:35. That was a huge spiritual "shot in the arm.” Soon after beginning the CM classes, I began the Ninevah 90 spiritual retreat that involves fasting, prayer, and exercise for 90 days in reparation of the sins we have committed against our Lord in honor of the 100th anniversary of Our Lady of Fatima. In addition, I participated in the Ignited By Truth Conference that took place locally. Not to mention the extra spiritual and corporal works of mercy that are available during the season of Lent, I was putting my best foot forward for God. The Lord has truly blessed me with opportunities to experience his love and mercy. I am so grateful. In the midst of all of this, my husband was laid off from his job for the first time. He is still looking. Please pray! It has been such a blessing to have a more unobstructed view of how God sees me and to be able to respond to these daily difficulties in a much more positive way. I certainly don’t want to paint a picture of perfection, but I have experienced first hand how these exercises have changed me and fortified me in ways I’ve could never had imagined. I look forward to continuing you to grow in my trust in His Divine Providence and Mercy. Thank you so much for being his conduit and teaching me these strategies for seeing as God sees. ~TH
Dr. Bottaro,
I'm taking your Catholic Mindfulness course and I think it's just awesome. It's really been helping me so much to deal with chronic anxiety that i've been struggling with for years. Building a strong faith and prayer life was the first step in dealing with that anxiety but doing your course has made me realize that there is a whole psychological element to this that needed special attention. I believe it has been an answer to many years of prayer. Thank you for your work. This is something many more Catholics/christians need. It's kind of a hole in our spiritual development i think. Your work is a work of mercy. ~AO

Dr. Greg,First of all, your class has been ABSOLUTELY amazing and a total God send for me. I have struggled with anxiety and fear in ways that make everyday living very difficult and have been to counseling and still been struggling and really felt helpless, so your class has been fantastic for helping me learn to actually manage my thoughts. You have done a great job of teaching us about the brain and about thought patterns while also teaching us to be accountable to ourselves while still taking specific actions. I have already shared it with one individual, and I definitely plan to share it with more. This class has truly been phenomenal, so I'm very grateful for all the work you've put into making it such a great course. The way that being mindful integrates the spiritual life with all other aspects of life is really, really cool and exactly what I've been searching for for a while! I just wanted to encourage you to keep continuing to share Catholic Mindfulness with people - the course and the extra exercises changed and continue to change my life. It's absolutely amazing now that I can truly rest in God - I've spent my whole life running in one way or another so it's a gift to know that God's in charge even if it's only for a moment or two each day! So thank YOU for being open and saying yes to Him! ~SB

Dr. Bottaro,

Just finished the course materials for the first time ; ) The quality of my life has greatly improved as I have been listening to the Lord speak to me in the silence, trusting Him. I have made changes at work, home and addressed some long overdue health issues, truly the burden is light. I find myself just happy and humming, thinking I haven’t done that in a while. I wonder why, why did I wait so long?

I have PTSD and now being more aware of my thoughts has kept me from going down the path of what if I am in this scenario (insert any new horrible thing happening in the world) how best to save myself and others. I catch myself now, knowing God has it all under control infinitely better than I ever could. Before I just avoided the news, etc., but now when it enters my life I pray for all those involved and know that is what God wants and it is enough. Thank you. ~PB

Hi Dr. Bottaro, I wanted to sincerely thank you for the Catholic Mindfulness course. It is truly life changing. I know it has been and will continue to be a critical part of my journey. I am so grateful to you. My therapist said to me that mindfulness is a secular practice that can increase our capacity for God. I am seeing that every day. I had read about mindfulness and listened to some podcasts about it. It didn’t “Take” for me until going through your course. Your incorporation of our faith and spirituality with mindfulness made all the difference for me. God is good! May God bess you and keep you. ~LD

Dr. Bottaro,
I am a mom of four young children ages 3 - 9. For the most part I stay home but have the joy of also working one day a week as a therapist. I was so intrigued with the description of this course--the words "Find Peace" leaped off the screen and after reading the description I thought "I can use this to help my clients!" Dr. Greg's response to that, "this is for anyone" opened a door in my mind to the the possibility I too could benefit. I was convinced and signed up! Like most people, my mantra the first couple weeks was "I don't have time for this but I will do a little bit." I was only scratching the surface with the exercises. But even so I started seeing noticeable differences in my daily life. I went from scattered, frantic, feeling overwhelmed and too plugged into the outside world to...being present, anchored, with a renewed zest for the world around me and God's ever-presence with me. I truly feel like I awoke from a long slumber. In full disclosure, I would not have touched Mindfulness with a 50 foot pole had it not been for you, Dr. Greg. I have a strong prayer life and did not feel a need for it personally. Professionally, I kept it at a distance because I wanted to my work to be grounded in a Catholic understanding of the person and spirituality. What you have done with this integration is undoubtedly an answer to not only my prayers for many years, but I'm certain the prayers of countless others. Not only does this benefit every part of my life – – my prayer, marriage, kids, driving, cleaning, etc. but it has given me a trusted way to help my clients find the peace of mind, body, and spirit they too are searching for in this frantic world. I truly believe what you are doing in helping us understand our mind is similar to what JP II did in helping us understand our bodies. Every Catholic needs this. And it has the potential to draw many souls back to the Church. Thank you, thank you, thank you. May God give you His peace and abundantly bless you, your family and this great work. ~MO

P.s. 4 weeks ago I never would have thought I had time to write an email this long. That alone is proof this course changes lives.

This course is a God send and completely anointed. I feel God's peace reading and listening to the material and doing the exercises, more so than when I did a secular mindfulness course, like my body and my soul are discovering for the first time how they were meant to live. The fact that it's online is even more of a God send, thank you for expanding your reach to so many more people! The online format works really well. I honestly can't think of any way to improve, other than getting the word out there more that this program is available! ~EN