MB Mindfulness

Begining a mindfulness practice is akin to learning a new language or instrument..what you put into practice is what you get out of it. Thats a tough truth to swallow in this “I want it now” culture of immediate on demmand results. On top of that, learning mindfulness is a direct challenge to how our […] By  Tania Guidolin , Begining a mindfulness practice is akin to learning a new language or instrument..what you put into practice is what you get out of it. Thats a tough truth to swallow in this “I want it now” culture of immediate on demmand results. On top of that, learning mindfulness is a direct challenge to how our mind has been wired to behave …out of habit. Not to worry as we can rewire our neurocircuitry…I rewrote a pathway of panic disorder into peace so you can definetly wire up some mindfulness neural pathways.  The biggest obstacle is the negative bias we all have (yes all huamans!) which causes us to focus and recall the negative over positiv...

By Katie Langin Karen Barry knew that mental health was a problem for Ph.D. students at her institution. In her role as graduate research coordinator at the University of Tasmania in Hobart, Australia, she had spoken with many students over the years who had confided in her, sharing personal stories about their struggles with stress, depression, and anxiety. But for Barry—who is also a senior lecturer in plant biology—the problem came into full focus a few years ago when a student who was a leader of the graduate student body visited her office feeling stressed and overwhelmed. “Everyone else is coming to me and telling me they’re stressed,” the Ph.D. student—a scientist—told Barry. “What can I do to help the students around me?” Barry told the student about counseling services and other resources on campus. But the interaction also made Barry ponder what else could be done to support the mental health of Ph.D. students—a group that suffers from anxiety and de...

Post written by Kristopher Jones Meditation is much more than a buzzword in alternative lifestyle circles.  The benefits of meditation are real and documented.    I’ve personally been practicing Transcendental Meditation since last April and have reaped the benefits in my personal and professional life. Don’t believe me? Consider the success of people like Oprah Winfrey , Jerry Seinfeld  and  David Lynch who practice it.  Transcendental Meditation is a silent form of meditation that's practiced with your eyes closed for 15 to 20 minutes twice per day. But Transcendental Meditation is a bit different from other types of meditation. As opposed to clearing your thoughts, Transcendental Meditation focuses on channeling your mind on a single mantra that is repeated over and over. For me, this has the effect of encouraging relaxation while sharpening my focus.  Transcendental Meditation is so popular that it's even ...

It turns out that knitting and crochet really do make you happier   by Lets Get Crafting magazine Living in a fast-paced environment can quickly become overwhelming and many of us seek out ways to step back from it all and de-stress. There’s a plethora of physical benefits that come from crafting, but the positive effect it has on your mind might be even bigger. You will have heard the term ‘mindfulness’ everywhere, but how can you get involved in the practice? It seems crafting could be the answer. With fast-paced jobs and busy schedules, it’s always been important that we take time for ourselves. Some sit down in front of the television, others dive into a book, but with crafting you have to be completely invested in what you’re making which can really help you to focus on the here and now. The act of crafting increases the release of dopamine which is a natural antidepressant, and it also heightens happiness and protects the brain from the damage th...

Mindful people keep their foot off the brain’s emotional brake. By David S. Chester PH.D. Being human means being rejected. Our friends don’t return our texts, our dates ghost us, and our job applications are returned with “sadly, we are unable to offer you this position.” Such rejections are so damaging that, if they occur chronically, are linked to worse health outcomes than cigarette smoking or obesity . Rejection’s association with poor health is likely due to the fact that rejection, a social injury, activates the same pain pathways in the brain as physical injuries . Because of these profound costs of rejection, interventions that help people better manage their social pain are needed. Fortuitously, there is promise on the horizon, in the form of mindfulness. Mindfulness refers to a psychological process characterized by attention to and awareness of one’s current experience and also entails a non-judgmental approach towards these feelings. People who ...

By Peter Malinowski Practising mindfulness meditation for 10 minutes a day improves concentration and the ability to keep information active in one's mind, a function known as "working memory". The brain achieves this by becoming more efficient, literally requiring fewer brain resources to do these tasks. Many big claims have been made about the effects of meditation, but too often the scientific evidence behind these claims is weak or even lacking altogether. In our latest study, published in Scientific Reports , we addressed several shortcomings of earlier research to gain more certainty about what changes when people meditate. Collaborating with colleagues from Osnabrück University in Germany, we carried out a randomised controlled study to investigate the effects of mindfulness meditation on cognitive functions that are important in daily life. For our study, we randomly allocated 34 participants to one of two groups. For eight weeks, one gro...