MB Mindfulness

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, News Bureau CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Mindfulness therapy may be an effective way of mitigating the stress experienced by spouses and other informal caregivers for military veterans, a new study by researchers at the University of Illinois suggests. Kinesiology and community health professor Sandraluz Lara-Cinisomo led a pilot study that taught caregivers of veterans in central Illinois mindfulness-based cognitive therapy skills. The caregivers in the treatment group - mostly women caring for their spouses - reported significant decreases in their perceived levels of stress, anxiety and worry. By contrast, the researchers found no significant changes in any of these symptoms among the participants assigned to the waitlist control group. "This not only shows the feasibility but also the promise that mindfulness has for improving mental health outcomes in this vulnerable, hard-to-reach population," Lara-Cinisom...

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...

The panel event explored the role of mindfulness in situations where stakes are high and where conventional ways of managing personal and organisational well-being and performance are stretched to the limit. By Shamim Quadir What can individuals and teams do when they find themselves in extreme situations, where information can quickly become outdated and irrelevant, when there is no time to relax and regroup, and where the risks are high and the consequences incalculable? This could be in the context of a military operation, whilst delivering healthcare, or in many high-pressure business environments today. Questions about these complex issues were posed to a panel of experts from industry and academia at the panel event on ‘Mindfulness, Wellbeing and Performance in High-Stakes Contexts: The New Frontier’, recently hosted at City, University of London. Excellence in mindfulness research The event was organised by the University's new Centre of E...

By  Moris Beracha .- Currently, there is evidence that the immune system can be improved through stress reduction, or the so-called mind-body medicine. You can use techniques that, after a long-period practice, produce soothing and anti-inflammatory effects for mind and spirit. The brain under polar circumstances (i.e., calm and happiness versus stress and depression) produces a dramatically different set of chemical mediators, including cortisol, one of the master switches of inflammatory responses. In addition, the brain transmits nerve signals consisting of two alternative parts: the sympathetic system, designed to accelerate acutely, but at a chronic cost; and the parasympathetic system, designed to calm. Experiments have shown that it is associated with anti-inflammatory properties. The hint is to learn how to control them to achieve optimal immune health. However, although these exercises are available to everyone, they require diligence and hard work to achieve la...

By Margarita Tartakovsky, M.S. You’re all-too familiar with the cracks and indentations of your bedroom ceiling. Because you’ve spent one-too-many sleepless nights staring at it. And staring. And staring. And staring some more. You likely don’t struggle with insomnia or another sleep disorder, but on some nights, it’s simply tough to fall asleep–and stay that way.  Psychotherapist Melissa Divaris Thompson, LMFT, noted that it’s tough to slow ourselves down when our minds and nervous systems have been going, going, going all day long.  “Our brains, which have been computing and having input all day, may be overloaded. We may feel overwhelmed,” she said. “Our nervous systems can also get revved up during the day with so many things to do or managing pieces of our lives we find stressful.” So when it’s time for our heads to hit the pillow, we feel anything but relaxed or ready for sleep. What can help in lulling us into slumber is...

Andy Puddicombe, co-founder of meditation app Headspace, explains how practising mindfulness might help you better cope with stress, handle daunting projects, and get a better workout By Clay Skipper Originally published by GQ US   We know what you’re probably thinking: if one more person tells you to be “mindful,” you’re going to lose your goddamn mind. How is being mindful of the fact that you’re stressed (or angry, or want to burn down your boss’s house) going to help you actually be less stressed (or angry, or pyromaniacal)? Here’s the secret: it’s probably not. And according to Andy Puddicombe, co-founder of Headspace, the hyper-popular meditation app with a $320 million valuation, you shouldn’t expect it to. “That itself is an interesting thing: the assumption that meditation is designed to eliminate stress or any unpleasant feelings or thoughts from our lives,” says Pud...

By Claudia Lopez In today’s society, we are so busy. There are so many things that we need to do and many things that we worry about. Many days we find ourselves either living in the future or the past. We think about the vacation that is coming next month or whether or not we handled a situation correctly yesterday. By doing this, we are not living in the now. We may be missing out on important things occurring daily, or we may be too preoccupied to appropriately handle a situation. We have all been there. It can cause additional stressors in our life, and it can lead to unhappiness. Mindfulness is a tool, that if practiced frequently, can help reduce symptoms of anxiety, lead to greater satisfaction in relationships, improve memory, reduce rumination, improve ability to adapt to stressful situations and help manage our emotions. Therapistaid.com defines mindfulness as a state of non-judgmental awareness of what’s happening in the present moment, including awareness of one’s owns t...

By Adrianna Mendrek  “I felt a sense of dissolving, disappearing completely.” “My body and mind melted and merged with the universe.” “I ceased to exist.” These are excerpts of what I occasionally hear from the students who come to my yoga and meditation classes. For most, these “mind-expanding” experiences are very positive and this is precisely what my students are seeking. However, there are always a few who have a difficult time with “ceasing to exist.” Most traditional contemplative practices encourage careful examination of our concept of self and reality. This can induce feelings of boundlessness, non-separation, fusing with the universe, a deconstructed self, timelessness, emptiness or the void. This can be an insightful and blissful experience, but it can also be frightening if we are not prepared. Given that meditation can sometimes produce such profound effects, is it a good idea to promote it in people with an already fragmented perception of s...

By Jonathan Kaupanger   Chronic pain is a really, really complicated thing to manage.   Current treatment for chronic pain is very limited, so a researcher at Veterans Affairs is doing something to change this but she wants your help. Mindfulness Approaches to Reduce Veterans Pain and Enhance Life or MARVEL is a six-year study that’s starting next year at the VA medical clinic in Minneapolis, MN.   The end result will be a new way to deliver a non-pharmacological, pain reducing treatment for veterans. Mindfulness is the psychological process of bringing one's attention to experiences occurring in the present moment.   Typically it's developed through the practice of meditation and other training.   Mindfulness meditation is one form of non-drug approaches to pain that has been shown to be effective, but there’s just not an easy way to get this to everyone who needs it. “Right now some veterans use something called mindfulness based stre...