An informative article from the Harvard Business Review about the latest devlopments and research into the associative link between meditation and changes in brain structure (neuroplasticity). Mindfulness can Literally Change Your Brain is co-authored by Britta K. Hölzel & Sara W. Lazar, who are well known for their own work in this field from 2011.‘This …
A thought provoking piece from Radio 4 on the relentless march of the ‘ Mindfulness Industry’; from its Buddhist origins, via the secular therapeutic interventions of MBSR & MBCT as a way of reducing stress and depression, to its increasing popularity within corporations and the military as a means of improving employee resilience. The programme …
Lovely article on resistance by Peter Russell that appeared in my inbox courtesy of the team at Awakin.org. So good and clear in fact, that I thought I’d repost it here. The building where I used to run a meditation group was on the same street as a fire station; one could almost guarantee that …
There has been alot of comment on the Mindfulness segment aired on 60 minutes this last week. Some of it positive 60 Minutes’ Anderson Cooper Tries Mindfulness and some of it less so 60 Minutes Does Mindfulness You can make your own mind up by watching the film which I’ve posted below. Even more interesting …
This post brings you up-to-date with the latest courses and events at Embrace Mindfulness. 8 week MBSR programmes This is the core teaching programme of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). In the course you will become more aware of the unhelpful thought patterns that can trigger and perpetuate stress, anxiety and depression. With that awareness comes …
Everyday millions of people leave their doctor’s surgeries with a diagnosis of a chronic illness. Tests are ordered, drugs or surgeries are prescribed; but often little is offered by way of explanation or cure. The Connection is a film about how frontier research is proving that there is a direct connection between our mind and …
With the shocking events being reported at stores across the country today, Tesco’s ‘Black Friday’ TV campaign is a seriously irresponsible piece of ‘advertising’ and the company should be penalised accordingly. Particularly in the light of the fact that exactly the same thing happened at the same time last year: 2013 Black Friday bargain hunting …
This documentary from Jon Kabat- Zinn, the creator of the 8 week Mindfulness Based Stress reduction (MBSR) programme, was made in 1999 to commemorate 20 years of work done at the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Centre. Some 15 years later, the Stress Reduction Clinic has grown and expanded into the …
As Hafiz says, “First, The fish needs to say, “Something ain’t right about this Camel ride – And I’m Feeling so damn Thirsty.” Most of us come to practice meditation for exactly what Hafiz points to in this poem. We get an inkling that something just isn’t right about our lives. We cannot exactly say …
“I’m bored.” Schoolchildren can be afflicted with it by the second day of summer; workers by the sixth month on the job; spouses by the seventh year of marriage; and readers by the tenth paragraph. Or before. Are you bored yet? Nowadays, boredom is considered a scourge. We blame boredom for the death of curiosity, …
I once met Roshi Philip Kapleau, the author of The Three Pillars of Zen. He was one of the first Westerners to go to Japan and do intense practice there. He was suffering from very advanced Parkinson’s disease and had terrible physical discomfort, along with the involuntary spasms that come from the disease. One thing …
Here’s something for your Friday afternoon to take you into your weekend with a gentle smile. It’s a charming unbridled tale about a ‘typical, institutionalized educated Western man’ that touches something quite deep within all of us. Well worth a look, enjoy. A film by Josh Izenberg. Video from KarmaTube This film was first shown …
Mindfulness is in the news. Ruby Wax and Julie Myerson have sworn to its efficacy in helping them with depression and anxiety. But mindfulness programmes aren’t just being used within mental health. Similar interventions are taking place in education, criminal justice and the workplace. This year over 70 MPs and Peers attended mindfulness classes and …
Sharon Salzberg (born 1952) is a New York Times Best selling author and influential teacher of Buddhist meditation practices in the West.In 1974, she co-founded the Insight Meditation Society at Barre, Massachusetts with Jack Kornfield and Joseph Goldstein. Her emphasis is on vipassanā (insight) and mettā (loving-kindness) methods, and has been leading meditation retreats around …
Ajahn Chah (1919–1992) was admired for the way he demystified the Buddhist teachings, presenting them in a remarkably simple and down-to-earth style for people of any background. He was a major influence and spiritual mentor for a generation of American Buddhist teachers, including Jon Kabat-Zinn, Sharon Salzberg, and Jack Kornfield. Moreover, he was a master …
This post brings you up-to-date with the latest developments at Embrace Mindfulness. 8 week MBSR programmes This is the core teaching programme of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). In the course you will become more aware of the unhelpful thought patterns that can trigger and perpetuate stress, anxiety and low moods. With that awareness comes choice …
Success and sex can sell most things and the disciplines of meditation and mindfulness based practices are no exception. There is a lot of press concerning mindfulness nowadays, ostensibly concerned with the task of raising awareness, selling its therapeutic benefits and establishing its efficacy through scientific research. For any mindfulness or meditation teacher, myself included, …
A vital, but often understated part of mindfulness practice is to slow down long enough to actually notice and appreciate the richness and meaning of what is before us in the present moment. If we pay attention with enough allowing in our heart, there is beauty, pathos and grace to be found in the mundane, …
On newstands this week, the cover story of the February issue of Time Magazine investigates the Mindful Revolution, a detailed look at the exponential growth of Mindfulness Based Approaches in the United States. The article, written by journalist Kate Pickert, is top and tailed by her own personal experiences of the MBSR programme and pays …
This is the tenth and last video segment of the ‘Mindfulness for Life’ interviews by Jon Kabat-Zinn. The quote is also by JKZ, excerpted from a longer article that used to be on his Mindfulness CD website but is no longer there. Fortunately I reposted it back in September and you can read it in …