Many in the mindfulness community express concern that the media has overstated the scientific evidence of the benefits of mindfulness—so much so that “misinformation and poor methodology associated with past studies of mindfulness may lead public consumers to be harmed, misled, and disappointed.” This raises serious questions about where and how mindfulness programs are offered, by whom, and in what context? When making claims about the effectiveness of any therapy or practice, it is important to make the distinction between anecdotal experience and scientific evidence....

What do you do? I’ve been moonlighting for the past four years as a doorman for the rooftop lounge at the James Hotel in Soho. I’m the guy who decides whether you get into the club or not. How does mindfulness help your work? When I’m working a door, I put on a mask. You don’t see my smile. If you do, you’ll know I’m a nice guy. Then, if I say “no” you won’t accept it....

This short animation from the London School of Life suggests another way to approach those negative storylines we jog through our minds, as well as the real setbacks we face—like adopting a kinder mindset toward ourselves when we fail, accepting our personal histories that we cannot change, and understanding that our worth is not only contingent on our achievements. An Easy Self-Compassion Practice Step 1: When you find yourself in a cycle of negative self-talk because you have failed at something or are disappointed with an outcome, remind yourself that the task was difficult and that you did your best....

Rising Awareness Challenge Rules We’re looking for the greatest mindful interrupters you can craft. Mindful interrupters are short mindfulness practices and reminders that allow us to pause, hit the reset button, and can briefly refresh you (instructions on how to create one below). Over the next month, we’ll keep our eyes peeled for the best interrupters. We’ll announce the four winners in the New Year. Want to participate? Here’s how: • Craft a mindful interrupter, around 119 characters....

The press release refers to “Mindful Works” as a collaboration between Atena and the Goldie Hawn Foundation to “scale up” the foundation’s MindUP program. “Mindful Works” collaboration will include “a research component to the program designed to show the results and outcomes for improvements to workforce productivity, engagement and satisfaction.” Last year, Janice Marturano of the Institute for Mindful Leadership, and author of Finding a Space to Lead lead a workshop with Mark Williams of the Mindfulness Center at Oxford University....

Julianne Moore—who deservedly won the best actress award for Still Alice—offered a look into the mind of a woman in her fifties losing hold of every single reference point as she recedes into the dark unknown of dementia. It breaks your heart into a million pieces, and it also makes you consider how your mind is continually constructing one version after another of a self from the bits and pieces of life around you....

Mindfulness is, above all, about being aware and awake rather than operating unconsciously. When you’re consciously present at work, you’re aware of two aspects of your moment-to-moment experience—what’s going on around you and what’s going on within you. Mindful work means to be consciously present in what you’re doing, while you’re doing it, as well as managing your mental and emotional state. If you’re writing a report, mindfulness requires you to give that your full attention....

When it comes to overcoming longstanding emotional struggles, we have to not only get space from the self-critical mind, but also encourage the positive beliefs about ourselves that the critical mind has buried. In one part of Uncovering Happiness: Overcoming Depression with Mindfulness and Self-Compassion, I share the following four questions in order to open us up to possibility, install these positive beliefs a bit more, and even encourage positive neuroplasticity....

No movement. Because movement is, he says, traditionally “viewed as outside the realm of ‘talk therapy.’” Salmon—who is also a certified exercise physiologist, registered yoga teacher, personal trainer, and mindfulness teacher—encourages clinicians to consider incorporating “purposeful, mindful movement” in their interventions. He is not talking simply about exercise but about movement infused with awareness of what’s going on in body and mind, which can “provide a way to rekindle appreciation for our ability to move and be physically active....

There is no better moment than now while reading these words to consider what you are thankful for. In fact, there is actually no other moment than now. The poet Hafiz writes in his poem “It Felt Love”: How did the rose Ever open its heart And give to this world All its beauty? It felt the encouragement of light Against its being, Otherwise, We all remain Too frightened This is so true....

In recent decades, researchers have been gaining insight into the benefits of practicing this ancient tradition. By studying more secular versions of mindfulness meditation, they’ve found that learning to pay attention to our current experiences and accept them without judgment might indeed help us to be happier. Studies to date suggest that mindfulness affects many aspects of our psychological well-being—improving our mood, increasing positive emotions, and decreasing our anxiety, emotional reactivity, and job burnout....

While many people equate attaining a certain size with health (and happiness), that is an inaccurate evaluation. Despite persistent bias against higher weight within research and medicine, current studies show that weight shaming and yo-yo dieting are more damaging to a person’s health than their body weight. What if your problem was not your weight, but your relationship to your weight and your body? Attitudes to Shift for a Healthy Relationship with Your Body When we have been taught to distrust and dislike our bodies, we can become susceptible to other harmful patterns of attitude and behavior....

Proselytizing would be mistake number one. When you get into something like mindfulness, you may suddenly feel that those closest to you should also practice, but this is very delicate and dangerous territory. It’s always better to practice yourself and embody mindfulness in your life, and let that speak to those around you. In this case, his “annoying habits” may be much more than that. They may in fact signal serious addictions, in which case, sooner or later they inevitably lead to habitual patterns of behavior that are not healthy for anybody involved....

A family physician and a professor at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, Ron Epstein has been working to improve how doctors treat others for decades. Together with colleague Mick Krasner, he has encouraged caregivers to pay attention to what’s happening in their own minds and bodies as they interact with patients—with particular attention to how they communicate and the quality of the time: Are they really “attending” or are they not quite all there?...

But the University of Washington researcher adds that we’re often unaware of this tendency. We might reach for our cell phone to escape boredom or for food to escape stress, without knowing that these are coping strategies. According to Bowen, substance abuse is another example of that too-human automatic drive to move toward pleasure and away from pain—one that affects an estimated 24 million Americans, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health....

That truth-seeking is similar to what happens in science. We pursue objectivity and learn. Flip a light switch, energy flows for a reason. It’s not mysterious. We can determine under what conditions that will occur or not. Doctors wash their hands now because evidence showed it to decrease the spread of germs. There are, as a matter of fact, facts to discover about ourselves and the world. More than ever, skillful living requires an examination of what we accept as true....

Faculty instructors for the program will include Diana Winston, Marv Belzer, PhD, Susan Smalley, Ph.D., Daniel Siegel, MD, Susan Kaiser Greenland, JD, and others. For more information or to register, click here. 09/15/11