There’s nothing really to be said about grieving that doesn’t sound trite. There’s no simple way through it. It is extremely difficult to put the gravity or the force of grief into words. And there’s no one way to grieve. Neither is there a cure for our fragility and vulnerability. We have only one option, which is somehow to figure out a way to love and embrace it. Every goodbye is a moment of connection....

Mindfulness practice encourages nonjudgmental awareness—seeing things exactly as they are, with openness and curiosity. With sleep, as with meditation practice, intentions are easier said than done. Neither sleep routines nor mindfulness practice responds well to a heavy hand. If you set out to force yourself into sleep, you’re less likely to sleep. If you strain for some picture-perfect mindset when meditating, you’ll create more stress and uncertainty. If you set yourself up with clear-sighted planning and patient resolve—intentionally but unforced—sleep and mindfulness are both more likely to follow....

We can train our brain to notice our mental habits—some good, some bad—and in noticing these habits, we have more freedom to choose how we act. A Basic Meditation to Train Awareness Begin by getting comfortable in a seated position, one where you’re sitting up straight but you’re not sitting up rigidly straight. It’s a position of ease. You can close your eyes or lower your gaze toward the floor....

A Mindfulness Practice to Investigate Tough Emotions As we finish up, I hope this short exercise has helped you get a taste of curiosity as a way to support your natural capacity to be aware of what’s happening in your body right now. Even with challenging emotions, we can bring this attitude of kindness and curiosity to our experience, moment to moment. What do I feel? Where do I feel it?...

Long-time friends of Mindful magazine, Ali and Atman Smith and Andy Gonzalez of the Holistic Life Foundation (HLF), are doing great work with at-risk youth in Baltimore—as highlighted in our magazine. They took a break from a retreat happening just outside of the city to speak with us on Wednesday about what they’re hearing from their community. HLF has planned an event for Saturday that will include talks and meditation....

“Yes, there is,” I say. Their eyes get a little wider, their hearts jump a bit. They’re not always thrilled when I tell them they need to change their brain structure. And sometimes even less thrilled when I tell them one of the best ways to change their brain for better sex, is mindfulness meditation. A key factor in having better sex is actually being there when you’re having it....

Again and again, Mark finds himself in relationships not just with girlfriends, but also co-workers, friends and family members who are comfortable relying on him for help, but who don’t give him support and help. On his side, he gets to see himself as a useful, good person without having to feel the awkwardness and scariness of revealing his vulnerable underbelly. I recently asked students in a class of mine how they feel when they catch themselves running habitual patterns like these....

Keynote speakers include : Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., University of Massachusetts Medical School, USA J. Mark G. Williams. Ph.D., University of Oxford, United Kingdom Susan Bögels, Ph.D., University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands Paul Grossman, Ph.D., University of Basel Hospital, Switzerland Henk Barendregt, Ph.D., Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands Giuseppe Pagnoni, Ph.D., University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy Submission deadlines are approaching: For more information, visit the American Health and Wellness Institute....

The web app falls short of a full-blown meditation practice, but it does serve as a gulp of fresh air between the sedentary-ness of office life. And it feels good to be floating away, forgetting the desk for a few minutes. MORE RELATED STORIES Relax with the body scan practice Calming Your Anxious Mind: An Interview with Jeff Brantley, M.D. Make Friends with Your Body

But there might be a secret weapon in the fight against addiction: helping people. While other researchers look for ways to improve prescription drug regimens or talk therapies, Maria Pagano of Case Western University has focused her attention on the addict’s social connections. In studies spanning over a decade, she and her colleagues have shown that having a supportive network, reducing isolation, decreasing social anxiety, and—especially—helping others can increase the chances of staying sober by up to 50 percent....

When it comes to day-to-day activities, a partner often takes over the previously shared responsibilities, like household chores and childcare. It may be that the sick partner can no longer contribute financially. This leads to a higher workload and less leisure time for the healthy partner and maybe causes them to give up on hobbies. The couple might not be able to travel as much or share other activities they previously enjoyed together....

Our fast-paced lives make it easier to become entrenched in particular positions—we don’t have time to be uncertain. Most of us weren’t trained to like confusion or to admit when we feel hesitant and uncertain. In our schools and organizations, we place value on sounding assured and confident. People are rewarded for stating opinions as if they’re facts. Quick answers abound; pensive questions have disappeared. Confusion has yet to emerge as a higher order value or behavior that organizations eagerly reward....

Mushrooms are delicate yet hearty, exotic yet earthy, and have a texture all their own. They’re often treated and thought of as a vegetable, or used to substitute meat, yet they belong to another biological kingdom altogether (the fungus kingdom). From their flavor to their texture, aroma, and appearance, mushrooms are truly distinct. I love them on their own, sautéd with a little garlic, some parsley, and a splash of wine, then cooked in cream....

From Scientific American: The research shows that the recent climate-protecting gains in forests are being nearly canceled out by efforts to satisfy the world’s growing appetite—particularly its appetite for meat. Greenhouse gases released by farming, such as methane from livestock and rice paddies, and nitrous oxides from fertilizers and other soil treatments rose 13 percent after 1990, the study concluded. Agricultural climate pollution is mostly caused by livestock. Cows and buffalo are the worst offenders—their ruminating guts and decomposing waste produce a lot of methane....

Thirty-nine participants were recruited for the experiment. Twenty participants took part in an eight-week meditation course, and the other 19 told they had been placed on a waiting list for a future course. Desteno describes the scenario both groups were put through, to test their response to suffering: When a participant entered the waiting area for our lab, he (or she) found three chairs, two of which were already occupied....

Fresh Air’s Terry Gross was interviewing Duhigg about his new book, The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business. The book explores the science behind why habits exist and how they can be changed. (For more about the book, click here.) But what caught our attention was that, in the last four minutes of the interview, Gross asked Duhigg, “What habits are on your list to be broken?...

To read the seven reasons why mindfulness made noise in 2013, click here.

This will be the subject of a free teleconference on Wednesday, November 13, with award-winning science writer and meditation practitioner Katy Butler. Sponsored by the Metta Institute, the teleconference promises “an honest examination of the medical profession’s handling of end-of-life care,” inspired by Butler’s deeply personal new memoir about her own parents’ passage, Knocking on Heaven’s Door: The Path to a Better Way of Death. While the teleconference with Katy Butler is free, participants must register ahead of time and may do so here....