Perhaps. But something else may be happening too. If you’ve discovered that you’re not fully in charge of your mind, you might like to ask yourself: How do I know this? How have I realized that the mind is distracted? And how am I able to bring it back? In order to notice that the mind has wandered, and be able to return it to attention, there must be something bigger than that mind, a wider perspective that can observe the distraction....
It’s a museum exhibit, a movie, a podcast, and a book—all in service of a bold notion that shakes you into an appreciation for just what human life on this planet means. The Anthropocene, so the hypothesis goes, is our current geologic age, wherein the largest effects are not a result of natural events (such as volcanism or glaciation) but rather the outgrowth of human habitation, and it is the current passion of master photographer Edward Burtynsky and his colleagues....
This downloadable .pdf collection of articles from Mindful magazine will take you deeper into the mindful revolution—to meet the people and try the techniques—from feature stories on Congressman Tim Ryan and mindfulness pioneer Jon Kabat-Zinn to guided mindfulness practices for the workplace and every day.
On September 29, 2014, Johns Hopkins University Schools of Education, Medicine, and Public Health will host an interdisciplinary research symposium on Mindfulness and Learning to showcase and synthesize cutting-edge scientific research and practice. Register for the symposium. Featured speakers Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D. Kabat-Zinn is a scientist, writer, and meditation teacher. In 1979, Jon Kabat-Zinn recruited chronically ill patients not responding well to traditional treatments to participate in his newly formed eight-week stress-reduction program, which we now call MBSR....
People often discover this on a mindfulness course when they realize that “thoughts aren’t facts.” Seeing that automatic (often negatively biased) thoughts arise in our minds all the time, without our conscious say-so, we start to see how what we call “me”/”I” is more a bundle of tendencies, some more and some less under our direction. All these tendencies are continually in process, subtly shifting form all the time. If we can accept that we’re not single, independent, fixed selves, what are the implications?...
The Art of Stillness: Adventures in Going Nowhere considers how we need to step away from the speed and the busy-ness to see what’s truly important to life. It’s a topic Iyer has discussed in the October 2014 issue of Mindful magazine. Iyer writes about how it’s the open spaces—the moments where you lose yourself, and aren’t latched to your gadgets and your deadlines—that help you to find contentment, joy, and peace of mind....
But we each have our own rhythm and routine. I would encourage you (if you are inclined) to go ahead and try 5:00 a.m. for a week or so. See what happens. Perhaps you’ll fall asleep, or perhaps, wonder of wonders, you may fall awake instead! There is a kind of early-morning alertness that some of us possess and others only despise about us. There are morning people, and there are night people, but in fact these are just stories we tell about ourselves....
Is it more embarrassing to show up too early or too late? Who in your life has the greatest power to embarrass you? 27% are most easily embarrassed by complete strangers, followed by coworkers at 24%, romantic partners at 22%, and siblings at 11%. Parents have the greatest power to embarrass 9% of respondents, while 4% report their best friends, and 3% say their drunk uncles have the most power to trigger embarrassment....
Where do you go when you eat out on vacation? 84% Eat at where the locals eat, while 9% seek out fine dining whenever possible. 3% opt for an all-inclusive resort so they don’t have to think about it, 2% look for a recognizable chain restaurant, and 2% go the adventurous route, grabbing something from a street cart. What continent do you spend most vacations on? What’s one lesson you’ve learned about vacations from your personal experience?...
Every era has its brand of conformity. In the Information Age, where measurement is rampant and media are omnipresent, a prescriptive society has grown up that offers—through every conceivable channel, expert, pseudo-expert, and convert—a barrage of instructions for how to live each day like Steve Austin, the Bionic Man: “better, stronger, faster.” We’re told the number of steps to take each day, the number of glasses of water, vitamins, and supplements to take, glasses of wine and cups of coffee to drink or not drink, what exercises to do, what to eat and not eat for what results, the desired size and shape of feces, and yes, how often and how long to meditate....
If you live or work with kids, you’re aware that fidget spinners occupy a fleeting moment in a decade-long trend of toys geared toward burning off distraction—for kids and adults alike. These toys make claims about soothing anxiety, restoring focus, etc. With controversy mounting about the benefit of fidget toys, we took a look into the research. Our brains are all wired to work differently. Some of us need the stony silence of a library to get our work done, others need the hum of a coffee shop to stay productive....
However, the belief that waiting has no value is mistaken. In fact, the secret to a sense of personal control, general satisfaction with life, and even success lies in learning how to make peace with waiting. We’ve all heard the famous adage, “Patience is a virtue” or “Good things come to those who wait.” Easier said than done. Why? Underneath the subtle yet intolerable experience of waiting is a little anxious gremlin that fears being alone....
1. Create mindfulness reminders I have seen kids tie a string around one finger, make mindfulness bracelets of ribbons or beads, or tape a colorful sticker to their cell phones. Whenever you see them, just pause to take in what’s happening in your mind and body. 2. Implement breathing prompts Suggest to your children to practice breath awareness whenever they brush their teeth or put their socks on. Breathing prompts help kids recognise just how many things they do are on automatic pilot....
To view other Puddicombe videos about meditation, click here. 08/16/11
Overt evidence of a biological basis for doubt comes from neuroscientific findings by researchers at the University of Iowa College of Medicine. Erik Asp and colleagues presented eight different consumer advertisements to 18 patients who had suffered localized damage to an area of the brain called the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), as well as to two other group of patients (some with damage in the brain but outside this specific area) and the other group a set of healthy control patients....
The Science Behind Awe What makes awe so transporting, overwhelming, even mystical at times? Researchers explored this question in a recent study published in the journal Human Brain Mapping by examining what the brain is doing when people have an awe experience. The University of Amsterdam’s Michiel van Elk and his colleagues used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to scan the brains of 32 participants ages 18 to 41 while they watched three different types of 30-second videos....
Sometimes a whole ‘way of being’ passes you by, because you are simply not aware that such an experiential state is possible. The classic illustration is HG Wells’s short story, “The Country of the Blind,” in which a man with vision fails to convey to the blind that there is a fifth sense, and that he can see. Instead, he is thought to be ‘unstable’ because of his ‘obsession’ with sight....
He enjoys the sessions, so I’ve felt comfortable that I’m not just forcing him to follow in my footsteps, recognizing the possibility that he may decide in time that it’s not something he wants to continue. But I hadn’t expected what happened three month ago: just when the weekly lesson began, he suddenly stopped and said: “I’m not very good at soccer, Daddy.” Where had that come from? I’ve always given him positive feedback as he played, so this sudden self-criticism, accompanied by an unwillingness to put the ball at his feet, left me stumped....
This advice irks me, and the word “control” rubs me the wrong way. Has anyone ever controlled a virus? No. While we do our best to prevent infection, illness and death, to treat infection, and to prevent spread of the virus, we cannot control it, any more than we can control birth or death or falling in love. It’s not about control. Life is better without it, on the individual and collective levels....
