But thanks to mindful meditation, John’s life is no longer dominated by the noises in his ear. The therapy works by training the brain to come to terms with the tinnitus, unlike other techniques that teach it to avoid the problem. The more the brain tries to fight the problem, the more it tunes into it. The meditation technique teaches patients to regularly stop and confront their thoughts and worries about the noise—and this appears to have the opposite effect....
Why is that the case? It’s got to be more than the cold short days of winter. And in fact, it is. Our brains were set up to help us survive (not only the holidays, but the entire winter and beyond). We evolved to find food, and to remember where we found it. We evolved to notice danger and to avoid it in the future. We evolved to learn all sorts of behaviors that make us efficient at what we do, every day....
All too often the typical activities of a trip — especially an organized tour with its stops for photo and shopping opportunities — take us out of the present moment to the future, to the time when we are showing our pictures or looking at our souvenirs. But a vacation should about being present to a place in a deep way. The real journey is the one you take with the eyes of your heart....
Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D., author of Uncovering Happiness, is hosting an online Happiness Symposium this July. Over 20 speakers, including Sharon Salzberg, Dan Harris, and Tim Ryan, will be giving their unique insights into training your mind to change your life. The online symposium will be available anywhere that you have an internet connection and will span throughout all of July. Early bird registration is now available, which gives you access to the whole symposium, 50% off lifetime access, and free bonus preview talks before the symposium starts....
About this Sesame Street video, Scientific Mindfulness blogger Brian Thompson, PhD writes, “I discovered this Sesame Street clip after a therapist posted it on a professional listserv. As the poster noted, it’s a clever illustration of the ease that can come from accepting parts of us that we experience judgment towards.” Visit Scientific Mindfulness here. To read about Mindful parenting, visit our Parenting section.
To be truly generous requires us to step beyond the self-protected bubble we create for ourselves. Just think about it. So many decisions we make during the day—what to eat, what to wear, when to do this, that, and the other thing, with whom, for how long, etc., etc.—serve our own version of things and reinforce the notion that we are in charge. Going beyond that bubble takes us into a zone where others’ needs may supersede our own....
Naturally, transplant centers demand rigorous screening to be sure donors are healthy enough to undergo surgery, and that they’re not being paid to give up their organs (which is illegal in almost every country). But as the number of unrelated would-be living kidney donors rose from 6.5% of the total in 1996 to roughly 23% today, transplant centers got worried. Why were people with neither a biologic nor emotional relationship with a recipient stepping up like this?...
Science has considered all of these questions. It might be a relief to hear that researchers have not figured out the formula for what makes people kind—but with a very ambitious new study, a pioneering team from Germany might have brought us one step closer to some answers. Researchers Anne Böckler, Anita Tusche, and Tania Singer analyzed years of data about how contemplative practice—i.e., meditation—affects a slew of biological and behavioral measures (The ReSource Project)....
When psychologist Karina Schumann began studying apologies, she noticed something odd: Psychologists had barely investigated why they can be so hard to make. Studies have focused almost exclusively on the victim’s perspective, especially how apologies can trigger forgiveness and healing. “It’s been less about the transgressor,” said Schumann, an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh. “That hasn’t been completely ignored, but what causes someone to apologize or not has been a much more recent area of study....
3 Ways Your Emotions Can Support Your Heart Health With mindfulness, we can add to our toolbox for a strong and supported heart. Here are three mindful ways to support your heart heath: 1. Notice What’s Present We can commit to developing awareness of emotions in the body through the regular practice of mindfulness of emotions and body sensations. 2. Expand Emotional Intelligence We can work to improve our emotional literacy—our own vocabulary of feelings that can adequately describe our inner experience....
When Arianna collapsed from exhaustion, injuring her head, it was a rude awakening for her about how she was running her business and her life. She tells Barry: When I collapsed in April 2007, I was—by our society’s definition—very successful, but by any sane definition of success, I was not […] As long as our culture defines success as money and power, we’re stuck on a treadmill of stress, sleep deprivation, and burnout....
The good news it that we can train ourselves to slow down, to pause more, to give space for some ‘being’ instead of always ‘doing’. We can set aside a few minutes each day for mindfulness practice, taking time out to nourish ourselves by resting our attention on something very simple like the breath and the body. This begins to seep into the rest of our daily life, and we find we can approach daily experiences like walking, cooking, and playing with our children in a more mindful way....
That is, unless you really are that one person in a hundred these days who’s truly getting enough sleep. (Disclosure: that person is definitely not me.) Without enough sleep, risks go up for car accidents, diabetes and heart disease, depression, and unwanted weight. And performance goes down in paying attention, learning, and staying motivated. Plus, it just feels bad to be foggy, groggy, tired, and irritable. People don’t get enough sleep for a variety of reasons....
As with any part of our life, we can aim for awareness and clarity in choosing how to live with modern technology—in other words, we can be mindful. Mindfulness means aiming to live life more often in real time, as it is, with emotional openness, mental clarity, and resolve. Its practice reinforces traits that make managing life easier. In spite of how it often feels, at its best technology aims for a similar end....
Meditation, as the saying goes, is simple but not easy. Meditating with other people providesa powerful support network, both in terms of having a shared space and in being able to banter about questions and ideas. The camaraderie of being with others around a common interest cannot be overestimated. The good news is that you have options to practice with others no matter where you live. There are now numerous online options for group meditation and classes, which a simple search can show you....
Four keynote speakers will be present to discuss mindfulness as it applies to society and the individual, based on their specific areas of expertise. Speakers include Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction founder Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D. on “The Transformative Power of Mindfulness in America and the World”; neuroscientist Dr. Richard Davidson of the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds on how to “Change Your Brain by Transforming Your Mind”; Janice Marturano of the Institute for Mindful Leadership on “Finding the Space to Lead,” and Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan (D), on why the United States must investigate becoming “A Mindful Nation”—and how doing so could benefit our educational and health care systems, national defense, the environment, and the economy....
Sound familiar? Dan Pontefract, author and former chief executive at Telus, says being busy has become a habit many of us pride ourselves on—and that’s not a good thing. “We are ultimately working on the next thing while we’re doing the current thing at the same time,” he says. “We think that multitasking is a badge of honor.” In this video from BigThink, he explains how we can add some space to our fast-paced routines:...
The traditional paradigm just seems safer: be firm and a little distant from your employees. The people who work for you should respect you, but not feel so familiar with you that they might forget who’s in charge. A little dog-eat-dog, tough-it-out, sink-or-swim culture seems to yield time-tested results and keep people hungry and on their toes. After all, if you’re a leader who seems like you care a little too much about your employees, won’t that make you look “soft”?...
My question is at the heart of a new study by Carsten de Dreu and colleagues published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology. Their findings give us insight into the relationship between aggression, empathy, and decision making. The Relationship Between Empathy and Decision-Making In the study, participants played an investment game called “Predator-Prey Contest”—similar to the old board game Risk—which measures how much people will invest to win money off of others versus defending their own holdings....
Oops. For 50-plus agonizing seconds, Perry choked, unable to come up with the third sacrificial lamb. Seven autumns before, the New York Yankees led their archrival, the Boston Red Sox, three games to none in the American League championship series, and were ahead in the fourth game 4-3. After the Yankees’ ace reliever walked the leadoff batter, Boston’s pinch runner stole second and scored on a single. The Bronx Bombers lost that game and the next four—the first team to win three games and blow the next four to lose a series....
