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Dr. Oz cited a study published in the Journal of Human Stress, which found that transcendental meditation can lower one’s cholesterol level. According to Dr. Oz, other risk factors such as insulin levels and hypertension can also be reduced through this form of meditation. The David Lynch Foundation was established in 2005 by its namesake, David Lynch, the popular surrealist filmmaker of cult classics such as Mulholland Drive, The Elephant Man, Eraserhead, and Blue Velvet....

Although more research is needed to illuminate the mechanisms at work, it’s clear that mindfulness allows us to interrupt automatic, reflexive fight, flight, or freeze reactions—reactions that can lead to anxiety, fear, foreboding, and worry. By bringing mindfulness to our actual experience in the moment, we can increase the likelihood of exerting more conscious control over our behaviors and attitudes. In so doing we learn to work with our intention, wise effort, will, discipline, and capacity to be kind to ourselves....

Economists with the World Economic Forum warned about this trend in their 2013 report on risks to the global economy. Viral rumors, they cautioned, could have devastating impacts as they spread across social media. Now, America is so divided that liberals and conservatives won’t agree on basic facts. One of the only things they will agree on is how much they disdain hearing each other’s point of view. These polarized views compel social media users—both liberal and conservative—to help spread fake news by ignoring facts....

A 10-Minute Gratitude Practice to Notice, Shift, and Rewire Audio recorded by Priti Patel. Begin by finding a comfortable seat, your eyes can either be closed or open with a soft gaze for this practice. Be sure that you’re sitting comfortably and to the best of your ability, see if you can sit with a straight spine. To find that perfect point of balance, you might sway back and forth as well as side to side until you find your ideal seat....

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A 12-Minute Breathing Meditation to Harness Your Attention READ MORE Ni-Cheng Liang August 23, 2022 Bob Stahl and Elisha Goldstein March 26, 2020 Gary Gach January 25, 2021

Next time you are in nature, see if you can shift from a state of doing into a state of being. The key difference between exercise and movement is that when you move with the intention of exercise, you quickly enter a state of doing. Movement is free-flowing and allows you to enter a state of being. The benefits are vast when you allow yourself to be one with the nature you choose, connecting and moving with gratitude....

This approach to sharing mindfulness draws on the elements of nature. Often, we reflect on the beauty and serenity of the natural world out there, and overlook our own beautiful nature. This exercise introduces children to ways of seeing the strength and beauty of nature within themselves, offering a short practice to help relax and observe their experience. Mindfulness Practice for Preschoolers: Be Like Nature When we go outside we can see and feel so many wonderful things....

Ammi’s Adventures: Stones Listen to the Story: Hi! I’m Ammi. My name means “the whole world is inside of me,” and I think it’s true: I carry the whole world in my mind and heart and body. I know you do, too! I like to play games, explore, and discover what makes me, me. I’m so glad we’re together on this journey! I love stones. I love rocks, crystals, and fossils....

The entrepreneur, we’ll call him Sam, led a fast-growing company of around 150 people, and during the time we’d worked together he’d gracefully navigated his company through a significant shift in focus. Given his nearly 20 years in the CEO seat and his natural leadership abilities, he played a mentor role to the other entrepreneurs in the group. He was calm in stressful situations, and no matter how boisterous the group, the others listened when he spoke....

Practice Patience “Hurry up and wait” is perhaps the mantra that best captures modern air travel. Hustle to the airport to wait in line for your tickets. Rush down the hall to wait in the security line. Hurry off the airplane, only to wait at the luggage carousal, before you rush outside to wait for your ride. Why not smooth over the roller coaster with some mindfulness and compassion? Every time you’re stuck in a line there’s an opportunity for practice (instead of the habitual reach for the phone)....

Sessions will feature a myriad of topics including: The Biology and Psychology of Ethical Behavior, Human Emotions, Love and Sex, and The Future of Being Human. Richie Davidson from the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds will be discussing human emotions, as well as others speaking on topics including love and sex and ethical behavior. (Read the lineup here.) To register for the conference, click here. (You can like the conference on Facebook, too, or follow their updates on Twitter....

2) Find your purpose Getting involved in something outside of your day-to-day routine has the power to infuse daily life with greater meaning. But we’re all pulled in so many directions, it can feel overwhelming to know where to put your attention. To cut through the din, each day ask yourself these three questions: Then take these values and turn them into verbs. If you value family time, for example, start putting smartphones aside during dinner, create a plan for a monthly family outing, or find ways to connect more often with your bicoastal siblings....

In his book Managerial Courage, management consultant and psychologist Harvey Hornstein concludes from his research that when pursuing harmony in the face of conflict, we can find ourselves mistakenly anesthetizing our creative thinking and skillfulness. “What often emerges under the pressure to get along, be nice, and work and play well together is an uncontroversial package of rules about how to act and what to think, distinguished only by their blandness,” he writes....

That natural curiosity about other people’s reality, technically speaking, signifies “cognitive empathy,” the ability to see the world through others’ eyes. Cognitive empathy is mind-to-mind, giving us a mental sense of how another person’s thinking works. It’s one of three kinds of empathy, each with a premium in the workplace and in relationships anywhere in our lives. This way of tuning in to another person does more than give us an understanding of their view—it tells us how best to communicate with that person: what matters most to them, their models of the world, and what even what words to use—or avoid—in talking with them....

“I feel irritated at the behavior of others to an unhealthy degree these days,” says Jason, who has been working remotely for the past year with his wife and young daughter at home. He requested his last name not be used due to the nature of his work. It can be small things like people not wearing masks or someone jogging close to me on a sidewalk. Or larger issues, like the failure of politicians and governments to rise to this crisis....

Why do you meditate? I’m not one of those fortunate people who was just born into a sane and well-adjusted frame of mind. As a teenager, I had obsessive suicidal thoughts. I can still become very negative very quickly. With mindfulness, it’s not about getting rid of or never having those thoughts. It’s about disempowering them so that when they happen, you can just say, “Oh, there’s that hangover from when I was 16....

My mom—she took care of my dad with Alzheimer’s, as well as other residents of the nursing home. She carried on with grace and strength, even after she lost her love of 65 years. My daughter. I can’t believe how strong she is. No matter what life throws at her, she is able to look at it through clear eyes. A friend who is 35 years sober. She has the skills and she practices them!...

I also wanted to share with her an insight that arose through my own practice of mindfulness and that greatly changed my life: Namely the realization that time does not exist at all—that it is just a notion of our mind. But I was worried she would find it too woo-woo. And had she asked me what I meant by that and how on earth this was supposed to help her deal with her busy life, I would have been hard pressed to answer....

“We know something about the circuitry in the brain which underlies this quality of outlook,” says Davidson, “and we also know, for example, that individuals who suffer from depression, they show activation in this circuitry but it doesn’t last—this activation is very transient.” Whereas resilience requires thousands of hours of practice, research suggests “modest doses” of loving-kindness and compassion meditation can impact outlook—Davidson mentions a recent study where individuals who had never meditated before received 30 minutes of compassion training over two weeks....