Self-Acceptance Practice

Ralph Waldo Emerson once complained to his physician that he felt depressed. His physician recommended a long sea voyage. Emerson later wrote this in his diary: “It didn’t work; when I got off the ship in Naples, the first person I met was…
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The Practice of Living Mindfully

  Can’t Meditate? The practice of mindfulness is available to everyone. And as the definitions and descriptions in my April 20th post show, mindfulness is not complicated. Still, it isn’t easy to do, for three reasons: 1. It requires…

What is mindfulness?

Wearing a 128-channel geodesic sensor net, Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard sits in a soundproof room and talks with Dr. Richard J. Davidson. Why Is Mindfulness A Valuable Practice? One of the great values of mindfulness practice is that it helps…

Experiential Avoidance: What We Resist Persists

Experiential avoidance is a term that originated in contextual behavioral science research. It refers to a common psychological pattern to which we are all susceptible: the attempt to avoid unpleasant thoughts, images, feelings, sensations,…

Video: Life with Chronic Illness

The roles of optimism, pessimism & hope in a healthy life.

Social Support Improves Health

Most behavioral medicine studies involving heart patients focus on the efficacy of lifestyle changes to reduce atherosclerosis and reverse ischemic heart disease. World-renowned cardiologist Dean Ornish’s behavioral medicine program includes…

Video: The Placebo Effect

Beliefs change physiology, altered states of consciousness, faith healing, Voodoo