Tag Archive for: mindfulness practice

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Vipassana Mindfulness Practice

Vipassana There are several varieties of vipassana, and different kinds of practices within each type. Some are appropriate for beginners and others are achievable only after years of intensive work. The practice I follow is called samatha…

Video: Mindfulness-Based Behavioral Change

We could all benefit by tweaking our behavior in ways that could optimize our health. But we can't change any behavior until we become aware that we are engaging in a specific behavior, aware that it is not conducive to optimal health, aware…

Video: Mindfulness-Based Mastery & Wellbeing Series Introduction

This is an introduction to the 26-part series on how to live better with chronic illness. The concept of mindfulness-based mastery & wellbeing practices is introduced. Mindfulness practice is described as the fundament of mastery & wellbeing…

Mindfulness Practice, Mastery, Wellbeing, and Health

Meditation provides a way to quit living in the potent mental movies of disaster, regret, anger, and fear that not only rob your peace of mind, but can sometimes trick the body into believing that they are really happening. —Joan Borysenko   The…
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Chronic Medical Challenges and the Mind

Cognitive Fusion with New Symptoms A primary source of emotional distress for those living with many diseases relates to panic over new symptoms. Even experienced mindfulness teachers can find it difficult to recognize that the frightening…
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Practice Living by Your Personal Life Values—Part 1

  As I pointed out in earlier posts, emotional distress and its accompanying physiological stress are less the result of events than of the attributions you assign to those events—your thoughts and beliefs about them—and your cognitive…

How Does Mindfulness Improve Health and Well-Being? Part 1

Two studies by neuropsychologist Richard Davidson, one conducted with MBSR founder Jon Kabat-Zinn in 2003 and another with fellow neuropsychologist Antoine Lutz in 2008 demonstrated that mindfulness capitalizes on neuroplasticity, leading to…
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Meditation Reduces Age-related Cognitive Decline

Brain research Brain researcher Sara Lazar has demonstrated that a serious meditation practice protects against the cortical thinning that normally occurs in old age. This is believed to result in higher cognitive functioning in an age group…
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The Slippery Slope of Optimism

Optimism is the single most frequently cited attribute of healthy and happy people. But who is truly optimistic? Research psychologist Martin Seligman found that, to be effective, optimism must be embodied. Putting up a false front of optimism…