Check this out. An excellent short video (about 12 minutes) from Studio Olafur Eliasson
From the website:
Through the simple act of consciously taking a deep breath, we nurture feelings of connectivity, interdependence, empathy, and compassion – the felt feeling of being present to one another.
The twelve-minute video Where mind and body swing back and forth, by Studio Olafur Eliasson, presents responses from a group of outstanding thinkers and activists to some essential questions:
What is a deep breath?
How does it affect us?
What does our awareness of taking deep breaths do to our understanding of ourselves, of each other, and of the world around us?
Introductory YouTube video on Walking Meditation - take a look, only 3 minutes long
Have you heard of Implicit Bias?
Most of us are not conscious of our biases and prejudices, that's why it's called IMPLICIT.
Watch this First Public Service Announcement ever to win an Emmy.
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From the Lovehasnolabels.com website: "Most Americans agree that people should be treated respectfully and fairly. Yet many people in the United States still report feeling discriminated against. The reason might be that we’re actually discriminating unintentionally. We do 98% of our thinking in our subconscious mind, and that’s where we collect and store implicit biases." This video was created as part of an important campaign about implicit bias. The images remind us about the power of love. Love rises above all barriers and opens the heart to compassion and loving-kindness for others. |
Please take a moment to watch this video.
Visit the website: lovehasnolabels.com to learn more and to take a quiz to see if you can spot implicit bias in yourself... P.S. I took the quiz. Pretty interesting results! |
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11 Million+ Views and climbing! This TED really got our attention - no pun intended!
Dr. Kelly McGonigal turns the conventional wisdom about stress on it's head and then some!
The video is 13 minutes long and as Dr. McGonigal says - it might just save your life!
Click below to go to the TED website:
https://www.ted.com/talks/kelly_mcgonigal_how_to_make_stress_your_friend?language=en
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10 Steps Mindfulness Meditation
as featured on The Garrison Institute's Blog
click here:
http://www.garrisoninstitute.org/about-us/the-garrison-institute-blog/1999-10-steps-to-mindfulness-meditation
P.S. I have sat on this very bench at the Institute during a Summer Research Fellowship. It is a grand and inspiring setting on the Hudson River.
as featured on The Garrison Institute's Blog
click here:
http://www.garrisoninstitute.org/about-us/the-garrison-institute-blog/1999-10-steps-to-mindfulness-meditation
P.S. I have sat on this very bench at the Institute during a Summer Research Fellowship. It is a grand and inspiring setting on the Hudson River.
3 different position for sitting in meditation.
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Mindfulness hits the New York Times.....
How Meditation Might Boost Your Test Scores
Check out the article from 4/3/2013
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/03/how-meditation-might-boost-your-test-scores/?hpw
Mindfulness, a Method to Sharpen Focus and Open Minds
Check out the article from 3/22/2013
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/23/your-money/mindfulness-requires-practice-and-purpose.html?emc=eta1&_r=0
_______________________________________________________________________
... and Here!
Mindfulness Meditation
Could Lower Levels Of Cortisol,
The Stress Hormone
Read all about this latest research that could change your life...
Huffington Post is all over it: Click on the titles below....
Mindfulness Meditation Benefits:
20 Reasons Why It's Good For Your
Mental & Physical Health.
Huffington Post | By Amanda L. Chan
20 Reasons Why It's Good For Your
Mental & Physical Health.
Huffington Post | By Amanda L. Chan
Informal Practice
Some tips for establishing your informal meditation practice.
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Formal Practice
Some tips for establishing your formal meditation practice.
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Introductory TEDx talk.
Listen to Diana Winston, the director of Mindfulness Education at UCLA Mindful Awareness Center. Ms. Winston is the author of several books on mindfulness and meditation. With more than 20 years in the study and practice of mindfulness, Diana explains how routinely taking the time to be in the moment can have a profound impact on our everyday lives and relationships. This video lasts 17 minutes and has a brief mindfulness practice led by Diana.
Take a moment to bring yourself back to center with these apps.
Check out the new online edition of Mindfulness Bell (no software download required.)
This program is for those who have sound cards in their IBM-compatible computers. It is an audio clock, which will ring either a bell of mindfulness or (for the more conventional) Westminster chimes. The bell can be set to go off on the hour, the quarter hour, or randomly. http://www.mindfulnessdc.org/mindfulclock.html
For Android phones: The Mindfulness Bell rings periodically during the day, to give you the opportunity to hold on for a moment and consider what you are currently doing, and in what state of mind you are while you are doing it.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.googlecode.mindbell&hl=en
For iPhone, iPad, Apple products: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mindfulness-bell/id380816407?mt=8
Rings a beautiful Tibetan Singing Bowl at a specified interval - or random intervals - throughout the day. Just set it up and then exit the app. T
The bell will ring in the background, whether the app is running or not.
This program is for those who have sound cards in their IBM-compatible computers. It is an audio clock, which will ring either a bell of mindfulness or (for the more conventional) Westminster chimes. The bell can be set to go off on the hour, the quarter hour, or randomly. http://www.mindfulnessdc.org/mindfulclock.html
For Android phones: The Mindfulness Bell rings periodically during the day, to give you the opportunity to hold on for a moment and consider what you are currently doing, and in what state of mind you are while you are doing it.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.googlecode.mindbell&hl=en
For iPhone, iPad, Apple products: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mindfulness-bell/id380816407?mt=8
Rings a beautiful Tibetan Singing Bowl at a specified interval - or random intervals - throughout the day. Just set it up and then exit the app. T
The bell will ring in the background, whether the app is running or not.
The Science of Mindfulness
On the right, the gentleman in the sport coat is Dr. Richard Davidson. Dr. Davidson is an internationally recognized neuroscientist who is largely responsible for the surge in meditation research. He is as brilliant as he is kind.
Davidson is the Director of the new Center for Investigating Healthy Minds (CIHM) at UW-Madison. I was fortunate to attend the dedication ceremony that hosted the Dalai Lama in 2011.
See this link to check out some of the CIHM projects going on in a community settings, especially in schools:
http://www.investigatinghealthyminds.org/
The monk on the fMRI table is French-born, Matthieu Ricard. He earned PhD molecular genetics at the Pasteur Institute in France. After completing his doctoral thesis in 1972, Ricard decided to forsake his scientific career and concentrate on the practice of Tibetan Buddhism. Since 1989 he has worked as the French interpreter for the Dalai Lama.
Here are just a smattering of interesting studies on mindfulness. Let me know if you are interested in reading any of these research articles and I will get you a copy of the publication.
Mindfulness Relieves Anxiety and Mood (2010): A review of 29 previous studies involving 1,140 patients, by Professor Stefan Hofmann
of Boston University, concluded that mindfulness is effective for relieving anxiety and improving mood.
Mindfulness May Keep Brains Young (2009): A study by Dr. Eileen Luders at UCLA School of Medicine, published in NeuroImage, shows
that long-term mindfulness practitioners have greater brain volume, stronger neural connections, and less atrophy than non-practitioners.
This suggests mindfulness may keep brains young and even help prevent dementia.
Mindfulness Can Lead to Better Decision Making (2011): A study conducted at the Virginia Tech Carillion Research Institute by Dr.
Ulrich Kirk, published in Frontiers in Neuroscience, finds that people who practice mindfulness use different parts of their brains in the
decision-making process. This is most visible in their ability to react more rationally, rather than emotionally, when faced with unfair
situations.
Mindfulness Changes Brain Structure (2011): Research published in 2011 in Neuroimaging by Sara Lazar and her team at Massachusetts
General Hospital, reveals that an 8-week mindfulness training program (MBSR) makes measurable changes in brain structures associated
with learning and memory, sense of self, empathy, and stress.
Mindfulness Reduces Stress (2010): A study conducted by Britta Holzel at Massachusetts General Hospital, and published in
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, finds that mindfulness-based stress reduction can lead to structural changes in the amygdala,
a brain structure that plays a crucial role in stress responses.
Mindfulness Increases Immune Response (2003). A study by Richard Davidson and Jon Kabat-Zinn, published in Psychosomatic
Medicine, indicates that mindfulness increases both positive feelings and antibody responses to immune system challenges.
Mindfulness Enhances Attention, Mood, and Memory (2010): A 2010 Wake Forest University study, published in Consciousness
and Cognition, shows that only 4 days of mindfulness training can enhance the ability to sustain focused attention. It also shows
significant improvements in mood, visuo-spatial processing, working memory, and cognition.
Mindfulness Reduced Irritable Bowel Syndrome (2010): A 2010 Swedish study published in the Journal of Behavior Therapy
and Experimental Psychiatry finds that 10 weeks of mindfulness training results in a 50% reduction in IBS symptoms, was well as
other positive outcomes.
Davidson is the Director of the new Center for Investigating Healthy Minds (CIHM) at UW-Madison. I was fortunate to attend the dedication ceremony that hosted the Dalai Lama in 2011.
See this link to check out some of the CIHM projects going on in a community settings, especially in schools:
http://www.investigatinghealthyminds.org/
The monk on the fMRI table is French-born, Matthieu Ricard. He earned PhD molecular genetics at the Pasteur Institute in France. After completing his doctoral thesis in 1972, Ricard decided to forsake his scientific career and concentrate on the practice of Tibetan Buddhism. Since 1989 he has worked as the French interpreter for the Dalai Lama.
Here are just a smattering of interesting studies on mindfulness. Let me know if you are interested in reading any of these research articles and I will get you a copy of the publication.
Mindfulness Relieves Anxiety and Mood (2010): A review of 29 previous studies involving 1,140 patients, by Professor Stefan Hofmann
of Boston University, concluded that mindfulness is effective for relieving anxiety and improving mood.
Mindfulness May Keep Brains Young (2009): A study by Dr. Eileen Luders at UCLA School of Medicine, published in NeuroImage, shows
that long-term mindfulness practitioners have greater brain volume, stronger neural connections, and less atrophy than non-practitioners.
This suggests mindfulness may keep brains young and even help prevent dementia.
Mindfulness Can Lead to Better Decision Making (2011): A study conducted at the Virginia Tech Carillion Research Institute by Dr.
Ulrich Kirk, published in Frontiers in Neuroscience, finds that people who practice mindfulness use different parts of their brains in the
decision-making process. This is most visible in their ability to react more rationally, rather than emotionally, when faced with unfair
situations.
Mindfulness Changes Brain Structure (2011): Research published in 2011 in Neuroimaging by Sara Lazar and her team at Massachusetts
General Hospital, reveals that an 8-week mindfulness training program (MBSR) makes measurable changes in brain structures associated
with learning and memory, sense of self, empathy, and stress.
Mindfulness Reduces Stress (2010): A study conducted by Britta Holzel at Massachusetts General Hospital, and published in
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, finds that mindfulness-based stress reduction can lead to structural changes in the amygdala,
a brain structure that plays a crucial role in stress responses.
Mindfulness Increases Immune Response (2003). A study by Richard Davidson and Jon Kabat-Zinn, published in Psychosomatic
Medicine, indicates that mindfulness increases both positive feelings and antibody responses to immune system challenges.
Mindfulness Enhances Attention, Mood, and Memory (2010): A 2010 Wake Forest University study, published in Consciousness
and Cognition, shows that only 4 days of mindfulness training can enhance the ability to sustain focused attention. It also shows
significant improvements in mood, visuo-spatial processing, working memory, and cognition.
Mindfulness Reduced Irritable Bowel Syndrome (2010): A 2010 Swedish study published in the Journal of Behavior Therapy
and Experimental Psychiatry finds that 10 weeks of mindfulness training results in a 50% reduction in IBS symptoms, was well as
other positive outcomes.
Links to nourish your mindbody...
http://www.mindful.org/ link to online magazine called Mindful
http://www.mindfulexperience.org/ link to a website on mindfulness research
http://marc.ucla.edu/body.cfm?id=109 link to a new print magazine called Mindful
Sitting in meditation
What you sit on for meditation is not as important as how you sit on it!
Some people prefer to sit on a traditional zabuton mat and a cushion, others like a bench for the kneeling position (known as seiza, pronounced say-ee-zah), and still others will be most comfortable seated on a chair. For warmth, some people like to have a shawl, wrap, or blanket for their shoulders or to drape over their legs.
We have chairs for sitting. I have a selection of yoga blankets to help with adjustments. If you have a favorite cushion, bench, or blanket, please bring it with you. We will be talking about skillful posture for meditation.
What you sit on for meditation is not as important as how you sit on it!
Some people prefer to sit on a traditional zabuton mat and a cushion, others like a bench for the kneeling position (known as seiza, pronounced say-ee-zah), and still others will be most comfortable seated on a chair. For warmth, some people like to have a shawl, wrap, or blanket for their shoulders or to drape over their legs.
We have chairs for sitting. I have a selection of yoga blankets to help with adjustments. If you have a favorite cushion, bench, or blanket, please bring it with you. We will be talking about skillful posture for meditation.
Zabuton mat and cushion.
This is fancy bench. Others are just plain wood with hinges on the sides to make it easier to carry around. This is a comfortable kneeling position (seiza) and easier on the knees.
This is what we aim for.
Oops! Not this posture.
Sitting on a chair is perhaps the most accessible posture. Can you appreciate that the posture is the same here as in the diagram "Good Posture" above on the bench? The angle of the hip to knee is the same.
After meditation, we sit like this! Just kidding.
Check it out:
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