6 Mindfulness Practices For Leaders (And Everyone, Really)
As Jon Kabat-Zinn puts it, mindfulness "wakes us up to the fact that our lives unfold only in moments." If we're not fully present for those moments, we may miss what's most valuable in our lives, both personally and professionally. Simply put, mindfulness is about not living in your head all the time and is about paying attention to where you are, what you're doing, or who you're talking to so th... posted on Jun 1, 143194 reads

From Mindfulness to Heartfulness
"Heartfulness seeks to overcome limitations to the kind of mindfulness that is used for the pursuit of profit and pleasure and doesnt challenge materialistic beliefs, values, or practices. Mindfulness can enable other virtues, but if we remain on the purely cognitive level, or stay narrowly focused on stress reduction, we are missing its true power. While the science focus is extremely convincing... posted on Mar 8, 13773 reads

What Happens in Mindfulness
"Like mom and apple pie, mindfulness has an unassailable reputation for virtue and wholesomeness. But what actually goes on in the brain and the psyche to deliver the goods? What are we actually signing up for when we embrace a path of mindfulness? In this important new book John Teasdale deftly weaves a course between the Scylla of cognitive science and the Charybdis of classic spiritual teaching... posted on Mar 13, 3349 reads

Mindfulness in Politics
"Mindfulness meditation" is a growing movement, but can it unstick the modern political gridlock? Congressman Tim Ryan thinks so, and is calling for a "quiet revolution" in America. "Practicing mindfulness may not get everyone on the same page in detailed policy terms, he believes, but it could help to find more common ground between different views." This interview with Ryan shares more of his wo... posted on Sep 6, 28122 reads

Allow Breathe Curious: A Coloring Book for Mindfulness
"Allow Breathe Curious" is a unique collaboration that emerged from one mother's budding interest in mindfulness and her daughter's deep-seated conviction that art can be an instrument of positive change. A series of sleepless nights prompted Anne to develop a list of words to foster mindfulness. Starting with 'Allow' the list grew over time to include all of the letters of the alphabet. When her ... posted on Jun 1, 17095 reads

Kids Practice Classroom Mindfulness
The lesson began with the striking of a Tibetan singing bowl to induce mindful awareness. With the sound of their new school bell, the fifth graders at Piedmont Avenue Elementary School here closed their eyes and focused on their breathing, as they tried to imagine “loving kindness” on the playground.“I was losing at baseball and I was about to throw a bat,” Alex Menton, 11, reported to hi... posted on Jun 24, 2497 reads

How Mindfulness Can Make for Better Doctors
"Last month, The Journal of the American Medical Association published the results of a study examining the effects of a year-long course for primary care physicians on mindfulness, that ability to be in the zone and present in the moment purposefully and without judgment. Seventy physicians enrolled and participated in the four components of the course -- mindfulness meditation; writing sessions;... posted on Dec 11, 3768 reads

Quiet Justice: Teaching Mindfulness to Lawyers
"When I tell people that I teach a class in law and meditation at UC Berkeley's law school, I often hear snorts of disbelief," Charles Halpern laughs. But the class is no joke. It's part of a groundbreaking movement that has quietly been taking hold in the legal profession over the past two decades: a movement to bring mindfulness into the practice of law and legal education. To a career that tops... posted on Mar 31, 12746 reads

Making a Case for Mindfulness
Growing numbers of attorneys are embracing some form of practice to achieve mindfulness. Their reasons for doing so are varied, but chief among them are stress management and improved mental and physical health. This is a hopeful shift, given the well-known Johns Hopkins study which found that lawyers are more prone to depression than members of any other profession. In the most recent study, Har... posted on May 28, 4070 reads

5 Tips for Integrating Mindfulness In Daily Life
Research shows that most people spend up to 50 percent of their time in their heads - a tendency that does nothing to increase our happiness and in fact has been proved to be detrimental to it. Instead of being habitually consumed by thoughts of the past or of trying to control the future, mindfulness is a way of engaging with the present moment. It's a mode of being that helps increase clarity a... posted on Aug 2, 225554 reads

Three Benefits To Mindfulness At Work
We all know the benefits of mindfulness in our day. But, do we understand the link between our practice and our performance in the workplace? And is it possible to cultivate this moment to moment awareness in a 'bottom line' driven environment? In a recent study, researchers have found that the more mindful the supervisor, the lower their employees' emotional exhaustion and the higher their job sa... posted on Jan 16, 28225 reads

The Trouble With Mindfulness
Despite a growing abundance of research that shows how valuable mindfulness meditation can be, there also seems to be many roadblocks that keep people from trying it out: from simple time constraints, to the fear of becoming stereotyped as one of those 'new age, touchy-feely' kinds of people. In this article, writer Jill Suttie sets out to get to the bottom of the troublesome myths that surround m... posted on Apr 13, 31246 reads

5 Important Things We Learned About Mindfulness in 2015
The more we learn about mindfulness -- cultivating a focused awareness on the present moment -- the more health and well-being benefits we discover. In 2015 researchers delved deeper into the science of meditation and uncovered even more surprising evidence of the powerful effects of mindfulness on mind and body. ... posted on Jan 25, 22671 reads

What Mindfulness is Missing
Dr. Jim Doty grew up in poverty and with an alcoholic father and depressed mother. But when he was 12 years old, a chance encounter with a woman named Ruth, and her teachings on mindfulness, visualization, and compassion, changed his life. He is now a clinical professor of neurosurgery at Stanford University and founder and director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education.... posted on Jul 5, 56501 reads

Equanimity, Mindfulness and Politics
While contemporary society praises the benefits of mindfulness in domains from schools to workplaces, open, non-judgmental awareness is far from a panacea for solving the world's most pressing dilemmas. Individuals and nations remain divided on the issues that define us. "Are we really creating individuals who can focus on improving their capacities for engagement and mediation while simultaneousl... posted on Jul 8, 5806 reads

The Mindfulness Skill That is Crucial for Stress
Mindfulness is known to have many advantages, including reducing stress, increasing awareness, improving physical health, and more. However, when it comes to lowering stress levels, without also practicing acceptance, we might not see the results we hope for. "Mindfulness practices that specifically emphasize acceptance teach us a nonjudgmental attitude toward our experiences -- meaning, learning ... posted on Nov 6, 7848 reads

Amishi Jha: Pay Attention to Your Attention
Amishi P. Jha came to her pathbreaking work studying the neuroscience of mindfulness and attention when, as a young professor of cognitive neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania, she lost feeling in her teeth. She had been grinding them as a profound stress response to burnout from her responsibilities as a wife, mother, and tenure-track professor. Knowing from her academic work that the b... posted on Mar 9, 4681 reads

Mindfulness Practices For Patients
In 1979, a biologist at the University of Massachusetts named Jon Kabat-Zinn had an idea. He had a hunch that pared-down meditation techniques could help patients at the university's medical center deal with pain. The idea of mind-body health wasn't well explored at the time, so Kabat-Zinn approached physicians and pain specialists at the university, asking them to refer their patients to his new ... posted on Mar 31, 2725 reads

How To Put Time On Our Side
Jon Kabat-Zinn is a professor, best known for his teachings on mindfulness and meditation as a way to help people overcome stress and disease. In this passage, excerpted from his book, "Coming to Our Senses: Healing Ourselves and the World through Mindfulness" he explores a thought-provoking question of modern life: Now that we can be in touch with anyone at any time, do we risk being out of touc... posted on May 12, 4109 reads

6 Tips for Living in the Moment
We live in the age of distraction. Yet one of life's sharpest paradoxes is that our brightest future hinges on our ability to pay attention to the present. Living in the moment -- also called mindfulness -- is a state of active, open, intentional attention on the present. Mindfulness involves being with your thoughts as they are, neither grasping at them nor pushing them away. Instead of letting y... posted on Dec 2, 15058 reads

Better Eating through Mindfulness
More than a billion people around the world are overweight, leading to all kinds of health challenges. "Obesity increases health risks like heart disease, stroke, and diabetes, to name a few, and the health care costs to treat obesity-related illness are skyrocketing, with Center for Disease Control estimates in 2008 reaching $147 billion dollars (just in the US). But now there is a new prescripti... posted on Jul 28, 19329 reads

The Importance of Mindfulness In Children
While meditation practices are usually associated with adults, there is a growing movement focused on implementing mindfulness practices to optimize the health, well-being and happiness of children. From helping kids thrive in school, to being an effective intervention with autism, to even serving kids suffering from cancer and other serious health conditions, meditation is showing that it can hav... posted on Sep 21, 46570 reads

5 Reasons to Be Mindful
In a hyper connected world, bombarded by multiple forms of stimulation, how do we remain aware of the quiet gifts that the present moment has to offer? Cultivating a mindfulness practice can be a powerful way to train our minds and tune into the beauty of here and now. The benefits are manifold. Drawing on the latest research as well as age-old wisdom traditions, this inspiring article offers up f... posted on Aug 18, 26464 reads

Sixth Graders on Mindfulness
"It really calms me down 'cause I get really stressed about homework a lot and when I breathe and just take a moment it really helps me focus more and I can get a lot more done" says one student. "If you get angry, you can just breathe in and out a couple of times..." says another. Listen to the children of Meena Srinivasan's 6th grade class at Park Day School in Oakland, California, talk about w... posted on Sep 2, 4636 reads

Science of Mindlessness and Mindfulness
Ellen Langer, a psychology professor at Harvard, defines mindfulness as the simple act of actively noticing things, which can bring increased health, competence, and happiness. Her provocative, unconventional studies prove that it's possible to become physiologically younger through a changed frame of mind. She has suggested for decades what neuroscience is pointing to now: that our experience of ... posted on Mar 28, 25199 reads

How Mindfulness Can Defeat Racial Bias
There might be a solution to implicit racial bias, argues Rhonda Magee: cultivating moment-to-moment awareness of thoughts, feelings, and surroundings. "In my own work, I identify, develop and examine the efficacy of a set of practices that intentionally link inner and outer work to raise awareness about race and racial experience in our lives, with a focus on personal, interpersonal, and systemic... posted on Jan 5, 11720 reads

The Power of a Beginner's Mind
Picture this: A substitute teacher wearing a kimono and speaking Japanese to inner city students. Surprising? That was exactly the intention of Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu as he attempted to cultivate a "beginners mind" in his students. He asserts that the moment the unexpected is encountered, mindfulness begins without training. The attention is completely focused on the unknown, senses alert in th... posted on Aug 24, 13794 reads

The Science of Mindlessness & Mindfulness
"Her unconventional studies have long suggested what neuroscience is now revealing: Our experiences are formed by the words and ideas we attach to them. Naming something play rather than work or exercise rather than labor can mean the difference between delight and drudgery, fatigue or weight loss. What makes a vacation a vacation is not only a change of scenery, but the fact that we let go of the... posted on Apr 2, 17265 reads

Eight Tips for Fostering Mindfulness in Teenagers
Have you ever wondered what it takes to be a successful teacher? In this article, mindfulness educator Patrick Cook-Deegan shares what he's learned about how to connect with teenagers in the classroom. From the importance of class size and curriculum, to when students are most engaged, these tips offer valuable insights into the challenging and rewarding world of teaching.... posted on Mar 15, 10555 reads

James Fox and the Prison Yoga Project
James Fox is the founder and director of the Prison Yoga Project, an organization dedicated to establishing yoga and mindfulness programs in prisons and rehabilitation centers worldwide. Since 2002, Fox has been teaching yoga and meditation to prisoners in California and around the world. The Prison Yoga Project helps incarcerated men and women build a better life through trauma-informed yoga with... posted on Apr 25, 4703 reads

Justin Michael Williams: Stay Woke
"Justin Michael Williams is a meditation teacher and personal coach who is also a Billboard top 20 recording artist. With Sounds True, he has published Stay Woke: A Meditation Guide for the Rest of Us. In this special video episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon speaks with Justin about his upcoming "Stay Woke, Give Back" tour, in which he will explain his unique approach to meditation and gi... posted on Feb 17, 6412 reads

Eight Verses for Training the Mind
The Prison Mindfulness Institute's mission is to provide prisoners, prison staff and prison volunteers, with the most effective, evidence-based tools for rehabilitation, self-transformation, and personal & professional development. In particular, they provide and promote the use of proven effective mindfulness-based interventions (MBI's). Their dual focus is on transforming individual lives as wel... posted on May 31, 18886 reads

Walking With George
"I had never been good at practicing mindfulness, or being mindful--period--until I got a dog. Observing your breath, extolled as the surefire way to become present, left me in such a deep state of hyperventilation I quickly wanted a break from taking a break. I was in constant, anxious movement, starting projects but never finishing them, leaving things halfway done, forgetting items, moving from... posted on Jan 30, 6930 reads

How Mindfulness Changes the Emotional Life of our Brains
"Why is it that some people are more vulnerable to life's slings and arrows and others more resilient?" This question has propelled Dr. Richard J. Davidson of University of Wisconsin-Madison along a unique journey that spans hundreds of research articles and multiple books on emotions, mindfulness, and the brain. In 1992, another question directed his trajectory further -- the Dalai Lama asked him... posted on Jan 31, 3376 reads

Untitled
Research by Paul Ekman, at the University of California San Francisco Medical Center, suggests that meditation and mindfulness can tame the amygdala, an area of the brain which is the hub of fear memory.... posted on May 30, 1150 reads

Stress Relief
In a small but highly provocative study, a University of Wisconsin-Madison research team has found, for the first time, that a short program in "mindfulness meditation" produced lasting positive changes in both the brain and the function of the immune system. The findings suggest that meditation, long promoted as a technique to reduce anxiety and stress, might produce important biological effects ... posted on Mar 16, 3463 reads

Healing Through Acceptance of Pain
When he was 29, Steven Hayes had the first of a series of panic attacks. Today, at 57, he hasn't had a panic attack in a decade, and is a well-known psychologist and author of 27 books. "Get Out of Your Mind & Into Your Life", is his most recent work. Its first sentence is: "People suffer." But in a radical departure from traditional cognitive therapy, Hayes and other top researchers are focusing ... posted on Nov 7, 3596 reads

Happiness 101
A positive-psychology class called the Science of Well-Being -— essentially a class in how to make yourself happier -— at George Mason University in Virginia is a challenge for positive psychologists. It is one of the 15 unhappiest campuses in America, at least per The Princeton Review. The class is taught by Todd Kashdan, a 32-year-old psychology professor whose area of research is "curiosity... posted on Feb 1, 3706 reads

Zen & The Art of Television Watching
"I want you to watch TV with acute awareness, mindfulness, and precision. 1) Watch any TV show for 15 minutes without turning on the sound. 2) Watch any news program for 15 minutes without turning on the sound. 3) Watch television set for one half-hour with out turning it on." So begins this thought-provoking essay that sharply urges a change in the way we as individuals and as a society, watch TV... posted on Jan 9, 3891 reads

Resonant Leadership
Leaders have responsibility, influence and, it turns out, their own brand of management maladies: power stress and the sacrifice syndrome. These afflictions and ways to avoid them are the focus of Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee's Resonant Leadership: Renewing Yourself and Connecting with Others Through Mindfulness, Hope and Compassion. According to these writers, the key to navigating all this i... posted on Jun 30, 3681 reads

8 Weeks to a Better Brain
A pause in a busy day, meditation can be like the eye of a storm. For centuries, there's been no logic to it. Yet more and more, researchers are beginning to map its effects on the brain. In a recent study, a team led by Harvard-affiliated researchers become the first to document meditation-produced changes over time in the brain's gray matter. Their conclusion? Participating in an eight-week mind... posted on Mar 7, 12977 reads

Vinny Ferraro: The Heartful Dodger
One bitter night, in the rough end of New Haven, fifteen-year-old Vinny Ferraro and his gang were hanging out as usual by the projects when a chance encounter with a homeless man (who they were assaulting) changed the course of the rest of his life. "I didn't know what compassion meant when I was fifteen. But I knew that that homeless guy had seen my heart. And that was scary. I had done my best t... posted on Feb 2, 16271 reads

James Doty on Magic, Compassion and the Brain
James Doty is no stranger to struggle. He served as a caregiver in a family whose mother was an invalid and father suffered from alcoholism. They were on public assistance all that time. As he said, "At that age you feel like a leaf being blown by an ill wind." ...At age 13 he wandered into a magic store and had a serendipitous conversation with the mother of the owner who was there. She took ... posted on Feb 22, 21010 reads

Insights From The Science of Meaningful Life
"'The science of a meaningful life'-- has exploded over the past 10 years, with many more studies published each year on gratitude, mindfulness, and our other core themes than we saw a decade ago. 2012 was no exception. In fact, in the year just past, new findings added nuance, depth, and even some caveats to our understanding of the science of a meaningful life. Here are 10 of the scientific insi... posted on Mar 13, 19262 reads

The Illusion of Control
"Control is one of humankind's greatest illusions. Let's face it -- even with all the information available and expansive educational preparation -- unexpected events often interfere with our plans and our best efforts to control an outcome or an event (and even ourselves!). And what happens to us, to those around us, and to the teams and organizations we lead when things get disrupted?" Find out ... posted on Aug 9, 34455 reads

How the Mind Can Heal the Heart
Daniel Goleman, author of "Emotional Intelligence" and "Social Intelligence", and Tara Bennett-Goleman, psychotherapist and author of "Emotional Alchemy," explain the science behind "mind whispering" - a technique for overcoming self-defeating habits of mind. Mind whispering is an integration of Eastern and Western psychologies and draws on mindfulness, cognitive therapy, and Buddhist psychology t... posted on Oct 6, 30554 reads

Using Emergence to Scale Social Innovation
Do you want to change the world? If so, it may help to first understand how the world actually changes. This article co-authored by Margaret Wheatley describes how "emergence" - the linking together of local efforts and networks into global phenomena -- drives all substantial changes in nature and society. The networks we create, together with our mindfulness of other efforts regionally and global... posted on Sep 2, 34738 reads

Zen & The Art of Watching Television
"I want you to watch TV with acute awareness, mindfulness, and precision. 1) Watch any TV show for 15 minutes without turning on the sound. 2) Watch any news program for 15 minutes without turning on the sound. 3) Watch the television set for one half-hour with out turning it on." This unconventional series of assignments was handed out to his students by a sociology professor who used it to jump... posted on Aug 30, 29629 reads

10 Scientific Insights That Could Change Your Year!
The tide of psychology, which has traditionally probed into the dysfunctions of the human mind, has been shifting to a rigorous examination of its virtuous aspects. The "positive psychology" movement is unraveling universal human behaviours and experiences such as altruism, empathy, meaning, and happiness. For instance, in the past several years, researchers have found that a meaningful life is he... posted on Jan 23, 127968 reads

10 Scientific Insights That Could Change Your Year!
The tide of psychology, which has traditionally probed into the dysfunctions of the human mind, has been shifting to a rigorous examination of its virtuous aspects. The "positive psychology" movement is unraveling universal human behaviours and experiences such as altruism, empathy, meaning, and happiness. For instance, in the past several years, researchers have found that a meaningful life is he... posted on Feb 4, 0 reads