If a friend or relative won $100 and then offered you a few dollars, would you accept this windfall? The logical answer would seem to be, sure, why not? “But human decision making does not always appear rational,” said Read Montague, professor of physics at Virginia Tech and director of the Human Neuroimaging Laboratory at […]
Meditation produces powerful pain-relieving effects in the brain, according to new research published in the April 6 edition of the Journal of Neuroscience. “This is the first study to show that only a little over an hour of meditation training can dramatically reduce both the experience of pain and pain-related brain activation,” said Fadel Zeidan, Ph.D., […]
The key to dealing with some of the challenges life throws at us, including pain, suffering, illness, grief, and loss is to truly appreciate the positive aspects of our life, and not simply focus on the negative. It is important to acknowledge the setbacks, but equal attention and value need to be given to what […]
The body is a dancer’s instrument, but is it attuned to the mind? A new study from the University of California, Berkeley, suggests that professional ballet and modern dancers are not as emotionally in sync with their bodies as are people who regularly practice meditation. UC Berkeley researchers tracked how closely the emotions of seasoned […]
Mindfulness involves self-regulation of attention and orientation to the present moment through the practice of meditation. It has recently become an increasingly popular add-on for treatment of mental health problems. A specific form of mindfulness combines it with cognitive-behavioral principles and techniques. Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy involves the recognition of thoughts and feelings as fleeting […]
Participating in an 8-week mindfulness meditation program appears to make measurable changes in brain regions associated with memory, sense of self, empathy and stress. In a study that will appear in the January 30 issue of Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, a team led by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers report the results of their study, the […]
I would like to introduce readers to several meditative techniques called Integrative Body-Mind Training (IBMT), nature exposure, and mindfulness, as well as discuss their use in attention state training. My review of current research with these intriguing alternative therapies finds that they may also be quick and effective treatments for anxiety, depression, and anger.
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