By Traci Pedersen for PsychCentral A new study reveals that practitioners of meditation experience changes in gene expression that are the exact opposite of what occurs during the “flight or fight” stress response. Specifically, genes… Read More »Meditation Produces Opposite Effect of ‘Fight or Flight’
by Jessica Graham I’ve recently become of big fan of lovingkindness meditation, or as Shinzen Young calls it, “Focus on Positive.” From the beginning of my practice I have been pretty hard-core about going into… Read More »Loving Lovingkindness
By Sumathi Reddy for The Wall Street Journal At Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, doctor’s orders can include an unlikely prescription: meditation. “I recommend five minutes, twice a day, and then gradually increase,”… Read More »Doctor’s Orders: 20 Minutes Of Meditation Twice a Day
By Jan Hoffman for The New York Times Mindfulness meditation, the ancient and flourishing practice that increases awareness of random thoughts and redirects attention to the present moment, has been used to manage stress, depression and even… Read More »How Meditation Might Boost Your Test Scores
Sometimes you have to do something a little extreme in order to get a better understanding of yourself. For many people, the urge towards self knowledge takes the form of a challenge. Skydiving, mountain climbing,… Read More »Pratimoksha: A Month of Practicing the Vows
by Claudine Ryan for ABC Health and Wellbeing Feeling less stressed, having better concentration and a greater resilience to life’s challenges are some of the commonly-cited reasons for trying meditation. But this quest for inner… Read More »Mindfulness meditation: boosting young people’s brain power?
by Julianna Raye As a singer/songwriter, I’ve had some pretty amazing opportunities. And I absolutely love the process of performing live, which I’ve done since I was 5 years old, in one form or… Read More »Being the Guitarist
From Science Codex Focusing on the present rather than letting the mind drift may help to lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol, suggests new research from the Shamatha Project at the University of California,… Read More »Mindfulness from Meditation Associated with Lower Stress Hormone
From LiveScience If you’ve ever struggled to keep your mind from wandering during an important test or another task that requires laser-like focus, researchers say a little meditation could help you concentrate. Mindfulness training, which… Read More »Mindfulness May Boost Focus on Tests
by Michael W. Taft Are you having trouble staying focused on your tax return? Is texting so fascinating that you can’t keep your eyes on the road? Concentration can be difficult for all of us,… Read More »Five Amazingly Powerful Secrets of Concentration
In a recent interview with the APA Monitor, Richie Davidson spoke about the effects of mindfulness meditation on resilience: “…[Speaking of] resilience again, there is a method of meditation that is very popular called mindfulness… Read More »Richie Davidson on Mindfulness Meditation and Resilience
By Traci Pedersen for Psych Central Adolescents who participated in a mindfulness program at school reported reduced symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress up to six months later. Furthermore, these teen students were less likely to develop more… Read More »Mindfulness at School Lowers Depressive Symptoms in Teens
Last Friday I attended a one-day conference called Practicing Mindfulness & Compassion, put on by Cal’s Greater Good Science Center in Berkeley. The purpose of the day was to look into ways that mindfulness practice… Read More »Does Mindfulness Increase Compassion?