When a busy day is done, and you’re finally tucked in bed and fast asleep, your brain gets a break from that seemingly endless daily barrage of stimulation. For researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, that made for an ideal opportunity to take a look at brain waves in their most natural, uninfluenced state. They […]
Brain Change and Compassion: Using Mindfulness for Greater Empathy
All too often, we hear of people in need, of too many people going without. And as the holiday season fast approaches here in the United States, opportunities for kindness and helpfulness start to ramp up – a lot of people annually volunteer their time at local soup kitchens or set aside money, food, or […]
What Happens When Mindfulness Collides with Neuroscience?
When’s the last time you turned on the local news and heard a warm-hearted, uplifting story? Having trouble calling anything to mind? While it might be true that the media focuses mainly on hardship and tragedy, it’s also true that our brains are hardwired to remember the bad more often than the good. So how […]
New Tools for Healing: Bringing Mindfulness Practice into New Places
Capital murder, armed robbery, aiding and abetting . . . Often, the people who commit such crimes are fueled by years of anger and rage, and feel they have no other outlet for it than through violence. But for 20 inmates at the Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer, Alabama, a groundbreaking mindfulness program introduced them […]
Expanding our Capacity to Love Others (and Ourselves) through Mindfulness
Doctor, nurse, therapist, social worker . . . . . . we all have roles we identify with, both personally and professionally. But, what do these roles we play have to do with experiencing unconditional love, and how can changing our awareness impact our sense of it? In this video clip, Ram Dass, PhD, […]