Can meditation help you feel less pain? What if one week of short meditation classes could change the way your brain perceives pain? Fadel Zeidan, PhD, and his colleagues at Wake Forest University wanted to find out how mindfulness meditation affects pain reception. Specifically, they looked at the areas of the brain responsible for constructing […]
A Better Night’s Sleep with Mindfulness
One of the problems with antidepressants is that they sometimes don’t work. Though many people try, it can be difficult to treat depression with antidepressants alone. And the side effects, like fatigue, anxiety, loss of libido, and sleep disturbance, can be frustrating. Dr. Willoughby Britton and her research team at the University of Arizona wanted […]
Do Your Wandering Thoughts Make You Unhappy? You’re Not Alone
Everywhere I go, I see people glued to their phones – almost obsessed. And you might say, why not? Phones these days can do everything – take photos, store games and books, keep our calendars . . . even help us chart our happiness. Yes, I did say chart our happiness. This app is one […]
Guided Imagery and PTSD: A Different Approach to Treatment
When I visualize a traditional therapist’s office, and then a military boot camp . . . . . . I come up with two very different images. It might seem obvious to those of us within the helping professions that, in order for treatment to be effective, we need to match the intervention to the […]
Depression and Traumatic Brain Injury: Can Mindfulness Help?
It can happen in the blink of an eye . . . . . . a healthy person on the way to work is suddenly blindsided by another car, and the aftermath can impact not only the driver, but her family and friends as well. Months, maybe even years of surgery, physical therapy, care giving, […]
Mindfulness and Distracted College Students
Anyone who’s ever spent time on a university campus would probably agree, there’s plenty there to distract a young college student. Since academic success relies heavily on a student’s ability to sustain focus over the course of a semester, those having any kind of attention deficit can find the college experience especially challenging. That’s why […]
Memorial Day Weekend: A Time to Celebrate and Honor
Poet Maya Angelou wrote, “How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!” Here in the United States, Memorial Day weekend serves as the traditional kick off for summertime and everything good that comes to mind about the season . . . . . . families and friends gathering for […]
Entering the Unknown: 158 Practitioners Start Something New
Do you remember what you felt like on your first day of high school? When I look back, I can remember feeling uncertain and a little bit scared in that new place with those new people. But I can also remember feeling a spark of excitement at the beginning of a whole new adventure. And […]
Smile Train: Celebrating One Million Smiles
Is it any surprise that one of the most popular songs on radio right now is about clapping along in happiness? If you’re anything like I am, some days the news of the world can seem so bleak, you’re just eager to hear something different. So it’s refreshing to see something uplifting go viral. And […]
Mindfulness: Help for Breast Cancer Survivors?
Last weekend, Walnut Hill Park in New Britain, Connecticut, was awash in pink for the annual Race in the Park, on behalf of breast cancer research. Throughout the event, breast cancer survivors were honored with a special breakfast, mini manicures, chair massages, and other amenities celebrating their courage and perseverance in battling this disease. The […]