In past blogs, I’ve mentioned the use of mindfulness in military pre-deployment training. As this process is in its infancy, there are many service people who will never come across mindfulness training as part of their military experience. One organization that is trying to rectify this gap, at least upon reentry into civilian life, is the Coming Home Project. The Project provides care, support, education, and stress management tools for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, service members, their families, and their service providers. Their programs address the psychological, emotional, spiritual, and relationship challenges experienced during all stages of deployment but especially…

We’ve talked a lot about meditation for general health and even for neuroplasticity. And yet . . . . . . have you ever been curious about what is actually happening in the brain during meditation? This was addressed by a recent study published in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. Jim Lagopoulos, PhD, out of the University of Sydney in Australia, led a group of researchers who measured brain waves during meditation. Within the same sitting and in random order, participants were asked to practice a 20-minute Acem meditation (a type of Norwegian-inspired nondirective mediation), as well as…

Some kids dream of being professional athletes or walking on the moon, but for many of us, it was the act of healing that motivated us entering the health and mental health professions. But this doesn’t mean there aren’t days when we wouldn’t rather be on the moon than treating a particularly challenging patient. Or maybe we’d rather be trying to sing our way to stardom (that would be tough going for me) than filling out the reams of paperwork that always sets my teeth on edge. Our field can be stressful and sometimes wearing – both mentally and physically….

Has anyone seen the Jim Carrey film “Yes Man”? In this film, he decides to change his unsatisfactory life by saying yes to everything. While he ends up modifying his yes stance somewhat, he may have been on to something. Mindfulness practitioners for many years have understood the effects that saying “no” can have on the body, mind and spirit, especially when we are saying no to our emotions. And while we can’t agree to everything in life, the following exercise taken from Tara Brach’s book Radical Acceptance may help illustrate the effects of saying yes to our emotions: “Sitting…

I’m always on the look-out for new mindfulness studies and projects. I’ve mentioned a number of my “favorite” researchers in past blogs and recently a new researcher (at least new to me) has caught my attention. Amishi Jha, PhD, out of the University of Miami, is the lead investigator of the Schofield Barracks Training and Research on the Neurobehavioral Growth (STRONG) project. This project endeavors to investigate if and how resilience training can improve the working memory (complex thought, problem solving, and cognitive control of emotions) of soldiers who are living under extreme stress. The work is ongoing, with the…

I just read another article on road rage. Let’s face it . . . some drivers are incompetent and that can be annoying . . . but violence? over someone else’s driving? Could mindfulness “cure” road rage and help the rest of us calm our righteous indignation? Probably not wipe it out altogether, but . . . . . . I have come across one exercise that might be particularly helpful, not just to quell contemptuous, angry thoughts about bad drivers, but for use in a variety of situations. And if you treat patients with anger-management issues, this exercise, The…