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Mindfulness Matters

My University of Vermont friends and colleagues, David and Carla Osgood, teach a unique course in Bali. Continuing Education credits are available for mental health professionals. This course has changed the life of my students who have had the fortune to take it. The course will take place of UVM spring break, 4-13 March 2011.…

Sharon Salzberg is a cofounder of the Insight Meditation Societyand the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, both in Barre, Massachusetts. Shehas studied and practiced Buddhist meditation since 1970 and has been teachingworldwide since 1974. She is a guiding teacher at IMS and the author of Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness(with Jon Kabat-Zinn), A Heart…

The Buddha spoke of four postures for meditation: sitting, walking, standing, and lying down. Walking meditation is another form of mindfulness practice that helps us to bring mindfulness into movement and our activities in the world. If we are blessed the ability to walk (a miracle that most of us take for granted) then we…

In the poem “Fire in the Earth,” David Whyte tells us of Moses receiving the command to “take off his shoes” as he approached the burning bush. This act of humility brought him closer to the earth, to the ground, and we learn that he “never recovered/ his complicated way of loving again,” and that…

It’s Stress Reduction Sunday. Read my weekly post in the Connecticut Watchdog, This week’s entry Dealing with Difficult Bosses and Other Problem People.  Relationships can be our greatest source of both consternation and joy. Humans are social creatures and social support has as big an impact on health as physical factors such as diet and smoking. For…

Q: “Your book, Wild Chickens and Petty Tyrants, is about mindfulness and you studied with the Dalai Lama. You’re also a practicing psychologist. Can you tell us how your Buddhist background comes into play in your work as a psychologist?” A: For the past 25 plus years Buddhist practices have influenced my work. Earlier in…

Have you seen Microsoft’s clever ad for their new Windows-based phone? It ties in to our lively discussion from last Friday on how technology challenges our ability to be mindful. After an hilarious parade of phone-based attention lapses culminating in a man dropping his phone in a urinal, an onlooker can only say, “Really?” The…

Meditation doesn’t just make us feel good; it changes our brains. Studies show that meditation changes both structure and function of our brains (in beneficial ways) beyond the period of meditation. Recent advances in neuroimaging along with encouragement from His Holiness the Dalai Lama have reinvigorated research into the effects of meditation. Rick Hanson summarized…

I’m reading the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Business Week Bestseller, and provocatively titled, The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn’t by Robert Sutton reveals some harrowing statistics of bullying and abuse in the workplace. A 2000 study found 27% of Michigan workers had been mistreated at work with…

“I cook therefore I am” Watzke suggests. Did you know there are 500 million neurons in your gut. That pales in comparison to the brain (100 billion) but is certainly enough to qualify as a “second brain.” This fascinating talk enlightens us to the what is going on in our gut. Of course, mindfulness practice…
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