This presentation will present research about Mindfulness-Based Mind Fitness
Training (MMFT®) within the context of modifying mindfulness-based training for environments characterized by extreme or prolonged stress and deployment to combat and others in highstress occupations, it will examine how mindfulness training can be integrated with an understanding of the role of the autonomic nervous system in stress and trauma. In the high-stress context, the acute self-awareness of body sensations developed through mindfulness can lead to excessive activation of the autonomic nervous system; the possibility of these sensitivities is taken into account with a progression of exercises, including some unique to MMFT®, which differs significantly from other mindfulness-based training programs. The presentation will briefly outline the structure of the MMFT® course, and share some empirical evidence of its efficacy among troops in terms of cognitive performance and nervous system regulation. MMFT® has been the subject of four different department of defense neuroscience research studies.

Elizabeth Stanley

Georgetown University

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