As contemplative approaches are being applied in educational settings with increasing frequency, early studies using self-report and academic outcomes suggest that these programs hold promise for the well-being of both teachers and students. However, the field currently lacks empirically rigorous measures to evaluate important real-world behavior and psychological change due to the cultivation of compassion, …
Continue reading “Developing Measures of Compassion, Empathy, Care, and Kindness”
In my own experience with meditation, I’ve often wondered about the difference between reading a thoughtful analysis or set of instructions, listening to an inspiring teacher, and sitting on the cushion to practice. These varied activities represent different ways of integrating information into our minds and bodies—in short, different ways of learning. Is one mode …
Our capacity to extend compassion is closely connected to our ability to receive compassion. To put it another way, our ability to “see others” is intimately connected to our ability to “be seen.” These capacities can be impeded or obstructed by fears of being vulnerable, strong feelings of self-loathing or dislike, and also by fears …
Fostering compassion and trust among individuals and groups is key to the success and sustainability of communities of care. A number of mindfulness and compassion-based contemplative interventions offer methods for enhancing connection, empathy, and care, yet these approaches too often focus on the development of intra rather than interpersonal skills. This is due in part …
In many compassion meditations, the meditator focuses on growing and extending love and compassion for others. In Benefactor Practice, a contemplative application adapted from an ancient form of Tibetan devotional practice by John Makransky, we visualize receiving love and acceptance from a trusted other. Using memories from our real life, we relive “benefactor moments,” times …
Continue reading “Basic Benefactor Practice: A Relational Contemplation for Deepening in Trust”
The ReSource Project is a large-scale, multimethod, longitudinal study investigating the effects of different mental training practices on subjective experience, behavior, brain, and physiology. Over nine months, 180 participants underwent a structured curriculum with three separate modules training: (1) attention and interoceptive awareness; (2) loving kindness and prosocial motivation; and (3) cognitive perspective taking and …
Physicians are trained with the explicit mandate of addressing suffering with compassion, yet mainstream medical training and the medical literature are largely silent about how to accomplish this. Through contemplative practice, written and oral narratives, deep listening, appreciative inquiry, and dialogue, our mindful practice programs were designed to enhance clinicians’ self-awareness, self-monitoring, and self-regulation during …
