Robust learning requires substantial effort. Our recent studies, conducted in a sleep laboratory as well as in typical home environments, have showed that sleep contributes to learning. Indeed, sleep is important for solidifying memories of various types. By extension, in a contemplative practice when people strive to develop enduring prosocial qualities, such as compassion, kindness, …
Continue reading “Sleep’s role in realizing the prosocial benefits of contemplative practice”
This project will explore the ways in which a contemplative-based, anti-oppressive, and healing-centered curriculum developed by the Courage of Care Coalition and the Institute of Advanced Sustainability Studies can support individuals, who are already engaged in climate change mitigation and/or adaptation initiatives, to continue their climate work in a sustainable and hopeful manner. Specifically, we …
Buddhist and psychological models of awakening often propose that ethical sensitivities that encompass “peace, compassion, mindfulness and more justice” (Dalai Lama) can be fostered through mindfulness. The literature and our own previous work (Verhaeghen & Aikman, 2020) suggest that increased trait mindfulness is indeed associated with stronger endorsement of care and fairness/justice as moral values, …
“If people can learn to hate, they can be taught to love.” With tendrils of hate, disrespect, and arrogant dismissiveness implicated in the senseless loss of too many lives to COVID-19 and police brutality, these touchstone words of Nelson Mandela become ever more pressing. Yet it remains unknown how best to teach love. As we …
Compassion is a complex skill involving both psychological (invisible) components and behavioral (visible) manifestations. In a new generation of Social-Emotional Learning programs that target compassion like Social, Emotional, and Ethical Learning (SEE LearningTM), these skills are hypothesized to both develop naturally and to be cultivated intentionally through enrichment efforts. The challenge is that few developmentally …
Continue reading “Creation of a performance-based measure of compassion for use with children”
We theorize that mindfulness and compassion training tailored to forcibly displaced refugees will have significant salutary pro-social effects. By means of a randomized (active) control design, we will test whether Mindfulness-Based Trauma Recovery for Refugees (MBTR-R) has restorative pro-social effects on traumatized Eritrean asylum seekers. Pro-social outcomes include (i) Trust, (ii) Compassion, (iii) Pro-social inter-personal …
As I teach, I encounter a great deal of anxiety about the pandemic, racial injustice, and political polarization. But the pervasive sense of separateness, divisiveness, and fear are not totally new, they have been present long before this year. To respond we first need to hold these struggles and collective fears with compassion. And then …
Continue reading “What Contemplative Wisdom Can Teach Us About Navigating Challenging Times”
In the last twenty years, a sharp increase in contemplative research has created the need for an academic home for interdisciplinary scholarship, community, dialogue, and collaboration. This special Think Tank grant goes to a multidisciplinary group of leading contemplative researchers to begin the development of a new professional society for the field. This is a …
Continue reading “International Society for Contemplative Research”
The World Health Organization estimates that 20 million adults across the globe need palliative care, including a growing cohort of transgender-identified older adults. While best practices for palliative care exist, information to guide community-based care at the end of life for this cohort is not consistently available. Guided by the wisdom from contemplative practice, art, …
Continue reading “Silent Illumination: Compassionate End-of-Life Care for Transgender Elders”
In the midst of the COVID pandemic, health care is in the news daily. But there’s an often-overlooked element in many hospital systems: the role of chaplains. For patients experiencing loneliness, isolation, fear, and physical pain, chaplains offer much needed emotional support, spiritual guidance, and hope. But could chaplains and the patients they support also …
Continue reading “Cultivating Compassion in Healthcare: One Researcher’s Journey”
