In our daily life, we encounter various people, objects, or environmental context that can evoke memories of unpleasant events. Some of us might be able to quickly move on from these memories, whereas others might get stuck repeatedly thinking about them. The tendency to repeatedly think about stressors is called rumination, which is closely linked …
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Conscious Connected Breathing for Chronic Low Back Pain: A Pilot RCT
Chronic pain is a major source of human suffering, and chronic low back pain (cLBP) is among the most prevalent, costly, and disabling persistent pain conditions. There is an urgent need for safe and effective treatments for cLBP and a greater understanding of the mechanisms whereby these treatments confer their therapeutic effects. Contemplative practices, including …
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Tuned In! A Mindfulness-Based Affirmative Program to Virtually Address the Mental Health Needs of Sexual and Gender Minority Youth
This study seeks to evaluate the effectiveness of Tuned In! — A Mindfulness-Based Affirmative Program for LGBTQIA Youth (herein called Tuned In!) with sexual and gender minority youth (SGMY). This project will build upon the promising results from previous community-based research (a pilot feasibility study of the Tuned In! intervention) to test Tuned In! on …
Music-Based Mindfulness Intervention for Black Americans
Black Americans experience significantly more stress and anxiety than other racial groups but have fewer sources of support. Although mindfulness represents a promising intervention for decreasing stress and anxiety, there are significant barriers that prevent Black Americans from accessing extant mindfulness tools, including cost, time, and limited cultural relevance. Under the mentorship of Dr. Matthew …
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How One Scientist is Using Mindfulness to Transform Treatment for Pain and Addiction
There’s growing concern that the COVID-19 pandemic is exacerbating another ongoing epidemic: the opioid crisis. Recent reports point to an increase in fatal overdoses in the United States since the pandemic began. Could mindfulness-based approaches offer long-term relief for those grappling with chronic pain and addiction? Dr. Eric Garland, Director of the Center on Mindfulness …
International Society for Contemplative Research
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 …
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Youth4Peace Mindfulness
A trauma & context-sensitive mindfulness program for peacebuilding and reconciliation (of TS-MBSR category) will gather 16 young peacebuilders, from India, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh, working with communities affected by diverse forms of violence such as victims of war or armed conflict, refugees, internally displaced persons, or migrants; with the aim to discuss, reflect, share, …
Student Flourishing Initiative: Building Resiliency Among College Students
One in five college students reports declining mental health as a result of the COVID pandemic. This is on top of a recent generational rise in rates of anxiety and depression among college-aged youth. Could a unique course that blends academic and experiential learning help prepare first-year students for the stressors that lie ahead during …
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Compassion-Centered Spiritual Healthcare
Although hospital chaplains play a vital role in delivering emotional and spiritual care to a broad range of both religious and non-religious patients, there is remarkably little research on the best practices of chaplaincy training or “active ingredients” of chaplain spiritual consults. The need for rigorous research in this area is highlighted by the demands …
Meditation, concepts and de-reification: Investigation of possible links between contemplative and neurocognitive perspectives
This project is a theoretical and experimental pilot investigation of the impact of contemplative practices on concepts — the fundamental building blocks of cognition. The exploration focuses on intentionality of concepts as their property of representing entities whilst being detached from them. Terms such as ‘metacognitive insight’ (Teasdale et al., 2002), ‘re-perceiving’ (Shapiro et al., …
