During her recent visit to the Mind & Life offices in Charlottesville, social neuroscientist Dr. Tania Singer spoke as much about the heart as the brain. Singer is the director of the Department of Social Neuroscience at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig, Germany. She is on the board …
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A Conversation with Jim Austin and Susan Bauer-Wu
Mind & Life was pleased to welcome Dr. James Austin to Charlottesville, Virginia during his visit to the area. Jim is a long-time Mind & Life Fellow and a true pioneer of contemplative science. In conversation with Mind & Life president Susan Bauer-Wu, Jim shared his wisdom and knowledge on meditation, the brain, and secrets …
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A Conversation with Jim Austin and Susan Bauer-Wu
It was accident and curiosity that led Dr. James H. Austin to a moment of awakening one day in 1974, in the form of a red Japanese maple leaf. He was in Japan, meditating in a centuries-old Zen temple, when he entered into a not-quite-sleeping, not-quite-waking state. Jim was relatively new to meditation, having begun …
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Utilizing Mindfulness Practice to Facilitate the Transition to College
Part 6 in a weeklong series of blog posts written by undergraduate students from the 2017 spring-semester class, “Mindfulness & Compassion: Living Fully Personally and Professionally” at the University of Virginia. Freshman year is a unique experience because everything about college and your life as a student is so new: new friends who may be …
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Right Here, Write Now
Part 5 in a weeklong series of blog posts written by undergraduate students from the 2017 spring-semester class, “Mindfulness & Compassion: Living Fully Personally and Professionally” at the University of Virginia. Because writing is listening, I am a listener first. And long a lover of words — the way they dance off the tongue and …
Nature & Well-Being: Gratitude
Part 4 in a weeklong series of blog posts written by undergraduate students from the 2017 spring-semester class, “Mindfulness & Compassion: Living Fully Personally and Professionally” at the University of Virginia. Introduction Sitting on the beach, hearing the waves lap gently against the sand as the stars make their appearance into the sky, it is …
Mindfulness as a Treatment for Depression and Anxiety
Part 3 in a weeklong series of blog posts written by undergraduate students from the 2017 spring-semester class, “Mindfulness & Compassion: Living Fully Personally and Professionally” at the University of Virginia. Depression and anxiety are two of the most prevalent mental disorders in the United States (Anxiety and Depression Association of America, 2016). Depression is …
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An Exploration of Nature, Mindfulness and Well-Being
Part 2 in a weeklong series of blog posts written by undergraduate students from the 2017 spring-semester class, “Mindfulness & Compassion: Living Fully Personally and Professionally” at the University of Virginia. Introduction As a second year student at the University of Virginia, I started to notice myself living in a state of frenzy. I was …
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Mindfulness in Periods of Stress
Part 1 in a weeklong series of blog posts written by undergraduate students from the 2017 spring-semester class, “Mindfulness & Compassion: Living Fully Personally and Professionally” at the University of Virginia. Transitioning to new environments is always difficult, especially for young adults entering adulthood. Many students find the transition from middle school to high school …
Meditating Together: Tania Singer on the Contemplative Dyad
As part of the work that she’s leading on the ReSource Project—a large-scale multi-methodological secular mental training program—Tania Singer is studying novel forms of intersubjective mental training practices that are performed with a partner. These contemplative dyad practices are aimed at boosting social closeness and perceived interconnectedness. In this video, Singer, who is the Director …
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