Common experience tells us that our working lives produce mental states thatare far from mindful. Researchers and theorists have long criticized dominantmanagerial practices for their negative impact on individual well-being. Contemplative practices stemming from religious and philosophical traditions have provided individuals interpretive frameworks to attain empowerment and mindfulness in the midst of social and occupational …
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Concurrent Session 3 – Mindfulness and SelfCompassion-Based Exposure Therapy for Combat Veterans with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Clinical Outcome and Neuroimaging Studies
Pilot work (thanks to a Mind and Life Varela grant) found significant symptomreduction following MBCT adapted for combat-related posttraumatic stressdisorder (PTSD). Our subsequent fouryear, federally funded project developed a novel 16-week PTSD group intervention for veterans returning from Afghanistan (OEF) and Iraq (OIF), utilizing mindfulness and self-compassion meditation (Mindfulness-Based Exposure Therapy, or MBET). PTSD patients …
Concurrent Session 3 – Looking Back to Move Forward: Exploring Shortand Long-Term (20-year) Impacts of Early Exposure (Elementary School) to Mindful-Based Learning (MBL)
Interest in, and enthusiasm for, implementing mindfulness-based curricula in school settings has been growing rapidly over the last decade. Research has begun to document the critical importance of social and emotional skills for student achievement and how these skills can be effectively nurtured through mindfulness-based skills training. In the mid 1990s, a forward-thinking teacher implemented …
Concurrent Session 3 – Heartfulness as Mindfulness: Affectivity and Perspective in Abrahamic and Dharmic Traditions
Current theories of mindfulness (Pali: sati) emphasize attention, emotional regulation, and meta-awareness. This interpretation de-emphasizes an original association of sati with remembrance in relation to cultivating virtue. Recovering remembrance reconnects mindfulness with narrative traditions of loving virtue. In practice, this occurs through cultivating both (1) affective awareness of the source of love, or ultimate reality; …
Concurrent Session 3 – Health Care (Medical) Implications of Meditative/ Contemplative Practice
This panel will explore the medical relevance of contemplative practice, from brain and nervous system function and structure, to the role of positive emotions in boosting immune system function and furthering life satisfaction and meaning. Dr. Barry Kerzin will present experiences as a physician, ministering on the one hand to monks, and on the other, …
Concurrent Session 3 – Karuna and Critical Theory
For the last several decades, much of the study of literature has involved critical perspectives based on class, race, gender, and sexuality, as well as applications of theory in postcolonial studies, psychoanalysis, deconstruction, performance studies, and postmodernism. It is not uncommon for critics to use these and other tools to demonstrate how works of literature …
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Concurrent Session 3 – Innovations in Mindfulness for Educators: Complementary Approaches and Outcomes
There has been a steady increase in interest in utilizing contemplative practice to improve teaching and learning in schools. At the first International Symposium for Contemplative Studies meeting in 2012, a panel presented preliminary findings from two teacher programs. The current panel will provide a research and practice update on innovative approaches for promoting mindfulness …
Master Lecture – Contemplative Practice Starts with The Body
Contemplative Practice Starts with The Body: Understanding Somatic Awareness, Brain Dynamics, and Healing Presence in Mindfulness and Other Disciplines Somatic awareness training in mindfulness, Tai Chi, yoga, and other practices change the brain. It also helps us stay “present” to ourselves and the world around us. This talk describes how somatic awareness practice helps us …
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Master Lecture – Secular Ethics
A Call To Care: The Mind & Life Institute’s New Ethics, Education, and Human Development Initiative (Brooke Dodson-Lavelle) Inspired by His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s call to design a curriculum and pedagogy in “secular ethics,” the Mind & Life Institute identified an important opportunity to join the growing movement of educators, scientists, and contemplatives engaged …
ISCS 2014 – Master Lecture – Sona Dimidjian, Amishi Jha
Successes and Challenges of Mindfulness Training in Applied Settings
