Mindfulness is suggested to contribute to emotion regulation by enhancing a person’s mind-body-environment connection. Mindfulness has also been suggested to enhance awareness of distinct embodied states’ reward values – eg. people typically prefer joy over fear – and promote autonomous shifting towards more rewarding states, naturally contributing to emotion regulation. Our aim is to develop …
Continue reading “Linking embodiment with the neural circuitry of mindfulness and reward”
The Mindfulness-to-Meaning theory proposes that the established relationship between mindfulness and measures of wellbeing may be due to its effects on emotion regulation. More specifically, they argue that the practice of mindfulness evokes more flexible awareness and the ability to suspend our automatic thoughts, emotions, and actions in-the-moment. As such, it can help create distance …
Emotion dysregulation, difficulties managing intense emotions, is common across many psychiatric disorders and is central to some of the most severe and difficult-to-treat populations in psychiatry. To immediately decrease suffering from emotions, individuals with emotion dysregulation often rely on destructive behaviors, including substance use and violence. Mindfulness may help prevent these problems, as it effectively …
Unpaid, or informal, caregivers of dementia patients are more likely to experience heightened stress and a variety of adverse psychological and physical health outcomes as well as disturbed sleep. Therefore, it is becoming increasingly important to identify interventions that can promote psychological and physical well-being of caregivers. The overarching goal of this proposed study is …
Conscious breathing is an aspect of all forms of meditation and yoga. Emerging research indicates that the effects of controlled breathing on the mind-body system and concomitant mental states warrants further investigation. We propose a two-phase investigation of breathing practices during which we will: (1) systematically review the literature on reported effects of voluntarily regulated …
This ethnographic research will investigate contextual factors associated with contemplative practices in the nation of Bhutan. The motivation driving this research is twofold: firstly, the impact of contextual factors in the experience of contemplative practice has not been adequately studied; and secondly, Bhutan is experiencing an increase in the rate of suicide. Although the Bhutanese …
Minority and low-income couples tend to experience greater individual and relational stress compared to higher income and/or White couples, which is likely due to the unique challenges these populations face. Given that previous studies indicate mindfulness reduces both individual and relationship stress, it may be a particularly useful tool for these underserved populations. Unfortunately, low-income …
Chronic pain is a major physical and mental health care problem, and is challenging to treat. In addition to pain, many patients feel bad about themselves and may experience guilt or shame. Self-compassion is an element of mindfulness-based interventions, and describes the skill of being kind and caring towards oneself. Thus, for patients with chronic …
If you’ve tried meditation, one of the first mental experiences you probably become aware of is that your mind doesn’t tend to stay in one place. “Mind wandering” is an extremely common occurrence, with studies suggesting it makes up nearly half of our waking lives. When our minds wander, they can go nearly anywhere—from negative …
Continue reading “Where Does Your Mind Wander—And Does It Matter?”
Among all school-based factors, teachers have the largest impact on student achievement. The teacher-student relationship accounts for much of this influence. Although many teacher education programs provide knowledge about effective teaching behaviors, few target for development the skills teachers’ employ to enact what is known. Bridging the gap between knowing about and being able to …
