This plenary session will consider the key major challenges we face during and after the pandemic and social unrest from the lens of social, affective and contemplative neuroscience and from public health. Insights from these disciplines will be applied to consider possible interventions and solutions for some of the key challenges we face today. The …
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Meditation: “Cultivating Equanimity” and Contemplative Arts
Equanimity is often mistaken for indifference. In fact, equanimity is the very quality that is needed when the stakes are high and you are deeply concerned about the outcome. It allows us to recover perspective and balance in order to see clearly and act with wisdom. Like all contemplative virtues, it can be trained. In …
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Plenary Symposium: Clinical Panel “Effects of Contemplative Training in Vulnerable Populations”
This session will feature talks on how contemplative and mindfulness-based training can help to enhance social connectivity and aid in the development of individual and societal flourishing in vulnerable and marginalized populations, including older adults, African Americans and people living with chronic medical conditions. David Creswell Mindfulness training to decrease loneliness and enhance social connectivity …
Mind & Life Summit Explores Role of Emotions in Personal and Collective Flourishing
Could transforming our mental states create a better world? This audacious proposition lay at the heart of the Science & Wisdom of Emotions Summit presented by Mind & Life and The Awake Network Foundation on May 2-5. Reflecting growing interest in the cultivation of emotional well-being, more than 100,000 people in 140 countries gathered for …
From Teacher Burnout to Teacher-led Reform
In honor of Women’s History Month, we’re pleased to profile Mind & Life grantee and Fellow Tish Jennings, a pioneer in mindfulness and education and social-emotional learning whose research over two decades has fostered greater teacher well-being and more compassionate classrooms. America faces a growing teacher shortage, made only worse by the pandemic. According to …
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Inspiring Minds – March 2021
Our March conversation, “Transformative Change: Where Research and Action in the World Meet,” features Doris Chang and Reggie Hubbard, with musician Grant Jones. We discuss the tendency for research and ‘real-world’ practice to get siloed. What can contemplative scientists and changemakers working to advance social justice learn from and share with each other?
Coping with Loneliness & Stress: The Role of Mindful Acceptance
Even before the coronavirus hit, the United States was considered one of the most stressed out countries in the world. Fear and anxiety brought on by the pandemic has only exacerbated the problem, with 8 out of 10 adults citing the pandemic as a significant source of stress in their lives. Researchers have been studying …
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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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