Recent research: articles from spring/summer journals
23rd July 2017
I read a lot of research. When I find an article of particular interest I download it to my bibliographic database - Endnote - which currently contains over 25,000 abstracts. I also regularly tweet about emerging research, so following me on Twitter, Facebook or Google+ (click on the relevant icon …
Compassion lecture: what? why? how? so ... ?
1st June 2017
I'm due to give a short lecture tomorrow on "Compassion". Here is a downloadable copy of the slides ... sadly with most of the images removed for copyright reasons. The event is a "Collider session". It's a kind of upmarket brainstorming exercise with an invited group of participants to look …
Balanced meditation practice: an overview
22nd May 2017
Taking our attention inwards can be done helpfully in so many ways. We can relax; we can be mindfully aware; we can use visualisations; we can deeply savour present time experience; we can process difficulties from our pasts or prepare ourselves for challenges in the future. There are so many …
Self-compassion: soothing touch helps us settle and relax
20th May 2017
Touch can be profoundly soothing and settling. In an intriguing study - "Nonverbal channel use in communication of emotion: how may depend on why" - researchers found that when participants generated displays of eleven different emotions, touch was the most preferred nonverbal way of showing love and sympathy. Welcomed touch …
Mindful self-compassion: affectionate breathing meditation
18th May 2017
I'm just back from a five day Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) retreat in Iceland with Chris Germer & Christine Brahler. MSC teaches a whole host of meditation practices, with three underlined as core meditations. These three are Affectionate Breathing, Loving-Kindness for Ourselves, and Giving & Receiving Compassion. In this post I …
Upgrading the 'breathing space' meditation, some research-based suggestions (3rd post): embodied values
16th May 2017
I have already written a couple of blog posts "Upgrading the 'breathing space' meditation, some research-based suggestions (1st post): mindfulness & naming" and "Upgrading the 'breathing space' meditation, some research-based suggestions (2nd post): touch & affectionate releasing" where we have taken our attention inwards, noting & naming our internal state/our …
Upgrading the 'breathing space' meditation, some research-based suggestions (2nd post): touch & affectionate releasing
15th May 2017
I recently wrote a blog post "Upgrading the 'breathing space' meditation, some research-based suggestions (1st post): mindfulness & naming" where I commented that if the thousands of recent research papers on mindfulness, emotion regulation & related subjects couldn't help us improve on the helpfulness of brief meditation practices, then science …
Upgrading the 'breathing space' meditation, some research-based suggestions (1st post): mindfulness & naming
15th May 2017
Many forms of stress management & meditation teach brief "breathing space" exercises that can be used to bring oneself into the present in a variety of helpful ways. These seem to have been particularly popularised by the 3 minute breathing space exercise (3MBS) taught in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). Zindel …
Mindful self-compassion residential: last morning, reviewing & appreciating
13th May 2017
The first evening of this residential was back on Tuesday and it's now Saturday morning. I've already written an initial post "Mindful self-compassion residential: first morning, doubts & overview". So how am I feeling about the workshop now after three full days ... with just one to go? Happy, touched, …
Mindful self-compassion residential: first morning, doubts & overview
10th May 2017
Well this is interesting. Here we are - Catero, my wife, and I - at the start of a five day workshop on "Mindful self-compassion" run by Chris Germer & Christine Brahler at Drangshlid, Eyjafjoll on the south coast of Iceland. We flew into Reykjavik yesterday from Scotland, met up …