Posts tagged with 'mindfulness'
Barbara Fredrickson’s recent research study on loving-kindness meditation (third post)
21st December 2008
What are some implications for using forms of mind training for ourselves and for teaching others? Reading this research study leads me to think about optimum amount of time spent practising these methods, the importance of encouraging application during daily life. I discuss these issues in this blog posting. It …
Barbara Fredrickson’s recent research study on loving-kindness meditation (second post)
14th December 2008
I have already written an initial blog post about Barbara Fredrickson and colleagues' interesting recent research paper (Fredrickson, Cohn et al. 2008) on the effects of teaching people loving-kindness meditation. So what are some possible implications of this research for people in general, for using forms of mind training (meditation, …
Barbara Fredrickson’s recent research study on loving-kindness meditation (first post)
7th December 2008
I've just been reading the recent paper by Barbara Fredrickson and colleagues "Open hearts build lives: Positive emotions, induced through loving kindness meditation, build consequential personal resources" (Fredrickson, Cohn et al. 2008). It's quite a long read - 16 closely printed A4 pages - and it's fascinating in a whole …
Recent research: half a dozen studies on cognitive therapy
20th November 2008
Here are half a dozen recent studies involving cognitive therapy (CBT). The first by Craigie et al explores the use of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) to treat generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Although, as one would expect, MBCT helped GAD sufferers, it was noteworthy that results "fall well short of outcomes …
Four aspects of helpful inner focus: 1.) reducing negative states
19th October 2008
I started meditating regularly while I was still at university in the early 1970's. I then went on a number of meditation retreats and visited a whole series of monasteries and ashrams. By the late 70's I had a good deal of experience of a fruit salad of methods including …
Handouts & questionnaires for wellbeing and calming skills
13th October 2008
I continue to slowly add handouts & questionnaires to the relevant area in the website's "Good Knowledge" section. Here are a some that I use largely in the territory of wellbeing, mindfulness and relaxation. Some are assessment and monitoring questionnaires. Some provide orientating information. Some describe specific exercises to do. …
Draft SIGN non-pharmacological depression treatments guideline, 6th post: effectiveness of psychological therapies 1b
23rd September 2008
This is the 6th in a series of blog posts about the recent day seminar introducing a Scottish draft guideline for "Non-pharmacological management of depression." In my last post I discussed Gary Morrison's initial presentation of the day's second session on "Effectiveness of Psychological Therapies in Depression 1". Gary talked …
Some mindfulness resources on the internet
3rd September 2008
There was an interesting request on JISCmail (see note below), the listserv for BABCP cognitive-behavioural therapists, asking about podcasts on mindfulness. Several people wrote in with useful suggestions. These included: I don't know if this is exactly what you are looking for, but you can listen to Matthiew Richard on …
Recent research: ACT, acceptance & values in chronic pain, mindfulness & CBT in rheumatoid arthritis
7th August 2008
McCracken, L. M. and K. E. Vowles (2008). "A prospective analysis of acceptance of pain and values-based action in patients with chronic pain." Health Psychol 27(2): 215-20. [PubMed] OBJECTIVE: Acceptance of pain and values-based action appear important in the emotional, physical, and social functioning of individuals with chronic pain. The …
Recent research: exercise & mental function, mindfulness, smoking, fatigue, and lots on depression
23rd June 2008
Here are some articles - mostly published in May - that I found particularly interesting: Angevaren, M., G. Aufdemkampe, et al. (2008). "Physical activity and enhanced fitness to improve cognitive function in older people without known cognitive impairment." Cochrane Database Syst Rev(2): CD005381. [PubMed] Exercise seems to improve cognitive function …