Posts tagged with 'meditation'
Learning mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR): first evening of the course
30th September 2011
I wrote a blog post a few days ago entitled "Mindfulness: teaching & learning". I talked about my decision to participate in a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course, saying "Why participate in a MBSR course? Basically because I think it would be rather interesting! There's a real groundswell of energy …
Mindfulness: teaching & learning
26th September 2011
It's a funny week for me. On Thursday I'm due to start an 8 week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course as a participant, and on Saturday I'm scheduled to co-run a one day workshop on Mindfulness & Hypnosis. I've been involved in mindfulness practice for a long time. I joined …
Proposal for a BABCP special interest group on compassion
30th June 2011
The British Association for Behavioural & Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP) encourages the formation of Special Interest Groups (SIG's) in areas that members want to particularly focus on. There has been discussion recently about a possible SIG on Compassion. If you're a member of the BABCP and you would like to be …
Recent research: two studies on relationships, two on body to mind effects, and two on mindfulness
17th February 2011
Here are details of half a dozen recent research papers - two on relationships, two on body to mind effects, and two on mindfulness. Fuller details, links and abstracts of all the studies mentioned are given further down this post. First a couple of relationship studies. Gibb & colleagues reported …
Antonio Damasio’s “Self comes to mind”: memory and the autobiographical self 1
10th January 2011
"Why shouldn't truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense." Mark Twain I wrote last month about "Antonio Damasio's 'Self comes to mind': overview" saying that I wanted to think a bit more about three of the areas covered in his recent book - "Emotions and …
Recent research: 2 mindfulness studies, 2 on goal setting, 1 on wellbeing & reduction in risk of mental illness, 1 on compassion
23rd December 2010
So here are half a dozen recent research papers in the general fields of positive psychology and mindfulness (abstracts and links are given further down this post). They're mostly by "big hitters" on big topics. So there is the paper by Willem Kuyken & colleagues entitled "How does mindfulness-based cognitive …
Recent research: 4 studies on prayer and their implications for compassion, loving-kindness & goodwill meditation practices
24th November 2010
"If you want others to be happy, practise compassion. If you want to be happy, practise compassion" Dalai Lama I was struck by three recent research papers on intercessory prayer, and one somewhat less recent meta-analysis. What I found most interesting about these studies is their potential relevance for meditation/prayer …
A new book: "Assessing mindfulness & acceptance processes in clients"
6th June 2010
Ruth Baer's new book "Assessing mindfulness & acceptance processes in clients: illuminating the theory & practice of change" has just been published. The dust jacket description states "How does mindfulness work? Thousands of therapists utilize mindfulness-based treatments and have witnessed firsthand the effectiveness of these approaches on clients suffering from …
Developing a training course: life skills for stress, health & wellbeing
19th February 2010
Last Spring, I went walking and camping in Glen Affric. Amongst other things, being away on my own in the hills gave me a chance to think creatively. Once I was back I wrote a blog post about developing a next generation stress management course. I said "I've known for …
My dilemma: passion or peacefulness?
5th January 2010
I had an interesting mix of experiences yesterday. It's left me wondering - about the balance between passion and peacefulness, about whether vitality and craziness fit into a meditative life, about courage and risk and exploration. I play tennis - not very well. I used to play quite a lot …