Article Found on ScienceDaily
Mindfulness meditation programs have shown promise for the treatment of anxiety, one of the most common mental health disorders in the U.S. New research suggests people can begin to derive psychological and physiological benefits from the practice after a single introductory session. Read more
Article by Rick Hanson, Ph.D. | Found on MindBodyGreen
Let’s conduct an experiment: Take a moment to think back over your day; which experiences stand out for you?
For most of us, it’s the negative ones. Enjoyable, useful experiences—like smiling at a friend, finishing a task, or learning something new—typically happen many times a day, but they usually wash through the brain like water through a sieve, barely leaving a trace. Meanwhile, our stressful, often harmful experiences—like getting stuck in traffic and being late for a meeting, feeling brushed aside by a friend or misunderstood by a partner, or ruminating about worries or resentments—routinely produce lasting changes in neural structure or function. Read more
Article Found on FamilyDoctor.org
People who have good emotional health are aware of their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. They have learned healthy ways to cope with the stress and problems that are a normal part of life. They feel good about themselves and have healthy relationships. Read more
Article Found on RickHanson.net
What can you do when you’re shaken?
The Practice:
Find your ground.
Why?
I’ve been to New Zealand, and really respect and like it. There’s a Maori term – turangawaewae, “a place to stand” – that I’ve come back to many times.
I’m sure I don’t know the full meaning of the word in its cultural context. But at a basic level, it’s clear that we all need a place to stand. A physical place to be sure – hearth and home, land and sea, a bed to curl up in – but also psychological or spiritual places, such as feeling loved, a calm clear center inside, knowledge of the facts, compassion and ethics, and realistic plans. Read more
Article by Lindsay Kalner | Found on MindBodyGreen
Worried about whether you’ll make the deadline, or an impending apocalypse? Gabrielle Oettingen, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at New York University and well-respected author of Rethinking Positive Thinking, has discovered a new truth about anxiety. Her latest research published in Frontiers in Psychology supports the belief that mental contrasting, a visualization technique, can help reduce our fear of future events. From achievement-related worries to romantic ones, mental contrasting helped study subjects feel more at ease. Read more