Month: February 2016

How 8 week mindfulness meditation changes the brain

A Harvard research finds that participation in an 8 week MBSR (mindfulness based stress reduction) program with less than half an hour daily meditation resulted in significant differences in participant’s brain structure. A thickening of a number of different regions of the brain associated with learning and memory, emotional regulation, sense of self and perspective taking was observed whilst the amygdala, known to play an important role in anxiety and stress, showed decreased grey-matter density.

Click here for the full article in the Harvard Gazette.

Why Mindfulness is a Superpower – Animation

You may have have heard of mindfulness but are still wondering what it is all about. Here’s a short, funny and entertaining video that sums it up pretty well.

Mindfulness and Parenting

Kristen Race, brain scientist and mother, describes the stress of modern life, which our traditional stress response is often not suited to deal with, and describes how mindfulness can help. As a mother she talks about how mindfulness can help in particular for parents and children alike.

Benefits of Mindfulness

Some of the benefits of Mindfulness described by Professor Mark Williams (Oxford Mindfulness Center). With mindfulness, brain patterns evolve: empathy and compassion increases. The amygdala, the part of our brain triggering fight and flight responses, is inhibited with mindfulness. Mark Williams has co-developed the MBCT (Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy) to help people with depression. MBCT has now become one of the preferred treatments for depression in the UK and a number of other countries.