Researchers at the University of Wisconsin, working in Richard Davidson’s lab, have found that Sudarshan Kriya Yoga can help reduce the symptoms of PTSD and allow them to better manage the condition. The original article is paywalled at the Journal of Traumatic Stress, so here is a summary from the British Psychological Society, followed the … Read more
In this new mini review from Frontiers in Cognition, Lippelt, Hommel, and Colzato compare three meditation types (focused attention, open monitoring and loving kindness) in terms of their effects on attention, conflict monitoring, and creativity. The three research areas the authors covered in this review (attentional control, performance monitoring, and creativity or thinking style) seem … Read more
Via Scientific American Mind. Dr. Pace studies biological mechanisms linking psychological stress to illness, and novel ways to combat stress to promote optimal health. He is Assistant Professor in the Colleges of Nursing and Medicine (Department of Psychiatry) at the University of Arizona, and also the director of the Arizona Stress and Health Collaboratory (based … Read more
The benefits are pretty amazing in my experience, but I also had unlimited access to the tank and could float in each session for as long as I wanted. For about a year and a half of my time in grad school back in the early 1990s, I floated on average about once a week, … Read more
Vince Horn speaks with neuroscientist David Vago in part one of this two-part Buddhist Geeks Podcast. Good stuff. BG 329: A Neuroscience of Enlightenment by David Vago Podcast: Download Episode Description: David Vago is a contemplative neuroscientist and Jake Davis is a philosopher and Buddhist practitioner. Together they have authored an article proposing the question … Read more
This appeared on the Shambhala Sunspace blog and it was too good not to share. Pema Chödrön is the author of The Places that Scare You, When Things Fall Apart, and Start Where You Are, among other books. A good introduction to her work is Comfortable with Uncertainty: 108 Teachings on Cultivating Fearlessness and Compassion. … Read more
From Upaya Zen Center, this is an 8-part series of podcasts featuring B Alan Wallace, one of the foremost scholars of Tibetan Buddhism. The series of talks is focused on the meditative practice of “settling the mind in its natural state,” which is foundational for both the Mahamudra and Dzogchen traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. … Read more
This is wonderful to see, finally – even if it is less than honest about the existing evidence for lifestyle interventions to affect depression levels. Drugs for depression are not treating the depression, they are creating an effect of feeling better through making people, for lack of a better word, stoned. I have seen, firsthand, … Read more
In comparing long-term meditators, short-term meditators, and a control group, the researchers found no difference in the groups on a measure of interoception sensitivity (heartbeat detection). This might be equivalent to asking a plumber to find electrical current leakage in your house – wrong person for the job. On the other hand, if they … Read more
New research from Richard Davidson’s team at the U of Wisconsin has identified gene expression changes in meditation. After eight hours of mindfulness practice, the meditators showed a range of genetic and molecular differences, including altered levels of gene-regulating machinery and reduced levels of pro-inflammatory genes, which in turn correlated with faster physical recovery from … Read more