Here is part one of the Buddhist Geeks interview with Buddhist neuropsychologist Dr. Rick Hanson. Ever since the publication of Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom (2009), Hanson has been one of the prolific and popular authors and teachers in the Buddhist world. BG 335: Practicing with the Brain in Mind … Read more
A recently developed model (late 1990s) for assessing early childhood experience as it relates to adult physical and mental health is the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) assessment (Felitti, et al., 1998; get your score here). The ACE scale identifies ten forms of adverse childhood experience (occurring before the age of 18): (1) verbal and emotional … 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
Zen teacher and integral darling Diane Hamilton has been vigorously promoting her new book, Everything Is Workable: A Zen Approach to Conflict Resolution (Shambhala, 2013). Here is the publisher’s ad copy for the book: Using mindfulness to work with and resolve the inevitable interpersonal conflicts that arise in all areas of life.Conflict is going to … 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