mindful august 2014 sampler

AUGUST 2014 mindful.org

10 Yoga Movementsto Reduce

Stress

Neuroscientist Richie Davidson

How to Train Your Brain

“How meditation made me 10% happier”

ABC News Anchor

Dan Harris

“Mobbing” at Work: How to Prevent It

Tara Brach: Stop Being So Hard on Yourself

THE TRULY CRAZY THINGS WE DO BEHIND THE WHEEL

DIGITAL SAMPLERView selected pages from Mindful’s August 2014 issue. Subscribe at mindful.org

contents

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32 How I Learned to Become 10% HappierIn excerpts from his book, 10% Happier, ABC news anchor Dan Harris describes his journey from meditation skeptic to committed practitioner who believes in the benefits of mindfulness.

42 Get Up & MoveIn Part Three, we look at mindful walking and movement and feature 10 simple yoga exercises to reduce stress and improve well-being. Also included are your (our readers!) favorite practices.

50 Stalking the Meditating Brain Meet world-renowned neuroscientist Richie Davidson and find out why his research on how we can change our brains for the better has such huge—and promising— implications. By Tracy Picha.

Sidebars: A preview of three research projects currently underway under Davidson’s direction

Infographic: An at-a-glance look at the many spheres of Richie Davidson’s influence p 58

60 Driving to DistractionJeff Greenwald goes out on the road to explore the frightening phenomenon of mindless driving—and how you can become a less bored and reactive driver.

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Third installment of our Getting Started series

Features

“It’s a proven technique for preventing the voice in your head from leading you around by the nose.” –Dan Harris

2 mindful August 2014

On our coverNeuroscientist Richie Davidson, the world’s most-cited scientist on the topic of mindfulness. Learn more about him and his work on page 50

Photograph by Cameron Wittig, styling by Lisa Barry.

Departments

65 In Practice66 TechniquesThe Art of ConversationFive steps to enjoying more empathetic and artful conversation.

67 At WorkConfront Mob Rule; Contribute to CommunityMichael Carroll and Janice Marturano answer your workplace questions.

68 Ms. Mindful on RelationshipsHow the Thrill Can Last a LifetimeIt’s up to us to awaken passion when it’s waning, and mindfulness can provide the tools.

70 InsightFinding Peace Through Self-AcceptanceTara Brach provides an easy-to-remember, four-step tool to stop being so hard on ourselves: The RAIN of Self-Compassion.

4 Your ThoughtsReaders write, tweet, post.

6 Our ThoughtsOur editor-in-chief is in a New York state of mind, and talking about paying it forward.

9 NowNews from education, technology, the arts, neuroscience, and psychology, including a roundup of current research.

18 Bookmark ThisWritings, recordings, and apps that are capturing our attention.

20 Mindful-MindlessSome reduce the number of vehicles on the road through car sharing while others obsess about doggie do-do. Our take on who’s paying attention and who’s not.

22 In My BodyTaking it in StrideRunner Lorraine Young talks about how running keeps her focused and in the moment, and how it permeates all areas of her life—mentally and emotionally.

24 Mind ScienceWhen Memory is Under AttackA new study reveals that mindfulness improves working memory in Marines before they deploy. Sharon Begley asks, if it can help them during times of terrible stress, what can it do for the rest of us?

28 Mindful EatingSweet Delicate Taste of SummerMindful foodie and chef Béatrice Peltre thinks apricots are the quintessence of summer. Here she features the nutritiously delicious fruit in a savory salad and a luscious dessert.

80 MindSpaceArtist Maira Kalman explores a few of the anxieties that kids today are exposed to.

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August 2014 mindful 3


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you answeredWhat do you do when you find it difficult to meditate?

I am usually eager to sit, but sometimes I feel a little resistance, and I try to observe that. Because even when it’s just a “meh” session, I’m very glad I did it. Teresa BuchananBaton Rouge, Louisiana

I find it hard to set time aside, and I don’t often like being alone. I recently joined a class at my local meditation center, and I’m enjoying the company and the guided practice. Sue AndersonNorwich, England

When I’m frustrated, I try to be compassionate towards myself. Knowing that everything arises—emotions, thoughts, distractions—and that I can just observe it is key. Maureen Lauer-GattaNiles, Ohio

When I’m procrastinating, I set my timer for 5 minutes and tell myself that’s all I need do and I can continue after the timer goes off if I want to. This is practical and works.Lisa DanielsAlexandria, Virginia

You can consciously choose present moment awareness, while sitting and while going about your business. The ben-efits do not need to be looked for. They start to unfold. When people try to get started with meditation, they often try too hard. It isn’t about trying. It’s about allowing and being.Kerry Kirk Fairfax, Virginia

connect

you wrote inFrom a native San Diegan, thank you for your kind remarks about my hometown (“Never Too Cool To Be Schooled,” June 2014). Having watched San Diego grow from a sleepy little farming area to a bio-tech mecca has been awe-inspiring. Thank you for teaching me about my town as well. I’ll be checking out the mindfulness center at University of California, San Diego. Katie AtkinsSan Diego, California

john powell was a strong advocate for change and stood up for change. Now he recognizes change takes place best from inside. Mindfulness works (“john powell’s Affirmative Mindfulness,” June 2014). I admire how he uses lower case letters when he refers to himself.John Peiffer Sr. Livermore, California

Thank you to Mindful and Sharon Beg-ley for addressing mirror neurons (“The Trouble With Mirror Neurons,” June 2014). As a PhD candidate in physiology, I’ve also had many run-ins with the Pandora’s box of medical pop culture and superficial media coverage. Thanks for taking a different, and more informed, route. Julie McLeanLexington, Kentucky

Enjoyed the first preview of MindfulDirect with Bill Duane from Google. I like the cour-age and authenticity of showing a guy who thought meditation was “hippie bullshit” and discovering it wasn’t. It is this kind of honesty about the approach to beginning meditation that will encourage those who are thinking about starting. Keep up the good work…I look forward to seeing more of these. Chuck RinaldiMesa, Arizona

Thank you. For others who would like to see the preview of MindfulDirect—our soon-to-be-launched video project that will bring the best of mindfulness to your computer, tablet, smartphone, and TV—go to mindful.org/duane. —Editor

Q: How do you remain positive about meditation when it seems difficult to block out the world and focus? I get very discouraged. EMILY FALLON Spring Lake, New Jersey

A: It’s impossible to block out the world. Focus is not a process of eliminating other elements in our field of awareness. It’s about letting them fade into the back-ground. As you look at these words, in your periphery you see many things. You’re let-ting them go while training attention on the words. In meditation, thoughts arise. You notice them, let them go, and come back to the object of attention, usually the breath. Gradually, like water wearing down a rock, the practice works, and letting things go in order to be here becomes the norm.

VOLUME TWO, NUMBER 3, Mindful (ISSN 2169-5733, USPS 010-500) is published bimonthly for $29.95 per year USA, $39.95 Canada & 49.95 (US) international, by The Foundation for a Mindful Society, 1776 I St, NW, #90046, Washington, DC 20006 USA. Periodicals postage paid at Washington, DC, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Mindful, PO Box 469018, Escondido, CA 92046. Canada Post Publication Mail Agreement #42704514. CANADIAN POSTMASTER: Send undeliverable copies to Mindful, 1660 Hollis St, Suite 701, Halifax, NS B3J 1V7 CANADA. Printed in U.S.A. © 2014 Foundation for a Mindful Society. All rights reserved.

Other things can become the focus when

it’s their turn.

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Barry BoyceEditor-in-Chief

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Board of Advisors

Susan Bauer-Wu, Ph.D., R.N., University of VirginiaJeffrey Brantley, M.D., Duke Integrative MedicineMirabai Bush, Center for Contemplative Mind in SocietyRichard J. Davidson, Ph.D., Center for Investigating Healthy Minds at the Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-MadisonRich Fernandez, Ph.D., Founder, Wisdom LabsSoren Gordhamer, Wisdom 2.0Patricia Jennings, Ph.D., University of VirginiaJon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and SocietyTim Ryan, United States Congress, Ohio, 13th DistrictDiana Winston, Mindful Awareness Research Center, UCLAOrganizations included for identification purposes only.

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Both my grandfathers worked in New York City at the turn of the 20th century, one a molding carpenter working on early high-rises, the other an Irish cop, sadly killed in the line of duty. When I make the pilgrimage home, I stay with my brother at 1st and 1st (the cen-ter of the universe according to a classic Seinfeld episode).

I love walking around there and interacting with New Yorkers, who are not unkind, as the stereotype would have you believe. They’re intimate, with attitude.

Our work at Mindful often takes us there, since it’s a center of both publishing and mindfulness (and mindlessness too?). The occasion of our latest visit was an event at ABC Car-pets, a home furnishings store that sponsors events show-casing people trying to make the world a better place. Only in New York would bath towels and mindfulness instruction share the same space. Con-gressman Tim Ryan, author of A Mindful Nation, was there to raise money and awareness for his ongoing campaign to bring mindfulness into schools, hospitals, military bases, police stations, and government.

Ryan talked to a packed room about the fact that being aware of where you are is not a right or left thing. It’s non-partisan. He says he’s met plenty of Tea Party yoga moms. He talked about all the people he’s encountered in the two years since his book launched who have shared with him passionate stories about the difference mindfulness has made in their lives, and how they’re paying that forward.

The evening’s star was Keith Mitchell, who played line-backer for three different NFL teams. Mitchell found mindful-ness in a hospital when he was recovering from a neck injury that left him unable to move most of his body. He learned mindfulness and yoga at a time of great fear and disconnection from his body.

Now he’s committed to helping athletes, veterans, and young people to synchronize their bodies and minds. He’s a moving guy. Check him out at keithmitchell59.com ●

New York State of Mind

—Barry Boyce, [email protected]

our thoughts

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Both my grandfathers worked in New York City at the turn of the 20th century, one a molding carpenter working on early high-rises, the other an Irish cop, sadly killed in the line of duty. When I make the pilgrimage home, I stay with my brother at 1st and 1st (the cen-ter of the universe according to a classic Seinfeld episode).

I love walking around there and interacting with New Yorkers, who are not unkind, as the stereotype would have you believe. They’re intimate, with attitude.

Our work at Mindful often takes us there, since it’s a center of both publishing and mindfulness (and mindlessness too?). The occasion of our latest visit was an event at ABC Car-pets, a home furnishings store that sponsors events show-casing people trying to make the world a better place. Only in New York would bath towels and mindfulness instruction share the same space. Con-gressman Tim Ryan, author of A Mindful Nation, was there to raise money and awareness for his ongoing campaign to bring mindfulness into schools, hospitals, military bases, police stations, and government.

Ryan talked to a packed room about the fact that being aware of where you are is not a right or left thing. It’s non-partisan. He says he’s met plenty of Tea Party yoga moms. He talked about all the people he’s encountered in the two years since his book launched who have shared with him passionate stories about the difference mindfulness has made in their lives, and how they’re paying that forward.

The evening’s star was Keith Mitchell, who played line-backer for three different NFL teams. Mitchell found mindful-ness in a hospital when he was recovering from a neck injury that left him unable to move most of his body. He learned mindfulness and yoga at a time of great fear and disconnection from his body.

Now he’s committed to helping athletes, veterans, and young people to synchronize their bodies and minds. He’s a moving guy. Check him out at keithmitchell59.com ●

New York State of Mind

—Barry Boyce, [email protected]

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ContentsProfile 10Research Roundup 12News 14Bookmark This 18Mindful–Mindless 20

August 2014 mindful 9Photograph by Carisa Gallo

nowNews and Reviews from the Mindful World

MINDFUL PROFILE

A Change of Heart

At age 31, Jesse Torrence’s heart wasn’t strong enough to beat on its own. Admitted to a Washington, DC hospital, he was dependent on a bypass machine to keep him alive. Four tubes inserted in his abdomen circulated blood and oxygen throughout his body while he waited for a transplant. One day, he felt strong enough to dance with his partner, Oana Cheta, who loves to dance, so he seized the oppor-tunity. It was a remarkable moment for the young couple because they knew: He might not have long to live.

As a child in Monclova, Ohio, Torrence had been introduced to mindfulness through his grandfather. “I can’t tell you what his practice was, but he had books on spiritual history and philosophy,” he says. Torrence would see his grandfather in his den and think he was sleeping when he was meditating and ask him what he was doing. His grandfather would reply, “I’m just calming my mind.”

After graduating with a masters degree in Public Administration in International Development from Harvard, Torrence became the director of Inward Bound Mindfulness Education (iBme), in January 2011, helping to raise funds and organize

retreats where teens learn to meditate. But in the spring of that year, Torrence was diagnosed with pneumonia. Doctors quickly realized it was something far more serious than a lung infection: giant cell myocarditis, a type of inflammation of the heart. It has a very low survival rate.

“I’ve been an athlete my whole life, perfectly healthy,” says Torrence. “Up to a month before the diagnosis, I was running, exercising, and doing yoga.”

The doctors put him in a medically induced coma, where he remained for six weeks and underwent two operations. During one of the operations he had a stroke. His family and friends gathered at his bedside, though they couldn’t touch him due to the risk of blood clotting through his swollen arms and legs—any movement in those clots might have killed him.

When he finally awoke his body felt like it weighed 1,000 pounds. It took him many months of therapy to learn to walk again. That was when he was able to manage a few dance steps, while still hooked up to the bypass machine. His body and lungs slowly healed to the point where doctors believed he might survive a heart trans-plant. After four months in the hospital, he

got a new heart, but he wasn’t out of the woods yet.

“There are all these thresholds you have to cross,” says Torrence. “And in the middle of it I got a pretty bad infection. I went backward and lost a ton of weight.”

Torrence was at the end of his rope. He says his sense of self was stripped away. In that moment of deep pain and fear, he struggled desperately for a way to be thankful for his life. He did it with the help of his partner, Cheta, who had been at his side throughout.

“I was thinking, if this woman stayed with me through all of this—and danced with me while I was hooked to a machine—what more did I need?” Torrence proposed to her and they were married the following year.

Torrence was grateful to realize that he still had life goals, like being mar-ried, but he had to accept that there were times when he couldn’t accomplish much because of incredible pain. And then there was acknowledging the gift of that vital organ, now working well in his body. “I’m alive and breathing and there’s a young man who isn’t anymore, whose heart I have—a community that has a vacuum there. Yes, I’m in pain, but I can breathe, and that’s a miraculous thing.”

After his recovery—he spent a year in the hospital—Torrence became the execu-tive director of Minds, Inc. (see opposite page). Mindfulness is a part of his personal life, too, and played a role in his healing.

“People say, ‘Whoa, mindfulness must have saved your life,’” Torrence says. “No, it didn’t. A guy who knew how to cut open my chest and put a beating heart into it saved my life. Family and friends’ support, doctors who studied for decades, they all saved my life.” But Torrence’s long history of contemplative practice, starting with the example of his grandfather, was vital for his recovery. “It was not a fun time, but I was able to be present for it. I held that with me throughout the entire experience.” ●

Now completely recovered, Torrence is grateful for the support of family, friends, medical professionals, and for the internal resources that his mindfulness practice provided.

The doctors put him in a medically induced coma, where he remained for six weeks and underwent two

operations. During one of the operations, he had a stroke.


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Read the rest of this article in Mindful’s August 2014 issue. Subscribe at mindful.org

Name: Lorraine YoungAge: 40Profession: NaturopathActivity: RunningLocation: Raleigh, North Carolina

Running is something I do to give myself a little space and calm. It also helps me in all parts of my life, in my overall health, and my connection with others.

By Lorraine YoungPhotograph by Bryan Regan

Taking it in Stride

in my body

A new study on Marines during pre-deployment concludes that mindfulness improves working memory and reduces negative emotions. Sharon Begley asks: If mindfulness regimens can help Marines make better decisions during times of great stress, what might it do for police, firefighters, or indeed, all of us?

Sharon Begley is the senior health and science correspondent at Reuters, author of Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain, and coauthor with Richard Davidson of The Emotional Life of Your Brain.

War is hell. And while troops aren’t at risk of enemy fire during the weeks leading up to their deployment to a combat zone, pre-deployment deserves a circle in Dante’s creation, too. As soldiers contemplate leaving their families and shipping out to a place where people may shoot at them, the resulting anxiety, trepidation, and confusion

can take a toll on their cog-nitive functioning. Their decision-making, attention, memory, and judgment can all be impaired, not exactly a good mental state in which to go to war. Pre-deployment is therefore a good situation in which to test the effects of mindfulness meditation.

And that’s why Eliza-beth Stanley, of George-town University’s School of Foreign Service, developed Mindfulness-Based Mind Fitness Training (MMFT, pronounced M-Fit). A former army captain, Stanley (whose family has served in the U.S. Army for nine generations) had firsthand experience of stress in war zones, including in Bosnia. She was hoping to show that mindfulness train-ing can improve attention

and working memory. A better working memory—the mental scratchpad our brain uses to keep information for several seconds so it can be accessed and manipulated to solve problems, make deci-sions, or send to long-term storage—can make people more resilient in the face of emotional stress. In other words, training memory and attention, which are facets of cognition, can improve the circuitry needed to reg-ulate emotions: how we cope with stress.

If people know anything about the relationship between memory and stress, it’s probably that the latter can wreak havoc on the former, as shown by the memory impair-ment that often accompanies post-traumatic stress. →

When Memory is Under Attack

mind science

24 mindful August 2014 Illustration by Gavin PotenzaRead the rest of this article in Mindful’s August 2014 issue. Subscribe at mindful.org

Beautifully orange apricots have a distinctively delicious flavor when ripened on the tree One medium-sized apricot contains about 85 calories and is:

• low in saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium

• high in dietary fiber, potassium, vitamin A and vitamin C

• dried apricots are a good source of ironSource: Apricot Producers of California


Recipe creator, food stylist, and photographer, Béatrice Peltre thinks of apricots as the quintessence of summer—colorful, luscious, and happy.

I have fond memories of going to the farmer’s market to buy apricots with my mother when I was young, growing up in France. She would pick up a piece of the fruit and squeeze it gently, testing for softness; then she would smell it, inhaling its subtle fragrance. My mother would never buy apricots unless they were fresh, in season, and ripened on the tree.

My mother was a teacher so she had summers off—and being able to spend that time with her was very special to me. We would bring the fruit home, our arms laden with flats of bright, sunny-yellow apricots, with reddish tinges—like rouge.

We would make jams and preserves together, and I would be her assistant chef. I would watch as she put them in a large pot on the stove in our kitchen and add sugar and spices—I can still

Sweet Delicate Taste of Summersmell their delicious sweet aroma as they cooked. It would fill our entire home and she would let me stir. In my family, we bought everything fresh and in season, and preserved for the rainy, cold days of winter—I suppose we were the original locavores!

Today, I prepare apricots in Boston with my own five-year-old daughter. Although I live very far from my mother, I never lose touch with all that she taught me about apricots.

Summer recipes shouldn’t be complicatedSummer dishes should be simple and fea-ture fresh, local ingredients. What better way to celebrate the foods of mid-sum-mer than by making a main-course salad and a mouth-watering dessert starring flavorful apricots. I chose these two dishes (although I toyed with including an apricot tart recipe as it is one of my all-time favs), because they are easy to prepare, offer a balance of savory and sweet, and are very juicy—brimming with the concentrated flavors of summer.

The salad extends the way we nor-mally eat apricots—even think of them.

It’s almost counterintuitive to pair them with black rice and shrimp—although arugula goes with almost everything these days. The gorgeous colors of this dish create a beautiful presentation. And after you make this easy-to-prepare dish once, I predict you’ll be doing it again and again before apricot season ends.

The baked apricots dessert recipe fea-tures the citrus flavors I adore— lemon and lime together—in a creamy, dreamy sauce, soaked with the juices of the apri-cots. Serve the dessert with a little ice cream or frozen yogurt (and don’t skip it—although I also like plain yogurt with it)—the flavors will linger long after the dish has disappeared.

I like to think that preparing and cooking food together as a family or with friends is a wonderfully mindful tradi-tion that enriches our lives tremendously. Although that might sound trite, it is nonetheless true. As I always say, food is love, and here is my latest offering. I hope you enjoy it. Salut, santé, et bon appétit! ●

Recipes, food styling, photographs, and narrative by Béatrice Peltre. Find more of her work at latartinegourmande.com.

Serves 4

12 apricots, pitted and halved¼ cup extra virgin olive oil 1 vanilla bean, split open

and seeds scraped out Zest and juice of 1 lime¼ cup blond cane sugar 2 tbsp heavy cream

(or coconut milk) 10 lemon balm leaves,

finely sliced Plain yogurt, or vanilla

ice cream, to serve

Preheat oven to 400ºF and arrange apricot halves, cut face up, in a baking dish; set aside.

In a small pot, combine olive oil, vanilla bean and seeds, lime juice and zest, and sugar. Heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Add the cream.

Pour sauce over the apricots and add the lemon balm. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, or until apricots are tender.

Serve with plain yogurt or homemade vanilla ice cream.

Baked Apricots with Lime and Lemon Balm

mindful eating


Stalking the Meditating

Brain

By Tracy PichaPhotographs by Cameron Wittig

World-renowned neuroscientist Richie Davidson wants you to know three things: 1 You can train your brain to change 2 that change is measurable

3 and new ways of thinking can change it for the better. Not so long ago this would have sounded like science fiction. Now the world’s most-cited scientist on mindfulness and his colleagues take it for granted, as they spearhead cutting-edge brain research in the heart of Middle America.


science

Your brain is unlike any other organ in the body—it’s designed to adapt constantly. “The brain is not static. It is meant to change,” says Richie Davidson, profes-sor of psychology and psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. No matter what we do, he tells me enthusiastically—whether it’s learning to play tennis or spending time playing “Words with Friends” on our phones—we are shaping our brains. The brain is not like a car that comes off the production line and stays the same (except for breaking down and decaying). The brain keeps changing over its entire lifespan. And Davidson thinks that is very good news.

Here’s one very big reason that “neuroplasticity” is such good news: Davidson’s research shows that spending as little as 30 minutes per day training our minds to do something different can result in measurable changes that can be tracked in a brain scanner. And much of that research is being done by the 60-65 scientists, post-docs, research assistants, and graduate students at the Center for Investigat-ing Healthy Minds (CIHM) at the Waisman Center, UW-Madison, for which Davidson serves as director and which he founded in 2008.

“We can intentionally shape the direction of plasticity changes in our brain,” Davidson says from his office on a sunny February day in Madison.

“By focusing on wholesome thoughts, for example, and directing our intentions in those ways, we can potentially influence the plasticity of our brains and shape them in ways that can be beneficial. That leads us to the inevitable conclusion that qualities like warm-heartedness and well-being should best be regarded as skills. They are skills that can be cultivated.”

The broad windows of Davidson’s office on this day feature a cold, snowy canvas overlaid with geometric shadows cast from the interconnected buildings that make up the Waisman Center and the CIHM, situated near the UW Hospital and Clinics on the university’s campus. In midwinter here in Madison, the blistering cold meets its match in the ready warmth of the locals. Call for a cab here and you’re asked the question: Do you mind sharing? While it bursts at the seams when university is in session, it retains a hometown-America feel. People have time to chat and seem naturally prone to lend-ing a hand. The fact, then, that a center devoted to exploring healthy qualities of mind such as kind-ness, compassion, forgiveness, and mindfulness is situated here seems a logical fit.

The center’s founding marked a personal and professional triumph for Davidson. As a graduate student in the mid-1970s, Davidson shocked his pro-fessors by taking off for India to explore meditation practice and Buddhist teachings. After three months there and in Sri Lanka, he came back convinced he would do meditation research. He was quickly dis-abused of this notion by his professors, who let him know that if he had any hope of a career in science, he’d better stow the meditation and follow a more conventional path of research. He became a closet meditator and an affective neuroscientist—a deep student of the emotions.

In the early days, Davidson says, whatever “research” there was on meditation wasn’t convinc-ing, filled with extravagant claims of magical results but not following standard protocols or building on the methodologies of previous research in related areas. A study that correlated drops in crime with the activity of Transcendental Meditation prac-titioners in the vicinity (and similar misguided efforts) tainted meditation research and helped keep him in the closet. As well, he says, “the science and the methods of the time were not suited to the task of studying subtle internal experience.” They lacked technology like fMRI (functional magnetic reso-nance imaging), which takes a moving picture of brain activity. They didn’t have any appreciation of epigenetics, the process by which our gene makeup can be changed throughout our lifetime. But above all, Davidson says, “we lacked an understanding of neuroplasticity. It is now widely accepted that the brain is an organ designed to change in response to experience and, importantly for our work, in response to training.” →

A demonstration of a video game intended to train children’s brains in the direction of kindness and empathy.


science

Elena Patsenko landed her position at UW–Madison from the University of Geneva, Switzerland. She is currently assisting on a study funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that is developing two video games for adoles-cents—currently being tested on 11- and 12-year-olds. One of the games is designed to cultivate mindful awareness, particularly awareness of the body. The other, “Crystals of Kaydor,” is designed to cultivate empathy, pro-social behavior, and kindness.

“Crystals of Kaydor” asks a player to navigate through impressive graphics to an Earth-like planet inhabited by alien creatures who exhibit human emotional traits. Part of the challenge of the game is, upon encountering Kaydorians, the player has to correctly identify which emotion they’re exhibiting (surprise, happiness, fear, etc.), then move a dial to indicate the points when those emotions become heightened.

“We do MRI scans with the kids before and after they play the games,” Davidson explains. “We give them many different kinds of behavioral tests and apply other kinds of measures. We will be following these kids for some time.”

Games to Train the MindElena Patsenko

While details are not being shared at this early stage (there will be neither data nor results to report on until later this year), the CIHM scientists involved in the project had difficulty hiding their excitement about this work. Davidson will say one thing for certain, though: An hour and a half of playing a video game can actually pro-duce a structural change in the brain. “Literally,” he says, “a change that is measurable.”

The current project is designed to “ask the question of whether we can use video games as a novel vehicle for training the mind in ways that may be more wholesome than Grand Theft Auto, or other video games,” Davidson says. “There is absolutely no ques-tion at this point in time, based upon the science that’s out there, that violent videogames have negative emotional consequences.

“So it’s our aspiration to try to convince those relevant interested parties—both par-ents and kids, as well as game designers and the gaming industry—that it’s actually possible to create games that are interesting and captivating that kids will want to play that are pro-social and can cultivate healthy qualities of mind.” ●

CURRENT RESEARCH AT CIHM


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GET UP & MOVE Illustrations by Jason Lee

PART 3 OF A 6-PART SERIES

getting started: movement


From walking around in a circle in a meditation hall to going for a walk in the park to running or yoga or tai chi, mindful movement gets us out of our heads and into our bodies—and the world around us.

One of the greatest challenges in daily life is moving from Point A to Point B and remaining aware of where you are. Sim-ple, right? But honestly how often do you find yourself a little bit lost in the middle of rushing around? Mindful movement practices—ranging from walking med-itation to running to yoga, qigong, and martial arts—can provide a good bridge between still, seated meditation and the hectic activity of daily life.

Sitting meditation can tend to draw us inward. Getting up and moving—while still maintaining meditative attention—can turn our focus more outward. It can remind us that mindfulness is not some-thing that simply happens in a little space around our chair and all from the neck up. Moving while meditating helps us develop awareness throughout our body, which is why, for example, Mindfulness- Based Stress Reduction includes walking meditation and a series of simple yoga postures as a vital part of the program.

Maintaining even a little awareness as we move through the world can enrich our daily experience and anchor us during emotional storms. Steady practice enables us to manage increased inten-sity—a difficult conversation, a crisis, a challenging campaign—more skillfully. Instead of responding to highly charged situations by tensing up our body, we can learn to handle emotional situations with more ease and grace. Generations of yoga and martial arts practitioners attest to the value of gaining more mastery of how energy moves through our body.

In these pages, we begin with the most basic of the mindful movement practices: walking. It’s the first move from still meditation to meditation-in-action. We’ll

present the details of a classic walking meditation practice and a few variations.

After that, yoga teacher Cyndi Lee presents a series of simple movements you can do in conjunction with sitting meditation practice. To top it off, we polled our readers about the mindful movement practices you do regularly. A few readers offer their thoughts about why the particular practice they do means so much to them.

OM YOGA: A GUIDE TO DAILY PRACTICE By Cyndi LeeStraightforward and direct, this book helps readers start and advance their yoga practice at home with a series of well-designed routines.

THE HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL GUIDE TO TAI CHIBy Peter WayneA scientific look at the way contemplative exercises can improve your health. The book also offers a simplified version of tai chi for beginners.

Books to Get You Moving

Getting Started: Movement was compiled by Barry Boyce, editor-in-chief of Mindful, in consultation with: Richard Brown, co-chair, Contemplative Education, Naropa University, and a founder of CARE for Teachers at Garrison Institute. Cyndi Lee, founder of OM Yoga and author most recently of May I Be Happy: A Memoir of Love, Yoga, and Changing My Mind. Wendy Palmer, founder of Leadership Embodiment, which uses aikido and mindfulness principles to help leaders respond better to stress. Kaitlin Quistgaard, media consultant and former editor-in-chief of Yoga Journal, who sits on the board of Headstand, a yoga and mindfulness program for impoverished youth.

THE INTUITIVE BODY: DISCOVERING THE WISDOM OF CONSCIOUS EMBODIMENT AND AIKIDOBy Wendy PalmerWe can better know ourselves through body movement, and Palmer suggests aikido can be a key practice for doing that.


finding peace through self-acceptance


Feelings of unworthiness often hinder us from achieving happiness and our full potential. Practicing mindfulness can help us alleviate insecurities by learning self-acceptance through a meditation called the RAIN of Self-Compassion. It begins by discovering how to be true to yourself.

Illustrations by Michael Woloschinow

When I was in college, I went off to the mountains for a weekend of hiking with an older, wiser friend of twenty-two. After setting up our tent, we sat by a stream, watching the water swirl around rocks, talking about our lives. At one point she described how she was learning to be “her own best friend.” A wave of sadness came over me, and I broke down sobbing. I was the furthest thing from my own best friend. I was continually harassed by an inner judge who was merciless, nit-picking, demanding, always on the job. My guiding assumption was, “Something

is fundamentally wrong with me,” as I struggled to control and fix what felt like a basically flawed self.

Over the last several decades, through my work with tens of thousands of clients and meditation students, I’ve come to see the pain of perceived deficiency as epidemic. It’s like we’re in a trance that causes us to see ourselves as unworthy. Yet, I have seen in my own life, and with countless others, that we can awaken from this trance through practicing mindfulness and self-compassion. We can come to trust the goodness and purity of our hearts. →

By Tara Brach

in practice insight

August 2014 mindful 71Read the rest of this article in Mindful’s August 2014 issue. Subscribe at mindful.org

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mindful august 2014 sampler

Documents

mindful walking

dan harris2 mindful

cameron wittig

research projects

topic of mindfulness

benefits of mindfulness

selfacceptancetara brach

roundup of current research