In this new blog we will be looking at some of the science in psychology, biology and neuroscience around training the mind in mindfulness, compassion and insight. If you want to investigate further, links are provided at the end of the blogs to the cited literature. This blog is partly inspired by our work with our colleagues from the University of the West of Scotland on the Masters Degree in (Teaching) Mindfulness and Compassion, and from the University of Aberdeen on the Masters Degree in Studies in Mindfulness, which are both run in partnership with the Mindfulness Association. If you have any recommendations of important scientific papers or books, then please contact Heather at hra@mindfulnessassociation.net. We look forward to hearing from you!
Here at the Mindfulness Association we offer a long term systematic training in meditation that moves through practices for cultivating mindfulness, compassion, insight and wisdom. As we do this we don’t leave the previous practices behind but they form a foundation for future practices and also provide a rich collection of practices to revisit whenever…
What is the Definition of Mindfulness? Mindfulness is a way of being in our daily lives as well as a way of being that is central to most types of meditation. We practice mindfulness meditation as a way of becoming more mindful in our daily lives. But what do we mean by mindfulness or…
Last week in the new Mindfulness Based Healthy Living course we were exploring exercise and sleep habits for promoting health and wellbeing. In the realm of sleep we are looking at improving sleep hygiene and introducing periods of non-sleep deep rest, such as bodyscan, yoga nidra and progressive relaxation. So, I thought it would be…
I am preparing to co-deliver the Level 4: Wisdom training with Choden in December and part of what we will be sharing is the latest neuroscience research and what it has to say about the processes involved in thinking. So, you might find this blog heading in that direction over the next couple of months.…
I am currently working with my friend Michaela (Ki) James on the delivery of a new Mindfulness Based Healthy Living course. Key focuses of this course are self-compassion and healthy eating habits. Last week in the course we explored the obesogenic environment and the evolved human condition and concluded that we are in a fight…
This week I have been asked to write a blog on the science behind how best to learn meditation. Unfortunately, there is a limited evidence base on this topic. However, I will do what I can! One of the best books I have read on the evidence base for meditation is ‘The Science of Meditation’,…
At our recent membership weekend I ran a taster session with my friend and dietitian Michaela (Ki) James about the new Mindfulness Based Healthy Living Course that we have recently developed. One element of the course is Mindful eating and so I thought that I would review the research on Mindful eating and Mindfulness and…
I have been asked to write my blog this week on the topic of how meditation works. To begin with it is important to bear in mind that this whole field of research is in its early stages, much of the research methodology has weaknesses, and there is much more work to do before we…
I am currently working with my friend Michaela (Ki) James, an experienced NHS dietitian, on a new Mindfulness Based Healthy Living (MBHL) course to help us to change unhealthy habit patterns. For this course we will be drawing on teachings from our Level 3: Seeing Deeply or insight meditation training on how to work with…