Mindfulness Talks
Mindfulness is the practice of purposely bringing one's attention to the present-moment experience without evaluation, a skill one develops through meditation or other training. Mindfulness derives from sati, a significant element of Hindu and Buddhist traditions, and is based on Zen, Vipassanā, and Tibetan meditation techniques. Though definitions and techniques of mindfulness are wide-ranging, Buddhist traditions explain what constitutes mindfulness such as how past, present and future moments arise and cease as momentary sense impressions and mental phenomena. Individuals who have contributed to the popularity of mindfulness in the modern Western context include Thích Nhất Hạnh, Herbert Benson, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Richard J. Davidson, and Sam Harris.
Clinical psychology and psychiatry since the 1970s have developed a number of therapeutic applications based on mindfulness for helping people experiencing a variety of psychological conditions. Mindfulness practice has been employed to reduce depression, stress, anxiety, and in the treatment of drug addiction. Programs based on mindfulness models have been adopted within schools, prisons, hospitals, veterans' centers, and other environments, and mindfulness programs have been applied for additional outcomes such as for healthy aging, weight management, athletic performance, helping children with special needs, and as an intervention during the perinatal period.
Clinical studies have documented both physical- and mental-health benefits of mindfulness in different patient categories as well as in healthy adults and children. Studies have shown a positive relationship between trait mindfulness (which can be cultivated through the practice of mindfulness-based interventions) and psychological health. The practice of mindfulness appears to provide therapeutic benefits to people with psychiatric disorders, including moderate benefits to those with psychosis. Studies also indicate that rumination and worry contribute to a variety of mental disorders, and that mindfulness-based interventions can enhance trait mindfulness and reduce both rumination and worry. Further, the practice of mindfulness may be a preventive strategy to halt the development of mental-health problems. However, according to one opinion article, too much mindfulness may produce negative effects.
Evidence suggests that engaging in mindfulness meditation may influence physical health. For example, the psychological habit of repeatedly dwelling on stressful thoughts appears to intensify the physiological effects of the stressor (as a result of the continual activation of the sympathetic nervous system and the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis) with the potential to lead to physical health related clinical manifestations. Studies indicate that mindfulness meditation, which brings about reductions in rumination, may alter these biological clinical pathways. Further, research indicates that mindfulness may favorably influence the immune system as well as inflammation, which can consequently impact physical health, especially considering that inflammation has been linked to the development of several chronic health conditions. Other studies support these findings. Additionally, mindfulness appears to bring about lowered activity of the default mode network of the brain, and thereby contribute towards a lowered risk of developing conditions such as dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
However, critics have questioned both the commercialization and the over-marketing of mindfulness for health benefits—as well as emphasizing the need for more randomized controlled studies, for more methodological details in reported studies and for the use of larger sample-sizes. While mindfulness-based interventions may be effective for youth, research still needs to determine the most appropriate methods in which mindfulness could be introduced and delivered in schools.
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Teachings for the Welfare of the WorldIn this summer series, teachings will be offered for those who aspire to embrace and sustain the great earth and all living beings in order to realize peace and freedom in our troubled world. ...YRB-2019-Summer, Silence, Mindfulness, Addiction, japanese, zen meditation, Duality,... |
Jul 23 2019 5/7 The Yoga Room |
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Silent Sitting & Social ActionZen students often ask how our practice of silence and stillness relates to injustice and our environmental crisis. In this class we explore this question and study the intimate interplay of... YRB-2018-Fall, Intimacy, Silence, Doubt, Addiction, unconscious process, Attachment,... |
Nov 20 2018 6 of 7 The Yoga Room |
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Remembering Fred Maroth Buddha Ancestors, Heart Sutra, Mindfulness, Birth-and-Death, resistance, Faith,... |
Nov 23 2013 Morning No Abode Hermitage |
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Observing the Breathing Body and the Mind of No Abode Perfect Wisdom, Breath, Observe, Mindfulness, Don't Know Mind, Buddha Mind,... |
Aug 10 2013 Morning No Abode Hermitage |
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A Family Style for Realizing the Oneness of All Families true dharma, Lay, Birth-and-Death, Mindfulness, Family Practice, Big Mind, Mill... |
Mar 10 2012 Morning No Abode Hermitage |
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Embracing the Mahayana: Do You Want to be an Artist? Lotus Sutra, Interview, Karmic Consciousness, Heart Sutra, Suzuki Roshi, Birth-and-... |
Jul 16 2011 Morning No Abode Hermitage |
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Training for the Selfless Heart Patience, Addiction, Bodhidharma, difficulty, Enthusiasm, Don't Know Mind,... |
Apr 15 2010 The Yoga Room |
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On Enlightenment and Delusion Silence, Karmic Consciousness, Mindfulness |
Nov 19 2009 The Yoga Room |
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For a Sentient Being to be a Sentient Being is just not to Move Silence, Impermanence, Mindfulness, Manjushri, American, Breath, Karmic Consciousness... |
Nov 14 2009 Morning No Abode Hermitage |
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Meditation on PrideTenshin Reb Anderson Doubt, Four Foundations, Building, Heart Sutra, japanese, Attachment, Interview,... |
Aug 08 2009 Morning No Abode Hermitage |
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Causation and Non-Self causation, Faith, Four Noble Truths, Two Truths, Aspects of Practice, Attachment,... |
Mar 19 2009 The Yoga Room |
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The Practice That Fills and Is Filled by the Entire Universe and the Bodhisattva Precept of Not Killing Lotus Sutra, Soto Zen, Bodhisattva Precepts, Buddha Ancestors, Buddha Mind, soto,... |
Nov 22 2008 Morning No Abode Hermitage |
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Buddha Sitting as Us; Us Sitting as Buddha Funeral, Mindfulness, confusion, Birth-and-Death, Buddha Mind, Bodhisattva Precepts,... |
Oct 18 2008 Morning No Abode Hermitage |
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Buddha Sitting as Us; Us Sitting as Buddha Birth-and-Death, Lotus Sutra, War, Mindfulness, American, Samsara, Practice Period,... |
Oct 18 2008 Afternoon No Abode Hermitage |
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Current Heightened Awareness of Fear Samsara, Greed, Fox, Mindfulness, Nirvana, War, Attachment, Commitment, Desire,... |
Sep 20 2008 Morning No Abode Hermitage |
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Practicing the Four Frames of Mindfulness as Gates to Totality Mindfulness, confusion, Birth-and-Death, Intimacy, War, Attachment |
Sep 06 2008 Afternoon No Abode Hermitage |
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Entering and Embodying Truth Mindfulness, Enemies, Discrimination, Cultivation, zen meditation, Bodhisattva Vow,... |
Jul 15 2008 The Yoga Room |
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Bodhisattva Vows Suzuki Roshi, Building, Bodhisattva Vow, Bodhisattva Way, Evil, Bodhisattva Precepts... |
Sep 08 2007 Afternoon No Abode Hermitage |
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HappinessThe pursuit of happiness vs. wanting others to be happy; happiness from absorption in activity Teachings on Happiness for Dancing Mountains Sangha newsletter Desire, zen meditation, Religion, Bell, Culture, Patience, Confession-and-Repentance... |
Feb 03 2007 AM No Abode Hermitage |