As you might be able to tell, I’m a big fan of Jon Kabat-Zinn. Here he’s talking about his book Coming to Our Senses: Healing Ourselves and the World Through Mindfulness. The video is quite long, so grab a warm cup of tea and enjoy it.
]]>Many children who want to believe their tastes are adult will bravely try coffee, find it to be undeniably awful, but recognise something that could one day, conceivably, be enjoyed. Once our tastes as adults are fully developed, it is easy to forget the effort that went into them. Adult taste can be demanding work – so hard, in fact, that some of us, when we become adults, selectively take up a few childish things, as though in defeated acknowledgment that adult taste, with its many bewilderments, is frequently more trouble than it is worth.
Many parents, I’m sure, wonder about whether playing video games can make kids violent or glorify deviant behavior. This is such a tough question to answer and I don’t believe that there’s any real consensus on the subject. I’ve been gathering a number of articles recently written on both sides of the argument and I hope to writing a more lengthy piece later about it. For now, I think, as with all good parenting, you’ve got to be involved in what your kids are playing. End of story.
]]>I found a site at Arizona State University that has audio of someone reading a PMR script. I haven't heard the audio but the transcript looks good. Have a listen.
]]>In the MT [mindfulness training] group, WMC [working memory capacity] decreased over time in those with low MT practice time, but increased in those with high practice time. Higher MT practice time also corresponded to lower levels of negative affect and higher levels of positive affect (indexed by the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule). The relationship between practice time and negative, but not positive, affect was mediated by WMC, indicating that MT-related improvements in WMC may support some but not all of MT’s salutary effects.
It seems like this blog is turning into one about mindfulness. This is really an unintentional side-effect of the fact that I have found mindfulness practice can be an integral part of many empirically supported psychological treatments.
Take for example CBT for panic disorder. Some core components are:
All of these key techniques are enhanced when one is practiced at being mindful. The same can be said for the treatment of depression and other types of anxiety. Further, I believe that the affective “stability” (for lack of a better word) afforded one practiced in mindfulness, can enhance life in a number of ways.
Does that mean that people who are “good” at being mindful don’t get depressed? No, but I believe that they don’t suffer nearly as much. And reducing suffering is what I try to do.
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