The Tulane University football program experienced an incredible turnaround season in 2022. One of the programs that contributed to the team’s success was a new, unconventional initiative to strengthen players’ mental game by practicing in virtual worlds using virtual reality…
Tag: Mindfulness
The Medical Minute: Making a holiday present of being present
Last minute gift idea: Take a deep breath. Let it go. Repeat. A Penn State Health psychiatrist offers a remedy for holiday stress.
Expert: 5 Simple Techniques to Keep Holiday Stress in Check
For many, the holidays are affectionately considered the most wonderful time of the year. But for some, the stress of the season can simply be too much to bear. Let’s face it: no matter what camp you’re in, the holidays can be heavy. From holiday shopping and travel to countless gatherings with friends and co-workers, family dinners, or thoughts of loved ones not with us this year, these months can make even the most jolly among us feel a little frazzled.
Food Expert Offers Healthy Restaurant Dining Tips
As grocery prices continue to rise, the price tag for cooking a holiday feast might equal or outweigh the cost of dining out for some families. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics recommends planning your restaurant meal before you leave the house to make dining out nutritious.
Researchers Receive $3.2 Million to Study Efficacy of Mind-body Practices in Improving Pain, Surgical Outcomes
Can mind-body practices such as gentle yoga or self-reflection benefit patients undergoing surgery? It’s a question that researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine are examining with the support of a five-year, $3.2 million grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI).
Study with military suggests ‘blended’ individual and team mindfulness is at least as effective as standard mindfulness training
New study suggests that a ‘blended’ eight-week mindfulness programme that adds Team Mindfulness Training (TMT) to a shortened version of the mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) course for individual mindfulness is just as effective as the standard MBSR course alone.
Brain imaging reveals how mindfulness program boosts pain regulation
Research at the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Center for Healthy Minds has isolated the changes in pain-related brain activity that follow mindfulness training — pointing a way toward more targeted and precise pain treatment.
Do Shared Life Experiences Make It Harder to Understand Others?
Understanding each other’s thoughts and feelings is a vital component of successful relationships.
Tips to reduce holiday stress as we “return to normal” this year
Holiday gatherings this year will mean a somewhat “return to normal,” so it’s best to be prepared mentally before meeting with friends and family. Here are some tips to help reduce holiday stress and create a more positive holiday experience…
Researchers’ novel mind-body program outperforms other forms of treatment for chronic back pain
Physician-scientists from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center developed a 12-week mind-body program that takes a new approach to chronic back pain. The team demonstrated that the mind-body intervention was highly beneficial for treating back pain when compared to standard care

ASU expert says mindfulness can be a “driving force and tool for advocacy” after year of political and social turmoil
This week, Nika Gueci, executive director at the Center for Mindfulness, Compassion and Resilience at Arizona State University, is speaking at the Mindful.org “Mindfulness for Healthcare” virtual summit. The conference brings together academics, health care professionals, scientists and experts in a virtual setting to…
Mindfulness can make you selfish
A new study by University at Buffalo researchers demonstrates the surprising downsides of mindfulness, while offering easy ways to minimize those consequences ─ both of which have practical implications for mindfulness training.
Practicing ‘Mindfulness’ in Summer Camp Benefits Campers and Counselors Alike
A project shows how implementing an evidence-based mindfulness program in a summer camp setting decreases emotional distress in school age children and empowers campers and counselors alike – enhancing camper-counselor relationships. Mindfulness – a state of consciousness that fosters awareness – has the potential to help regulate emotions and behaviors. Mindful breathing, mindful bodies, and mindful listening assisted in bringing awareness to campers in the program and provided skills to address stressful experiences.
Online Mindfulness May Improve Mental Health During COVID-19 Pandemic
The fear, anxiety and stress associated with the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on mental health. But a new study suggests these symptoms may be alleviated through safe and convenient online mindfulness practices.
Mindfulness program in campus dorms, groups improved students’ mental health
Amid a growing mental health crisis among teens and young adults nationwide, a pilot program teaching mindfulness and coping techniques to students at the University of Washington has helped lower stress and improve emotional well-being.

University Hospitals Appoints Francoise Adan, MD as Chief Whole Health & Well-being Officer to Support and Enhance Well-being of its Patients, Caregivers, and the Broader Northeast Ohio Community
Dr. Adan will now guide a system-wide effort to foster an organizational culture that supports and empowers people to attain their optimal professional and personal potential in the context of true well-being.
Mindfulness Meditation May Decrease Impact of Migraine
In a recent clinical trial from Wake Forest Baptist Health, researchers showed that mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) may provide benefit to people with migraine.

Healthy Monday Spotlights …. Family Caregiving
This article by Sherri Snelling, a corporate gerontologist and ambassador for the Caregiver Monday campaign, aims to shed light on behaviors and practices that can make a difference on our health.
Be mindful: Study shows mindfulness might not work as you expect
Research from the University at Buffalo that measured participants’ cardiovascular responses to stressful tasks suggests that mindfulness doesn’t help to manage stress as it’s happening
Meaningful Mindfulness – Self Care of Clinical Staff
Healthcare can be a demanding field, and working on a rehabilitation unit can be both physically and emotionally challenging. Self care practices are important and clinical staff must be educated on the tools in order to reduce perceived levels of…
Mindfulness interventions can change health behaviors – Integrated model helps to explain how they work
A growing body of evidence supports the effectiveness of mindfulness approaches to promote positive changes in health behaviors. New neurobiologically based models of “mindful self-regulation” help to explain the how mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) work to help people make healthy behavior changes, according to a review in the November/December issue of Harvard Review of Psychiatry. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.
American Society of Retina Specialists Launches Retina Health for Life Podcast
The American Society of Retina Specialists (ASRS) today announced the launch of a new audio and video podcast series providing consumers with critical information about the signs, symptoms and risk factors of retina disease and the importance of seeing a retina specialist for specialized care.

Mindfulness with Paced Breathing and Lowering Blood Pressure
Now more than ever, Americans and people all over the world are under increased stress, which may adversely affect their health and well-being. Researchers explore the possibility that mindfulness with paced breathing reduces blood pressure. One of the most plausible mechanisms is that paced breathing stimulates the vagus nerve and parasympathetic nervous system, which reduce stress chemicals in the brain and increase vascular relaxation that may lead to lowering of blood pressure.
Ask Me Anything About Diet, Exercise & Mental Health: FREE McLean Hospital Webinar Series
Dr. Chris Palmer on the Connections Between Physical and Mental Well-Being July 1 @ 12pm EST When we hear the term “wellness,” many of us think: diet, exercise, sleep. What about stress reduction, mindfulness, meditation? How do those factor into…
Mindfulness Improves Decision-Making, Attention in Children with Autism
School-based mindfulness programs can improve decision-making skills and teach children with autism to focus attention and react less impulsively through breathing exercises that will allow them to reduce anxiety, according to Rutgers researchers.

Leading Mindfully: COVID-19 and the Big Human Pivot, Part 3
If the COVID-19 crisis triggered health, economic, social and psychological changes that mean we will be living and working through destabilizing moments now and for the foreseeable future, then all the more reason now to adopt and practice essential skills of Leading Mindfully. How should we start thinking in new ways that better represent reality?

The Psychedelic Science of Pain
The Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination at UC San Diego organized the collaborative Psychedelics and Health Research Initiative, which explores the potential for psychedelics to address chronic pain conditions.
Mindfulness training shows promise for people with MS
New research suggests mindfulness training may help multiple sclerosis patients in two very different ways: regulating negative emotions and improving processing speed.
Mindfulness Expert Available: Mindfulness Meditation During COVID-19
We are all born with the capacity for mindfulness, which can help reduce stress and anxiety, and mindfulness meditation practice can help enhance this ability. Rebecca Erwin Wells, M.D., a neurologist, headache specialist and integrative medicine expert at Wake Forest Baptist Health, is evaluating how a mindfulness meditation strategy impacts stress and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mindfulness can help you stop procrastinating while working from home
In addition to the stress of the global pandemic, working remotely could make people work inefficiently. According to new research from Binghamton University, State University of New York, practicing mindfulness may decrease levels of procrastination.

Leading Mindfully: COVID-19 and the Big Human Pivot, Part 2
In times of crisis, leaders need to watch out for at least two leadership blind spots: One involves overreacting, one denial —a “suck it up” approach can be valorized in certain work cultures. Here are practical actions to tame such impulses and bring greater clarity, calm and goodwill in a moment when how you show up as a leader really counts.
9/11 research reveals effective strategies to cope with COVID-19 stress
Research into mass trauma events, like the 9/11 terror attacks, suggests effective ways to cope during the current COVID-19 crisis, according to research led by faculty at Binghamton University, State University of New York.

Mindfulness an Effective Treatment for Migraines
In an article published March 13, 2020 in the journal Pain, David A. Seminowicz, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Neural and Pain Sciences at the University of Maryland School of Dentistry, and coauthors show how mindfulness can help in the fight against migraines.
To Stay Positive, Live in the Moment – But Plan Ahead
A recent study finds that people who balance living in the moment with planning for the future are best able to weather daily stress without succumbing to negative moods.

Cancer Researcher Offers Tips for How to Manage Stress During COVID-19 Pandemic
Dr. Shelley Johns, a researcher at the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center and a board-certified clinical health psychologist, can provide guidance on managing stress, especially among cancer patients, during COVID-19. Her research focuses on testing mind-body…
Dietitian: Holiday dieting can backfire
It can be hard to resist a spread of decadent food over the holidays. But as much as you might prepare for gorging by dieting in advance, Natalia Groat, a registered dietitian at Harborview Medical Center, says that plan can backfire.