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1 Minute Mindfulness - Reef Fish. Easy 1 minute mindfulness meditation practice for relaxation

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1 Minute Mindfulness Meditation Practice - Grey Waves. Relaxing & peaceful.

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Thanks for being a part of the Strength of US community. We value your participation and have much to offer in resources and opportunities to connect with each other at nami.org. We have listed below recommended online connections that NAMI offers.

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StrengthOfUs.org - National Alliance on Mental Illness

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Thanks for being a part of the Strength of US community. We value your participation and have much to offer in resources and opportunities to connect with each other at nami.org. We have listed below recommended online connections that NAMI offers.

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Being healthy means dealing with the changes in your body - and your mind. Relationships, body image, families, emotions ... sort it all out in this section.

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Being a teen is stressful! Whether it's school, friends, or dating, the teen years are full of difficult changes-both mentally and physically. If you're like many teens, you may have difficulty dealing with stress in effective ways. You aren't alone, and there are things you can do to stay calm, no matter how stressful life becomes. All you need to do is stop, breathe, and be mindful and aware in the present moment.

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Being a teen is stressful! Whether it's school, friends, or dating, the teen years are full of difficult changes-both mentally and physically. If you're like many teens, you may have difficulty dealing with stress in effective ways. You aren't alone, and there are things you can do to stay calm, no matter how stressful life becomes.

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Various meditations and mindfulness practices to ground in and find compassion.

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Headspace | Meditation | Underlying Calm

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1 Minute Mindfulness - Winter Forest. Relaxing and calming

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1 Minute Mindfulness - Fluid Paint. Relaxing & Calming

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Guided meditations are offered freely by Tara Brach, Ph.D, psychologist, author and teacher of meditation, emotional healing and spiritual awakening.

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The Free Mindfulness Project - Free Resources

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Thank you to those who have collaborated with the Free Mindfulness Project by allowing us to share these resources. The focus of this site is mindfulness as practiced in mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) and other closely related approaches. All

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Gratitude (Brain Rules for Aging Well by John Medina)

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Learn more about John Medina's Brain Rules for Aging Well book at http://brainrules.net/

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Meditation Breathe GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

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Discover & share this Meditation GIF with everyone you know. GIPHY is how you search, share, discover, and create GIFs.

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Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn's Benefit for Mindful Schools: The Role of Mindfulness in Education

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Opinion

Editors' note: We're resurfacing this story from the archives to help you train your mind.
MEDITATION and mindfulness: the words conjure images of yoga retreats and Buddhist monks. But perhaps they should evoke a very different picture: a man in a deerstalker, puffing away at a curved pipe, Mr. Sherlock Holmes himself. The world's greatest fictional detective is someone who knows the value of concentration, of "throwing his brain out of action," as Dr. Watson puts it. He is the quintessential unitasker in a multitasking world.

More often than not, when a new case is presented, Holmes does nothing more than sit back in his leather chair, close his eyes and put together his long-fingered hands in an attitude that begs silence. He may be the most inactive active detective out there. His approach to thought captures the very thing that cognitive psychologists mean when they say mindfulness.

Though the concept originates in ancient Buddhist, Hindu and Chinese traditions, when it comes to experimental psychology, mindfulness is less about spirituality and more about concentration: the ability to quiet your mind, focus your attention on the present, and dismiss any distractions that come your way. The formulation dates from the work of the psychologist Ellen Langer, who demonstrated in the 1970s that mindful thought could lead to improvements on measures of cognitive function and even vital functions in older adults.

Now we're learning that the benefits may reach further still, and be more attainable, than Professor Langer could have then imagined. Even in small doses, mindfulness can effect impressive changes in how we feel and think - and it does so at a basic neural level.

In 2011, researchers from the University of Wisconsin demonstrated that daily meditation-like thought could shift frontal brain activity toward a pattern that is associated with what cognitive scientists call positive, approach-oriented emotional states - states that make us more likely to engage the world rather than to withdraw from it.

Participants were instructed to relax with their eyes closed, focus on their breathing, and acknowledge and release any random thoughts that might arise. Then they had the option of receiving nine 30-minute meditation training sessions over the next five weeks. When they were tested a second time, their neural activation patterns had undergone a striking leftward shift in frontal asymmetry - even when their practice and training averaged only 5 to 16 minutes a day.

As little as five minutes a day of intense Holmes-like inactivity, and a happier outlook is yours for the taking - though this particular benefit seems to have been lost on Holmes himself, what with his bouts of melancholy and his flirtations with a certain 7 percent solution. A quick survey will show that the paradox is illusory: Holmes is depressed when there is no target for his mental faculties. Give him a project, and balance is restored.

But mindfulness goes beyond improving emotion regulation. An exercise in mindfulness can also help with that plague of modern existence: multitasking. Of course, we would like to believe that our attention is infinite, but it isn't. Multitasking is a persistent myth. What we really do is shift our attention rapidly from task to task. Two bad things happen as a result. We don't devote as much attention to any one thing, and we sacrifice the quality of our attention. When we are mindful, some of that attentional flightiness disappears as if of its own accord.

In 2012, researchers led by a team from the University of Washington examined the effects of meditation training on multitasking in a real-world setting. They asked a group of human resources professionals to engage in the type of simultaneous planning they did habitually. Each participant was placed in a one-person office, with a laptop and a phone, and asked to complete several typical tasks: schedule meetings for multiple attendees, locate free conference rooms, write a memo that proposed a creative agenda item and the like. The information necessary to complete those tasks? Delivered as it otherwise would be: by e-mail, through instant messages, over the phone and in person. The list was supposed to be completed in 20 minutes or less.

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A drawing of Sherlock Holmes by Sidney Paget from 1891 in The Strand Magazine. Credit... Time Life Pictures/Mansell via Getty Images

After the multitasking free-for-all, participants were divided into three groups: one was assigned to an eight-week meditation course (two hours of instruction, weekly); another group didn't take the course at first, but took it later; and the last group took an eight-week course in body relaxation. Everyone was put through a second round of frenzy.

The only participants to show improvement were those who had received the mindfulness training. Not only did they report fewer negative emotions at the end of the assignment, but their ability to concentrate improved significantly. They could stay on task longer and they switched between tasks less frequently. While the overall time they devoted to the assignment didn't differ much from that of other groups, they spent it more efficiently. They engaged, on average, in just over 40 discrete "tasks" - test-related behaviors that had a definable start and end time - spending approximately 36 seconds on each, in contrast to the 48 to 50 average tasks attempted by the other groups - with an average of only 30 seconds spent per activity. They also remembered what they did better than the other participants in the study.

The concentration benefits of mindfulness training aren't just behavioral; they're physical. In recent years, mindfulness has been shown to improve connectivity inside our brain's attentional networks, as well as between attentional and medial frontal regions - changes that save us from distraction. Mindfulness, in other words, helps our attention networks communicate better and with fewer interruptions than they otherwise would.

In a 2012 study at Emory University, increased meditation practice was associated with enhanced connectivity between the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, a part of the brain involved in attention monitoring and working memory, and the right insula, an area that is associated with how well we can monitor our own feelings and thoughts and that is considered a key waypoint between our two major attention networks, the default and the executive.

Not only could this increased connectivity make us better able to switch between tasks and monitor our own attention, but it is indicative of more effective overall management of our finite attentional resources.

Mindfulness training has even been shown to affect the brain's default network - the network of connections that remains active when we are in a so-called resting state - with regular meditators exhibiting increased resting-state functional connectivity and increased connectivity generally. After a dose of mindfulness, the default network has greater consistent access to information about our internal states and an enhanced ability to monitor the surrounding environment.

These effects make sense: the core of mindfulness is the ability to pay attention. That's exactly what Holmes does when he taps together the tips of his fingers, or exhales a fine cloud of smoke. He is centering his attention on a single element. And somehow, despite the seeming pause in activity, he emerges, time and time again, far ahead of his energetic colleagues. In the time it takes old detective Mac to traipse around all those country towns in search of a missing bicyclist in "The Valley of Fear," Holmes solves the entire crime without leaving the room where the murder occurred. That's the thing about mindfulness. It seems to slow you down, but it actually gives you the resources you need to speed up your thinking.

The difference between a Holmes and a Watson is, essentially, one of practice. Attention is finite, it's true - but it is also trainable. Through modifying our practices of thought toward a more Holmes-like concentration, we can build up neural real estate that is better able to deal with the variegated demands of the endlessly multitasking, infinitely connected modern world. And even if we've never attempted mindfulness in the past, we might be surprised at how quickly the benefits become noticeable.

Until recently, our 20s were considered the point when our brain's wiring was basically complete. But new evidence suggests that not only can we learn into old age, but the structure of our brains can continue to change and develop. In 2006, a team of psychologists demonstrated that the neural activation patterns of older adults (specifically, activation in the prefrontal cortex), began to resemble those of much younger subjects after just five one-hour training sessions on a task of attentional control. Their brains became more efficient at coordinating multiple tasks - and the benefit transferred to untrained activities, suggesting that it was symptomatic of general improvement.

Similar changes have been observed in the default network (the brain's resting-state activity). In 2012, researchers from Ohio State University demonstrated that older adults who scored higher on mindfulness scales had increased connectivity in their default networks, specifically in two of the brain's major information processing hubs. And while we already know that this kind of increased connectivity is a very good thing, there's more to these particular results. The precise areas that show increased connectivity with mindfulness are also known to be pathophysiological sites of Alzheimer's disease.

The implications are tantalizing. Mindfulness may have a prophylactic effect: it can strengthen the areas that are most susceptible to cognitive decline. When we learn to unitask, to think more in line with Holmes's detached approach, we may be doing more than increasing our observational prowess. We may be investing in a sounder mental future - no matter how old we are.

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Opinion | The Power of Concentration (Published 2012)

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Opinion Editors' note: We're resurfacing this story from the archives to help you train your mind. MEDITATION and mindfulness: the words conjure images of yoga retreats and Buddhist monks. But perhaps they should evoke a very different picture: a man in a deerstalker, puffing away at a curved pipe, Mr. Sherlock Holmes himself.

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Why Mindfulness?
Fifteen years ago, the word 'mindfulness' was almost completely absent from the education world. Only a small group of educators and researchers envisioned the role mindfulness practice might play in supporting the well-being of teachers and their students. Fast forward to 2015, and we've witnessed an incredible surge of interest in integrating mindfulness into education supported by numerous organizations. Mindful Schools, has trained thousands of educators across all 50 U.S. states and more than 60 countries. In turn, the teachers we've trained have shared mindfulness practices with more than 300,000 students. Tim Ryan, a US Congressman from Ohio and Mindful Schools Advisory Board member, has called for the integration of mindfulness throughout our educational system. University researchers are actively evaluating the value of mindfulness in education and educational leaders are seeking to implement mindfulness programs in their school districts. What accounts for this rapid expansion of interest in integrating mindfulness into education?

Simply stated, teachers need tools and support to be effective in their work and maintain emotional well-being. Although the rewards can be profound, educators face job stresses that challenge the maintenance of emotional balance. Teachers are tasked with creating a structured learning environment that promotes academic achievement, intellectual curiosity and social-emotional development. Accountability to standardized learning outcomes intensifies the demands of teaching. Successfully meeting these objectives places a significant burden on teachers, especially with increasing class sizes and shrinking budgetary support. Unsurprisingly, more than 50% of teachers rate their work as very stressful. Nearly half of teachers leave the profession within the first five years and high rates of early retirement exist. These facts testify to the rigors of the profession.

Consequently, there is substantial interest in professional development that reduces stress and increases the job satisfaction of teachers. This is where mindfulness practice can help.
Mindfulness as an 'Evidence-Based Intervention'

Enthusiasm for incorporating mindfulness in education follows a swift and broad integration of mindfulness practices in medical and mental health settings. A growing body of clinical and neuroscientific research supports the value of mindfulness practice. Numerous indicators of psychological health are positively impacted by mindfulness, notably, depression, anxiety and stress. A large clinical trial recently demonstrated that a mindfulness-based intervention offered similar protection against depression when compared to an antidepressant medication. Though still in a nascent phase, there is burgeoning interest in mindfulness for the enhancement of teacher well-being. Two clinical trials for secondary teachers evidenced positive effects of mindfulness training including increased self-compassion, improved cognitive abilities, and reduced occupational stress. Considered in combination with research from the health sciences, these findings suggest that mindfulness practice may help mitigate some of the burdens of the teaching profession.

Defining Mindfulness
What then, is mindfulness? Mindfulness is the capacity to attend to present moment experience in a receptive and open manner. It is a training in self-awareness and self-regulation. You learn that how you attend to present moment - the quality of your attention and the attitude of your mind - has a deep impact on your experience. Importantly, these habits of attention are malleable - you can train yourself in ways that make a genuine difference in your personal and professional life.

We do this work one moment at a time. When you sit down with the simple mindfulness instruction to attend to present moment, you discover the various mental habits that run in the background without your conscious participation. Evolutionary pressures have forged a nervous system that is sensitized to threats. Even when we have 'downtime', we do our best to imagine steps we can take to avoid risk and maximize pleasure and security. Consequently, life can feel as if we should always be worrying about something. While these habits may be adaptive in some circumstances, perpetually seeking to optimize our environment is linked with lower levels of well-being.

In mindfulness practice, we develop ways of settling the mind and soothing the body. We relinquish the search for the perfect moment that will finally arrive at some time in the future. Rather than trying to manufacture ideal circumstances, we learn to settle into the present moment and discover the peace that arises when we abandon our attempts to improve what is here, now. These skills are especially relevant in the context of educational environments. As school leaders and teachers, we need ways to meet the demands of our work while maintaining emotional balance. We are more effective leaders when we are well-acquainted with our emotional responses to challenges and stress. As we cultivate mindfulness skills, we can quickly de-escalate ourselves when our buttons get pushed in the classroom or in a meeting.

We do this work for our own well-being but also for the benefit of our colleagues and students. As we enrich our understanding of our inner life, we increase our capacity to appreciate the inner lives of others. Empathic connection depends on the clarity with which we experience our own thoughts, feelings and intentions. As the landscape of our own inner life is clarified, we expand the range of experiences for which we can have empathy. This skill serves us well as we attempt to create learning environments that foster emotional safety.

A Path Forward

The speed and demands of the educational system can create inertia that encourages busyness. It might initially feel unnatural to pause and rest in mindfulness. Curiously, self-care can actually feel like a sacrifice. Thus, it is helpful to have support in this practice. Teaming up with a colleague to take a few minutes during the day to practice mindfulness can be helpful. Interspersing the day with very brief mindfulness exercises can also support you. Mindful Schools provides various free resources to educators that you are welcome to explore. In particular, we encourage you to check out Healthy Habits of Mind - a free film overviewing mindfulness and education featuring pioneering neuroscientist Richard Davidson. We have also added two videos for Education Week readers that include introductions to mindfulness practices. In the coming months, we will write another column that details the ways that mindfulness can be shared with students to support their own growing capacity for cultivating attention, self-regulation, and empathy. Please join us in supporting the self-awareness and well-being of educators and their students.
Resources: References:
Abenavoli, R.M., Jennings, P.A., Greenberg, M.T., Harris, A.R., & Katz, D.A. (2013). The protective effects of mindfulness against burnout among educators. Psychology of Education Review, 37(2), 57-69.

Brown, K.W., Ryan, R.M., & Creswell, J.D. (2007). Mindfulness: Theoretical foundations and evidence for its salutary effects. Psychological inquiry, 18(4), 211-237.

Goyal, M., Singh, S., Sibinga, E.M., Gould, N. F., Rowland-Seymour, A., Sharma, R., ... & Haythornthwaite, J.A. (2014). Meditation programs for psychological stress and well-being: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Internal Medicine, 174(3), 357-368.

Jennings, P. A., & Greenberg, M.T. (2009). The prosocial classroom: Teacher social and emotional competence in relation to student and classroom outcomes. Review of educational research, 79(1), 491-525.

Khoury, B., Lecomte, T., Fortin, G., Masse, M., Therien, P., Bouchard, V., ... & Hofmann, S.G. (2013). Mindfulness-based therapy: A comprehensive meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 33(6), 763-771.

Klusmann, U., Kunter, M., Trautwein, U., Lüdtke, O., & Baumert, J. (2008). Teachers' occupational well-being and quality of instruction: The important role of self-regulatory patterns. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100(3), 702-715.

Kuyken, W., Hayes, R., Barrett, B., Byng, R., Dalgleish, T., Kessler, D., ... & Byford, S. (in press). Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy compared with maintenance antidepressant treatment in the prevention of depressive relapse or recurrence (PREVENT): a randomised controlled trial. The Lancet.

Lazar, S.W., Kerr, C.E., Wasserman, R.H., Gray, J.R., Greve, D.N., Treadway, M.T., . . . Fischl, B. (2005). Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness. NeuroReport, 16, 1893-1897.

Ludwig, D. S., & Kabat-Zinn, J. (2008). Mindfulness in medicine. JAMA, 300(11), 1350-1352.

Roeser, R.W., Schonert-Reichl, K.A., Jha, A., Cullen, M., Wallace, L., Wilensky, R., ... & Harrison, J. (2013). Mindfulness training and reductions in teacher stress and burnout: Results from two randomized, waitlist-control field trials. Journal of Educational Psychology, 105(3), 787-804.

Roeser, R.W., Skinner, E., Beers, J., & Jennings, P.A. (2012). Mindfulness training and teachers' professional development: An emerging area of research and practice. Child Development Perspectives, 6(2), 167-173.

More about our guest blogger:
Matthew Brensilver, PhD, is a trainer and course developer for Mindful Schools, one of the leading organizations in the U.S. integrating mindfulness into education. He holds a master's degree in clinical social work and has done psychotherapy with adolescents, adults and groups. He received a PhD from USC, where his research investigated explanations of psychiatric comorbidity. He also teaches at UCLA's Mindful Awareness Research Center on the intersection of mindfulness and psychotherapy.

Photos with the permission of MindfulSchools.org

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Integrating Mindfulness Into Education (Opinion)

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Why Mindfulness? Fifteen years ago, the word 'mindfulness' was almost completely absent from the education world. Only a small group of educators and researchers envisioned the role mindfulness practice might play in supporting the well-being of teachers and their students.