Feature Channels: Mindfulness

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People say life gets better with age. Now research suggests this may be because older people have the wisdom and time to use mindfulness as a means to improve wellbeing.

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As the country adjusts to new work- and learn-from-home routines and increasingly practices social distancing, the Center for Mindfulness, Compassion and Resilience at Arizona State University is finding ways to help people reconnect and create community online.

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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.

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What’s novel about COVID-19 isn’t just the coronavirus. It’s the sheer scale and depth of The Big Human Pivot that this tiny infectious particle has triggered. In unprecedented times, what can you do to lead mindfully through it? In this series, Lili Powell introduces a Leading Mindfully strategy: “see it, name it, tame it and reclaim it.”

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A team of researchers at the University of Arizona has found that low-intensity ultrasound waves directed at a particular region of the brain’s prefrontal cortex in healthy subjects can elevate mood, and decrease connectivity in a brain network that has been shown to be hyperactive in psychiatric disorders. The method uses transcranial focused ultrasound (‘tFUS’), a painless, non-invasive technique to modulate brain function comparable to transcranial magnetic stimulation (‘TMS’), and transcranial direct current stimulation (‘tDCS’). This study shows, for the first time, a correlation between tFUS-induced mood enhancement, and reorganization of brain circuits.

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New collaborative research at Queen’s University Belfast and Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia aims to better understand the link between meditation and improved mental health outcomes.

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As the effects of climate change become more evident, more than half of U.S. adults (56%) say climate change is the most important issue facing society today, yet 4 in 10 have not made any changes in their behavior to reduce their contribution to climate change, according to a new poll by the American Psychological Association.

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Research shows that as many as 50 percent of adults in the United States make New Year’s resolutions, but fewer than 10 percent keep them for more than a few months. Giving up on New Year’s resolutions is often related to three issues: difficulty breaking old habits, focusing on specific outcomes, and problems with purpose. You can increase your chances of achieving your New Year’s resolutions by setting realistic and achievable process goals that will help you form new habits, as well as following other steps for success.

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People who live in more built up areas and spend less free-time in nature are also less likely to take actions that benefit the environment, such as recycling, buying eco-friendly products, and environmental volunteering.

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As the new year approaches, AADE suggests the following ways for people with diabetes to start the year healthy and stick with it.

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Tim Bono offers sound advice about where people go wrong when setting New Year’s resolutions.Wait a few months, said Bono, assistant dean for assessment in Student Affairs and lecturer in Psychological & Brain Sciences in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis.People tend to see resolutions a black or white, he said, forgetting that change is incremental; being “happier” is a better resolution than being “happy,” for instance.

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People with restricted diets – due to allergies, health issues or religious or cultural norms – are more likely to feel lonely when they can’t share in what others are eating, new Cornell University research shows.

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Between bountiful buffets and “food-pushing relatives,” the winter holidays hold landmines for those trying to eat healthy. Check out these tips for navigating the holiday eating scene.

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Lavish get-togethers with delicious treats by the sleigh-full will abound, but will that cause your waistline to bulge as well?

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Leora Lowenthal, LICSW-OSW-C, manager of the oncology social work program at BIDMC, and Hester Hill Schnipper, LICSW, OSW-C, provide advice on rethinking holiday traditions and celebrations to capture more peace in the face of a long-term illness.

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There is a lot of activity during the holiday season, and while these can be fun and joyous occasions, some may be struggling with mental health challenges and other life stressors, which can be triggered by the holiday season. This is particularly true for many active military, veterans and their family and friends. Cohen Military Family Center at NYU Langone Health offers some advice below on how to get through the holidays.

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The holidays are almost upon us. For some, it is time to get out the best dishes and polish up the silver for a holiday table setting with family and friends, while others will be worried about coping with the festivities — because they are alone or just too busy.

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As the leading cause of death in both the United States and the world, heart disease claims nearly 18 million lives every year, according to the World Health Organization.

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Monica Garvey, RD, LDN, CNSC, a clinical dietitian at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center shares tips for sensible eating in the new year.

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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.

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Six tips for avoiding holiday headache triggers from Houston Methodist neurologist Bing Liao, M.D., M.Sc.

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If you're looking for health and fitness story ideas, view these research highlights from Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews and Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise®, ACSM’s flagship journal.

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New research from Michigan State University tested how open monitoring meditation – or, meditation that focuses awareness on feelings, thoughts or sensations as they unfold in one's mind and body – altered brain activity in a way that suggests increased error recognition.

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A new study published Nov. 4, 2019, in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine details the first comprehensive look across the scientific literature at the role of mind-body therapies in addressing opioid-treated pain. The researchers found that certain mind-body therapies can reduce pain, as well as reduce opioid use, among patients treated with prescription opioids.

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More than one-third of Americans get less than seven hours of sleep each night, putting them at risk for serious, chronic health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and obesity. The real victim of a lack of sleep, however, is the brain.

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A new study of 3,000 people in Wisconsin aged 21 and older with Down syndrome, published today [Monday, Oct. 28, 2019] in JAMA Neurology by researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, shows that by age 55, three in five will be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or a similar neurodegenerative condition. Meanwhile, people without Down syndrome are rarely diagnosed with dementia before age 65.

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Recent years have seen a renewed interest in the clinical application of classic psychedelics in the treatment of depression and anxiety disorders.

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A new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis indicates that people with dementia – whose parents also had dementia – develop symptoms an average of six years earlier than their parents.

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New survey results from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine highlight the prevalence of drowsy driving. To help drivers stay awake at the wheel, the AASM offers tips for National Drowsy Driving Prevention Week, Nov. 3-10.

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Chronic stress during pregnancy triggers an immune response in the brain that has potential to alter brain functions in ways that could contribute to postpartum depression, new research in animals suggests.

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Rush is part of national study to test effects of lifestyle intervention on older adults at risk for dementia.

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New research shows that a specific mind-body therapy, Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE), increases the brain’s response to natural, healthy rewards while also decreasing the brain’s response to opioid-related cues.

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People suffering from opioid addiction and chronic pain may have fewer cravings and less pain if they use both mindfulness techniques and medication for opioid dependence, according to Rutgers and other researchers.

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The historical practice of mindfulness is a burgeoning integrated medicine field associated with benefits for people with issues ranging from insomnia to chronic pain and fueled by more than $550 million in federal funding over the past 20 years.

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Pilot study shows promising evidence that adults with MCI can learn to practice mindfulness meditation, and by doing so may boost their cognitive reserve

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In a pilot study led by the UW, researchers explored art-based mindfulness activities that schools could use to reduce headaches, a common side effect of stress in adolescent girls. After three weeks of twice-weekly mindfulness and art therapy sessions, eight teenage girls reported experiencing significantly fewer headaches.

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The T. Denny Sanford Institute for Empathy and Compassion at UC San Diego will investigate the neurological basis of compassion, design a compassion-focused medical curriculum and develop new methods to protect and promote the well-being of current clinicians and their patients.

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The males of one species of butterfly are more attracted to females that are active, not necessarily what they look like, according to a recent research conducted at Augustana University.The paper, “Behaviour before beauty: Signal weighting during mate selection in the butterfly Papilio polytes,” found that males of the species noticed the activity levels of potential female mates, not their markings.

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Loyola Medicine pathologist Marissa Saint Martin, MD, is leading an initiative to help prevent burnout in young doctors.

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The discovery highlights alternative treatment options to pharmaceutical medications.

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West Virginia University researcher Danielle Davidov is examining violence-prevention programs that teach potential bystanders to short-circuit situations that are charged with violence. They give participants strategies for intervening in risky situations—for example, if they hear one person call another a sexually degrading name, or see a semiconscious person dragged out of a bar. They also make bystanders more likely to intervene if the need arises, rather than staying silent.

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For time-crunched medical students, taking a two-hour introductory class on mindfulness may be just as beneficial for reducing stress and depression as taking an eight-week meditation course, a Rutgers study finds.

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A new study shows that mindfulness training—a practice rooted in ancient meditative traditions—disrupts the development of conditioned behaviors. Based on the results, the study’s authors suggest that mindfulness training may protect individuals from developing the conditioned behaviors that sustain unhealthy habits.