Resources: Practice and Proof

The world’s leading researcher of self-compassion and founder of the Mindful Self-Compassion program considers—and rebuts—some of the main objections to treating yourself with kindness. (Greater Good Science Center)

This video is a simple explanation of how habits are formed. There are three parts to creating a habit: trigger, behavior, and reward. The trigger is a stressor, like feeling lonely. The behavior might be getting a bag of chips or smoking, and the reward is a bit of relief from feeling lonely. Awareness is the first step toward potential change.

Psychologist, researcher, and mindfulness teacher Shauna Shapiro talks about the encouraging research behind meditation and its potential to change the makeup of our brains and our level of happiness.

Take time to POP: Pause, Observe, and Proceed. Calm the nervous system and cultivate strength in the brain and body. Learn to manage stress in the face of change and uncertainty that comes with everyday life.

Cultivate inner stability and strength in the face of change and uncertainty that comes with everyday life. It is particularly potent for those who like imagery. This guided mountain meditation is based on the practice taught by Jon Kabat-Zinn, which I learned in my training as a certified mindfulness-based stress reduction instructor.

Did you know that we breathe anywhere from 17,000 to 30,000 times a day? Are you counting? No, neither am I. We can use the breath to develop focus and attention as well as activate the relaxation response. Try it and see for yourself.

A few conscious breaths impact your nervous system, triggering the relaxation response. Take a minute and pause.

Take a pause in your day. Try this simple five-minute practice. Notice the breath as it moves in and out of the body.

Cultivate kindness towards yourself and others with this 10-minute practice. A regular practice of developing an attitude of compassion and kindness boosts the brain’s centers for positive feelings.

Try a mindful pause in which your attention is on sounds in your immediate environment. Noticing sounds come and go. Cultivating awareness through the sense of sound. (4 Minutes)

Sure, we breathe all day, but do we notice the life-giving breath entering and leaving our body? Pause, connect, and calm the nervous system by resting your attention on your breath. (4 Minutes)

Stress isn’t always a bad thing; it can be handy for a burst of extra energy and focus, like when you’re playing a competitive sport or have to speak in public. But when it’s continuous, it actually begins to change your brain. (4 Minutes)

Dr. Ron Siegel, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Harvard Medical School, gives a talk at Google about science that supports mindfulness and its relationship with anxiety, depression, and other everyday problems. (1 Hour and 5 Minutes)

Dr. Sara Lazar of Harvard Medical School talks about her mindfulness research. Brain scans show that parts of the brain actually changed size in people who meditated. Regions that impact focus, emotion regulation, strengthen memory, foster decision making, and increase empathy and compassion changed in size. (8 Minutes)