With a focus on the latest in contemplative research from some of the field’s most noted scholars—a goal that’s informed the gathering since its 2012 inception—this year’s International Symposium for Contemplative Research (ISCR) is also moving beyond its roots and broadening its voice. That means lively discussions of contemplative practice in the digital age. Dialogue …
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Six Positive Steps Toward Educational Renewal
While educational systems have long stressed academic achievement and individual advancement, a growing movement is calling for an education of the heart. And that’s good news for all of us. As Mind & Life Institute (MLI) strives to connect our support of contemplative research with real-world needs, education is now a critical theme. Our PEACE …
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Pain Relief without Opioids?
The latest statistics about America’s opioid epidemic are staggering. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimate an average of 125 deaths from opioid overdoses per day in the United States—that means each month, we’re seeing a tragedy more deadly than September 11th. Between July 2016 and September 2017, hospitalizations from opioid overdoses jumped 30 percent …
Meditation and Science: Ten Essays Worth Reading
Meditation, Buddhism, and ScienceEdited by David L. McMahan and Erik BraunOxford University Press, 2017272 pages; $24.95 Scientific research on meditation, and as a consequence the popular discourse on contemplative research, has to-date largely focused on the individual. As a consequence, we find few studies that seriously consider the contexts of environments, social relations, and cultures …
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Sharon Salzberg: Love is a Verb
Paying attention, asserts famed meditation teacher, best-selling author, and Mind & Life Fellow Sharon Salzberg, isn’t a skill one is simply born with. Like flexibility and physical stamina, it’s developed over time: a muscle to strengthen; a practice to nurture; a series of neural pathways to establish and expand. But it takes very real work …
Preventing Racial Bias in the Classroom: What One Researcher Hopes to Learn
Racial bias exists in many domains of our society, including the classroom where teachers’ hidden biases can lead to diminished expectations for students of color. Doris Chang, Ph.D. is Director of Clinical Training and Assistant Professor of Psychology at the New School for Social Research in New York City. She leads a research team that …
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Tania Singer’s Exploration into How Meditation Training Transforms the Brain, the Individual, and Society at Large
During her recent visit to the Mind & Life offices in Charlottesville, social neuroscientist Dr. Tania Singer spoke as much about the heart as the brain. Singer is the director of the Department of Social Neuroscience at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig, Germany. She is on the board …
A Conversation with Jim Austin and Susan Bauer-Wu
Mind & Life was pleased to welcome Dr. James Austin to Charlottesville, Virginia during his visit to the area. Jim is a long-time Mind & Life Fellow and a true pioneer of contemplative science. In conversation with Mind & Life president Susan Bauer-Wu, Jim shared his wisdom and knowledge on meditation, the brain, and secrets …
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A Conversation with Jim Austin and Susan Bauer-Wu
It was accident and curiosity that led Dr. James H. Austin to a moment of awakening one day in 1974, in the form of a red Japanese maple leaf. He was in Japan, meditating in a centuries-old Zen temple, when he entered into a not-quite-sleeping, not-quite-waking state. Jim was relatively new to meditation, having begun …
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Utilizing Mindfulness Practice to Facilitate the Transition to College
Part 6 in a weeklong series of blog posts written by undergraduate students from the 2017 spring-semester class, “Mindfulness & Compassion: Living Fully Personally and Professionally” at the University of Virginia. Freshman year is a unique experience because everything about college and your life as a student is so new: new friends who may be …
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