Shamans often listen to rhythmic drumming to induce trance states. Using fMRI, we examined the brain networks associated with trance. Experienced shamanic practitioners listened to rhythmic drumming and entered a trance state or remained in a non-trance state. Trance was associated with stronger network hubs (i.e., greater centrality) in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), anterior …
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Concurrent Session 3 – Are We Ready to Investigate Non-Dual Awareness?
Non-dual awareness (NDA) has been identified as an important aspect of spiritual awakenings, from contemplative trainings practiced in both traditional wisdom traditions and in emerging contemporary “Dharma” teachings (such as mindfulness-based stress reduction and mindfulness-oriented recovery enhancement). Although NDA itself may not necessarily be an ultimate goal or destination, attaining NDA may signify an important …
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Concurrent Session 3 – Being in the Body: Contemplative Practice, Interoceptive Awareness, and Health
Interoception, awareness of one’s body, informs our sense of being in the world.Over time, we form associations between experiences and embodied responses,creating a set of expected body responses. While these expectations allow for rapid, proactive responses to life’s challenges, they can also mask unexpected embodied feelings. Meditation often contains an interoceptive focus such as breath …
Concurrent Session 3 – Half Empty: Measuring Indicators of Emptiness Awareness Through Contemplative Practice
Traditional Mahayana Buddhist teachings emphasize the importance of understanding emptiness — the absence of independent substantiality of phenomena — through contemplative study and practice. Contemplative practices are becoming more widely integrated into the fields of education and clinical training. While self-report methodologies for assessing mindfulness have allowed researchers to quantify some of the changes that …
Concurrent Session 3 – Clinical Applications of Meditation for War-Related Mental Health Consequences and Co-Occurring Conditions
The prevalence of post-deployment mental health conditions is high. Deployment to a war zone is associated with a threefold increase in new-onset posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), often co-occurring with depression, anxiety, substance use disorders, sleep disturbance, and chronic pain and resulting in high long-term personal and societal costs. High prevalence, combined with the complex chronic …
Concurrent Session 3 – Dream Neurophenomenology and Contemplative Sciences
In recent years, significant advances have been made in the cognitive neuroscience of conscious experiences, including contemplative states, sleep, and dreaming. A wealth of evidence suggests that contemplative practices influence processes of attention, emotion regulation, and brain plasticity. On the other hand, sleep and dreaming have been consistently linked to memory, emotion regulation, and brain …
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Concurrent Session 3 – A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention for Obesity: Impact on Stress Physiology, Metabolic Health, and Gene Expression
We will present an overview of an NIH-NCCAM P01 center research programrigorously designed to examine the effects of a mindfulness-enhanced weight loss program in obese adults. We randomized 194 men and women to a diet-exercise program with or without mindfulness-based eating and stress management components. Both arms received 17 group sessions over 22 weeks, and …
Concurrent Session 3 – Being Mindful About Teaching Mindfulness: Evaluating the Consequences of Peer Instruction
The student-driven promotion of mental wellness across university campuses includes policies restructuring mental health services, conferences encouraging mental wellness, and peers offering one-on-one and group support. This paper will explore the theoretical implications of including mindfulness in these initiatives. Mindfulness-based stress reduction has been efficacious for reducing stress, anxiety, and depression, and for increasing empathy …
Concurrent Session 3 – Karma-Yoga at Work: A Mindful Alternative to Modern Management
Common experience tells us that our working lives produce mental states thatare far from mindful. Researchers and theorists have long criticized dominantmanagerial practices for their negative impact on individual well-being. Contemplative practices stemming from religious and philosophical traditions have provided individuals interpretive frameworks to attain empowerment and mindfulness in the midst of social and occupational …
Concurrent Session 3 – Mindfulness and SelfCompassion-Based Exposure Therapy for Combat Veterans with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Clinical Outcome and Neuroimaging Studies
Pilot work (thanks to a Mind and Life Varela grant) found significant symptomreduction following MBCT adapted for combat-related posttraumatic stressdisorder (PTSD). Our subsequent fouryear, federally funded project developed a novel 16-week PTSD group intervention for veterans returning from Afghanistan (OEF) and Iraq (OIF), utilizing mindfulness and self-compassion meditation (Mindfulness-Based Exposure Therapy, or MBET). PTSD patients …
