The first random controlled study to compare Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) training to a control group has found that mindfulness is the better treatment choice when it comes to Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). People who experience GAD worry chronically and have nervous physiological symptoms. MBSR is an 8-week training program that teaches mindfulness skills in order [...]

A print article in New Scientist discusses new research by Herbert Benson on the effect of brief meditation at the genetic level. Gene analysis was performed on 26 volunteers before training in meditative relaxation exercises, and again after 8 weeks of performing these exercises daily. Results were very impressive: after just 8 weeks of 10-20 minutes of [...]

New research has studied the effect of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy on women with fibromyalgia, a syndrome that has a severe impact on the quality of life of the sufferer. The study looked at women with fibromyalgia and randomly assigned them to either an 8-week MBCT intervention or a control situation. Measurements of pain, life impact and [...]

The Mindfulness Clinic’s very own Terra Dafoe has just published an article in the Journal of Offender Rehabilitation reviewing Mindfulness Meditation as an adjunct approach to treatment within the correctional system. The article outlines cognitive-bahavioural therapy and relapse prevention as standard practice, and then discusses how mindfulness therapies have been shown to be very effective for a [...]

A recent study compared a brief, computer-based mindfulness training session to a standard psychoeducational intervention for smoking cessation. Participants were randomly assigned to either intervention or a control group which received no training. The day after the interventions, half of the smokers quit smoking and were asked to monitor their cravings. Participants in the mindfulness group [...]

A new study tested whether a 2-week mindfulness training course would have any effect on students’ experience of and scores on the GREs. Participants were randomly assigned to the mindfulness training condition or a control condition involving nutrition training. Students in the mindfulness group experienced a lower occurrence of distracting thoughts as well as an [...]

A recent randomized, controlled study of people with coronary heart disease compared the effects of a meditation intervention with the effects of a health education program on long-term health outcomes. 201 black men and women (who have disproportionately higher rates of heart disease than white men and women) followed either a 6-week mindfulness training course (plus [...]

A new study from Hong Kong looked at whether a mindfulness-based intervention could be helpful for people with schizophrenia. The researchers followed 96 outpatients with schizophrenia who were randomly assigned to Treatment As Usual or a Mindfulness-Based Psychoeducation program which emphasized patients’ knowledge and awareness of schizophrenia. Compared to the Treatment As Usual group, the patients [...]

A new study from the University of Utah sheds some light on emotional well-being. It appears that those who describe themselves as being more mindful also report having more control over their mood and behaviour, as well as more stable emotions. The participants in this study wore heart monitors to measure their physiological activation throughout the [...]

A recent Belgian study tested a mindfulness intervention in the classroom to see whether it would have any effect on levels of depression in adolescent students. 408 students from different schools were assigned to either a mindfulness training condition or a control condition which did not receive any training. Both groups were given questionnaires measuring levels [...]

How well do you know yourself? People’s perceptions of themselves tend to be somewhat tainted by ‘rose-coloured glasses.’—we have a hard time thinking about ourselves nonjudgementally. Much of the time, we make positive (and negative) value judgements about our personalities that may not be very objective. A new article in Perspectives on Psychological Science discusses how [...]

Here’s a great video by Pascal Auclair on tenderness and compassion. If you’re interested in learning more about compassion, we have a full-day workshop on the topic coming up in April. Click here for details!

http://vimeo.com/60941860

A new study looked at whether mindfulness yoga could help pregnant women who were at risk for psychological problems. 18 women with elevated postnatal depression scores participated in a 10-week mindfulness yoga course. Before and after the course, the women completed ratings of their overall depression, mindfulness and maternal-fetal attachment. The results showed that after the [...]

Have you heard about telomeres? They are little structures in your body that scientists believe play a big role in aging. The length of your telomeres can be used to approximate biological aging and correlates with severe stress: the older–or more stressed out–you are, the shorter your telomeres. Recent research compared general mindfulness levels of [...]

When will the TDSB get on board? The TDSB has just released the results of a study into student stress, and found that they are anxious, losing sleep, and often on the verge of tears. It’s not easy being a student these days, for reasons outlined in this Globe and Mail article . Other parts of the country [...]

New research is pointing to the biological mechanisms behind how mindfulness meditation changes our experiences. One study compared a group of people who followed an 8-week meditation course with another group who were asked to refrain from any meditation activities. After the 8 weeks, the researchers did brain scans of the participants. They found that the [...]

New research is exploring how aesthetic enjoyment is heightened when listening to music is preceded by a mindfulness exercise. Frank Diaz compared students listening to Giacomo Puccini’s opera “La Boheme” by having half of them listen after completing a 15-minute mindfulness exercise. Students were asked to rate aesthetic response as well as flow–how “in the zone” [...]

A new pilot study researching whether mindfulness meditation can have an effect on military personnel has shown great promise. 35 Marines were trained in mindfulness meditation before being deployed to Iraq. Elizabeth Stanley, the primary researcher, says “the more the Marines practiced MMFT exercises, the more they improved their working memory capacity — the ability to [...]

The health care industry isn’t working for everyone. Many North Americans are seeking alternative solutions for their health care needs, with a focus on prevention rather than treatment, and more holistic therapies rather than expensive medication. This article from Mindful.org discusses how mindfulness practices factor into total health care plans for everything from getting pregnant to [...]

A study done at the University of Wisconsin compared Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) to a Health Enhancement Program (focusing on nutritional education, physical activity and music therapy) to see if either would be helpful in reducing stress-based inflammation. Both groups trained for the same amount of time, required the same amount of homework and had similarly [...]