Índex per June 2017 a Mindful

Have you ever dreamed of becoming an artist? What's your creative outlet of choice? In order of popularity: 1 Writing 2 Cooking 3 Photography 4 Drawing 5 Textiles 6 Dancing 7 Painting 8 Music 9 Acting Do you believe creativity is learned or inherent? Learned: 14% Inherent: 46% Not sure: 40% Does your creativity thrive in peace or chaos? In peace: 61% In chaos: 8% Doesn't matter: 31% Do you have a song that pumps you up when you’re doing creative work? • “I prefer quiet.” • “Anything delightfully cheesy.” • “‘Lose Yourself’ by Eminem” • “Random Spotify song. One song. Then silence.” • “‘Dancing On My Own’ by Robyn.” Are you more creative by yourself or with others? BY MYSELF WITH OTHERS Who is the most creative person you…

Most of us are afraid to be alone. I’m talkin’ no cell phone, no Wi-Fi alone. When was the last time you were by yourself and didn’t try to sweeten, avoid, or supercharge the moment? Were you fearful, anxious, or hungry for something more? We are awash in studies telling us that we need each other to survive and to be happy. And it’s true, we do. But when we lose the ability to be alone with ourselves, our overstimulated nervous systems suffer from no place to rest and recharge. Self-imposed solitude triggered by social anxiety, schizophrenia, or other psychological disorders can constitute a health risk, says psychiatrist and researcher Dr. Mary V. Seeman in a review published in 2016 in the journal Psychosis. “But,” she writes, “[solitude] can also…

One of the great joys of running is the time and space it gives you to just be with yourself. There’s nothing else to do, or really, to even think about. Of course, you can load running, like anything else, with all sorts of goals and other busyness. But to truly experience mindfulness while running, the most important thing is to let running itself be the goal without any other needs attached to it. There are two fun ways to practice this. Just…Run! Truly give yourself over to the experience of running just for running’s sake, with no other agenda. This will mean going whichever way your desire tells you to go, listening to your body to determine your speed and the distance you travel, and remaining alert and curious…

What style of meditation is best for stimulating creativity? One of the most definitive studies on this subject was conducted in 2012 by Lorenza Colzato, a Dutch cognitive psychologist. Her research team had a small group of novices practice two forms of mindfulness meditation: 1) open-monitoring, which involves observing and noting phenomena in the present moment and keeping attention flexible and unrestricted, and 2) focused attention, which stresses concentrating on a single object, such as breathing, and ignoring other stimuli. Then, after each meditation session, the subjects underwent tests to determine their ability to perform a range of cognitive skills. What Colzato and her team discovered was that open-monitoring meditation was far more effective in stimulating divergent thinking, a key driver of creativity. Not surprisingly, the study also showed that…

Barry Boyce Editor-in-Chief barry@mindful.org Our must-read story this issue: In “The Mind Set Free,” Hugh Delehanty learns how to let his creativity run wild. On page 54. Read a short report on the scientific research behind the value of making mistakes at mindful.org/mistakes At this year’s Academy Awards, the night’s big award, best picture, was largely a contest between two movies: La La Land, a bubbly, lighter-than-air musical depicting beautiful people traipsing through the hills, valleys, boulevards, and freeways of LA; and Moonlight, a gritty coming-of-age story about a young African American marginalized not only through racial discrimination but because he is poor, gay, and being raised by a mother addicted to drugs. Despite its grave theme, Moonlight uplifts; it’s about resilience and love in the face of untold odds.…

Litknitbits is an Etsy shop that buys and sells high-quality knitted goods made by senior women living in poverty or alone. The page reads: “We pay them generously, visit them and provide an opportunity to still feel needed and participate in the society.” Beth and Dave Cutlip, co-owners of Southside Tattoo parlor in Baltimore, set aside time to cover up harmful tattoos for free. Many of their customers got inked with gang signs, swastikas, and other offensive symbols in their youth, and the Cutlips want to help them put their past in the past. Peaceful Cuisine, a YouTube cooking channel from Japan, abandons the cacophony of your average food show. Each episode walks through a single recipe, often without any soundtrack but the soothing sounds of slicing and dicing. Working…

Born in Toronto, to Jamaican parents, Giselle Jones worked as an actress in New York City and Hollywood for 17 years, then served as the education director of a youth literacy group in LA. She’s now a psychotherapist in private practice who treats people with mental health and relationship issues including sexual anxiety, trauma, and addiction. How did you first come to meditation? In 2012, while at UCLA getting my master’s degree in social work, I did an internship at a school in the Watts neighborhood. On day one, the school shut down for race-related fighting and thieving of computers, and I had teachers tossing me students. As I got to know them, kids would disclose sexual abuse and other traumatic experiences, and then they would leave the room, and I would…

Meditation isn’t only about the mind—it’s also about the body. And believe it or not, meditation isn’t meant to be physically uncomfortable. Getting your posture right is key to staying relaxed and alert instead of tense or spaced out. Without that, it’s nearly impossible to focus on the present moment. Chances are that when you start, meditation will feel a little awkward or uncomfortable. That’s okay. Finding the ideal meditation posture and seating arrangement can take a while. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach—it takes time to familiarize yourself with the subtleties of your unique body. We offer the basic guidelines to help you get started or make some tweaks. Posture Pointers EYES gaze slightly downward, 4 to 6 feet in front of you. Or eyes closed. CHIN slightly tucked to keep…

1 NASAL BREATHING If you’ve done yoga, you’ve likely done diaphragmatic nasal breathing, where the diaphragm is engaged while breathing deeply and slowly only through your nose. The technique is used to focus the mind and trigger the relaxation response. The same thing happens when you breathe through your nose while running slowly, as in mindful running. Plus, nasal breathing warms and filters the air before it travels into your lungs, which is a boon for running in cold, low-humidity climates. But it’s difficult, if not impossible, to maintain nasal breathing as you increase your speed and your body requires greater levels of oxygen than your nose can handle. 2 MOUTH BREATHING This is the most efficient way of getting the large amounts of oxygen needed under exertion. Runners usually…

ATTENDING Medicine, Mindfulness, and Humanity Ronald Epstein, MD • Scribner A family physician and a professor at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, Ron Epstein has been working to improve how doctors treat others for decades. Together with colleague Mick Krasner, he has encouraged caregivers to pay attention to what’s happening in their own minds and bodies as they interact with patients—with particular attention to how they communicate and the quality of the time: Are they really “attending” or are they not quite all there? In 1999, Epstein launched a small revolution with “Mindful Practice,” a piece in the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association. Ten years later, he and Krasner reported in the same journal on the results of their mindfulness work with doctors: They were more…

Putting Emotions on the Map It’s hard to talk about emotions and to get a feel for how they work. To offer some aid, emotion researcher Paul Ekman teamed up with the Dalai Lama and data visualization firm Stamen to create the Atlas of Emotions, a website that allows you to explore the dimensions of your emotions to help “increase choice in what we become emotional about and how we respond.” Universal emotions, clockwise from top: anger, disgust, sadness, enjoyment, and fear. Clicking one at atlasofemotions.org shows an interactive diagram with more detail on that emotion. The New Picture of Health We all know that engaging in healthful habits—and eliminating the unhealthy ones—promotes physical and psychological well-being. But knowing what to do to be healthier and actually doing it isn’t…

Get away for a weekend or five days of immersion learning with world-class faculty on our 75-acre campus beautifully nestled in the ancient redwoods just outside of Santa Cruz, California. What is 1440? Named for the 1440 minutes in a day, we are founded on the belief that each minute is an opportunity to be present, aware, and mindful of how we connect with what matters—both within and around us. What is a Multiversity? We believe the deepest learning happens when people nurture and awaken all aspects of the self. A multiversity is designed to encourage and invite this process to unfold in each of us—on relational, emotional, somatic, intellectual, and spiritual levels. Areas of Study Explore new approaches to how you live, love, and work. Our renowned faculty are…