Latest News & Announcements

I find this video short film hugely uplifting and inspiring. Everyone who cares about the educating of children in school should watch it: The Toolbox Is You

https://youtu.be/K8o0XT9v77k

Here is a study, very recently published in JAMA Psychiatry (a top of the line, high impact scientific journal) showing quite definitively that MBSR was as effective as the top of the line drug treatment for anxiety disorders (see paper attached). We think it will inspire you in your work to know that a rigorously designed study supports what we have known for decades.

Courage

How many courageous people do you know?
What is courage after all?

To laugh when it feels like laughing,
To cry when it feels like crying,
To sing when it feels like singing,
To dance when it feels like dancing,
In the street, at work, in a hospital,
Wherever and whenever.

Resources helpful in our waking up process in relation to race and racism:

Brach, T (2016), Facing my White Privilege, The Lions Roar

Choudhury, S (2016) What We Say, Not What We Do in the The Wise Brain Bulletin, 10,1 (adapted from  Deep Diversity: Overcoming Us vs. Them by Shakil Choudhury. 2015)

A short Mindfulness retreat can improve biological markers of stress and inflammation

Anxiety is a complex, deeply rooted emotion that exerts a stronger force in our lives than we ever imagined.  Anxiety drives anxiety, and is often masked by addictions and bad habits that we cannot break. The brain gets stuck in anxiety habit loops: we continue to procrastinate, we eat the extra cookie, we binge watch Netflix. And it goes without saying that in the year of COVID our anxieties have played a starring role.

MBI-TAC-addendum-for-online-delivery.pdf

MINDFULNESS-BASED TEACHING ASSESSMENT CRITERIA (MBI-TAC)

More general MBI-TAC information:

https://mbsr.website/mbi-tac

Did the Buddha teach us to get rid of our emotions?

We may think—or even hope—that Buddhist practice will help us switch off unpleasant emotions so that we don’t have to experience them. Sorry, but emotions are part of being human! However, they don’t have to cause so much suffering.

Sytse Boonstra

Aurelie Giraud

Kalpalatha Thiyagarajan

Oana Ratiu

Lorraine Smith

Shereen T Sy

Buse Gocmen

from

Denmark, Aalborg

Singapore

Budapest, Hungary

UK, Minchinhampton

Philippines, Makati City

Turkey, Istanbul

The Near and Far Enemies of Fierce Compassion

by Dr. Chris Germer

CMSC Co-Founder

September 3, 2020

Social justice work is not for the fainthearted. Now more than ever, we are obliged to acknowledge our own complicity in systems of oppression as well as to assert our individual agency to bring about a better world. Committed action by many people will eventually become a powerful force for systemic change. And yet many of us grapple with some basic questions: “What can I do?” “What should I do?”

I’ve been a student of meditative techniques and contemplative traditions for a while. I
have a decades-long personal practice and academic degrees in both religious studies and
psychology. And I have mixed feelings about the kind of attention mindfulness is currently
receiving and the ways it’s often conceptualized today in the West. On one hand, the
fact meditative practices and contemplative experiences are getting increased study I feel
is deeply beneficial and long overdue. On another, with only slight exaggeration, I’m

In Psychological Inquiry, 2007, 18 (No. 4), pp. 258-264.

Department of Psychology

University of California, Berkeley

1st mix of In-person and Online 

Meditation-related challenges

Reading the Academic Report: Progress or Pathology? from Lindahl et al 2020

This post offers a reflection on a recent academic paper and may be of particular interest to those who engage in mindfulness teaching, training and practice.

Making Mindfulness Safe and Effective for People Who’ve Experienced Trauma

The Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness Podcast:

A monthly podcast hosted by David Treleaven featuring a variety of guests speaking about the intersection of mindfulness, meditation, and trauma.

https://davidtreleaven.com/podcast-2/

Here are my recommendations for further reading about the Satipatthana Sutta, in order of relevance:-

• Analayo - Satipatthana path to realization
• Analayo - Satipatthana Meditation a practical guide
• Living with Awareness - Sangharakshita

Hanka Čechová

Kim Young

Fernando Balsera

Eddy Cheng

David Rick

Anita Kleijn

Marta sanchez-capuchino

Tatiana Barillova

Kvetoslava Sarvasova

Karen Steele

Elise Lefebvre

Karolina Mazurek

Sunita Lama

Elena Sushko

Judit Hărdăut

Paolo Casartelli

Bilge Güçbilmez Buluş

Lesley Kidd

Kate Avis

Melanie Banerjee

Jacqui Edmiston

FROM

Chech, Prague

Thailand, Bangkok