Mindfulness Meditation is a non-sectarian, research-based form of meditation derived from a 2,500 year old Buddhist practice.
According to “Doing and Being: Mindfulness, Health, and Quiet Ego Characteristics among Buddhist Practitioners,” the 2011 research article that published the survey results in the Journal of Happiness Studies, there were five key ways that mindfulness training increased physical and mental health:
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- It strengthened immune system and physiological responses to stress and negative emotions.
- It improved social relationships with family and strangers.
- It reduced stress, depression, and anxiety and increased well-being and happiness.
- It increased openness to experience, conscientiousness, and agreeableness and reduced negative associations with neuroticism.
- It led to greater psychological mindfulness, which included an awareness that is clear, nonconceptual, and flexible; a practical stance toward reality; and present attention to the individual’s consciousness and awareness.
Join Betty Kramer, Chonyi, for this 5-week series on how to cultivate daily mindfulness and a seated meditation practice, both formally (i.e., as a daily seated meditation practice) and informally (i.e., in one’s moment by moment experience). April 23 will be a practice session led by Pema Antoniotti. This series will support beginning meditators as well as those meditators who are familiar with mindfulness practices. Students should be willing to cultivate a daily practice. Please wear comfortable clothes.
