Caitlin Byrd, mountainx.com: Like a conductor, third-grader Daniel lifts his right arm and the chests of his classmates and teachers rise in response. The group sits in a circle on the floor with eyes closed, legs crossed and a candle lit. As Daniel lowers his arm, an echo of exhales keep time. He repeats the movement twice more.

With daily centering complete, another day begins at Rainbow Mountain Children’s School.

“This is a time [when] there is not a right or wrong answer,” says Executive Director Renee Owen. The centering exercise is about “coming into the present. It’s a time to go inward. It’s a time to connect…

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Rick Romano, BrookfieldNow: Brookfield acupuncturist Jesse Foy believes the mind is a powerful tool in maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Foy backs up that belief as the founder of Rooted in Mindfulness, a practice he developed several years ago after studying the discipline. Today, Rooted in Mindfulness offers an array of experiences from weekly drop-in practice sessions to formalized courses and workshops.

He became involved with mindfulness – a form of meditation – because he saw firsthand how his patients and others often get caught in a cycle of anxiety.

“This is really a combination of Eastern psychology and traditional medicine,” Foy said. “I have worked…

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Elisha Goldstein,Ph.D., PsychCentral: Whether you’re new or old to mindfulness, you’ve likely heard the definition that it is a “intentional non-judgmental awareness of the present moment.” There’s a lot of confusion around the term non-judgment. Years ago, before I began being more intentional with a mindfulness practice I had a friend practicing meditation and he told me that he was practicing being completely detached from everything in a non-judgmental way. That didn’t seem too fun to me. Today, many of us can still be confused by this term, so what does it really mean?

A purer definition of mindfulness might be just “awareness.”

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Examiner.com: Elizabeth Scott, M.S. has written for About.com that the practice of mindfulness can bring many benefits to your emotional and physical health, and also to the relationships in your life. Mindfulness is a great tool for stress management and overall wellness because it can be used at virtually any time and can quickly bring results that last. On March 15, 2013, Alpha Galileo Foundation reported on materials from Ku Leuven, Mindfulness at school reduces (likelihood of) depression-related symptoms in adolescents.

Secondary school students who follow an in-class mindfulness program reported lowered indications of depression, anxiety and stress up to six months later. Furthermore, these…

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Where does it hurt?

We’re usually aware of our own suffering, which – broadly defined – includes the whole range of physical and mental discomfort, from mild headache or anxiety to the agony of bone cancer or the anguish of losing a child. (Certainly, there is more to life than suffering, including great joy and fulfillment; that said, we’ll sustain a single focus here.)

But seeing the suffering in others: that’s not so common. All the news and pictures of disaster, murder, and grief that bombard us each day can ironically numb us to suffering in our own country and across the planet. Close to home, it’s easy to tune out …

Physics offers “crisper” analogies for meditation than traditional Buddhism does, said Fred Cooper, external professor at Santa Fe Institute and former program director for theoretical physics at the National Science Foundation at a lecture last night.

Cooper, who has studied physics and meditation for over 30 years, spoke about connections between quantum physics and Buddhism in List 120 in a talk sponsored by the Brown Meditation Community.

Buddhism and physics share a common “conceptual framework” consisting of “ground, path and fruition,” but they diverge in the specifics, he said. Physics is grounded in mathematical equations, while Buddhism is grounded in the rejection of a dualistic perspective…

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Roger Stark, ksl: Meditation is not just for yoga instructors anymore.

A Ph.D. In Seattle includes meditation as a treatment protocol for a personality disorder, a midwife in Maine teaches its practice in preparing women for childbirth, a Minneapolis business guru advocates it as a way to increase productivity, clinicians across the nation suggest it as a pain management regimen.

The practice of meditation and the principles of what is being called “mindfulness” are being brought into life’s mainstream as the many benefits are being recognized and embraced.

But for many, mediation is still a bit mystical and a strange practice they do…

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I’ve noticed that I have a tendency not to notice that I’m suffering, and I suspect that a lot of other people do this too.

When I get annoyed with someone, I’m suffering. When I crave an experience, I’m suffering. When I’m anxious, I’m suffering, and so on. In a way this may seem obvious, but actually very rarely do we find ourselves annoyed or craving or anxious and say to ourselves “I’m suffering right now.” We tend to focus more on the thing that’s annoying us, or that we want, or that we’re anxious about.

And so a lot of our suffering is “under the radar” and doesn’t get dealt …

Rick Nauert, Ph.D., PsychCentral: The benefits of meditation are well-acknowledged. Yet a scientific explanation of how it works has been conspicuously absent.

Brown University scientists may have helped to overcome this barrier as researchers propose a neurophysiological framework to explain the clinical benefits bestowed by meditation.

Scientists believe that mindfulness practitioners gain enhanced control over sensory cortical alpha rhythms that help regulate how the brain processes and filters sensations, including pain, and memories such as depressive thoughts.

The proposal, based on published experimental results and a validated computer simulation of neural networks, is based upon the intimate connection in mindfulness between mind and…

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umass medNow: The UMass Medical School Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care and Society is hosting its 11th annual international scientific conference in April. The conference, Investigating and Integrating Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care and Society, is jointly sponsored by the UMMS Office of Continuing Education. It will be held at the Sheraton Four Points in Norwood from April 17 through 21. The conference attracts participants from around the world.

The four-day event provides an opportunity for clinicians, researchers, educators and students to interact with one another in investigating new approaches and significant findings in the broad integration of mindfulness and medication into medicine…

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