Washington

Exploring Self Compassion: A retreat in Washington, Sep 26–29, 2013

self-compassionI’m leading a retreat September 26th to September 29th at Camp Delaney, Sun Lakes State Park, Washington, on the theme of Exploring Self Compassion. Registration closes Sept 15th.

Self compassion is essential if we are to have compassion for others. It is also a powerful tool for transforming our own lives, freeing us from fear and resentment and unleashing a more joyful and creative approach to life.

On this retreat we’ll explore, step-by-step, how to become more compassionate toward ourselves. We’ll learn to become more mindful of our own suffering, and to accept it without reacting. We’ll explore how to hold our suffering in mind compassionately, and how to imbue our minds with a compassionate awareness.

Self-compassion is something that’s been absolutely transformative in my own life. It’s taught me how to deal with things like recurring shame and guilt, and with feelings of hurt, resentment, and anger.

My teaching is rooted in a long-term project passion I have for exploring a sequence of mental events — contact-feeling-volition-action — found in the Buddhist teaching of conditionality. The material I’ll be presenting, and the guided meditations we’ll be doing, arise from years of reflection and personal experience.

The retreat itself is hosted by the Seattle Buddhist Center (one of the centers of the Triratna Buddhist Community), and they’re the people to contact regarding booking a place, or for practical information about how to get there. Click here for more information.

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Mindfulness training helps lower stress hormone

Zee News, Washington: Focusing on the present rather than letting the mind drift may help to lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol, according to a new study from the University of California, Davis.

The ability to focus mental resources on immediate experience is an aspect of mindfulness, which can be improved by meditation training.

“This is the first study to show a direct relation between resting cortisol and scores on any type of mindfulness scale,” said Tonya Jacobs, a postdoctoral researcher at the UC Davis Center for Mind and Brain and first author of a paper describing the work.

High levels…

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Could transcendental meditation help veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder?

Dr. Norman Rosenthal: As Memorial Day approaches, it is fitting that we remember the debt owed, in the words of Winston Churchill, by so many to so few — those men and women who have fought and, in some cases, paid the ultimate price, so that the rest of us can live in freedom and safety.

Here in Washington, D.C., there will be formal ceremonies at Arlington Cemetery and informal ceremonies at the monuments that mark the wars that claimed too many. Likewise, throughout our great country, people will be remembering, grieving, reflecting.

Allow me to share with you the stories of five veterans, who are very much on my mind this Memorial Day. These five young men participated in a study under my direction to determine whether meditation could help assuage the painful and disabling aftermath of their service in Iraq, Afghanistan or both. While serving, all were exposed to the horrors of war in one form or another. They saw their fellow soldiers and the enemy killed at close quarters, directly experienced the blasts of powerful bombs or improvised explosive devices, and drove along country roads, never knowing when they would drive into the next ambush.

After returning to the U.S., these young men were among the huge number of soldiers and Marines (1.6 million and counting) who have suffered the devastating effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Symptoms of this condition vary, but typically involve hypervigilance (jumpiness, irritability), detachment, avoidance of situations that trigger memories of the traumatic events, flashbacks and nightmares – as memories spring unbidden into consciousness, accompanied by drenching sweat, a pounding heart…

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