Colonel Oasis

Mindfulness-based approaches to medicine, psychology, neuroscience, healthcare, education, business leadership, and other major societal institutions have become increasingly common. New paradigms are emerging from a confluence of two powerful and potentially synergistic epistemologies: one arising from the wisdom traditions of Asia and the other arising from post-enlightenment empirical science. This book presents the work of internationally renowned experts in the fields of Buddhist scholarship and scientific research, as well as looking at the implementation of mindfulness in healthcare and education settings. Contributors consider the use of mindfulness throughout history and look at the actual meaning of mindfulness whilst identifying the most salient areas for potential synergy and for potential disjunction. Mindfulness: Diverse Perspectives on its Meanings, Origins and Applications provides a place where wisdom teachings, philosophy, history,　science and personal meditation　practice meet. It was originally published as a special issue of Contemporary Buddhism.

Mindfulness is an ineffable practice where we are taken on a mind-body journey of discovery into our inner world. Mindfulness helps us to be curious again, to bring conscious intent into our lives, to be wiser and more compassionate, and to make new choices in the moment rather than repeat our same mistakes. It helps us be better human beings rather than "human doings". The authors have adopted a strongly experiential perspective to provide readers with the evidence from over four decades of scientific research along with the experiences of our clients and others on how mindfulness is being translated from the world of mental health and wellbeing to the world of work. We hope that this combination of practice and science will help you to think about how you as a leader, a coach, or facilitator can integrate mindfulness approaches into your work and home life. By definition, mindfulness is simply to be present in the moment. You don't have to do anything. You don't have to be anywhere; you simply must notice your experience in the moment. It is evident that for most of us, our minds wander for as much of 47% of the time. In order to maintain this moment by moment awareness and not resort to acting on automatic pilot, it requires us to train our brains, somewhat like going to the gym. The authors offer a multitude of different everyday exercises and meditations for the reader to experiment with, and they encourage readers to find a daily practice that works for them. With personal inquiry, you can reflect and gain insight, learning to master emotions and responses so that less reactivity is experienced and more meaning in everything is fundamentally attained. Mindfulness at work is about being an active participant in your own life and the life of others around you. In general, people focus on what they can influence and how they respond to what happens by simply bringing non-judgmental, open awareness to our experience right here and now. The importance of how people focus their attention can make a monumental difference to how they feel, their quality of productivity, and their working and personal relationships. Conversely, not paying attention can be costly and detrimental to the quality of work as well as to the relationships that are vital for success at work and in our personal lives.

Faster than a speeding spitball, more powerful than a playground bully, able to breeze through homework and finish nightly chores in a single bound, it's Master of Mindfulness--here to conquer stress, worry, and any trouble that comes your way! Do you ever feel angry, disappointed, or stressed out about family problems, school, bullies, or trouble with friends? If so, mindfulness can help. Master of Mindfulness is a unique and empowering book written for kids by kids, with cool illustrations and tips that show you how to be confident, get focused, stay calm, and tap into your own inner strength so that you can be your own superhero--no matter what life throws your way! Childhood is supposed to be a carefree time, but the truth is that all kids have stress--especially when dealing with difficulties at school, at home, or with friends. Sometimes things happen in life that are hard, and you can't stop thinking about them or you react too fast. You might be mad, sad, irritated, embarrassed, anxious, jealous, or even disappointed with yourself when things don't go the way you would've hoped. And when you're really upset, it's hard to make good decisions--you may end up doing something that you regret later or that gets you into trouble. You could probably use some help--and fast!--but where can you turn? This book will give you the skills you need to bring up your own superpowers by showing you how mindfulness, like stopping to take a few deep, mindful breaths, can help you calm down and deal with things differently. Written by Laurie Grossman, cofounder of Mindful Schools and director of program development at Inner Explorer, and Mr. Musumeci's fifth grade class at Reach Academy in Oakland, California, Master of Mindfulness presents helpful practices--mindful activities proven to make it easier to pay attention, accept yourself and others, manage your anger, and even get to sleep at night. The book features cool, mixed media illustrations with real kids' drawings and stories about how mindfulness can help in different stressful situations. It even covers some of the brain science behind why mindfulness helps kids to feel better, stay in the present moment, be kind, and make good decisions. The book includes easy and fun practices, like mindful breathing, noticing your feelings, paying attention to your body, and mindful eating, as well as links to engaging audio recordings produced by Mr. Musumeci's students. And once you become a master of mindfulness, you can help others by sharing your superpower and teaching them how to do it, too--your parents, your teachers, and your friends. When things go wrong, or when you have scary thoughts or strong feelings, you may need help to sort it all out, no matter how old you are. Learning and practicing mindfulness can make it easier to deal with the issues you face every day by showing you how to tap into your own inner strength in times of stress. So, why not use mindfulness and start being your own superhero today?

Mindfulness isn't anything that we think; it's what we don't think. Mindfulness isn't something that other people do; it's something that we all do. Mindfulness is an ancient, life-enhancing, healing technique that can help us remember our natural state of happiness and health, even if we think we are too modern and too busy to prioritize what's really important--being fully alive and fully alive to our full life potential. Mindfulness at Work reveals how the practice of mindfulness--the ability to focus our attention on what is rather than be distracted by what isn't--can be a powerful antidote to the distractions and stresses of our modern lives, especially our working lives. It gives you powerful tools to: Reduce your stress Become more productive Improve your decision-making skills Work more creatively Develop your leadership skills And much more Written by an expert with years of both clinical and personal experience, Mindfulness at Work includes examples of mindfulness in action in the workplace, while also showing you how to apply its lessons to specific professions, from sales to teaching, from law to medicine, from the trades to the creative arts.

Stay in the moment, stay in the game! With this fun and engaging workbook for young athletes, you'll find practical ways to cope with stress and improve your performance, no matter what sport you play. If you're like many other high school or college students, you probably feel pressure to perform at a high level--both in the classroom and on the field. Unfortunately, this pressure can cause lots of stress and anxiety. To make matters worse, you may find it difficult to effectively manage all of these demands on your time, energy, and health. This is where mindfulness can help. Mindfulness allows you to stay present, focus, and be calm with your thoughts and emotions, no matter how stressful life gets. In Mindfulness for Student Athletes, you'll find practical and tactical ways to cope with stress and anxiety in the moment, prevent stress in the future, and experience more satisfaction and enjoyment while playing sports. You'll also find proven-effective tools to naturally enhance your performance. The mindfulness skills outlined in this workbook will not only help you on the field--but in life as well. You'll be able to take what you've learned and apply it to any situation, from job interviews to scoring a touchdown. What a gift to have!

Is your worrying keeping you from reaching your goals? In Mindfulness for Teen Worry, a clinical psychologist offers quick, easy-to-learn mindfulness skills teens can use anytime, anywhere to stop worries from growing and taking over. Let's face it--being a teen isn't easy. And if you're like a lot of other teens, you probably worry about getting good grades, fitting in with a certain crowd, or what the future will bring after high school. These are all completely normal worries, and signs that you are tuned in to your life and thinking about your goals. But what about chronic worrying--the kind that keeps you up at night, ruminating about that paper you just turned in, or that thing your friend said to you at lunch (what did she mean by that?), and so on. Sometimes worrying isn't helpful. In fact, it can get in the way of living your life! So, how can you start putting worry in its place before it takes up too much head space? Mindfulness for Teen Worry will show you how living in the moment will dissolve worry and help you stay grounded in the here and now. You'll learn powerful and easy-to-use mindfulness skills to manage the four most common worry struggles teens face: school pressure, coping with friendship and relationship problems, improving body image, and handling family conflicts. You'll discover why you worry and the long-term destructive impacts worry can have on your life. And most importantly, you'll be introduced to simple, effective techniques to help you become more mindful--like harnessing the power of the breath and how to relax your body in times of stress. If you struggle with worry or anxiety that gets in the way of being your best, this fun and friendly guide will help you maintain a mindful life in a frenzied world. This book has been selected as an Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Self-Help Book Recommendation--an honor bestowed on outstanding self-help books that are consistent with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) principles and that incorporate scientifically tested strategies for overcoming mental health difficulties. Used alone or in conjunction with therapy, our books offer powerful tools readers can use to jump-start changes in their lives.

The Many Benefits of Meditation addresses prenatal meditation and its positive effects on maternal health, fetal health and infant health. The authors evaluate a Prenatal Eastern Based Meditative Intervention (EBMI) program developed for pregnant Chinese women in Hong Kong in order to evaluate the effects of meditation on pregnancy. The conceptual framework was based on the postulation of positive relationships between meditation and pregnancy health which is important for fetal health and child health. The following chapter discusses how the exponential growth of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) in recent years has resulted in a marketisation and commodification of practice (popularly labeled McMindfulness) which divorces mindfulness from its ethical origins in Buddhist traditions. Another article is included which examines the elusive primordial energy that the ancient yogis referred to as Kundalini. This energy is said to ascend through each of the seven chakras from the base of the spine to the crown of the head. When the Kundalini reaches the crown chakra, cosmic consciousness, a restructuring of the psyche, and paranormal abilities have been reported. The authors use a multidisciplinary approach to explore how Kundalini is typically expressed and safely managed, and the importance for recognition by health care professionals. Next, a review is presented with the objective of determining whether evidence exists that directly compares the utility of tai chi/qi gong and mindfulness meditation in the treatment of cancer pain in adults. Several articles described the benefits of tai chi/qi gong on the pain experience of adult cancer patients, and multiple articles discussed the positive effects of mindfulness practices on pain. A paper is presented which examines the effects of Concentrative Meditation on worry, attention, dispositional mindfulness, and decentering. The results suggest that short-term uses of concentrative meditation are likely to be effective for worry, which may be associated with enhanced selective attention and decentering. Later, the effects of cognitive decentering and thinking errors on eating disorder symptoms among women's college students are examined. A structural equation model of questionnaire data (N = 173) revealed that cognitive decentering reduced eating disorder tendency by ameliorating thinking errors. The last study combines three distinct literatures. Burnout is a huge concern as workers and employers experience losses and challenges due to its effects, and DoS and mindfulness have been identified as important psychological traits for coping with burnout. The results of this study suggest that both DoS and Mindfulness are negatively correlated with burnout, indicating that these traits are important buffers against and resources for coping with emotional exhaustion.

Master Cherng's translation of Discourse on Sitting and Forgetting, an 8th century classic text on meditation by Si Ma Cheng Zhen, is accompanied by his extensive explanatory commentary, unique in its ability to make this complex text accessible to the Western reader. In the introduction to the text, Master Cherng explains how to practice the Purification of the Heart method of meditation and photographs clearly illustrate the correct postures. He deciphers the Chinese metaphors and abstract language of Si Ma Cheng Zhen to give a clear explanation of the processes involved and the resulting changes to mind, spirit and body. His translation and explanatory commentary present the classic text in a way that can be easily understood and applied, allowing Western students of Daoism, and anyone with an interest in meditation, direct access to the meaning of this text in practice.

Our understanding of the nature and applications of meditation, especially mindfulness meditation, has been expanding almost as rapidly as the empirical evidence from neuroscience and intervention studies that have become available in the research literature. Meditation is centuries old and prevalent in almost all ancient cultures in one form or another. Initially, people in the West were enamoured by its spiritual promise of personal transformation, but now a larger portion is attracted to mindfulness meditation (Vipassana or insight meditation) because of the promise of enhanced physical and mental well-being. Indeed, research shows that engaging in a daily practice of meditation for 20 to 30 minutes a day over 8 weeks produces new neural networks in the brain, attesting to observable calmness and clarity of perception. This book brings together a diverse group of experts who collectively provide a nuanced view of meditation from a variety of perspectives. This book offers a single-source authoritative guide to an ancient practice that is coming into its own in the Western world.