Brain Science

Mindfulness changes the way we respond to things by strengthening the prefrontal cortex. Different types of practices activate our thinking centers in different ways, similar to muscle use with exercise. No matter the course, all forms of mindfulness practice strengthen the attentional circuits and reduce fight-or-flight responses.

Before heading off to work, I got a call from a local reporter asking for my opinion on Pokemon Go! The fact that I never owned a cell phone didn’t seem to phase her. So, I took a deep breath and asked for time to…

I’m loving the intersection of science and psychotherapy. Did you know negative emotions narrow people’s perception, reflected by significantly reduced blood flow in a particular area of the brain called the parahippocampal? By contrast, positive emotions broaden and build perception. This data suggests what we…

Emotional regulation is a practice. You’re being asked to reflect and respond against something that feels natural to the parasympathetic nervous system. That’s why the bulk of the work is learning to titrate emotions. When all else fails and you’re feeling overwhelmed, ask yourself what matters most and try to choose love every time.

Some people, either genetically or intuitively, are born with more resilience than others. They’re the ones who smile in the face of adversity, reframe bad events as opportunities, and adopt a wait-and-see attitude about future threats.

Being open to who we are, exactly as we are in this moment, requires a stance of gentleness toward ourselves. This is what it means to befriend the self. We treat ourselves with the same sweetness we would a friend.

Loving-kindness meditation is a technique used to condition one’s habitual responses, emotions and mind states toward greater warmth and caring for self and others. What we feed grows. By increasing our daily diet of love, compassion, and other positive emotions we nourish character development and psychological growth.

Here are some of the most common anxiety-fueled thought patterns, plus some specific ways you can recognize and dispute them. If some of these sound familiar to you, put them in your mental tool kit so you can take them out when you need them.

Feeling cared for, accepted and having a sense of belonging and affiliation with others is fundamental to our well-being. Unfortunately, not everyone was raised in such an environment.

When attention is strong, we can simply do what we are doing, moment to moment. If we are peeling an orange, we may notice the stickiness of the juice, the smell of the orange oil, and a host of other sensations