"In the Dzogchen teachings there’s an analogy to ringing a bell (to instantly see the illusory nature of the self).  You briefly ring it and then the continuity of the sound evolves for as long as it will.  And then you ring it again. "


26 Mindfulness & Compassion-relevant research studies: July '17 newsletter

25th July 2017

Here is a downloadable PDF of these 26 abstracts. Ainsworth, B., H. Bolderston, et al. (2017). "Testing the differential effects of acceptance and attention-based psychological interventions on intrusive thoughts and worry." Behaviour Research and Therapy 91: 72-77. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0005796717300190 (Available in free full text) Worry is a key component of anxiety …

36 Depression-relevant abstracts: July '17 newsletter

25th July 2017

Here is a downloadable PDF of these research studies. Andreas, S., H. Schulz, et al. (2017). "Prevalence of mental disorders in elderly people: The european mentdis_icf65+ study." The British Journal of Psychiatry 210(2): 125-131 http://bjp.rcpsych.org/content/210/2/125 Background Except for dementia and depression, little is known about common mental disorders in elderly …

36 CBT & psychotherapy relevant abstracts: July '17 newsletter

25th July 2017

This blog post is downloadable as a Word doc. Ali, S., L. Rhodes, et al. (2017). "How durable is the effect of low intensity CBT for depression and anxiety? Remission and relapse in a longitudinal cohort study." Behaviour Research and Therapy 94: 1-8. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0005796717300840 AbstractBackground Depression and anxiety disorders are …

Recent research: articles from spring/summer journals

23rd July 2017

I read a lot of research. When I find an article of particular interest I download it to my bibliographic database - Endnote - which currently contains over 25,000 abstracts. I also regularly tweet about emerging research, so following me on Twitter, Facebook or Google+ (click on the relevant icon …

Compassion lecture: what? why? how? so ... ?

1st June 2017

I'm due to give a short lecture tomorrow on "Compassion". Here is a downloadable copy of the slides ... sadly with most of the images removed for copyright reasons. The event is a "Collider session". It's a kind of upmarket brainstorming exercise with an invited group of participants to look …

Balanced meditation practice: an overview

22nd May 2017

Taking our attention inwards can be done helpfully in so many ways. We can relax; we can be mindfully aware; we can use visualisations; we can deeply savour present time experience; we can process difficulties from our pasts or prepare ourselves for challenges in the future. There are so many …

Self-compassion: soothing touch helps us settle and relax

20th May 2017

Touch can be profoundly soothing and settling. In an intriguing study - "Nonverbal channel use in communication of emotion: how may depend on why" - researchers found that when participants generated displays of eleven different emotions, touch was the most preferred nonverbal way of showing love and sympathy. Welcomed touch …

Mindful self-compassion: affectionate breathing meditation

18th May 2017

I'm just back from a five day Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) retreat in Iceland with Chris Germer & Christine Brahler. MSC teaches a whole host of meditation practices, with three underlined as core meditations. These three are Affectionate Breathing, Loving-Kindness for Ourselves, and Giving & Receiving Compassion. In this post I …

Upgrading the 'breathing space' meditation, some research-based suggestions (3rd post): embodied values

16th May 2017

I have already written a couple of blog posts "Upgrading the 'breathing space' meditation, some research-based suggestions (1st post): mindfulness & naming" and "Upgrading the 'breathing space' meditation, some research-based suggestions (2nd post): touch & affectionate releasing" where we have taken our attention inwards, noting & naming our internal state/our …

Upgrading the 'breathing space' meditation, some research-based suggestions (2nd post): touch & affectionate releasing

15th May 2017

I recently wrote a blog post "Upgrading the 'breathing space' meditation, some research-based suggestions (1st post): mindfulness & naming" where I commented that if the thousands of recent research papers on mindfulness, emotion regulation & related subjects couldn't help us improve on the helpfulness of brief meditation practices, then science …