12/13/2021
Changes Coming to Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Courses Starting in February, 2022, the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction courses offered through the UVA Mindfulness Center will be returning to 2.5 hour long classes…
12/13/2021
A Mindfulness-Based Mobile Health Intervention Improved Anxiety and Depression Symptoms Among University Students in Quarantine During The COVID-19 Pandemic Researchers from the US and China conducted this randomized controlled trial…
12/13/2021
We all went into this pandemic together. Quarantine, washing hands, wearing masks, experiencing profound fear, increasing anxiety, showing compassion all became a collective consciousness for many of us. News reports flashed from around the world of people in isolation, trying to make the best of it. “Some Good News” with John Krasinski, videos of Italians singing from balconies, folks in NYC cheering on healthcare workers, photos of loved ones outside of nursing home windows waving to relatives locked inside were all broadcasted this time last year. Now that the pandemic dynamics have shifted with vaccine success, we are attempting to return to “normal” which has been anything but normal! Re-entry has been a solo experience for many of us, with each of us re-entering at different times and at different paces. This experience has felt isolating at times with new feelings of unexpected loneliness. In addition, feelings of uncertainty have arisen as we have tried to navigate this new normal, adding more stress to an already stressed-out baseline.
11/29/2021
Changes Coming to Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Courses Starting in February, 2022, the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction courses offered through the UVA Mindfulness Center will be returning to 2.5 hour long classes…
11/22/2021
The Impact of Psychological Interventions with Elements of Mindfulness on Empathy, Well-Being, and Reduction of Burnout in Physicians This systematic review aimed to analyze psychological interventions with elements of mindfulness…
Mindfulness and Emotional Intelligence Part 2
11/22/2021
In last month’s Monthly Musing, I wrote about the relationship between mindfulness and the first two aspects of Emotional Intelligence (EI): self-awareness and self-management. These provide the basis for the other two components of EI: social awareness and relationship management. The former is the topic for this month. Social awareness refers to paying attention to others, especially their emotions. Being aware of others emotions is central to empathy, which has been defined as the capacity to understand and share another person's emotional experience. Empathy is the principal competence underlying social awareness, and can be cultivated by both paying attention to others when we are in relationship with them, really listening, and also paying attention to what we are feeling when we are in the presence of others. When we give someone else our full attention we can better connect with what they are feeling.
10/28/2021
Fall Classes Underway The Mindfulness Center has a full slate of classes underway now. All are being offered virtually. These include Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and Mindful Eating courses that are…
10/28/2021
Online Mindfulness Training Increases Well-Being, Emotional Intelligence, and Workplace Competency Ratings Researchers in Canada conducted a randomized waitlist-controlled trial to assess the impact of a mindfulness-based training program on well-being,…
Mindfulness and Emotional Intelligence- Part 1
10/28/2021
Emotional Intelligence (EI) refers to the ability to understand and manage our own emotions, as well as to recognize and influence the emotions of those around us. EI has been shown to be a powerful predictor of work performance, and can also be important other settings. There are a number of models of EI. Perhaps the best known is that developed by Daniel Goleman which contains four domains: self-awareness, self-regulation, social awareness, and relationship management (https://hbr.org/2017/02/emotional-intelligence-has-12-elements-which-do-you-need-to-work-on). Emotional intelligence is based in self-awareness, in being aware of emotions as they arise. Mindfulness is key to doing this: when we are mindful, we are paying attention to our present moment experience, including recognizing emotions.
9/27/2021
The Reach of Mindfulness Center Classes Is Growing The Mindfulness Center is offering a wide slate of classes this fall, including Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, Mindful Eating, Mindfulness for Health System…