Changes in Emotional Reactivity after Different Types of Mental Training Meditation-based mental training interventions show physical and mental health benefits. However, how different types of mental practice affect emotion processing…
The Mindfulness Center programming is on vacation for the summer and will resume with a full slate of courses in the fall.
Last month, the Monthly Musing addressed cultivating kindness for ourselves. This month, the focus is on cultivating kindness toward others. There are many benefits of doing both. Extending kindness to ourselves can help decrease the impact of negative experiences and emotions and improve our wellbeing. Extending kindness to others can have similar effects. Often when we are angry with someone or hold a grudge, we may be the ones who feel it the most. If we can acknowledge these feelings and intentionally respond with kindness we may feel better, as may the other person, and our relationships may improve. It may be helpful to revisit the definition of mindfulness that we use in the Mindfulness Center: Intentional present-moment nonjudgmental awareness with kindness. If we are not paying attention, when we interact with others we may react negatively and be critical and judgmental without even noticing it. This happens automatically, outside of our conscious awareness, based on how our past experiences influence our perceptions. These influences are pervasive.
A Silent Retreat for Current and Past Participants of All Eight-Week UVA Mindfulness Programs Will Be Held on June 4 A virtual silent retreat will be held by Zoom from…
Self-Compassion and Coping Self-compassion, a positive and caring attitude toward oneself, can contribute to positive coping in stressful situations. These authors analyzed the relationship between self-compassion and different forms of…
Cultivating Kindness for Ourselves
Cultivating kindness is central to practicing mindfulness. A definition of mindfulness that we use in the Mindfulness Center is “intentional nonjudgmental present moment awareness with kindness”. Why is kindness so important? Being with our own present moment experience can be hard, and practicing kindness toward ourselves can facilitate our ability to do this. There are times when we may be feeling stressed, or upset with ourselves for something we have or have not done, or we may be upset with someone else. If we pay attention to our present moment experience, we may notice that we are feeling anxious, or guilty, or angry. These can all be difficult emotions, and we may want to turn away, to distract ourselves, to do anything else but be with what we are feeling. Yet mindfulness is about being with whatever is arising in the moment, whether it is pleasant, unpleasant or neutral.
