At the start of our Mindfulness Based Symptom Management (MBSM) program, I ask the participants what they think mindfulness is. They usually say some version of "Being in the Now" or "The Present Moment". I ask again at the end of the eight weeks and typically they say, "It's being aware" or "It's knowing that everything [...]
Tag: mindfulness
Book Review: Siddhartha’s Brain by James Kingsland
Siddhartha's Brain, written by science journalist James Kingsland, opens with what would be a somewhat shocking quote from Ajahn Amaro, a Buddhist monastic in the UK. We are all mentally ill. While this should not quite raise the eyebrows of mental health professionals, it is a rather bald (apologies to Ajahn Amaro!) statement to make in [...]
Are you weaponizing your mindfulness skills?
Allan faithfully attended each class of the Mindfulness-based Stress Management program we offer at the Ottawa Mindfulness Clinic. He shared openly about his anxiety and insecurity as a father to three children and a son caring for ill parents. The heart of his distress though was in his relationship with Debra, his partner of 15 [...]
Into the Magic Shop by Dr. James Doty MD: the magic in mindfulness and compassion
Into the Magic Shop by Dr. James Doty, founder and director of The Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE), captivates from the first page and continues at an unrelenting pace through Doty's life, beginning with a disadvantaged childhood to his current work as a leader in the field of compassion training. The book [...]
PTSD, Growth & Recovery: Bouncing Forward by Michaela Haas
Trauma and its sequelae are likely the greatest challenge we face as individuals who have experienced them and as healthcare professionals who try to help. For decades and generations, post-traumatic experiences have been misunderstood, mislabeled, and misrepresented. It wasn't that long ago when I found myself in a shouting match with a military medical healthcare [...]
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