Mindfulness Talks
Mindfulness is the cognitive skill, usually developed through meditation, of sustaining meta-attention of the contents of one's own mind in the present moment. Mindfulness derives from sati, a significant element of Hindu and Buddhist traditions, and is based on Zen, Vipassanā, and Tibetan meditation techniques. Though definitions and techniques of mindfulness are wide-ranging, Buddhist traditions describe what constitutes mindfulness such as how past, present and future moments arise and cease as momentary sense impressions and mental phenomena. Individuals who have contributed to the popularity of mindfulness in the modern Western context include Thích Nhất Hạnh, Joseph Goldstein, Herbert Benson, Jon Kabat-Zinn, and Richard J. Davidson.
Clinical psychology and psychiatry since the 1970s have developed a number of therapeutic applications based on mindfulness for helping people experiencing a variety of psychological conditions. Mindfulness practice has been employed to reduce depression, stress, anxiety, and in the treatment of drug addiction. Programs based on mindfulness models have been adopted within schools, prisons, hospitals, veterans' centers, and other environments, and mindfulness programs have been applied for additional outcomes such as for healthy aging, weight management, athletic performance, helping children with special needs, and as an intervention during early pregnancy.
Clinical studies have documented both physical- and mental-health benefits of mindfulness in different patient categories as well as in healthy adults and children. Studies have shown a positive relationship between trait mindfulness (which can be cultivated through the practice of mindfulness-based interventions) and psychological health. The practice of mindfulness appears to provide therapeutic benefits to people with psychiatric disorders, including moderate benefits to those with psychosis. Studies also indicate that rumination and worry contribute to a variety of mental disorders, and that mindfulness-based interventions can enhance trait mindfulness and reduce both rumination and worry. Further, the practice of mindfulness may be a preventive strategy to halt the development of mental-health problems. Mindfulness practices have been said to enable individuals to respond more effectively to stressful situations by helping them strike the balance between over-identification and suppression of their emotional experiences by finding the middle point which is recognition and acceptance.
Evidence suggests that engaging in mindfulness meditation may influence physical health. For example, the psychological habit of repeatedly dwelling on stressful thoughts appears to intensify the physiological effects of the stressor (as a result of the continual activation of the sympathetic nervous system and the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis) with the potential to lead to physical health related clinical manifestations. Studies indicate that mindfulness meditation, which brings about reductions in rumination, may alter these biological clinical pathways. Further, research indicates that mindfulness may favorably influence the immune system as well as inflammation, which can consequently impact physical health, especially considering that inflammation has been linked to the development of several chronic health conditions. Other studies support these findings.
Critics have questioned both the commercialization and the over-marketing of mindfulness for health benefits—as well as emphasizing the need for more randomized controlled studies, for more methodological details in reported studies and for the use of larger sample-sizes. While mindfulness-based interventions may be effective for youth, research has not determined methods in which mindfulness could be introduced and delivered in schools.
Title | Speaker | |
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Abhidharma, Six Factors, Two AspectsSerial: BZ-00121B Saturday Lecture Abhidharma, Intuition, Practice Period, Composure, Hate, Building, Anger, Samadhi,... |
Oct 28 2000 Berkeley Zen Center |
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October 21st, 2000, Serial No. 00121, Side A Concentration, Lineage, training, Current Events, Culture, Instruction, War,... |
Oct 21 2000 |
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October 14th, 2000, Serial No. 00918 Offering, Attachment, Mindfulness, Liberation, Karma, Sixth Patriarch, Passions,... |
Oct 14 2000 |
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Codependent Chain of Origination: Why We SitSerial: BZ-00082B Sesshin Day 2 Dependent Origination, Zazen, Dependent Origination, Birth-and-Death, Attachment, Ego... |
Sep 03 2000 Berkeley Zen Center |
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Branching Streams Flow in the DarknessSerial: BZ-00056B Sunshine and Shadow, Sesshin Day 4 Sandokai, Branching Streams, Light-and-Darkness, Beginners, Branching Streams,... |
Jun 17 2000 Berkeley Zen Center |
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Five Spiritual Controlling Factors of the MindSerial: BZ-00056A Sesshin Day 3 Concentration, Mindfulness, Buddha Nature, Posture, Religion, Attachment, Bodhisattva... |
Jun 16 2000 Berkeley Zen Center |
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Seven Limbs of EnlightenmentSerial: BZ-00055B Sesshin Day 2 Enlightenment, Mindfulness, Concentration, Enthusiasm, Equanimity, Don't Know... |
Jun 15 2000 Berkeley Zen Center |
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May 11th, 2000, Serial No. 00855 Right Effort, Right Speech, Concentration, Silence, Four Noble Truths, Enemies,... |
May 11 2000 |
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May 4th, 2000, Serial No. 00856 Right Speech, Right Effort, Four Noble Truths, Renunciation, Non-violence,... |
May 04 2000 |
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November 27th, 1999, Serial No. 00198, Side A Bodhidharma, Buddha Mind, Big Mind, Book of Serenity, Heart Sutra, Bell, New Year,... |
Nov 27 1999 |
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1999.09.05-serial.00150A Concentration, Mindfulness, Letting Go, Monkey Mind, Sanctuary, Don't Know Mind... |
Sep 05 1999 |
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Breathing (Thich Nhat Hanh)Serial: BZ-00194A Sesshin Day 2 Breath, Thich Nhat Hanh, Four Foundations, Peace, Concentration, Happiness,... |
Sep 05 1999 Berkeley Zen Center |
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September 4th, 1999, Serial No. 00193, Side B Dependent Origination, Attachment, Mindfulness, Heart Sutra, Liberation, Four Noble... |
Sep 04 1999 |
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July 8th, 1999, Serial No. 00925 Heart Sutra, Six Realms, Lotus Sutra, Chanting, Four Noble Truths, Doubt, Mindfulness... |
Jul 08 1999 |
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May 1st, 1999, Serial No. 00074, Side A Culture, Hindrances, Berkeley Zen Center, American, Doubt, training, Mindfulness,... |
May 01 1999 |
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Dogen's Zazengi (Pt. 2)Serial: BZ-00070B One-Day Sitting Zazengi, Concentration, Samadhi, Equanimity, Mindfulness, Hate, Ego, Attachment, Big... |
Mar 28 1999 Berkeley Zen Center |
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December 5th, 1998, Serial No. 00185, Side B Posture, Mindfulness, Subject-and-Object, Patience, Liberation, Birth-and-Death,... |
Dec 05 1998 |
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November 30th, 1998, Serial No. 00167, Side A Continuous, Buddha Ancestors, Demons, Mindfulness, Concentration, Offering, Posture,... |
Nov 30 1998 |
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Correct Attitudes For Practice PeriodSerial: BZ-00441B Saturday Lecture Practice Period, Mindfulness, Daily Life, Practice Period, Composure, Aspects of... |
Oct 25 1998 Berkeley Zen Center |
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The Feeling Of Practice PeriodSerial: SF-00148 Wednesday talk; the heart and determination to study - to support and appreciate the practice period. Practice Period, Impermanence, Mindfulness, Precepts, Zazen Mind, Silence, Big Mind,... |
Oct 21 1998 Green Gulch Farm |
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August 1st, 1998, Serial No. 00354, Side B Four Noble Truths, War, Mindfulness, American, Soto Zen, Gratitude, Bell, Culture,... |
Aug 01 1998 |
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July 11th, 1998, Serial No. 00353, Side A Sanctuary, Chanting, Mindfulness, Book of Serenity, Daily Life, Practice Period,... |
Jul 11 1998 |
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May 16th, 1998, Serial No. 00349, Side B Fifth Precept, Impermanence, Precepts, resistance, Right Effort, Renunciation,... |
May 16 1998 |
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December 3rd, 1997, Serial No. 01067 Mindfulness, Right Effort, Concentration, American, Dependent Origination, Don't... |
Dec 03 1997 |
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The Eleven Links of Causation (Pt.2)Serial: BZ-00320 Sesshin Day 3 Dependent Origination, Buddha Mind, Attachment, Samsara, Mindfulness, Evil, Daily... |
Sep 01 1997 Berkeley Zen Center |