Improve Empathy and Self-Compassion in College Students with Mindfulness By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “When we are mindful of our suffering and respond with kindness, remembering that suffering is part of the shared human condition, we are able to cope with life’s struggles with greater ease.” – Kristin Neff In the […]
Improve Empathy, Compassion, and Prosocial Behaviors with Meditation By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “From the philosophical and religious traditions from which mindfulness comes, it’s been long understood that practicing meditation, and cultivating mindfulness, in particular, can conduce to virtuous action.” – Daniel Berry Humans are social animals. This is a great […]
Focused and Self-Compassion Meditation Have Different Effects on Attention, Well-Being and Classroom Performance By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “There is no good or bad meditation — there is simply awareness or non-awareness. To begin with, we get distracted a lot. Over time, we get distracted less. Be gentle with your approach, be patient […]
Improve Empathy with Attention-Related Facets of Mindfulness By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “mindfulness increases empathy and compassion for others and for oneself.” – Shauna Shapiro Humans are social animals. This is a great asset for the species as the effort of the individual is amplified by cooperation. In primitive times, this cooperation was […]
Improve Counselor Self-Efficacy and Reduce Compassion Fatigue with Mindfulness By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “mindfulness training may be beneficial as a prophylactic for stress and burnout for psychotherapists, counselors, and other mental health care workers.” – Tasha Felton In occupations, like counseling, burnout is all too prevalent. Burnout is the fatigue, […]
Improve Doctors’ Empathy and Communication Skills with Loving-Kindness Meditation By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “Medicine and meditation, etymologically, come from the same root: to consider, advise, reflect, to take appropriate measures,” – Ronald Epstein Stress is epidemic in the western workplace with almost two thirds of workers reporting high levels of […]
Mindfulness is Associated with Higher Levels of Empathy By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “mindfulness is a practice of self–empathy. This kind of self-awareness allows us to develop empathic connections to others. As we experience the landscape of our inner life with more detail and richness, our ability to understand the inner lives of others […]
Increase Empathy with Mindfulness By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “as we pay attention to our breath, our body, our lives, in this simple and gentle way, a natural consequence is the opening of the heart.” – Matthew Brensilver Humans are social animals. This is a great asset for the species as […]
Improve Compassion and Self-Compassion in Health Care Professionals with Mindfulness By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “Burgeoning research is showing that self-compassion skills can be of particular benefit to health care professionals, allowing them to experience greater satisfaction in their caregiving roles, less stress, and more emotional resilience.” – CMSC Stress is […]
Brief Guided Meditations Improve Empathy By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “Empathy is the understanding and sharing of someone else’s feelings. It’s not to be confused with compassion, which is a feeling of concern for others that we feel we need to act on. Empathy goes that step further; by putting yourself in the place […]