Reduce Pain with Mindfulness By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “Mindfulness is an effective practice for approaching chronic pain. It teaches individuals to observe their pain, and be curious about it. And, while counterintuitive, it’s this very act of paying attention that can help your pain.” – Margarita Tartakovsky We all have […]
Change the Brain with Mindfulness By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “The picture we have is that mindfulness practice increases one’s ability to recruit higher order, pre-frontal cortex regions in order to down-regulate lower-order brain activity. In other words, our more primal responses to stress seem to be superseded by more thoughtful ones.” […]
Change Your Brain’s Activity with Mindfulness By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “The impact that mindfulness exerts on our brain is borne from routine: a slow, steady, and consistent reckoning of our realities, and the ability to take a step back, become more aware, more accepting, less judgmental, and less reactive. Just as […]
Drugs Produce Loss of Self Like Spiritual Awakening By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “People tripping on psilocybin can experience paranoia or a complete loss of subjective self-identity, known as ego dissolution” – Annamarya Scaccia Psychedelic substances have been used almost since the beginning of recorded history to alter consciousness and produce […]
Correct Brain Rhythms and Reduce Depression with Mindfulness By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “Mindfulness, or paying full attention to the present moment, can be very helpful in improving the cognitive symptoms of depression. . . Through mindfulness, individuals start to see their thoughts as less powerful. These distorted thoughts – such as “I […]
Improve Brain Processing of Cognitive Conflict with Mindfulness By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “Mindfulness should no longer be considered a “nice-to-have” for executives. It’s a “must-have”: a way to keep our brains healthy, to support self-regulation and effective decision-making capabilities, and to protect ourselves from toxic stress. When we take a seat, […]
Improve Creativity with Mindfulness By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “Mindfulness meditation is a great technique to learn to help improve creativity. There have been studies done specifically to measure the cognitive rigidity of people who meditate and their ability to solve problems in novel ways. The research shows non-meditators had greater cognitive rigidity than […]
Alter Brain Networks and Cognitive Ability with Tai Chi By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. ” Another great benefit of Tai Chi is that it’s accessible to people of all ages and fitness abilities. It’s the focus on the subtle movements that exercise the brain and boost cognitive abilities.” – Karl Romain […]
Do Spiritual Experiences Reveal Ultimate Truth or Merely Brain Activity? By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. Spiritual experiences, be they called awakenings, mystical experiences, or enlightenments, involve a shift in how the individual perceives reality. This could be viewed as a spiritual revelation. But it could also be viewed as a change in […]
Improve Creativity with Mindfulness By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “Mindfulness meditation is a great technique to learn to help improve creativity. There have been studies done specifically to measure the cognitive rigidity of people who meditate and their ability to solve problems in novel ways. The research shows non-meditators had greater cognitive rigidity than […]