Improve Cancer Patients Physical and Psychological Health with Spiritual Care By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “Spirituality and religion can be important to the well-being of people who have cancer, enabling them to better cope with the disease. Spirituality and religion may help patients and families find deeper meaning and experience a sense […]
Strengthen Character with Mindfulness By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “Mindfulness opens the door to who we are, and character strengths are what is behind that door.” – Ryan Niemiec Personality characteristics are thought to be relatively permanent traits that form an individual’s distinctive character. Engaging in mindfulness training has been shown […]
Spirituality is associated with Character Strength, Well-Being, and Prosociality in Adolescents By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “Given that adolescents are at the crossroads of life and face many issues and challenges that are unique, uncertain and value-conflict, they need to critically reflect on practical interests and examine broad issues on religiously tethered […]
Promote Well-Being in Adolescents with Spirituality By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “Call it faith. Call it spirituality. Call it zealotry. Our consciousness creates the reality that reflects it. If we feel apart, other, afraid, and deadened, we will live in a world that reflects and perpetuates these energies.” – Kelly Brogan […]
Increase Pain Tolerance and Spirituality with a Brief Meditation By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “Bit by bit, as I sat noticing my breath and body sensations, I began to feel the deep knots of pain in my body start to untie themselves.” – Avi Craimer We all have to deal with pain. It’s […]
Decrease Chronic Pain with HIV Infection with Mindfulness By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “When it came to processing my HIV diagnosis, meditation offered me a framework for reflection, self-forgiveness, forgiving others and moving toward a place of acceptance.” – Seb Stuart More than 35 million people worldwide and 1.2 million people […]
Can Prosocial Behavior be Improved with Mindfulness By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “meditation made people feel moderately more compassionate or empathic, compared to if they had done no other new emotionally-engaging activity. But further analysis revealed that it played no significant role in reducing aggression or prejudice or improving how socially-connected someone was.” […]
Mindful Memorial Day By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “We who are left how shall we look again Happily on the sun or feel the rain Without remembering how they who went Ungrudgingly and spent Their lives for us loved, too, the sun and rain?” ~Wilfred Wilson Gibson Memorial Day is the […]
Psilocybin in Combination with Meditation Practice Improves Psychological Functioning By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “The ingestion of psilocybin, brought on “mystical” experiences that reduced illness-related anxiety and depression in nearly 80 percent of subjects studied in research trials.” – Andrew McCarron Psychedelic substances have been used almost since the beginning of recorded history to alter consciousness […]
Mindful Memorial Day By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “We who are left how shall we look again Happily on the sun or feel the rain Without remembering how they who went Ungrudgingly and spent Their lives for us loved, too, the sun and rain?” ~Wilfred Wilson Gibson Memorial Day is the […]