Improve Working Memory in Adolescents with Mindful Movement By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “Mindfulness meditation causes structural changes in the brain. It actually alters connections between brain cells. That is how adults end up with an enlarged cortex. And that may explain why meditation improved memory in the teens.” – Alison Pearce […]
Improve Major Depressive Disorder with Psilocybin and Mindfulness Meditation By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “mindfulness training enhances the positive effects of a single dose of psilocybin, and can increase empathy and permanently reduce ego-centricity. This opens up new therapeutic avenues, for example for the treatment of depression.” – Franz Vollenweider Psychedelic substances […]
Improve Emotion Regulation and Reduce Pain with Mindful Acceptance By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “Individuals with minimal mindfulness meditation experience can quickly learn how to moderate their brains’ responses to painful experiences and negative images using a technique called mindful acceptance’” – Christopher Berglund There is an accumulating volume of research findings to demonstrate that mind-body […]
Improve Mood with Tai Chi or Qigong Practice By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “adding a mind-body exercise like tai chi that is widely available in the community can improve the outcomes of treating depression in older adults. . . With tai chi, we may be able to treat these conditions without exposing […]
Mindfulness is Associated in Improved Emotion Regulation with Mothers By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “With [Mindfulness Meditation] training or practice . . we become more able to allow disturbing emotions and thoughts to pass through awareness. We develop the ability to NOT act or react to every emotion or thought we have.” […]
Improve Emotion Processing by the Brain with Meditation By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “Alterations in key brain circuits associated with emotion regulation can be produced by mindfulness meditation.” – Richard Davidson There has accumulated a large amount of research demonstrating that meditation practice has significant benefits for psychological, physical, and spiritual wellbeing. It […]
Improve Brain Processing of Negative Emotions with Meditation By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “meditation physically impacts the extraordinarily complex organ between our ears. . . . meditation nurtures the parts of the brain that contribute to well-being. Furthermore, it seems that a regular practice deprives the stress and anxiety-related parts of the […]
Enhance Attention and Attentional Brain Systems with Meditation By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “intensive and continued meditation practice is associated with enduring improvements in sustained attention,” – Anthony Zanesco There has accumulated a large amount of research demonstrating that mindfulness has significant benefits for psychological, physical, and spiritual wellbeing. It even improves high level […]
Focused Meditation Changes Clustering of Brain Systems By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “meditation . . . appears to have an amazing variety of neurological benefits – from changes in grey matter volume to reduced activity in the “me” centers of the brain to enhanced connectivity between brain regions.” – Alice G. Walton […]
Yoga Practice Changes and Protects the Brain from Aging By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “We can talk about anxiety, depression and blood pressure lowering in yoga, all of those are proven. But the biggest thing we see that results from yoga is that your quality of life will change for the better,” […]