By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “When we as adults learn mindfulness—paying attention here and now with kindness and curiosity and then choosing our behavior—we can support our children and teenagers in bringing these skills into their lives. If we are in the present, we aren’t worrying about our third grader getting into college […]
By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “people who have battled with health problems for years find relief through accepting and working with their condition in a new way, dropping the desperate struggle to make things different from how they are. Mindfulness training makes it possible for a different kind of healing to take place, […]
By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “The ancient practice of yoga nidra, also known as yogic sleep, is a meditative practice that results in conscious deep sleep. Current research suggests that yoga nidra can help relieve menstrual problems, diabetes symptoms and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).” – Elaine Gavalas Menstrual disorders are associated […]
By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “The mindfulness elements of accepting things as they are, turning towards rather than away from difficult emotional experience, and embracing change as a constant are helpful antidotes to these difficult realities. The emotion-regulation strategies practiced in mindfulness-based interventions help to prevent worry about the future and rumination […]
By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “Mindful meditation helped me to think (and not think) about tinnitus in ways that had not occurred before, and in doing so made tinnitus much less of a burden to carry. It did not fix my tinnitus but it fixed me in a way that made tinnitus easier […]
Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) is very common in women during the childbearing years. Almost 85% of American women, between 20 years old and 40 years old, experience PMS and around 5% of these women are disabled by extremely severe symptoms. It is often accompanied with depression and called Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD) and can be […]
By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “once children are in a more calm state, they can remember or be more mindful of actions, thoughts, and words from the heart — a more helpful behavior as opposed to self-centeredness.” – Kelly Wood Yoga practice has been shown to have a large number of beneficial […]
By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “Before we can teach a kid how to academically excel in school, we need to teach him how to have stillness, pay attention, stay on task, regulate, make good choices. We tell kids be quiet, calm yourself down, be still. We tell them all these things they […]
Kick Opioid Dependence with Mindfulness By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “Ultimately, mindfulness drives at the root of compulsive behaviors by undermining the assumption that inner experience is intolerable and therefore requires immediate relief through substance use.” – Jennifer Talley Substance abuse and addiction is a terrible problem. It isn’t just illicit […]
Mindful Cure for Insomnia By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “By taking this mindful attitude, sleep is facilitated by simply being aware of the moment-to-moment experience of relaxing into the bed, without judging or being critical of that experience, so that the mind can gently slip into sleep.” – John Cline Modern […]