Improve Physiological Symptoms Related to Anxiety in Remitted Depression with Mindfulness By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “Through mindfulness, individuals start to see their thoughts as less powerful. These distorted thoughts – such as “I always make mistakes” or “I’m a horrible person” – start to hold less weight. . . We ‘experience’ […]
Increase Well-Being and Spirituality with Loving Kindness Meditation By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “Loving-kindness refers to a state of unconditional kindness and compassion for all beings. . . Some studies suggest you can boost your empathy and feelings of connection and reduce your implicit bias, anger, depression and anxiety.” – Heart.org Meditation training […]
Meditation Alters a Variety of Biological Mechanisms and Improves Mental Disorders By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “Meditation-which come in many variations-has long been acknowledged as a tool to master the mind and cope with stress. Science is increasingly validating those claims, especially for depression, schizophrenia, anxiety, PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), and ADHD (attention […]
Relieve Sleep Disturbances with Mindfulness Meditation By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “meditation helps lower the heart rate by igniting the parasympathetic nervous system and encouraging slower breathing, thereby increasing the prospect of a quality night’s sleep.” – Headspace Modern society has become more around-the-clock and more complex producing considerable pressure and stress on the individual. The […]
Reduce Anxiety and Improve Self-Efficacy in Pregnancy with Mindfulness By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “Mindfulness practices during pregnancy has several benefits: better manage chronic pain, depression, and anxiety, reduce fears about childbirth, reduce fears surrounding your pregnancy and parenting, increase confidence for birth and parenting, reduce perception of pain in birth.” – Cara […]
Lower Heart Rate and Increase its Variability with Meditation By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “If a person’s system is in more of a fight-or-flight mode, the variation between subsequent heartbeats is low. If one is in a more relaxed state, the variation between beats is high. In other words, the healthier the […]
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 […]
Reduce Anxiety and Depression in Coronary Heart Disease Patients with Tai Chi By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “Tai chi is an interesting, promising exercise option. I think based on what we found, it’s a reasonable and safe step to offer tai chi within cardiac rehab.” – Elena Salmoriago-Blotcher Cardiovascular disease is […]
Improve Anxiety and Depression in Children and Adolescents with Yoga Practice By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “Yoga appears to be a promising complementary therapy and stress-management tool for children and adolescents, with very low reports of adverse effects. Yoga, as a therapeutic intervention, has positive effects on psychological functioning, especially in children […]
Improve a Biological Marker of Aging, Telomeres, with Meditation By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “While we might expect our bodies and brains to follow a shared trajectory of development and degeneration over time, by actively practicing strategies such as meditation, we might actually preserve and protect our physical body and brain structure […]