Mindfulness Practice: Benefits to the Brain

courtesy of dream designs

Mindfulness involves training your mind to pay attention, purposefully and without judgment, to the present moment.  While mindfulness practice originates from Eastern traditions of philosophy and religion, mindfulness has been adopted by contemporary psychology for the management of recurrent depression, stress, anxiety, and chronic pain/illness.  

In addition to its benefits to mental and emotional well being, mindfulness practice appears to lead to changes in brain areas associated with memory, sense of self, empathy and stress.  Read about this small, prospective study conducted at Massachusetts General Hospital here:
http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2011/01/eight-weeks-to-a-better-brain/