Overview of Mindfulness
What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness is paying attention on purpose in the present moment, nonjudgmentally. –Jon Kabat-Zinn1
How it can be helpful?
Reduces:
- Stressors associated with university life2-5
- Stress and anxiety6-11
- Depression12
- Insomnia7,13
- Chronic pain14
- Disordered eating15
- Blood pressure6
Increases
- Ability to transition to university life4
- Ability to cope2-4
- Empathy5
- Attention and concentration16, 17
- Immune function18
- Self-esteem, self-regulation of moods, psychological well-being11, 12, 19, 20
How to practice mindfulness meditation?
Quotes that Embody Mindfulness:
Life is what happens while we're busy making other plans. ~ John Lennon
To go willingly into unknowing is the key to living a full life. ~ D.W. Winnicott
Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom. ~ Victor Frankl
Don’t turn your head away. Keep looking at the bandaged place. That’s where the light comes in. ~ Rumi
Mindfulness Programming at the UCS
Group Offerings: Click here to see current Mindfulness groups offered
Mindfulness Group for Anxiety
8-week group
This is a coed group for students struggling with feelings of stress and/or anxiety that interfere with daily life. One goal will be to develop more awareness of the unhelpful strategies currently used to manage feelings of anxiety and stress and discover more useful responses through the practice of mindfulness. Members will work to develop an enhanced sense of control over responses to feelings of anxiety and stress by bringing attention, kindness, and compassion to unpleasant thoughts and feelings. Research has revealed the benefits of mindfulness practice include increased self-awareness and improved concentration as well as significant alleviation of anxiety and depression. Group members will be introduced to a variety of mindfulness practices and activities while being encouraged to share experiences, discuss homework assignments, and offer support as members work toward making changes.
The Mindfulness Group for Anxiety book can be found here: Click here for Book
Mindfulness Group for Depression
8-week group
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) for Depression
Open to both graduate and undergraduate students, MBCT is an 8 week group program designed based on an integration of teaching mindfulness meditation and strategies from cognitive therapy. Research has shown this program is effective for prevention of relapse for people who have experienced more than one episode of depression and are NOT significantly depressed at the time they participate in the program. Participants will learn a combination of skills from mindfulness meditation that will help them bring attention and awareness to the modes of mind that tend to characterize depression while practicing new ways of relating to them more effectively. For more information please refer to this website.
The Mindfulness Group for Depression book can be found here: Click here for Book
University of Iowa classes for academic credit
(Details available on ISIS)
Mindfulness: Being Here With It All (2 credit hours)
An 8 week course primarily to support freshmen transitions. It will include training in Mindfulness-Bases Stress Reduction; application to dealing with life changes; navigating daily life (academics, roommates, schedules); improving academic skills; self-refulation of emotions; & questions of meaning and purpose.
Mindfulness Foundations (3 credit hours)
A semester course primarily for undergraduate students interested in learning about personal, professional and acedmic aspects of mindfulness. Students will have the opportunity to apply their learning to individual interest area including education, psychology/counseling, human relations, healthcare, business, etc.
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Graduate-Level Healthcare Students
An 8-week program for graduate students in medicine, nursine, and dentistry. The focus is on mindfulness for self-care and asa treatment modality. Fee charges. More information is available on our website: http://www.uihealthcare.org/mindfulness/
University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics
(http://www.uihealthcare.org/mindfulness/)
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)
Currently registered UI students are also welcome to participate in MBSR programs offered at UIHC, as described on our website. They are eligibly for a 50% fee reduction.
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) for Prevention of Depression Relapse
Students may participate in the MBCT program-see website for more details. Many insurance plans cover this group if the participant hasa diagnosies of depression and anxiety.
Mindfulness Counselors at the UCS
Brad Brunick, Psy.D. - Senior Staff Psychologist
I use mindfulness in counseling as a means of facilitating a more clear awareness of the present moment for both myself and the students I work with. I have found that many students are eager and receptive to learning about ways to be more present in their lives. Many have reported significant benefit from developing mindfulness practices that help them foster greater clarity about the nature of the human mind and emotions along with greater compassion for the sometimes destructive forces of human emotion and thinking.
Lanaya L. Ethington, Ph.D. - Senior Staff Psychologist
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) emphasizes mindfulness as a core principle in the journey toward valued living. I use mindfulness to bring awareness to the here-and-now, so that clients may make choices in the present moment that are aligned with a meaningful and engaged life.
Ren Stinson, Ph.D. -
Senior Staff Psychologist
Jeremy C. Kinzer - Psychology Intern
“I believe that both the client and therapist must be present with one another for movement to occur. Mindfulness is one way to facilitate the kind of present moment awareness needed to engage with one another in a meaningful way. Some of my clients find it useful to incorporate mindfulness practices outside of therapy to help make contact with the present moment. Mindfulness practices can help one to live in-the-moment and connect with and move toward what matters, which can be difficult presence of worry (future focus) and rumination (past focus).”
Tzu-An Hu, M.S. - Psychology Intern
Mindfulness Audio Resources
To download one of the files, please right click on the title and select "Save Target As" from the popup selection. This will then prompt you to select a location on your desktop to save the file to.
Please note: These MP3 files are rather large. If you do not have a broadband internet connection, you may not want to download them
Mindful breathing (Not yet available): This is the practice of focusing attention to the breath.
PDF Script
3-Minute breathing space (Not yet available): This is a practice designed to help cultivate present moment awareness.
PDF Script
Body Scan (Not yet available): This is a type of formal meditation practice designed to help cultivate mindfulness of the body and the breath.
Body Scan with Instructions (Not yet available): Same as above with instructions to begin your practice.
PDF Script
Tips for the Body Scan
Loving Kindness Meditation (Not yet available): This traditional meditation practice is intended to help the practitioner cultivate compassion.
PDF Script
Mindfulness Resources within UI and beyond
Mindfulness Reserouces at the UI
UIHC
UIHC Mindfulness offers groups (MBSR, MBCT), academic classes for UI students, and graduate classes for UI Healthcare Graduate students:
Click here for more informationCRWC
CRWC offers Mind and Body Classes such as Pilates and Yoga:
Click here for more information
Other Mindfulness Resources
Books
Audio/Video
Jon Kabat-Zinn: Talk on Mindfulness and Guided Meditation
Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche: Basic Meditation Instructions
Jack Kornfield: Body Meditation
Tara Brach: The Sacred Pause
Pema Chodron: Working with Shenpa (Getting Hooked) in Meditation
Additional Audio Resources: ACBS Audio ResourcesMeditation Timers
iPhone app
Web-Based Meditation Timer
Mindfulness Research
General
'Mindfulness' meditation being used in hospitals and schools—USA Today, June 8, 2009
Lotus Therapy—New York Times, 2008
How to Get Smarter, One Breath at a Time—Time Magazine, 2006
Meditation Fining Converts Among Western Doctors—National Geographic, 2006
"Doing Nothing"—Tina Owen, Iowa Alumni Magazine, 2005
Science Explores Meditation's Effect on the Brain—National Public Radio, 2005
Meditation Gives Brain a Charge, Study Finds—Washington Post, 2005
What Makes Us Happy—University of Toronto, 2005
"The Man Who Prescribes the Medicine of the Moment"—Barry Boyce, Shambhala Sun Magazine. 2005 Profile on Jon Kabat-Zinn, founder of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program.
Meditation—Business week Magazine, 2004
Calming the Mind—Time Magazine, 2003
Depression
Mindfulness as good as antidepressant drugs, study says –CNN Health, 2010
Mindfulness meditation training changes brain structure in 8 weeks–Phys.org, 2011
Anxiety
Mindfulness training busts stress—Val Willingham, CNN Medical Producer, 2009
Stress Relief Through Meditation Gains Focus—Boston Globe, 2006
Health/Pain
Mindfulness Course a Hit for Pain Management—National Public Radio, 2007
Buddha Lessons: A Technique Called ’Mindfulness’ Teaches How to Step Back from Pain and the Worries of Life —Newsweek Magazine, 2005
A Therapy Gains Ground in Hospitals: Meditation—The New York Times, 1999
References
Kabat-Zinn, Wherever you go, there you are: Mindfulness meditation in everyday life ed.^eds. Editor New York: Hyperion, 1994.
Astin, “Stress reduction through mindfulness meditation,” Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics 66(1997).
Oman, Shapiro, Thoresen, Plante and Flinders, “Meditation Lowers Stress and Supports Forgiveness Among College Students: A Randomized Controlled Trial,” Journal of American College Health 56, no. 5 (2008).
Palmer and Rodger, “Mindfulness, Stress, and Coping Among University Students,” Candian Journal of Counseling 43
, no. 3 (2009).
Shapiro, Schwartz and Bonner, “Effets of mindfulness-based stress reduction on medical and premedical students,” Journal of Behavioral Medicine 21(1998).
Tacón, McComb, Caldera and Randolph, “Mindfulness meditation, anxiety reduction, and heart disease: A pilot study,” Family & Community Health 26, no. 1 (2003).
Carlson and Garland, “Impact of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on sleep, mood, stress and fatigue symptoms in cancer outpatients,” International Journal of Behavioral Medicine 12, no. 4 (2005).
Kabat-Zinn, Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness, ed.^eds. Editor (New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc, (1990).
Kabat-Zinn, Massion, Kristeller and Peterson, “Effectiveness of a meditation-based stress reduction program in the treatment of anxiety disorders,” American Journal of Psychiatry 149, no. 7 (1992).
Roemer, Orsillo and Salters-Pedneault, “Efficacy of an acceptance-based behavior therapy for generalized anxiety disorder: Evaluation in a randomized controlled trial,” Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 76, no. 6 (2008).
Rasmussen and Pidgeon, “The direct and indirect benefits of dispositional mindfulness on self-esteem and social anxiety,” Anxiety, Stress & Coping: An International Journal 24, no. 2 (2011).
Christopher and Gilbert, “Incremental validity of components of mindfulness in the prediction of satisfaction with life and depression,” Current Psychology: A Journal for Diverse Perspectives on Psychological Issues 29, no. 1 (2010).
Howell, Digdon and Buro, “Mindfulness predicts sleep-related self-regulation and well-being,” Personality and Individual Differences 48, no. 4 (2010).
Kabat-Zinn, “An outpatient program in behavioral medicine for chronic pain patients based on the practice of mindfulness meditation: Theoretical considerations and preliminary results,” ReVISION 7, no. 1 (1984).
Baer, Fischer and Huss, “Mindfulness and acceptance in the treatment of disordered eating,” Journal of Rational-Emotive & Cognitive Behavior Therapy 23, no. 4 (2005).
Anderson, Lau, Segal and Bishop, “Mindfulness-based stress reduction and attentional control,” Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy 14, no. 6 (2007).
Schmertnz, Anderson and Robins, “The relation between self-report mindfulness and performance on tasks of sustained attention,” Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment 31, no. 1 (2009).
Davidson, Kabat-Zinn, Schumacher, Rosenkranz, Muller, Santorelli, Urbanowski, Harrington, Bonus and Sheridan, “Alterations in brain and immune function produced by mindfulness meditation,” Psychosomatic Medicine 65, no. 4 (2003).
Brown and Ryan, “The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 84, no. 4 (2003).
Carmody and Baer, “Relationships between mindfulness practice and levels of mindfulness, medical and psychological symptoms and well-being in a mindfulness-based stress reduction program,” Journal of Behavioral Medicine 31, no. 1 (2008).