Mindfulness is a committed, concerted, targeted practice -- a life skill. While pausing for a few deep breaths may make you feel better in the moment, practicing and training regularly will allow you to achieve long lasting results, brain health, and that calmer, less reactive place of being. Just as you would not tell someone who wanted to be physically healthy to take a five minute walk to achieve solid results, you would not expect physiological well-being from a few deep breaths.
Skeptics beware: once thought of as a new age idea, scientific data is establishing that mindfulness is as an effective and credible wellness tool. A growing body of research is providing actionable data that institutions, organizations, and corporations can apply. An experimental study conducted in Washington D.C. linked reduced violent crime rates with participation in meditation programs. A report from the National Association of School Psychologists states that, "The research that began more than 40 years ago is growing in quantity and sophistication. It confirms that mindfulness strategies counteract the reactive behavior and short-term memory loss caused by stress." Even the United States Marines are doing it.
[For more of this story, written by Linda Novick O'Keefe, go to http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...traum_b_8141516.html]
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