February 7, 2015

On page 5 of the February 9th issue of TIME magazine titled “Briefing,” I caught a glimpse of the following statistic.

   15%

Improvement in fourth- and fifth-graders’ math scores after they participated in a meditation-mindfulness program vs. those who didn’t, according to a study

Both my wife and I missed reading this tidbit the first time we perused the magazine.  When it did catch my attention, I shared it with my wife and noticed that it did not have a big impact.  My purpose was to have our daughter get the significance of this finding and given the lack of an OMG response from my wife, who does meditate daily, I took a minute to consider how I might present the same statistic to my daughter.  She does dabble with GPS for the Soul, but does not engage in a contemplative practice on a regular basis.

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February 5, 2015

The Congressman on a Quest to Make America More Zen

From New York News & Politics January 19, 2015 by Marin Cogan

Almost everyone comes to Capitol Hill to espouse a set of ideas; usually, those ideas fit neatly in the ideological confines of a political party. Ryan’s are a bit different. He’s established himself as Congress’s mindful member, penning books on the power of meditation and what he calls “the real food revolution,” advocating for yoga, meditation, and unplugging from the internet as a salve to the stresses of modern existence. To read more click here

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Harvard Business Review  January 8, 2015 by Christina Congleton, Britta K. Holzel, Sara W. Lazar

The business world is abuzz with mindfulness.  Recent research provides strong evidence that practicing non-judgmental, present-moment awareness (a.k.a. mindfulness) changes the brain, and it does so in ways that anyone working in today’s complex business environment, and certainly every leader, should know about.

This year, a team of scientists from the University of British Columbia and the Chemnitz University of Technology were able to pool data from more than 20 studies to determine which areas of the brain are consistently affected. They identified at least eight different regions. Here we will focus on two that we believe to be of particular interest to business professionals.  To read more click here or the image

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December 16, 2014

Anderson Cooper reports on 60 minutes what it’s like to try to achieve “mindfulness,” a self-awareness scientists say is very healthy, but rarely achieved in today’s world of digital distractions.  Congressman Tim Ryan says mindfulness can change America for the better.  To listen to the report click here

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December 8, 2014

USA TODAY 4:27 p.m. EDT October 31, 2014 by Gregg Zoroya

War was the leading cause of death in the military nearly every year between 2004 and 2011 until suicides became the top means of dying for troops in 2012 and 2013, according to a bar chart published this week in a monthly Pentagon medical statistical analysis journal.  For those last two years, suicide outranked war, cancer, heart disease, homicide, transportation accidents and other causes as the leading killer, accounting for about three in 10 military deaths each of those two years. To read more click here

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November 24, 2014

How breathing exercises are helping veterans regain their foothold. By Kristin Crane Nov 11, 2014

Breathing is the first and last thing we do in life, but most of us take the breath for granted – unless we are scared, angry or winded. Some veterans throughout the country are using their breath to overcome wartime trauma. For many, the breath gives back what years of medication alone have not been able to resolve. They are practicing an exercise called Sudarshan Kriya Yoga.  A Stanford research study found the Sudarshan Kriya Yoga breathing program reduced post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety in Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. To read more click here.

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November 11, 2014

How Mindful Practices can help Veterans:

In honor of Veterans Day, Huff Post Live  shines a light into how mindfulness and meditation practices improves the lives and well-being of our nation’s vets.  Please click the image below to watch the interview with Krishna Pendyala and Cody Herrin, Veteran from Wichita, KS.  He was one of eight veterans who are part of our Veterans Corps from Wichita. (more…)

November 4, 2014

We need good hygiene for our bodies and our minds.

by Rose Caiola on September 12, 2014

I was really struck by my dear friend Krishna Pendyala’s recent article on Mindful Choices this week. After visiting his mother who suffers with Alzheimer’s disease, he had a huge insight:

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September 8, 2014

New research shows long-term, lasting improvements from practicing Sudarshan Kriya yoga.

by Rose Caiola on September 8, 2014

The issues our veterans face are very important to me. I’m a big supporter of Congressman Tim Ryan’s work to improve the quality and variety of care that America’s heroes receive and what Mindful Nation does with the military as well as in schools and hospitals, so I was excited to read the new research from Emma Seppala, Ph.D., associate director of Stanford University’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education about how meditation and breathing exercises help veterans recover from post-traumatic stress disorder.  Read more…

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By Sabrina Eaton, Plain Dealer Washington Reporter

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Niles Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan — who has become a congressional evangelist for a meditation technique known as “mindfulness” and even authored a book on the subject — announced today that universities in Northeast Ohio and Philadelphia will get $3.6 million from the National Institutes of Health to study his pet topic. Read more…

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