IDP Blog

Featured Articles: Nutrition & Body Wellness

A Prayer of Thanks
by Robert Colpitts
May 17, 2013
A friend of mine became interested in attending classes at IDP because, she said, she wanted to find something that had a se
Buddhism, Nutrition & Body Wellness, Religion & Spirituality     Link
Dharma Connect: Metta Gets On Your Vagus Nerve
by Nancy Thompson
May 13, 2013
A new study finds that lovingkindness meditation makes your vagus nerve more responsive. That's meaningful because it is involved in cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and immune responses.
Buddhism, Meditation Practice, Nutrition & Body Wellness     Link
Women and Self-Care
by Jeffrey Rubin
May 10, 2013
Gender generalizations make me uneasy. But after practicing psychotherapy for many years with women from diverse racial, religious, and socioeconomic backgrounds, there’s one that is unfortunately consistent: most women struggle with genuine self-...
Meditation Practice, Nutrition & Body Wellness     Comment (2)     Link
Dharma (Dis)Connect: Taking Mindfulness Out of School
by Nancy Thompson
April 29, 2013
Lots of schools are using mindfulness meditation to help students improve their focus and ease stress. There's both empirical and anecdotal evidence that it works. But one Ohio school system is moving the other way, dropping mindfulness instruction...
Buddhism, Meditation Practice, Nutrition & Body Wellness, Science & Technology     Link
A Mindful Poop
by Robert Colpitts
April 26, 2013
At the Interdependence Project, we support all types of mindfulness—mindfulness of mind, mindfulness of breath, mindfulness of emotions, mindfulness of eating tacos, and, yes, mindfulness of poop. Pooping is an age-old art that almost all humans...
Buddhism, Meditation Practice, Nutrition & Body Wellness     Comment (2)     Link
Message from my Body: Stop Wearing Uncomfortable Clothes
by Emily Herzlin
April 9, 2013
My body isn't thrilled with some of my wardrobe choices, apparently. I didn't know this until I actually listened. Or rather, until I asked.
Arts and Media, Meditation Practice, Nutrition & Body Wellness     Comment (1)     Link
Why Make Art?
by Alexandra Weaverling
March 27, 2013
“Genuine art tells the truth” - Chögyam Trungpa
Arts and Media, Meditation Practice, Nutrition & Body Wellness, Religion & Spirituality     Comment (1)     Link
Dharma Connect: What If Holden Caulfield Had Meditated?
by Nancy Thompson
March 17, 2013
A new study found that adolescents who participated in a mindfulness program at school reported reduced symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress up to six months later. Furthermore, these teen students were less likely to develop more severe...
Meditation Practice, Nutrition & Body Wellness, Science & Technology     Link
Dharma Connect: Finding Calm in a Cab
by Nancy Thompson
March 15, 2013
A Manhattan taxi cab is one of the last places you'd expect to find ease or to try shamata -- calm-abiding -- meditation. But if you take a cab this week, you may find yourself listening to guided meditations (in addition to honking horns and...
Arts and Media, Meditation Practice, Nutrition & Body Wellness, Science & Technology     Link
Dharma Connect: Harvard Offers Meditation Hotline
by Nancy Thompson
March 13, 2013
Imagine the stress faced by students at the nation's top universities, particularly one as competitive and proud as Harvard. Now imagine the pressure on the people who have to deal with them -- faculty, administrators, other Harvard employees.
Arts and Media, Meditation Practice, Nutrition & Body Wellness, Science & Technology     Link
Dharma Connect: The Interdependence of Coca-Cola
by Nancy Thompson
March 3, 2013
There's a Zen meal chant that says, "72 laborers brought us this food; we should know how it comes to us." If the meal involves a can of Coke, that's a serious understatement.
Arts and Media, Buddhism, Nutrition & Body Wellness, Science & Technology     Link
Searching for a Self, Scientifically
by Nancy Thompson
February 27, 2013
IDP's Fall 2012 class series, "In Search of the Self," explored the many ways we construct ideas about who we are and reviewed several Buddhist theories on how we create a sense of self and why we cling to it. It's a fascinating subject, of course...
Buddhism, Nutrition & Body Wellness, Science & Technology     Link
28-Day Meditation Challenge Day 12: What I Learned from Body Scans
by Nancy Thompson
February 12, 2013
Before I started meditating I took yoga classes for several years. I was no poster girl for yoga, but I did develop a familiarity with my body's mechanics.  So I was pretty smug when I was introduced to mindfulness of body. I knew my body....
Arts and Media, Meditation Practice, Nutrition & Body Wellness     Link
Interdependence and Our Relationship to Animals
by Laura Bilodeau
February 10, 2013
Exploring our openness to and cultivating respect for animals is an important practice in compassion and empathy.
Activism and Politics, Buddhism, Meditation Practice, Nutrition & Body Wellness     Comment (5)     Link
28 Day Meditation Challenge: What Day IS It?
by Meredith Arena
February 9, 2013
So I think we are starting Week 2, but, Wait! Wait! I am still working on concentration. Wait! Wait! I have been doing this since 2008 and I am still on Week 1. Jeez, Meredith, hurry up and get it together. Get with the program! OR REAL HAPPINESS...
Buddhism, Meditation Practice, Nutrition & Body Wellness     Comment (1)     Link
Bodhisattvas: Strike! Dance! Rise!
by Nancy Thompson
February 9, 2013
In order to find a solution we first have to recognise that there is a problem. Then we can get to work on how the problem can be solved. ... Both men and women need  to publicize and condemn any abusive behavior of which they are aware and to...
Activism and Politics, Arts and Media, Buddhism, Nutrition & Body Wellness     Comment (1)     Link
Minding Your Mouth: Giving Up Gluten?
by Patrick Groneman
February 7, 2013
"..it took the support of my mindfulness practice to "break the chain" of habitual eating and embrace a gluten-free lifestyle."   
Meditation Practice, Nutrition & Body Wellness     Comment (1)     Link
Mindfulness in Action: The Mind With Heart Network
by Laura Bilodeau
February 3, 2013
In this article posted in The Guardian, The Mind With Heart Network is described as dedicated to giving children the space to “investigate what happiness, empathy, altruism, and compassion are.” Founded by a group of four educators in the UK in 2010...
Activism and Politics, Meditation Practice, Nutrition & Body Wellness, Religion & Spirituality     Link
28 Day Meditation Challenge: Setting Up To Practice
by Meredith Arena
February 2, 2013
In Real Happiness, Sharon Salzberg begins by explaining some of the basics of a mediation practice. Since I have a practice, I thought I would share some of my basics.
Buddhism, Meditation Practice, Nutrition & Body Wellness     Link
Daily Connect: Can Meditation Help Prevent Flu?
by Nancy Thompson
January 23, 2013
Mindfulness meditation helped reduce stress-induced inflammation in people who have chronic inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, and Irritable Bowel Syndrome, neuroscientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Center...
Meditation Practice, Nutrition & Body Wellness     Link
How Does It Feel to be Happy?
by Nancy Thompson
January 19, 2013
When Buddhist teachers talk about sitting with intense emotions, they're generally speaking about ones we'd characterize as negative: loneliness, anger, sadness, grief, insecurity. I've never heard a teacher talk about sitting with happiness.
Buddhism, Meditation Practice, Nutrition & Body Wellness     Link
Ethical Romance: The Death of Sex?
by Robert Colpitts
January 11, 2013
Are ethics and romance incompatible?
Buddhism, Nutrition & Body Wellness, Religion & Spirituality     Comment (2)     Link
Wearing Your Spiritual Materialism
by Nancy Thompson
January 10, 2013
The New York Times has an article on what to wear while meditating that notes the availability of clothes designed for meditation, such as the $1,000 sweatpants from Donna Karan's Urban Zen line. (shown below)
Arts and Media, Buddhism, Meditation Practice, Nutrition & Body Wellness, Religion & Spirituality     Comment (16)     Link
Mindful Writers: Stories, Play, and Responses to Trauma
by Emily Herzlin
January 7, 2013
  Sitting in a rehearsal studio on Saturday morning with about twenty strangers at a trauma relief training workshop, I found myself wondering about the value of stories. As a writer, that’s an almost blasphemous thing to admit. But as I...
Activism and Politics, Arts and Media, Community News, Events, Nutrition & Body Wellness     Comment (2)     Link
Back to the Future: Are You The Person You Expected to Become?
by Nancy Thompson
January 5, 2013
One of the more distinctive concepts in Buddhism is non-self. It does not mean that you do not exist physically. It does mean that you don't exist as a permanent, solid, independent entity. "You" are as changeable as the weather -- and that's good...
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