Resources, Clips & Apps for cultivating a meditation practice

1. Written instructions for meditation: Tara Brach, Ph.D., http://tarabrach.com/new-to-meditation.html
   
   
2. Why meditate? Interviews of Richard Davidson, Ph.D. (award-winning neuroscientist):
   
   
   1. NPR interview on the Diane Rehm show: http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2012-03-14/richard-davidson-sharon-begley-emotional-life-your-brain
   2. Also, check out interview by Krista Tippett on On Being. http://www.onbeing.org/program/investigating-healthy-minds-richard-davidson/251
   3. Video: Becoming Conscious: The Science of Mindfulness (1 hr 14 min.) Panel with Richard Davidson, Ph.D., Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., & Amishi Jah, Ph.D. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TeWvf-nfpA&list=PLD9D77B02C9BFFC5C 
      
      
3. Attend Nancy Hathaway’s 8-week training…or something similar that is a solid start. For more on Nancy's offerings, go to http://www.nancyhathaway.com or http://nancyhathaway.com/groups#workshops 
   
   
4. Attend a weekly meditation group, which will reinforce sticking with it during the rest of the week. Free meditation group: Wednesdays, 7-8 PM, at http://www.schoolstreetyoga.com/Meditation.html.
   
   
5. Use a Log Form.
   
   
   1. Track each day that you meditate for even 3-5 minutes.
   2. Gradual cultivation vs. perfectionistic approach. Approach with self-compassion as you cultivate a habit gradually: “Gee, let’s see how many days out of 7 I can do the meditation.”
   3. Zero distress is not the goal. That is not reality. But know that over time, on average, you will gradually become happier and less reactive to various triggers. And distress will come and go more quickly when you let yourself feel it (not thinking and not necessarily acting on it).
      
      
6. Books:  
   
   
   1. Beginning Mindfulness:  Learning the Way of Awareness, by Andrew Weiss. Straightforward explanations.
   2. Real Happiness, by Salzberg, Sharon (2011). Workman Publishing. 
   3. Mindfulness:  An eight-week plan for finding peace in a frantic world.  Mark Williams & Danny Penman.
   4. 10% Happier:  How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works -- A True Story, by Dan Harris (2014).  
      
      
7. Guided meditations (free)
   
   
   1. Chris Germer, Ph.D.  http://mindfulselfcompassion.org/meditations_downloads.php 
   2. Greg Serpa, Ph.D. & Christiane Wolf, M.D.:  http://www.sharingmindfulness.com/audio/
      

1. Apps, timers, etc.
   
   
2. Insight Timer will track your practice and provide a sense of community. It will show you how many people are meditating world-wide with that app at any given moment. Using first names only, it will also show you who has been meditating recently in your area.
   
   
3. Mindfulness Meditation by Mental Workout, Inc. Started by former Buddhist priest: Stephan Bodian, M.A. Former director of training program at Los Angeles Zen Center. Author of Meditation for Dummies.
   
   
4. Andy Puddicombe has a nice 10-day program offered through an app: http://www.getsomeheadspace.com/shop/headspace-mediation-app.aspx
   

• Tara Brach, Ph.D. :
  
  
  1. Free weekly podcast. For example: working with fear and anxiety from 8/21/2013.
     
     
  2. 5-minute videos from teachers & leaders: http://tarabrach.com/findingtruerefuge/FTR-teachers.html
     
     
     1. Jonathan Foust: experience with physical pain.
     2. Tara Brach: dealing with genetic disease that limits her functioning (1:40).
     3. Eric describes himself as once being on a “death trajectory” with severe depression and chronic pain. He has been meditating since 1985 and teaches meditation to others.
     4. Congressman Tim Ryan, author of A Mindful Nation.
        
        
• Mark Williams, Ph.D.
  
  
  1. Brief video explaining the science of mindfulness and how it helps to significantly reduce recurrence of depression: The Science of Mindfulness. 
  2. The Mindful Way Through Depression: Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness
  3. Mindfulness: An Eight-Week Plan for Finding Peace in a Frantic World
     
     
• Get Some Headspace ~ Andy Puddicombe. http://www.getsomeheadspace.com
  
  
  1. Setting off to become a monk at the age of 22, his meditation training took him all over the world, culminating with full ordination at a Tibetan Monastery in the Himalayas. Ten years later, Andy returned to the UK with the singular wish to demystify meditation, to make it accessible, relevant and beneficial to as many people as possible. And thus the seeds of Headspace were sown.
  2. Andy’s TED talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/andy_puddicombe_all_it_takes_is_10_mindful_minutes.html
  3. Andy’s Tips
     
     
     1. When do I meditate? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ys5LzXoR-QU
     2. How do I get back on the meditation bandwagon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyL5m1U8OeA
     3. How do I deal with anxiety during meditation? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwILgH1oT6E
     4. How do I deal with sadness during meditation? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-ILR4TIuj8
  4. Headspace: Nick
     
     
     1. Nick on meditation & addiction: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzUY1x-8c0k
     2. Nick on worry: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyHt-ic1rcA
  5. Headspace: What the science says. Judson Brewer, M.D., Ph.D., Yale Therapeutic Neuroscience Clinic:
     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzbSMRONafk&list=PL76719994710FDCA5
     
     
• Video: Pain is Not Suffering (7:32). Stanford Health Psychologist Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D. Dr. McGonigal explores the neuroscience finding indicating how meditators process pain differently from those who do not as well as mindfulness and suffering.
  
  
  1. http://www.buddhistgeeks.com/2012/12/video-pain-is-not-suffering/
• See Pema Chodron's article on meditating with difficult emotions (Tricycle, Summer, 2013): http://www.tricycle.com/practice/meditating-emotions

While meditation and mindfulness are not panaceas, they can be a powerful adjunct to treatment.
Compiled by Jeff Matranga, Ph.D., ABPP