Mindfulness and Meditation

My Year of Living Mindfully – TEDx Talk

Shannon Harvey
March 11, 2022

In the midst of a global mental health crisis, millions of people have turned to mindfulness. But does it actually make us happier and healthier? For my most recent project, I participated in a world-first experiment, in which a team of scientists to put mindful meditation to the test. But after a 30,000 kilometre journey … Read full article »

Amishi Jha, Amit Bernstein, depression, Jon Kabat-Zinn, meditation, mental training, mindfulness, Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Mindfulness Based Trauma Recovery for Refugees (MBTR-R), trauma

Lasting Change: How I Meditated Every Day for A Year And Beyond

siteAdmin
November 17, 2020

It had been 20 minutes of mental agony and as my meditation practice came to an end on the third day of what was supposed to be a year-long commitment to meditate every day, there was only one thought on my mind… it’s going to be a long year. Was I missing something? Far from … Read full article »

Behaviour, if-then planning, Lasting Change, mindfulness, Peter Gollwitzer

The New Science of “Overthinking”

August 27, 2020

“I think it would be really helpful if you could share practical tips for people on how they can just turn their minds off,” said Andrea, who works in the HR department at a multi-national software company.* Andrea was calling because she was providing copies of my latest film, My Year of Living Mindfully to … Read full article »

Amishi Jha, default mode network, DFM, mindfulness

How to Face Chronic Pain: The Art of Being ‘Discomfortable’

July 1, 2020

I couldn’t stop myself from marvelling at the bright-eyed woman across from me who I knew was experiencing what most people would consider intolerable pain, but was somehow nevertheless radiant, light-hearted and completely present as we sat eating a meal together. The lunch date was both professional and personal. I was profiling Vidyamala Burch in … Read full article »

chronic pain, mindfulness, Suffering, Vidyamala Burch

A Beginner’s Guide to Starting a Mindfulness Practice

June 4, 2020

Introduction One of the most frequently asked questions after people have seen my feature documentary My Year of Living Mindfully is: How do I get started on my own mindful experiment? Before you continue reading this guide though, the first thing I’d like to ask you in return is: Do you actually want to start … Read full article »

Lasting Change, meditation, mindfulness

The New Generation of Scientists Who Will Change the Way You Think About Mindfulness in the Future

May 20, 2020

I’m often asked why I went to so much trouble to make my new documentary My Year of Living Mindfully. The project took me and my co-producer (and husband, Jules Harvey) almost three years from start to finish. It involved a 30,000 kilometres journey around the world from the bright lights of Manhattan to the … Read full article »

Addiction, default mode network, depression, Judson Brewer, McMindfulness, mindfulness, Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Mindfulness Based Trauma Recovery for Refugees (MBTR-R), Moments of Refuge, refugee mental health, trauma, Willem Kuyken, Willoughby Britton

Embracing Imperfection and the Art of Being A Compassionate Mess

February 19, 2020

The work I produce is unoriginal, meaningless tripe…I’m a terrible mother, who’s always too tired for her kids…I can’t cook… All this, according to the voice in my head, is fact. Fortunately, of late, I’ve been learning not to believe everything I think. I first began taking notice of the mean voice in my head … Read full article »

Kristin Neff, mindfulness, self compassion

To the World’s Loudest Critic of Mindfulness – A Health Journalist’s Response

February 12, 2020

I confess that I was terrified when I picked up Ronald Purser’s new book McMindfulness. It had been a long time coming after the management professor from San Francisco State University embraced the Mindful Crank persona in 2014 and wrote a series of provocative articles such as The Myth of the Present Moment, and Beyond … Read full article »

Jon Kabat-Zinn, Matthieu Ricard, McMindfulness, mental health, Mind the Hype, mindfulness, Nicholas Van Dam, Ron Purser, Willoughby Britton

The Mindful Myth: It’s Not Actually About Relaxation

October 23, 2019

As a health journalist who writes about the science of the mind-body-health connection and who’s interviewed countless scientists on the subject, you would have thought that when I started making my new documentary about mindfulness, I would have known a thing or two. But just a few weeks into the endeavour I came across a … Read full article »

Herbert Benson, Jon Kabat-Zinn, meditation, mindfulness, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), relaxation, relaxation response, Sara Lazar

50 Shades of Crappy: The Power of “Emotional Granularity”

August 1, 2019

At the risk of sounding like I’m whining about my #firstworld problems; this morning was nothing short of crappy. With thanks to two small children who had broken my sleep throughout the night, I woke up feeling crappy. With thanks to a freezing house not suited to Sydney’s mid-winter weather, I got out of bed … Read full article »

Chapter 02 - Emotions, Emotional Granularity, emotions, Lisa Feldman-Barrett, mindfulness

There’s a Good Reason Meditation Is The Fastest Growing Health Trend

May 30, 2019

I sat on the stage looking out at an audience of psychologists, mental-heath workers, educators, academics, and everyday folk looking for reliable ways to live better in this crazy, busy, mixed-up world. The event, which was called “Mind The Hype: Is Meditation All It’s Cracked Up To Be?” was hosted by the University of Melbourne … Read full article »

Addiction, Anxiety, depression, mental health, mindfulness, refugees

What Is Mindfulness Anyway? My Year-Long Quest To Find Out

March 27, 2019

For some, mindfulness is a life-saving psychological tool that pulled them out of the depths of depression, for others it’s a way to disentangle from the grip of addiction. Some use mindfulness to face chronic pain or stressful emotions, while others use it to achieve peak performance at work. Some believe that mindfulness is an … Read full article »

meditation, mindfulness, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)

Mindfulness and Meditation

Latest posts from Shannon's blog

My Year of Living Mindfully – TEDx Talk

Lasting Change: How I Meditated Every Day for A Year And Beyond

The New Science of “Overthinking”

How to Face Chronic Pain: The Art of Being ‘Discomfortable’

A Beginner’s Guide to Starting a Mindfulness Practice

The New Generation of Scientists Who Will Change the Way You Think About Mindfulness in the Future

Embracing Imperfection and the Art of Being A Compassionate Mess

To the World’s Loudest Critic of Mindfulness – A Health Journalist’s Response

The Mindful Myth: It’s Not Actually About Relaxation

50 Shades of Crappy: The Power of “Emotional Granularity”

There’s a Good Reason Meditation Is The Fastest Growing Health Trend

What Is Mindfulness Anyway? My Year-Long Quest To Find Out

Get the blog straught to your inbox as soon as it drops.

My Year Of Living Mindfully – Book

The Connection (DOWNLOAD-TO-OWN)

My Year of Living Mindfully (DOWNLOAD-TO-OWN)

My Year Of Living Mindfully (RENT STREAM)

CONNECT WITH US ON SOCIAL