Chamisa MacKenzie LMSW LLC
Individual psychotherapy for adults

Mindfulness: Mindfulness can be defined simply as the intentional focusing of one’s attention on the present moment. It’s original purpose in the Buddhist tradition was to alleviate suffering and cultivate compassion. Mindfulness practice encourages the practitioner to take greater responsibility for his or her own life choices, thereby promoting engagement with health in both disease prevention and disease recovery. It may also allow the practitioner to cultivate techniques that modulate his or own experience of pain, either by reducing the subjective experience of pain or by improving the ability to cope with pain and disability (Ludwig D Kabot-Zinn J Mindfulness in Medicine. JAMA. 2008 Sep 17;300(11):1350-2).

Books

  • Kabat-Zinn, Jon: Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life
  • Kabat-Zinn, Jon: Mindfulness for Beginners: Reclaiming the Present Moment and Your Life
  • Kabat-Zinn, Jon: Meditation Is Not What You Think: Mindfulness and Why It Is So Important
  • Kabat-Zinn, Jon: The Healing Power of Mindfulness: A New Way of Being
  • Easwaran, Eknath: Meditation: A simple 8-point program for translating spiritual ideas into daily life
  • Thich Nhat Hanh: Your true home
  • Siegle, Daniel: Mindsight: The new science of personal transformation

Apps/Podcasts/Web

  • Headspace: https://www.headspace.com
    • Headspace is an extremely highly rated meditation app. It is concrete, instructive and therefore great for beginners. It can be downloaded for free, and the first series of 10, 10 minute meditations are also free. Subsequently, the service must be paid for. It is geared towards reducing stress and anxiety, and increasing focus and creativity.
  • Ten Percent Happier Meditation (google play and itunes)
    • “For the skeptic who is not sure that they want to meditation” – meditations aimed to help users with anxiety and sleep, and there is new content each week. There is a free version, as well as a premium version
  • Calm: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/calm-meditate-sleep-relax/id571800810?mt=8
    • Calm is another highly rated meditation app. There is a free version, and then a pro version that must be paid for that offers additional features. Users can opt for guided meditations or just use the timer for silent meditation.
  • UCLA Free Guided Mindfulness Meditations: http://marc.ucla.edu/body.cfm?id=22
    • The UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center offers a number of free guided meditations, including one geared towards sleep. They are recorded by the Center’s director, and are simple and straightforward, ranging from 5-19 minutes. Also available as a podcast.
  • Tara Brach, free guided meditations: http://www.tarabrach.com/audioarchives-guided-meditations.html
    • Dr. Tara Brach is a renowned Buddhist teacher and scholar whose website offers a number of free guided meditations focused on the themes of emotional healing and spiritual awakening through mindful, loving awareness.
  • Jonathan Foust, free guided meditations: http://jonathanfoust.com/talks-and-guided-meditations
    • Jonathan Foust, MA, CSA is a renowned teacher of meditation. He offers a variety of free guided meditations, as well as lectures on mindfulness and Buddhist teachings. Also available as a podcast.
  • MIT’s Stress Reduction, Mindfulness and Relaxation: https://medical.mit.edu/community/stress-reduction
    • MIT’s website dedicated to community wellness offers free guided meditations. Highlights include three 20 minute mindfulness and meditation tools: body scan, mindfulness of breathing, and mindful yoga. They have a significant number of resources focused on improving sleep and sleep hygiene. They also have a quick guided meditation focused on reviving and energizing.
  • Memorial Sloane Kettering Cancer Center: https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/cancer-care-podcast-memorial/id271084708?mt=2
    • These free podcasts are geared towards cancer care. Some are informational in nature, but a good number are guided meditations, including an introduction to meditation. The meditation and breathing exercises range 10-20 minutes, there are several that may be good resources for individuals looking for more variety beyond apps/youtube. They are done by wellness therapist who works at MSKCC with cancer patients. Great resource for patients with cancer. Videos are also available on the web.
  • Wisdom 2.0: http://www.wisdom2summit.com
    • Wisdom 2.0 is a conference series that seeks to address “the great challenge of our age: to not only live connected to one another through technology, but to do so in ways that are beneficial to our own well-being, effective in our work, and useful to the world.” The website has free videos of speakers, and is a great resource for those patients looking to learn more about mindfulness practice and its application in the modern world.