Short-Acting Psychedelic DMT Shows Promise as a Rapid Treatment for Major Depressive Disorder
A phase IIa trial published in Nature Medicine found that a single intravenous dose of dimethyltryptamine (DMT), paired with structured psychotherapy, produced a rapid and sustained reduction in major depressive disorder symptoms. Participants receiving 21.5 mg of DMT showed an average 7.35‑point drop on the Montgomery‑Åsberg Depression Rating Scale compared with placebo, with benefits persisting for up to three months. The psychedelic experience lasted only 20‑30 minutes, dramatically shortening the clinic time required versus longer‑acting psychedelics like psilocybin. The study highlights a potentially scalable, fast‑acting antidepressant approach, though it remains small and demographically limited.
A Psychologist's 7-Step Practice To Find Radical Self-Acceptance
Rick Hanson, Ph.D., outlines a seven‑step practice for radical self‑acceptance that guides individuals from fragmented inner dialogue to a cohesive sense of self. The method begins with accepting pleasant, neutral, and mildly unpleasant experiences, then expands to embracing all personal...
Your Deepest Questions
A Zen practitioner recounts a week‑long, highly ritualized retreat where strict protocols forced constant attention. The teacher assigned a seemingly simple koan—“When you see the stick, where is God?”—that ultimately led the author from intellectual guessing to a non‑conceptual breakthrough....
May 2026: Books in Brief
May 2026’s Lion’s Roar roundup spotlights a wave of new Buddhist titles, from Margaret Cullen’s *Quiet Strength* that re‑centers equanimity, to Bodhipaksa’s 28‑day habit builder *Sit*. It also features Reb Anderson’s Zen parable collection, the Hases’ partnership guide, Roy Remer’s caregiver...
What to Do When Panic Attacks
The article outlines practical, Buddhist‑inspired techniques for managing panic attacks, emphasizing mindfulness, breath control, narrative reframing, multisensory grounding, and TIPP skills. It explains how simple practices like box breathing and sensory cues can interrupt the physiological surge of cortisol and...
Finding My Higher Power in the Ten Thousand Things
The author recounts a decade‑long sobriety journey that merged Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) with Zen Buddhism, highlighting how the AA Big Book eventually recognized Buddhist members. He explains that the Buddhist Eightfold Path mirrors AA’s Twelve Steps, allowing both frameworks to...
How to Find Your Middle Way
The article explains the Buddhist concept of the "middle way," tracing its origins from the Buddha’s rejection of both self‑indulgence and extreme asceticism to the Mahayana Madhyamaka school’s philosophical emphasis on emptiness. It illustrates how the Buddha’s first turning of...
How to Handle a Panic Attack
Clinical psychologist Dr. Julie Smith outlines research‑backed strategies to manage panic attacks in a concise video. She emphasizes recognizing symptoms, using grounding and breathing techniques, and reshaping catastrophic thoughts. The guidance aims to lessen immediate distress and reduce the frequency...
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How Self-Reflection Benefits Your Mental Health
The article outlines how intentional self‑reflection enhances mental health by boosting self‑awareness, decision‑making, and alignment with personal values. It cites experts from AMFM Healthcare and Newport Healthcare, highlighting practical tools such as journaling, open‑ended questions, and brief meditation. The piece...
I’m Seeing More People in Therapy Struggling with War-Related Anxiety. Here’s What Helps | Ahona Guha
Therapists across the United States are reporting a surge in clients plagued by war‑related existential anxiety after the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran. The conflict has shifted public perception, turning geopolitical tension into a form of globalized...
This 5-Minute Breath Practice Might Lower Blood Pressure As Much As Exercise
A recent study in the Journal of the American Heart Association found that a five‑minute high‑resistance inspiratory muscle strength training (IMST) protocol can lower systolic blood pressure by about nine points in adults aged 50 to 79. The intervention, performed...
This Is Exactly How Long You Need To Meditate To See Results
A new EEG study of 77 participants tracked brain‑wave activity during a 20‑minute guided breath meditation. Researchers observed measurable shifts as early as 2–3 minutes, with theta and alpha waves peaking between 7 and 10 minutes before plateauing. Advanced meditators...
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Why Panic Attacks Cause Shortness of Breath and Hyperventilation
Shortness of breath and hyperventilation are hallmark symptoms of panic attacks, arising from the body’s fight‑or‑flight response. The rapid, shallow breathing reduces blood carbon dioxide, which can intensify anxiety, cause dizziness, and create a feedback loop that worsens the episode....
Can Deep Brain Stimulation Unlock Treatment-Resistant Depression?
Approximately 30% of depression patients are treatment‑resistant, prompting research into deep brain stimulation (DBS) as a new therapeutic avenue. DBS, already FDA‑approved for movement disorders, delivers electrical pulses to white‑matter tracts to “unstick” the brain, with effects developing over weeks...
People With This Thinking Style Have A 34% Lower Obesity Risk
A recent study of 394 adults found that individuals who score higher on mindfulness exhibit a 34% lower risk of obesity, particularly reduced abdominal fat. The research measured participants' mindfulness levels and body mass using scans, revealing a modest but...
Listening to Music for 24 Minutes May Ease Anxiety, Study Finds
Researchers at Toronto Metropolitan University discovered that a 24‑minute session of music combined with auditory beat stimulation (ABS) significantly reduces anxiety symptoms in adults already taking medication. In a randomized trial of 144 participants, the 24‑minute condition outperformed a 12‑minute...
Silent Underground
On December 1, 2025 a Triratna Buddhist monk and four sangha members meditated for twelve hours on London’s Circle line to raise funds for a new UK centre and to protest urban noise. The silent sit, filmed and shared by...
As an Overachiever, I Didn’t Think I’d Like Yoga. I Was Wrong.
Former collegiate athlete and serial overachiever Katie Jesionowski recounts her reluctant first encounter with yoga, a brief glimpse of calm that she later dismissed after a challenging class. Six years later, therapy and meditation led her back to a small...
Why DBT Works So Well for Highly Sensitive People
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is emerging as a highly effective treatment for Highly Sensitive People (HSPs), offering a blend of validation and practical skill‑building that curbs emotional overwhelm. The approach, originally created by Marsha Linehan for borderline personality disorder, directly...
Does Mindfulness Make You a Pushover?
Oxford Mindfulness director Claire Kelly challenges the notion that mindfulness creates passivity, arguing it actually fosters clearer, more deliberate action. Systematic studies of MBCT and MBSR show participants gain better emotional regulation, reduced stress, and sharper decision‑making. Kelly emphasizes that...
“I Have Bipolar Depression. This Is How I Started To Find My Light Again”
Brook, a hospice nurse and mother of four, struggled for years with undiagnosed bipolar depression, mistaking her symptoms for ordinary depression. After multiple ineffective antidepressants and three hospitalizations, a new physician correctly identified bipolar depression and prescribed CAPLYTA® (lumateperone). Within...
Depression Is Linked to a Genuine Pessimistic Bias Rather than a Realistic View of the World
A new study in Behaviour Research and Therapy shows that individuals with elevated depressive symptoms consistently predict fewer positive life events than actually occur, confirming a genuine pessimistic bias rather than realistic optimism. Researchers tracked 372 adults over three months,...
How the Amygdala Decides Between Freezing and Fleeing
Tulane neuroscientists identified two central amygdala neuron types—CRF and SOM—that act as a neural switch between high‑intensity escape (jumping) and low‑intensity freezing or darting during fear extinction. Using optogenetic manipulation in mice, inhibiting CRF neurons reduced panic‑like jumps, while activating...
Are You Breathing Wrong? Here’s How to Get More Out of Your Inhalations and Exhalations.
The archived Yoga Journal piece revisits how modern stress hijacks our natural breathing, leading to restrictive patterns such as reverse, chest, and hyperventilation breathing. It explains that these habits shrink inhalation volume, elevate tension, and can exacerbate chronic conditions like...
The Five Remembrances
The article revisits the five remembrances from the Upajjhatthana Sutta—aging, illness, death, separation, and karmic consequence—and describes how the author uses them in Buddhist chaplaincy work. Personal anecdotes from a hospice setting illustrate how confronting these truths fosters authentic presence...
Evolving Awareness: Drop-In Session
Breathworks is offering a 90‑minute online drop‑in session on May 18, focused on natural, effortless mindfulness. The live Zoom class costs $20 for standard participants and $15 for those meeting a $27.5k‑$31.3k income threshold, with an extra 10% discount for accredited...
How “Mindreading” AI Detects Hidden Suicidal Thoughts in the Brains of Young Adults
A new study using functional MRI and machine‑learning algorithms found that young adults with suicidal thoughts show distinct brain activation when processing death‑related words, allowing the model to separate them from healthy peers with roughly 57‑61% accuracy. The research involved...
Chris Cornell’s Daughter Lily: How Mental Health Treatment Saved My Life
Lily Cornell Silver, daughter of late Soundgarden frontman, formed the band Josie on the Rocks while in college, using music as a therapeutic opposite action. After the tragic death of drummer Graham Derzon‑Supplee, she faced severe depression and entered inpatient...
Juan Gallego Discusses How Manifolds Are Transforming Our Understanding of the Coordination of Neuronal Population Activity
Juan Gallego, principal investigator at the Be.Neural Lab, discussed how neural manifolds are reshaping our understanding of coordinated activity across large neuronal populations. He highlighted evidence that population firing patterns collapse onto low‑dimensional manifolds, especially in motor control and learning...
The Mindfulness of Tidying Up
Shoukei Matsumoto’s excerpt from *Work Like a Monk* frames everyday cleaning as a form of mindfulness rooted in Japanese Buddhist practice. He describes how collective cleaning in schools, temples, and even stadiums reinforces gratitude, presence, and a sacred bond with...
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A Complete Guide to Buddhist Meditation: Principles, Techniques, and Benefits
The article offers a comprehensive guide to Buddhist meditation, outlining its historical roots, core principles such as mindfulness, impermanence, compassion, suffering, and non‑self, and detailing three main techniques—Samatha, Vipassana, and Metta. It explains step‑by‑step instructions for beginners, highlights scientific research...
Conscious Connected Breathing: The Technique That Changes Everything
Conscious connected breathing, also known as circular breathing, is a continuous mouth‑breathing technique that eliminates pauses between inhales and exhales. By sustaining a rhythmic breath loop, it directly engages the autonomic nervous system, quickly shifting the body out of chronic...
Where There’s Wildfire Smoke, There’s Poor Mental Health
Recent research connects wildfire smoke to a surge in mental‑health disorders, showing that fine particulate matter can infiltrate the brain, trigger neuroinflammation, and alter neurotransmitter pathways. Laboratory studies on mice reveal serotonin depletion and amyloid‑beta accumulation after short‑term smoke exposure,...
Overwhelmed by Tough Emotions? This Advice Can Help You Navigate Them.
Yoga Journal has compiled a curated playlist of archival articles that teach readers how to manage overwhelming emotions through yoga practices. The collection highlights techniques such as quieting the mind, pranayama breathwork, self‑inquiry for resilience, identity exploration, and mastering Savasana....
Psychedelic Drug MDMA Could Help Treat PTSD—But There's a Reason It's Not Widely Available
Australia became the first nation to reclassify MDMA from a prohibited to a controlled substance, permitting its use in PTSD treatment under strict conditions. The 2026 guidelines limit MDMA‑assisted psychotherapy to adults who have not responded to first‑line therapies, require...
A Place to Land
Dr. Willoughby Britton, a Brown University neuroscientist, founded Cheetah House to support meditators experiencing severe distress such as hyperarousal, dissociation, and psychosis after her research showed meditation outcomes are highly variable. The nonprofit provides evidence‑based peer support, clinician consultation, and...
The Power of Teaching Kids How Their Brains Work
Teaching children how their brains work is emerging as a practical strategy to strengthen mental health and self‑esteem. By learning the roles of the amygdala, brainstem and pre‑frontal cortex, kids can label emotions, externalize stress and activate simple tools like...
The Easiest Way To Quiet A Stressed Mind — According To 108 Brain Scans
A new scoping review of 108 neuroimaging studies published in *Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews* shows that brief exposure to natural environments triggers consistent brain changes. Fractal patterns in nature ease visual processing, while stress‑related regions such as the amygdala quiet down....
How Slow Can You Go?
Recent books and essays argue that relentless pursuit of GDP growth accelerates ecological and social crises. Authors like Timothée Parrique and Kohei Saito call for a degrowth mindset, while psychologists highlight the cultural addiction to speed. Mindfulness scholar Andrew Olendzki suggests shifting from...
I Used to Feel Anxious in Yoga. This One Simple Prop Changed That.
Yoga teacher Liz Hosman discovered that a simple chair prop can transform a restless, anxiety‑filled practice into a calming, supportive experience. After experimenting with chair variations during a six‑month virtual series, she found the prop deepened stretches, reduced perfectionist pressure,...
Happiness Break: A Meditation For When You Have Too Much To Do
In a March 2026 episode of *Happiness Break*, host Dacher Keltner guides listeners through a brief meditation designed for professionals swamped with tasks. Guest Kia Afcari, director of Greater Good Workplaces at UC Berkeley, frames overwhelm as a relationship issue rather than...
What Does Evidence-Based Mindfulness Mean in Healthcare?
Healthcare leaders worldwide are increasingly exploring mindfulness to improve staff well‑being and patient care. Oxford Mindfulness emphasizes that evidence‑based approaches, such as Mindfulness‑Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), differ markedly from generic apps or short courses. Robust research shows moderate reductions in...
A Meditation to (Gently) Interrupt Habitual Reactions
Family physician and mindfulness expert Patricia Rockman outlines a step‑by‑step meditation designed to interrupt automatic, habit‑driven reactions. The practice guides practitioners from posture awareness through breath focus, body scanning, and gentle redirection of attention when the mind wanders. By inviting...
10 Simple Mindfulness Practices for Couples That Improve Your Emotional Connection
The article outlines ten easy mindfulness exercises that couples can use to rekindle emotional connection, from daily gratitude moments to eye‑gazing and partner yoga. Each practice emphasizes present‑moment awareness, intentional touch, and active listening, which research links to higher oxytocin...
Avoid Digital Distraction With These Mindfulness Practices
The article explains how pervasive digital devices hijack attention through design features like notifications and endless scrolling, leading to fragmented focus and reduced productivity. It presents mindfulness techniques—three‑breath resets, naming urges, and single‑task windows—as practical ways to strengthen reflective attention...
Brain’s Clogged Pipes: A Surprising New Link to Hallucinations
A University of Geneva team discovered that children with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome show reduced glymphatic clearance, a brain waste‑removal system, and that this early dysfunction predicts the emergence of psychotic symptoms in adulthood. Using longitudinal diffusion‑tensor imaging and magnetic‑spectroscopy, the...
Discover Our Self-Guided Courses
A suite of self‑guided mindfulness courses has been added to the Community of Practice e‑learning platform, targeting a range of health concerns from dizziness and tinnitus to long COVID and chronic pain. Prices vary from free access to £98, with...
In Times of War, We Must R.I.S.E.
The Mindful Leader team introduces R.I.S.E., a four‑step reflection framework designed to help individuals respond to war, humanitarian crises, and societal polarization with clarity and responsibility. Drawing on mindfulness, Viktor Frankl’s meaning‑making, and Stoic teachings from Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius,...
Guided Breathwork: What It Actually Is and What Happens When You Try It
Guided breathwork is a structured, facilitator‑led breathing practice where participants lie down and continuously breathe through the mouth for about 28 minutes, followed by a rest period. The guide helps participants push through the brain’s natural resistance that peaks around...
Emotion Regulation Strategies: How to Choose What Works
Susan McGarvie, Ph.D. outlines a decision framework that helps therapists match emotion‑regulation techniques to the specific emotional moment and intensity. The article distinguishes regulation from coping, distress tolerance, and suppression, and identifies six underlying mechanisms such as attention control and physiological...