No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Workplace ostracism is a ubiquitous phenomenon that can have negative implications for both individuals and organizations. Despite evidence indicating that ostracism is a painful experience associated with detrimental health and work-related outcomes, very little research has investigated the potential role of personal resources and workplace interventions in mitigating the prevalence and harmful impact of ostracism on employees. Mindfulness--due to its implications for enhanced attention in personal interactions, heightened awareness of others' needs, and acceptance of stressful situations--is one such resource that could prove beneficial in this regard. The current research examined the role of both trait and state mindfulness in reducing the propensity to commit ostracizing behaviors and attenuating perceptions of being "out of the loop" due to one's own lack of attention. Additionally, mindfulness was expected to buffer the harmful impact of workplace ostracism on need satisfaction, and thus have relevance for more distal health-related (i.e., psychological well-being) and work-related (i.e., job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behaviors) outcomes. Three studies investigated these relationships through cross-sectional (Study 1), experimental laboratory-based (Study 2), and quasi-experimental intervention-based (Study 3) designs. Evidence of the benefits of mindfulness in decreasing exclusionary behaviors and protecting targets of ostracism was apparent in each study. The current studies yield support for the relevance of mindfulness in addressing the substantial problem of ostracism within workplaces and other organizations.

Deficits in cognitive control are associated with problems disengaging from ruminative thought, a significant risk factor for depression. Cognitive control refers to higher order cognitive processes used for goal-directed behavior, including emotion regulation. The current study examined associations between the switching component of cognitive control and rumination and tested the effects of two interventions used to improve cognitive control and thereby decrease ruminative thought. Undergraduate participants completed self-report measures to assess symptoms and an internal shift task to assess shifting ability. Participants completed a mood and rumination induction and were randomly assigned to one session of the Attention Training Technique (ATT), (n = 69), mindfulness meditation (n = 70), or an attention filler control task (n = 72). Switching deficits and rumination were not associated. The ATT moved participants’ focus of attention externally, and this outward shift in attention predicted lower state rumination. Decentering, however, was not impacted by attention training or mindfulness. Focus of attention did not impact mood recovery despite significant improvement in sad mood across all conditions. Overall, one session of attention training and mindfulness appears to have an impact on sad mood, but this effect is not superior to a simple distraction task. More than one session may be necessary to observe substantial benefits from the ATT or mindfulness. Implications and future research are discussed.

<p>Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have demonstrated efficacy in reducing symptoms in survivors of early-stage cancer and have shown promise in adults with advanced cancer and their family caregivers. These interventions may be especially helpful for coping with advanced cancer because acceptance and a greater focus on present-moment experiences are central to the adjustment process. Mindfulness may be a potential mechanism underlying MBI’s health effects, yet suboptimal assessment of mindfulness hinders examination of this hypothesis. Widely used self-report measures of mindfulness require participants to have high self-awareness and comprehend a complex skill and show limited responsiveness to MBIs. Behavioral assessment of mindfulness may address the limitations of self-report measures. The goal of the current study was to obtain preliminary evidence of the validity of a behavioral measure of mindfulness, Levinson and colleagues’ breath counting task, and its responsiveness to MBI among patients and caregivers coping with advanced cancer. Fifty-five patient-caregiver dyads were recruited from a university hospital and community clinics in Indiana. Dyads were randomized to either a 6-week MBI or a usual care control condition. Measures were administered at baseline prior to intervention (week 0), at the end of the 6-week intervention period (week 6), and 1-month post-intervention (week 10). Measures included the breath counting task, self-reported mindfulness, avoidant coping, and distress. Linear mixed modeling was used to determine whether the MEANING intervention led to increased behavioral and self-reported mindfulness compared to the usual care group. Caregivers in the MEANING condition showed improved behavioral mindfulness relative to caregivers in usual care, whereas patients in both the MEANING and usual care conditions showed relatively stable behavioral mindfulness over time. Additionally, there was no evidence that the MEANING intervention impacted behavioral mindfulness to a greater extent than self-reported mindfulness. To further examine the behavioral mindfulness measure’s validity, its relations with self-reported mindfulness, avoidant coping, and distress were examined at all time points. For both patients and caregivers, correlations between behavioral and self-reported mindfulness were small or nearly zero and were not uniformly positive. In the MEANING condition, correlations showed mostly small changes over time, and in the control condition, correlations generally showed little change over time. In addition, for patients and caregivers, most correlations between behavioral mindfulness and distress and avoidant coping were approaching zero or small. Results support the feasibility of the breath counting task in adults with advanced cancer and their caregivers, but provide limited support for its validity. The task warrants further evaluation in populations coping with chronic illness. </p>

How can space create qualities that evoke spatial contemplation, exploration and sensory stimulation to create consciousness and spaces for healing and well being? The fast paced lives, new technology and the constant connection today is leading to stress and anxiety and takes hold of one’s ability to remain present. It has been a change in the fundamentals of the human experience. Our use of technology is creating a two dimensional world, where we´re experiencing the world through the phone, tv or computer which has replaced the experience through the body and all of its senses. Stress narrows our attention and our connection to the present moment and personal encounters. So how can space then instead create consciousness so that we become aware and mindful in the present moment? By emphasising the path to our destination, we can make the arrow longer between point A and point B. This can be done by using different types of mens to heighten the sensory experience acoustically, tactilely and visually. We can see the path we think we are going to take to get to the goal, but along the way we meander, we engage, we stop and touch the wall, we feel the light filter into the space, we pause in the warmth that is created from the ambience, we hear the sound from dripping water. These are perhaps the more memorable experiences. Not the goal but the way there itself.