THANK YOU!
To offer a donation: 
In place of our basket,  donations can be mailed: PO Box 1071,
                             Twisp WA 98856,   
     or    Venmo:  @sharon-cohen-4
Thank you for being part of our group.  Spring is coming!  I look forward to meeting outdoors as we also continue on Zoom.

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Free Introductory Online Class
Mindfulness Circle
An introduction to mindfulness based tools, with an emphasis on self-compassion.  One hour of guided practice and discussion online.
Thursdays 11 – 12.
Free   please register to receive the link

"For me, mindfulness practice with Sharon has been life changing!  I can’t say enough about how it has impacted me and the people around me.  My husband is Sharon’s biggest fan! 
I have learned techniques to understand and manage my mind and emotions that are truly empowering.  Probably the most helpful part of working with Sharon is that when I feel stuck I can schedule a private session to help me get unstuck!  "

Faced with suffering of this depth and range, we form the heart-felt wish that all people, young and old, in all countries of the world, be free from infection. If they have contracted the virus, may they recover. If they do not recover may they be able to endure their pain with patience and acceptance; may they have a refuge in their heart to turn to; and in their final days may they be surround with love and kindness. –Ajahn Jayasaro

what's different about mindfulness?

Mindfulness is for everybody, we all have habits that are not helpful.  Are you Impatient? Anxious? In pain? Mindful awareness is a window into how habitual thoughts affect our life and our health.  Neuroscientists say "neurons that fire together wire together".  Our thoughts, for better or worse,  flow through our mind, shape our brain, and influence our perception.  Habitual thoughts form neural superhighways which become our mental/emotional patterns.   We find ourselves repeating things we don't mean, behaving in ways we regret, chasing the same thoughts, even making difficult situations worse.  Practicing mindfulness gives us the tools to be the person we want to be, and to respond intentionally to whatever happens.

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about mindfulness-based stress reduction

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)  is the classic introduction to secular mindfulness.  Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn pioneered MBSR in 1979 at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. It proved to be so effective at easing chronic pain that within a year it was made part of the Department of Medicine.  Today it is offered in hundreds of hospitals, and clinics worldwide.  MBSR is supported  by research in medicine,  neuroscience, and psychology, and recommended by the Mayo Clinic, and the National Institute of Health.     Mindfulness is helpful for a wide range of medical symptoms and psychological distress including:

glaucoma
cancer recovery
depression
cardiac health
sleep disorders
inflammation

anxiety
chronic pain
fibromyalgia
immune functioning
gastrointestinal health

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mindfulness in the news

How To Boost Happiness Hormones Like Serotonin and Dopamine in Every Day Life Good tips for  positive energy, including a discussion of the hormones that generate happiness.  Mercey Livingston, CNET, Oct 2020

Are we Morally Obligated to Meditate A growing body of neuroscience research shows that meditation can make us better to each other. Sigal Samuel   a skeptic reviews the science, after 8 weeks of mediation, he found he was able to stay calm during a family visit, Jan 2020

Mindfulness Practice Benefits Elders with Mild Cognitive Impairment,   Elders who practiced mindfulness had better brain network efficiency. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, December, 2019

Why Stress is Dangerous, Storoni, a surgeon explores how chronic stress may change the structure of the brain.  BBC Future, August, 2019

Scientists’ Understanding of Anxiety is Radically Evolving-But How Long will it Take for Treatments to Catch Up? -Adam Piore,  Overview of the changing understanding of anxiety, and the limitations of current medical treatment…"many clinicians say one of the most exciting trends in mental health… is the rise in the use of a technique that is thousands of years old and actually predates many of the current treatments: mindfulness." Newsweek, Sept 2019,

How People Want to Feel.. influences their emotions, Alex Shashkevich,  New research finds that our  underlying motivation determines how much we allow other to influence our feelings, such as anger.  Stanford University News, June, 2019

How Job Stress Can Age Us -By Dhruv Khullar, M.D. Long hours, disrupted sleep and constant stress can take a biological toll on new doctors. Down to the level of their genes. NY Times, July, 2019

When a Stress Expert Battles Mental Illness –Brad Stulberg, a columnist for Outside Magazine, describes his unexpected  bout with clinical anxiety

The Latest in Military Strategy: Mindfulness -Matt Richtel, NY Times. Troops who went through a month-long mindfulness training. were better able to discern key information under chaotic circumstances and experienced increases in working memory function. The soldiers also reported making fewer cognitive errors than service members who did not use mindfulness.   April, 2019

How Pain Tolerance and Anxiety Seem to be Connected – Heather Murphy, NY Times, People with high levels of anxiety, tend to be more sensitive to physical pain, there may be a genetic basis for this?  March, 2019

Do Not Disturb; How I Ditched My Phone, and Unbroke My Brain,  Kevin Roose, a journalist's account of dialing back phone use, NY Times, Feb 2019

With 90% of Avalanches Triggered by Victims, Should Mindfulness Become a Backcountry Tool?   Eli Francovich, Incorporating mindfulness into avalanche safety classes to help people make better decisions in changing conditions. Spokesman-Review, February 2019

Schools in England Introduce a New Subject: Mindfulness, Iliana Magra, England is teaching mindfulness in 370 public schools to help improve children's mental health, February, 2019

Why it Hurts to Lose Sleep - Benedict Carey, NY Times, research shows that poor quality can make physical pain more painful.  January, 2019

Got Anger? Try Naming It To Tame It-M. Doucleff - NPR, January, 2019- how naming, ("noting" or "labeling") can help calm  anger.

Proper Breathing Brings Better Health, Scientific American, January, 2019, a description of how specific breathing techniques can help with stress, insomnia, emotional regulation, and cardiac health.

Mindfulness effectively reduces eye pressure in open-angle glaucoma, Medical Express  Patients with primary open angle glaucoma  showed significant improvements after participating in a program of mindfulness meditation focused on breathing, Nov 2018,

Stress Hormone” Cortisol Linked to Early Toll on Thinking Ability,  Scientific American, Brain changes, visible on scans, are also associated with Alzheimer’s precursor October, 2018

 Brain's Dumped DNA May Lead to Stress, Depression -Scientific American, how psychological stress leads to widespread inflammation and negative health effects. September, 2018,,

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