{"641211":{"#nid":"641211","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Aware, Awake, Woke: Finding the Meaning In Mindfulness with Paul Verhaeghen","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMost of \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/psychology.gatech.edu\/paul-verhaeghen\u0022 style=\u0022text-decoration:none;\u0022\u003EPaul Verhaeghen\u0026rsquo;s\u003C\/a\u003E research has been related to cognitive aging, seeking to better understand what happens to people\u0026rsquo;s minds as they grow older. But Verhaeghen, a professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/psychology.gatech.edu\/\u0022 style=\u0022text-decoration:none;\u0022\u003ESchool of Psychology\u003C\/a\u003E, also studies the science of mindfulness meditation \u0026mdash; searching for data and clues to what happens to people\u0026rsquo;s overall health and well-being as they seek inner peace.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn 2017, Verhaeghen shared a look into this work when he published his book, \u0026ldquo;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Presence-Mindfulness-Meditation-Shape-Brain-ebook\/dp\/B06XSNK9LR\u0022 style=\u0022text-decoration:none;\u0022\u003EPresence: How Mindfulness and Meditation Shape Your Brain, Mind, and Life\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026rdquo; Now the professor, who has been practicing meditation since he was a teenager, gets a chance to add more to our collective understanding on the science of mindfulness, thanks to a two-year, $100,000 \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.mindandlife.org\/grants\/peace-grants\/\u0022 style=\u0022text-decoration:none;\u0022\u003EPEACE Grant\u003C\/a\u003E from the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.mindandlife.org\/\u0022 style=\u0022text-decoration:none;\u0022\u003EMind \u0026amp; Life Institute\u003C\/a\u003E, a non-profit organization formed in 1991 to study the contemplative sciences (the empirical study of consciousness and the subjective, experiential study of consciousness through contemplation). Verhaeghen shares the PEACE grant with co-principal investigator \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ung.edu\/psychology\/faculty-staff-bio\/shelley-aikman.php\u0022 style=\u0022text-decoration:none;\u0022\u003EShelley Aikman\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor of psychological science at the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ung.edu\/index.php\u0022 style=\u0022text-decoration:none;\u0022\u003EUniversity of North Georgia\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EVerhaeghen and Aikman have titled their research project,\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.mindandlife.org\/grant\/aware-awake-woke-how-a-brief-mindfulness-intervention-fosters-prosocial-ethical-attitudes\/\u0022 style=\u0022text-decoration:none;\u0022\u003E \u0026ldquo;Aware, Awake, Woke: How a Brief Mindfulness Intervention Fosters Prosocial\/Ethical Attitudes.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/a\u003E According to the way the two researchers describe their work to the Mind \u0026amp; Life Institute, \u0026ldquo;the project will use everyday momentary assessments to chart day-by-day changes in a mindfulness intervention, from attention control to prosocial attitudes, and the causal structure of these changes.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe PEACE Grants grew out of the Mind \u0026amp; Life Institute\u0026rsquo;s goal of supporting science research projects \u0026ldquo;that advance our understanding of wholesome mental qualities and positive interpersonal and social action related to Prosociality, Empathy, Altruism, Compassion, and Ethics (PEACE),\u0026rdquo; according to the organization\u0026rsquo;s website. \u0026ldquo;With this mechanism, Mind \u0026amp; Life will fund projects that advance our understanding of the mechanisms, implementation and outcomes of contemplative strategies to promote well-being and prosocial behavior in individuals and communities. In addition, we encourage the development of measures to rigorously assess these qualities in various real-world contexts.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESeeking, sharing inner calm\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EVerhaeghen shared a peek into his findings on the potential benefits of mindfulness during a College of Sciences \u0026ldquo;ScienceMatters\u0026rdquo; \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/science-matters\/season-2-episode-2-can-meditation-survive-multitasking-world\u0022 style=\u0022text-decoration:none;\u0022\u003Epodcast\u003C\/a\u003E episode last year:\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Mindfulness meditation seems to have effects on a wide variety of things: on attention, on stress, on the immune system, on well-being, and positive emotions on depression, on anxiety. And that\u0026#39;s true for healthy adults, and it also is true for clinical populations \u0026mdash; so trials that have been run, clinical trials ... controlled trials with people who are depressed or are having anxiety, phobias, et cetera \u0026mdash; suggest that there are very good effects there. They\u0026#39;re just as good as standard treatment.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe new project with Aikman hopes to trace how a person\u0026rsquo;s qualitative psychology changes from day to day as they go through a mindfulness program.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;In mindfulness meditation programs, people learn many different skills, such as focusing on the present moment, being aware of their current mind states, relaxing the body, savoring their experiences, and so on,\u0026rdquo; explains Verhaeghen. \u0026ldquo;Research shows that this improves well-being, makes people less stressed, and even more empathic and compassionate. Our research question is simply: Why is that?\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EVerhaeghen\u0026rsquo;s study will ask participants to go through an eight-week program. \u0026ldquo;We will beep them a few times per day on their smartphones, and ask questions about their experiences \u0026mdash; if their mind wanders, how focused they feel, if stressors happened and how they reacted, how anxious or sad they feel if moments of compassion arose, etc. By doing so, we can see how these different aspects hang together and potentially drive each other \u0026mdash; whether, as we suspect, becoming more aware of your experiences in the moment wakes you up to well-being \u0026mdash; making it more possible for you to open up to others and their experiences and plights.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"School of Psychology\u2019s Paul Verhaeghen and UNG\u0027s Shelley Aikman win funding to continue studies of the science behind mindfulness meditation \u2014 and its physical and mental health benefits"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EProfessor Paul Verhaeghen and University of North Georgia\u0026#39;s Shelley Aikman win a new Mind \u0026amp; Life Institute PEACE Grant that will continue studies into the physical and mental health benefits of mindfulness meditation.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"School of Psychology\u2019s Paul Verhaeghen and UNG\u0027s Shelley Aikman win funding to continue studies of the science behind mindfulness meditation \u2014 and its physical and mental health benefits"}],"uid":"34434","created_gmt":"2020-11-11 15:46:46","changed_gmt":"2020-12-07 18:38:13","author":"Renay San Miguel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2020-12-07T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2020-12-07T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"603184":{"id":"603184","type":"image","title":"Meditation","body":null,"created":"1520002717","gmt_created":"2018-03-02 14:58:37","changed":"1520002717","gmt_changed":"2018-03-02 14:58:37","alt":"Meditation","file":{"fid":"229897","name":"Meditation Picture.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Meditation%20Picture.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Meditation%20Picture.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":636978,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Meditation%20Picture.jpeg?itok=YvRhgmJM"}},"592845":{"id":"592845","type":"image","title":"Paul Verhaeghen","body":null,"created":"1497990400","gmt_created":"2017-06-20 20:26:40","changed":"1497990400","gmt_changed":"2017-06-20 20:26:40","alt":"","file":{"fid":"225970","name":"Paul Verhaeghen.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Paul%20Verhaeghen.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Paul%20Verhaeghen.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":627970,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Paul%20Verhaeghen.jpg?itok=9FHCIZwU"}},"592846":{"id":"592846","type":"image","title":"\u0022Presence\u0022 Book Cover","body":null,"created":"1497990483","gmt_created":"2017-06-20 20:28:03","changed":"1497990483","gmt_changed":"2017-06-20 20:28:03","alt":"","file":{"fid":"225971","name":"Presence Book Cover.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Presence%20Book%20Cover.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Presence%20Book%20Cover.png","mime":"image\/png","size":137486,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Presence%20Book%20Cover.png?itok=x_qg_FEg"}},"641213":{"id":"641213","type":"image","title":"Mind and Life Institute Logo","body":null,"created":"1605110208","gmt_created":"2020-11-11 15:56:48","changed":"1605110208","gmt_changed":"2020-11-11 15:56:48","alt":"","file":{"fid":"243668","name":"Mind and Life Institute Logo.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Mind%20and%20Life%20Institute%20Logo.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Mind%20and%20Life%20Institute%20Logo.png","mime":"image\/png","size":211782,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Mind%20and%20Life%20Institute%20Logo.png?itok=zQdYXN7W"}}},"media_ids":["603184","592845","592846","641213"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/science-matters\/season-2-episode-2-can-meditation-survive-multitasking-world","title":"ScienceMatters - Season 2, Episode 2: The Science Behind OOOMMMMM"},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/hg\/item\/592844","title":"Mindfulness is in the Moment in New Book \u201cPresence\u201d"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.mindandlife.org","title":"Mind and Life Institute "}],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"443951","name":"School of Psychology"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"42901","name":"Community"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"167710","name":"School of Psychology"},{"id":"174736","name":"Paul Verhaeghen"},{"id":"186241","name":"mindfulness meditation"},{"id":"186242","name":"PEACE Grant"},{"id":"186243","name":"Mind and Life Institute"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ERenay San Miguel\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCommunications Officer\/Science Writer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Sciences\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n404-894-5209\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["renay.san@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}