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Mindfulness & Meditation

In Focus

Although the practices of mindfulness and meditation are thousands of years old, research on their health benefits is relatively new, but promising.

Last updated: May 2021

Being in the moment

Learning to focus your attention on the present moment can have a wide variety of benefits.

Learn more from Harvard's Center for Wellness and Health Promotion
Mindfulness is the simple process of noticing new things about the familiar. When we notice actively, we become sensitive to perspective and change.”

Ellen Langer, professor of psychology

Learn more about Professor Langer

Learn more from Professor Langer
Ellen Langer in her backyard

Mindfulness and meditation may help:

Mindfulness can help us recognize that some fear reactions are disproportional to the threat, and thus reduces the fear response …”

Sara Lazar, MGH Psychiatric Neuroimaging Research Program

Learn more about the study
A woman sits in an office with books behind her

Mindful moment

Get comfortable and try this mindfulness exercise.

Two students meditate
  • 1. Sit

    Sit on a straight-backed chair or comfortably on the floor.

  • 2. Focus

    Focus on your breath and pay attention to things such as the sensations of air flowing into your nostrils and out of your mouth, or your belly rising and falling as you inhale and exhale.

  • 3. Expand

    Once you’ve narrowed your concentration in this way, begin to widen your focus. Become aware of sounds, sensations, and ideas.

  • 4. Embrace

    Embrace and consider each thought or sensation without judging it good or bad. If your mind starts to race, return your focus to your breathing. Then expand your awareness again.

Quiet Harvard spaces

There are several quiet, restful places on and near campus that are conducive to contemplation and reflection.

Explore the spaces

Calm your mind

Harvard’s Center for Wellness and Health Promotion offers a number of pre-recorded mediations for anyone to explore.

Explore more meditations

Awareness of breath meditation

Listen to the meditation

Guided imagery meditation

Listen to the meditation

Body scan meditation

Listen to the meditation

More to muse

New and old spaces to pray and meditate at Harvard

New and old sacred spaces at Harvard encourage pause and reflection, for religious and mindful communities alike.
Read the article

Why leaders need meditation now more than ever

These three meditation practices can help leaders, and those they lead, stay grounded.
Read the article

Rethinking mental health for veterans

Kennedy School graduate Alex Olsen is developing a model for meditation-based resiliency training for U.S. military members and veterans.
Read the article

Mindful eating

Mindful eating stems from the broader philosophy of mindfulness. Eating mindfully means that you are using all of your physical and emotional senses to experience and enjoy the food choices you make.
Read the article

Calming the working mind — Harvard Gazette

Marianne Bergonzi first tried yoga when she was 50 years old. Describing the experience as life-changing, Bergonzi soon began teaching classes. “I knew I had to pass the yogic philosophy on to people who [may] never get a chance to learn the body, mind, and breath connection.”
Read the article

Meditation may relieve IBS and IBD — Harvard Gazette

A small pilot study by Harvard-affiliated researchers finds symptom improvement and changes in expression of inflammation-associated genes in irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease patients who practice the relaxation response.
Read the article

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