Today Tom shares our Contemplative Leadership Academy model at the Association for Contemplative Mind in Higher Education Conference at Amherst College. This morning, Dr. Gaëlle Desbordes, Research Fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital-Harvard-MIT Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, shared her work on neuroplasticity.
Dr. Desbordes’ research suggests that participation in an eight-week intentional meditation/contemplative practices routine demonstrated a measurable increase in hippocampus gray matter. Generally, since the hippocampus is that area of our brains that fosters learning and memory, that’s a positive finding. It also initially supports our own Contemplative Leadership Academy work. All school leaders value enhanced memory and learning, right?
Here’s another interesting point: Dr. Desbordes’ research subjects did not participate in day long, or even extended in any way, meditation sessions. How long were they? No more than 30 minutes to an hour each day.
One thing we regularly hear from school leaders is that they don’t have time to practice mindfulness during the workday, and that by the time they get home it’s too late and/or they’re too tired. We sympathize. (Admittedly, we also occasionally fall into that trap ourselves.)
However, Gaëlle Desbordes’ research reminds us that we do have time, and that there is emerging scientific evidence of mindfulness practice’s positive effects on our physical beings.
And that has the potential to transform our schools and work environments.
*Watch for upcoming announcements about our new Contemplative Leadership Academy study and learn how you can participate free of charge.
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