Sarah, who is in her early thirties and didn't want her real name used due to privacy concerns, says the tapes'which she had been listening to on and off for months'took her on a roller-coaster journey of out-of-body experiences. 'I was in and out of time and space,' she says. It felt like a bad trip, she says, despite the fact she was sober. She recalls a subsequent three-week period of disorienting instability that veered from feelings of intense spiritual connection to fears that she may never again relate with others. Looking back, she is relieved she was not left 'in a kind of a spiritual psychosis,' but she sees the events as part of an ultimately positive 'awakening' process. Sarah is not the only one to report baffling and petrifying experiences thanks to the Gateway Process, which has been around for over 50 years and has exploded in popularity since the pandemic. But, like many others, she also credits it with helping her calm her mind and make transformative life changes. Developed by radio broadcasting executive Robert Monroe, the Gateway Process claims to be 'a voyage of self-discovery' that can help people go 'farther, deeper and faster into different dimensions of consciousness.' Monroe founded the Monroe Institute in 1971 in Faber, Virginia. Dubbed an American 'Hogwarts' by one consciousness content creator, the facility claims to help coax people out of their bodies via in-person and virtual retreats, and even Spotify playlists, by way of self-hypnosis style exercises powered by 'binaural beats''sounds attuned to different frequencies which play in each headphone ear. Proponents claim binaural beats balance the two sides of the brain and boost wellness. And while there is still an absence of scientific evidence to support the institute's methods, that hasn't stopped the military from taking an interest in Monroe's mysterious courses which also include manifestation and 'remote viewing''a form of clairvoyance in which one leaves the body to investigate the real world using only the mind....

When it was first invented in the 1300s in medieval Europe, this holiday was a celebration of romantic love, the coming of spring and the freedom to choose a partner, rather than having one chosen for you. Today that ancient and optimistic message remains but is often buried under a pile of consumer goods ' chocolates, cards, stuffed animals, plastic toys, expensive dinners and roses that cost so much more than you think. Yet love is one of the richest and most diverse human emotions. There are many ways to experience love ' so this holiday, as a scholar of mindfulness and communication, I encourage you to try out a practice of 'metta,' or loving-kindness. In the ancient Pali language, the word 'metta' has two root meanings. The first is 'gentle,' in the sense of a gentle spring rain that falls on young plants without discrimination. The second is 'friend.' A metta friend is a true friend ' someone who is always there for you without fail and without demanding anything in exchange, or someone who supports you when you're in pain and who is happy for you when you're happy, without a tinge of jealousy....

The American Psychological Association's 2023 Work and Well-being Survey found that 77% of Americans suffered from workplace stress. Over half of the respondents reported symptoms of burnout, which ranged from emotional exhaustion to wanting to quit. In my book 'The Mindful Elite,' I tracked the growth of the mindfulness movement from 1979 until 2015. I spoke with over 100 meditators who run 61 mindful programs and organizations that bring mindfulness to secular workplaces and schools across the country. Many of them told me how meditation helped them approach their work and lives with more patience, empathy and self-reflection. Meditation, they said, helped alleviate stress and increased their attention and self-awareness. Other studies also affirm mindfulness can help people cope with anxiety, depression and pain. However, it remains worth asking: Are there limits ' or even downsides ' to bringing meditation to work' Early mindfulness leaders were remarkably successful in spreading meditation across America. Jon Kabat-Zinn, a molecular biologist, began his mindfulness-based stress reduction program at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in 1979 to provide a complementary and alternative model of care for the chronically ill....

Mindfulness and meditation apps have tremendous potential in the world of extended reality. The full immersion created by headsets like the Meta Quest and Apple Vision Pro offer great potential to kickstart such practices, which are notoriously difficult to both begin and maintain. As such, partnership between leading meditation app Headspace and Quest-maker Meta is a no-brainer. This morning, the companies announced a collaboration with multimedia design firm Nexus Studios that customizes the experience for extended reality headsets. The fittingly named Headspace XR features practices guided by the app's mindfulness/meditation instructors, Dora Kamau and Kessonga Giscombe. If you've ever used Headspace, Calm or the like (or just experienced guided meditation of any sort), you're likely familiar with the approaches, including breathing exercises, body scans, mood tracking and the like. They're all designed to help re-center the user's focus. There's also a community element here, presumably for those who need a little external encouragement to maintain a consistent practice. These are backdropped against colorful, metaverse-style environments, where users can interact and play games. At the very least, the experience seems engaging in a way not normally associated with meditation apps. This could, perhaps, go a ways toward bringing users back ' how it will translate to an effective, regular practice is another question. Clearly the firms wanted to offer something beyond just meditation....