For episode 144 of the Metta Hour, Sharon speaks with Zindel Segal, Ph.D.
Zindel is a Distinguished Professor of Psychology in Mood Disorders at the University of Toronto Scarborough. He has written over ten books, and 180 scientific publications, including The Mindful Way Through Depression, and recently co-founded MindfulNoggin.com, a website for mindfulness-based clinical care for managing depression and anxiety. In this conversation, Sharon and Zindel discuss the nuanced relationship between mindfulness practice and mental health. Zindel shares some of his research about when and how Mindfulness practice can aid recovery from clinical depression, and anxiety, as well as some of the new challenge folks are facing now from the pandemic. The episode closes with Zindel leads a 3-minute guided meditation practice on the breath. Learn more about Zindel’s work, visit mindfulnoggin.com
Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy
Sharon welcomes Zindel to the Metta Hour, and asks about his path to creating Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy. They talk about how mental health is still stigmatized in Western culture, but that attitudes are shifting in this new day and age. Zindel defines anxiety and depression.
“The thing is, you can’t snap out of [depression]. It’s not a willpower question; it’s not if you were a stronger person or had a more robust personality. There are ways in which we have to actually engage with ourselves in a different way to enact routines and procedures that are working against the states of mind that depression keeps in place.” – Zindel Segal
Mindfulness, Anxiety, and Depression (20:22)
The conversation turns to how mindfulness tools can help with anxiety and depression, and when they might not be appropriate for use. They discuss the importance of adaptability when it comes to mindfulness practices, and how mindfulness is especially effective for people with recurrent depression. Sharon asks about Zindel’s book, The Mindful Way Through Depression, and how it came together.
“We thought it would be really helpful for people to read about how mindfulness could be used for helping them with their emotions in a way that was very different from therapy, in a way that was very different from medication.” – Zindel Segal
Check out the Awakened Heart Blog’s Toolbox for Anxiety
A Mindful Noggin (44:37)
Sharon and Zindel discuss how loving-kindness practice fits in with Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy. They talk about the offerings available on Zindel’s new website, mindfulnoggin.com. Zindel leads a three-minute breathing space meditation, which was developed specifically for his mindfulness program.
“I think if people practice, then the sense of being able to hold their experience in a much more spacious way can be very helpful.” – Zindel Segal
Art via @tampatra on Twenty20