Meditation delivered by cognitive scientists
Learn not only how to meditate effectively but also why it works by discovering
the emerging neuroscience of well-being
WHAT WE DO
Scientifically informed meditation teaching for performance, mental well-being and personal flourishing
We are scientists in the field of well-being and meditation. We have leveraged the insights from our work to create powerful and comprehensive meditation training programmes.
Science
We’ve all heard that meditation is good for us, but why exactly?
Understanding what is happening in the brain and body is a powerful lens and source of motivation for benefitting from meditation.
Our approach is to make sure you understand exactly why we are doing a particular meditation, and how it works to improve your well-being.
Meditation
There are so many types of meditation, what should we do and when?
We have experience with many traditional and modern meditation styles, which we have distilled down to the most effective techniques.
Our teaching approach is unique in that it is research-backed, and delivered in a nonspiritual, accessible way.
Research
If meditation is so beneficial, why aren’t we all already doing it?
It can be surprising to discover how young the field of neuroscience is. The technology to measure brain activity only exists since the 90s.
Since then, groundbreaking discoveries have been made that are revolutionising our understanding of how our minds work. Our goal is to bring this revolution out of academia and into the world.
Our Online Courses
We have developed several Science of Meditation courses. All are designed for both people who already practice meditation, as well as people who have never heard of it (even skeptics)!
Each course has a different focus in terms of what we are trying to acheive with meditation. We recommend beginning with The Essential Toolkit before moving on to the other courses, which build upon concepts introduced there.
Science of Meditation 101
The Essential Toolkit
In this course, you’ll learn about the fundamentals of meditation, the science behind why to do it, the different mechanisms at play in the brain and body, and how to confidently establish your own home practice.
Science of Resilience
Bulletproof Meditation
This course is all about training psychologial resilience. You’ll learn how a meditation practice is proven to help improve resilience and the tools to find ease even in tough times.
Science of Beliefs
Unblocking Limiting Beliefs
In this course, we’ll identify core (often limiting) beliefs, become aware of our thought patterns and work towards creating a positive and safe sense of self.
Happiness isn’t a lottery, it’s a science.
We can see this for ourselves, but the science has also shown that true well-being and life satisfaction does not depend on the things happening in our lives as much as we tend to think.
Instead, what seems to matter most, is how we relate to our experience. This is actually really good news.
It means that in our pursuit of happiness we are not limited to the frustrating game of trying to control everything ‘out there‘. A smarter approach, it turns out, is to train an awareness of how things work ‘in here‘.
Your Instructors
Our teachers are active academic researchers investigating the mechanisms of meditation, metacognition, emotions and human well-being. We bring this expertise into what we teach and how we communicate.
Lars Sandved Smith
Lars is an ex-management consultant (KPMG & Deloitte) with a background in physics and has more recently retrained as a computational neuroscientist.
He is currently completing his PhD at the Monash Centre for Consciousness and Contemplative Studies developing computational models of meditation, metacognition and self-regulation.
He has been teaching meditation for 5 years and completed his meditation teacher training with Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach.
Prof Mark Miller
Mark is a philosopher and cognitive scientist, professor at the University of Monash’s Centre for Consciousness and Contemplative Studies. He investigates the mechanisms of cognitive disfunction (eg. addiction, anxiety) and cognitive ‘superfunction’ (e.g. mental well-being, joy, emotional flourishing).
He has been teaching meditation for 6 years. He is the founder of Edinburgh’s Mindfulness Network and is a registered teacher at The Dharma Treasure Sangha. Mark apprenticed with the late neuroscientist and lifelong meditation teacher John (Culudasa) Yates.
Testimonials
Learning how to become aware of, and control, the mind can have a profound positive impact on how we experience life.
“This was one of the best sessions I have ever had at work and I feel like I would benefit hugely if this was an ongoing activity work provided. I feel very keen to further explore meditation and its benefits. Thank you for organising!”
“I just wanted to say thank you so much for today. I have never practised meditation before. The most powerful thing which I was left with was the information Mark took us through with regards to panic attacks. I have suffered from panic attacks intermittently over the years. No doctor or practitioner I have seen in the past has ever described it the way Mark did.”
“These sessions have given me hope that stress at work can be managed and I believe that a regular session would make me happier and more productive.”
“This was one of the best sessions I have ever had at work and I feel like I would benefit hugely if this was an ongoing activity work provided. I feel very keen to further explore meditation and its benefits. Thank you for organising!”
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