Mindfulness Coaching for Adults

When RTC first shared the idea with our clients, colleagues, and friends that we were adding mindfulness programs as a complement to our test prep programs, we often heard the reply, “Wow, I would love to do a mindfulness program. I wish there were programs like that for adults!”

There are! Our mindfulness coaching programs are designed to support adult learners. If you’ve tried mindfulness before, whether in a group setting like a yoga class, or solo via meditation podcasts or apps, and found yourself frustrated with your lack of results, we can help! If you’re a practiced mindfulness student who wants to deepen your practice, we can help there too! Often, what students miss in these settings is the opportunity to share feedback and ask questions of seasoned teachers and practitioners. It can also be challenging for the teacher to develop content that speaks to, and supports, multiple students. RTC’s mindfulness programs are different because you will be the only student in the session, so all of the content will be catered to your individual needs and goals.

In each weekly 30-minute mindfulness coaching session, you will learn a different mindfulness strategy, like a breathing technique or a somatic meditation, for example. Then you’ll talk to your mindfulness coach about what worked for you in the exercise and didn’t, tweak your practice, and then leave with a technique to practice for the week.

At RTC, we’ve found this feedback and accountability process is so key for adult learners who have struggled with mindfulness and meditation practice before, because their mindfulness coach can help them break through barriers to what can work personally for them. This has been transformative for our adult learners, many of whom have cultivated a mindfulness practice for the first time after years of trying without success. Mindfulness coaching can also be profound for experienced meditators who’ve never had the opportunity to explore their practice with a teacher one-to-one.

Our coaching sessions can help you cultivate a sense of well-being, balance, and contentment by teaching you how to practice a variety of meditation and mindfulness strategies. Under the guidance of our coaches, you’ll learn techniques for managing stress and anxiety, as well as various styles of meditation, identifying the style(s) that are most supportive for you. You will also learn how to explore your inner voice, prioritize self-care, and develop and maintain a personal mindfulness practice with the helpful accountability of regular sessions. If you believe that you could benefit from the powerful practice of Mindfulness, please contact us!

Mindfulness and Mental Health

At RTC, we understand that mental health challenges are as normal as any other health challenges, and that people with or without mental health conditions can all benefit from practicing mindfulness. As you will see in the biographies of several of our Mindfulness Coaches, mindfulness can be ideal as a complement to comprehensive, high quality mental health care. However, mindfulness should never be utilized as a replacement for mental health treatment. If you currently have a mental health challenge or become concerned that any mental health symptoms are impacting you, we can help you identify what goes beyond the scope of practicing mindfulness and point you to appropriate resources that can more effectively meet your needs.

The Science of Mindfulness

Mindfulness can be a game-changer for our holistic health: scientific research indicates that a regular practice provides myriad physical, neurological, and psychological benefits. Physically, mindfulness can influence specific markers of inflammation, cell-mediated immunity, and biological aging. Neurologically, studies have found that the brains of long-time meditators have more grey matter volume compared to those who do not meditate. This suggests regular meditation may promote neuroplasticity (the ability of the brain to form and reorganize synaptic connections, especially in response to learning or experience) in the part of the brain responsible for executive functioning (the cognitive processes that enable us to plan, focus attention, recall instructions, and perform multiple tasks successfully). Psychologically, it can help students decrease stress, reduce anxiety, improve focus and awareness, and cultivate emotional regulation. An abbreviated list of recent research on the health benefits of mindfulness is below.

Research on Mindfulness

Below is an abbreviated list of some of the recent research on the impact of mindfulness.

Attention & Concentration

Jha, A. P., Krompinger, J., & Baime, M. J. (2007). Mindfulness training modifies subsystems of attention. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 7(2), 109–119. (Mindfulness practitioners demonstrated better performance on objective tasks that required an extensive concentration span.) https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.3758%2FCABN.7.2.109.pdf

Napoli, M., Krech, P. R., & Holley, L. C. (2005). Mindfulness Training for Elementary School Students. Journal of Applied School Psychology, 21(1), 99–125. (First, second, and third grade students’ outcomes on measures of attention were improved after participating in a 24-week mindfulness program.) https://ajibik.typepad.com/pubs/files/J370v21n01_05.pdf

Chiesa, A., & Serretti, A. (2009). Mindfulness-based stress reduction for stress management in healthy people: a review and meta-analysis. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 15(5), 593–600. (Review paper) https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/24ad/c36ba1d3662f58e60e84bf5a45c1043ab667.pdf?_ga=2.60463277.1419077449.1614900633-883685185.1614900633

Reduction of Stress, and Symptoms of Anxiety & Depression

Goldin, P. R., & Gross, J. J. (2010). Effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on emotion regulation in social anxiety disorder. Emotion, 10(1), 83. (Social Anxiety) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/41415753_Effects_of_Mindfulness-Based_Stress_Reduction_MBSR_on_Emotion_Regulation_in_Social_Anxiety_Disorder

Hoge, E. A., Bui, E., Marques, L., Metcalf, C. A., Morris, L. K., Robinaugh, D. J., … Simon, N. M. (2013). Randomized Controlled Trial of Mindfulness Meditation for Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Effects on Anxiety and Stress Reactivity. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 74(8), 786–792. (Generalized Anxiety Disorder) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23541163/

Raes, F., Griffith, J. W., Van der Gucht, K., & Williams, J. M. G. (2014). School-based prevention and reduction of depression in adolescents: A cluster-randomized controlled trial of a mindfulness group program. Mindfulness, 5(5), 477–486. (Depression). https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2013-08064-001

Impact on Immune Function

Black DS, Slavich GM. (2016). Mindfulness meditation and the immune system: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1373(1), 13-24. (Review paper) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4940234/

Emotional Regulation

Roemer, L., Williston, S. K., & Rollins, L. G. (2015). Mindfulness and emotion regulation. Current Opinion in Psychology, 3, 52–57. (Review paper) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352250X15000974

Ortner, C. N., Kilner, S. J., & Zelazo, P. D. (2007). Mindfulness meditation and reduced emotional interference on a cognitive task. Motivation and Emotion, 31(4), 271–283. (Mindfulness results in a better ability to engage in tasks even when emotions are activated.) https://self-compassion.org/wp-content/uploads/publications/zelazo.pdf

Goldin, P. R., & Gross, J. J. (2010). Effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on emotion regulation in social anxiety disorder. Emotion, 10(1), 83. (Mindfulness creates changes in the brain that correspond to less reactivity.) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/41415753_Effects_of_Mindfulness-Based_Stress_Reduction_MBSR_on_Emotion_Regulation_in_Social_Anxiety_Disorder

Increased Compassion and Self-compassion

Condon, P., Desbordes, G., Miller, W. B., & DeSteno, D. (2013). Meditation increases compassionate responses to suffering. Psychological Science, 24(10), 2125–2127. (People randomly assigned to mindfulness training are more likely to help someone in need.) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/256075736_Meditation_Increases_Compassionate_Response_to_Suffering

Birnie, K., Speca, M., & Carlson, L. E. (2010). Exploring self-compassion and empathy in the context of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR). Stress and Health, 26(5), 359–371. (Mindfulness practitioners have greater self-compassion.) https://self-compassion.org/wp-content/uploads/publications/MBSR-Exploring_self-compassion_empathy_in_the_context_of_mindfulness_based_stress_reduction.pdf

Impact on the Brain & Cognitive Function

Chiesa, A., & Serretti, A. (2010). A systematic review of neurobiological and clinical features of mindfulness meditations. Psychological Medicine, 40(08), 1239–1252. (The prefrontal cortex is associated with maturity, emotional regulation and decision making. This part of the brain is more activated and developed in mindfulness practitioners.) https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/28fa/dbb09e3bf36e58660b30e626d870de43785a.pdf?_ga=2.89825051.1419077449.1614900633-883685185.1614900633

Hölzel, B. K., Carmody, J., Vangel, M., Congleton, C., Yerramsetti, S. M., Gard, T., & Lazar, S. W. (2011). Mindfulness practice leads to increases in regional brain gray matter density. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 191(1), 36–43. (Mindfulness practitioners have more grey matter volume in their brains.) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3004979/pdf/nihms-232587.pdf

Desbordes, G., Negi, L. T., Pace, T. W., Wallace, B. A., Raison, C. L., & Schwartz, E. L. (2012). Effects of mindful-attention and compassion meditation training on amygdala response to emotional stimuli in an ordinary, non-meditative state. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 6. (The amygdala plays a role in emotional regulation and is in a region of the brain that houses the primitive brain – our animal-like brain that can activate without our conscious effort when we feel afraid or threatened. It also activates when we detect or react to emotions, including challenging ones. Mindfulness can help deactivate this part of the brain in non-threatening moments, like test-taking.) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232814367_Effects_of_mindful-attention_and_compassion_meditation_training_on_amygdala_response_to_emotional_stimuli_in_an_ordinary_Nonmeditative_State