Glossary of Terms

Anchor -- a thing, thought, phrase, or sensation used as the object of attention in a mindfulness exercise 

Awareness -- the state or condition of being aware; actively noticing 

Body Scan -- a component of mindfulness meditation that alternates between a wide and narrow focus of attention, from focusing on your little toe all the way through the entire body (mindful.org)

Compassion -- literally means “to suffer together.” Among emotion researchers, it is defined as the feeling that arises when you are confronted with another’s suffering and feel motivated to relieve that suffering (greatergood.berkeley.edu)

Connection Practice -- unites empathy and insight to maximize social and emotional intelligence, building resilience and enhancing performance (heartspeakpeace.com) 

Emotional Intelligence -- refers to how you manage yourself and your relationships. Crucial competencies for emotional intelligence are self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management (wikipedia.org)

Empathy -- considering other people's feelings especially when making decisions (wikipedia.org) 

Flourishing -- an overall sense of meaning, purpose, engagement, and social connection in one’s life (greatergood.berkeley.edu) 

Focused Attention -- the brain's ability to concentrate its attention on a target stimulus for any period of time (cognifit.com) 

Gratitude -- has two key components: 1) we affirm the good things we’ve received, and 2) we also “acknowledge that other people…help us achieve the goodness in our lives” (mindful.org) 

Meditation -- to engage in mental exercise (such as concentration on one's breathing or repetition of a mantra) for the purpose of reaching a heightened level of spiritual awareness (merriam-webster.com) 

Mindfulness -- paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, nonjudgmentally (Jon Kabat-Zinn) 

Monkey Mind -- refers to your brain being unsettled, restless, or confused (psychologytoday.com) 

Negativity Bias -- our tendency to not only register negative stimuli more readily than positive but also to dwell on these events (verywellmind.com) 

Neuroplasticity -- the brain's ability to adapt 

Non-Judgmental -- not judgmental; avoiding moral judgments (oed.com) 

Present Moment -- being fully conscious of the moment and free from the noise of internal dialogue (manhattanmentalhealthcounseling.com) 

Resilience -- the ability to get back up after adversity (mindful.org) 

Rumination -- a deep or considered thought about something (oed.com) 

Self-Awareness -- ability to recognize and understand your emotions and how they impact your behavior (from Daniel Goleman) 

Self-Compassion -- entails three core components: 1) requires self-kindness, that we be gentle and understanding with ourselves rather than harshly critical and judgmental; 2) requires recognition of our common humanity, feeling connected with others in the experience of life rather than feeling isolated and alienated by our suffering; 3) requires mindfulness—that we hold our experience in balanced awareness, rather than ignoring our pain or exaggerating it (greatergood.berkeley.edu)

Self-Regulation -- involves controlling or redirecting one's disruptive emotions and impulses and adapting to changing circumstances (wikipedia.org) 

Social Connection -- the experience of feeling close and connected to others … going beyond the individual level, a feeling of connecting to a larger community (wikipedia.org)