The Psychology Podcast

Today it’s a delight to have David Vago on the podcast. Dr. Vago is Research Director of the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He also maintains an appointment as a research associate in the Functional Neuroimaging Laboratory at Harvard Medical School. David aims to clarify adaptive mind-brain-body interactions and their therapeutic relevance in health-care settings. In this context, David has been specifically focusing on the study of mindfulness-based interventions in clinical settings, and the basic cognitive and neuroscientific mechanisms by which mindfulness-based practice function. In this episode we discuss: What is contemplative science? History of the idea of “contemplation” Including intuition under the umbrella of contemplative practice The aim of mindfulness Pop writers on mindfulness vs. scientists of mindfulness What do we know after 25 years of mindfulness research? The link between mindfulness and how we cope with pain The link between mindfulness