UCLA Mindful

06/30/2025

06/21/2025

Hot days are more than just uncomfortable—they affect your heart, lungs & mental health.☀️ Stay safe with our five essential heat‑wave tips:

06/19/2025

Celebrated on June 19, Juneteenth commemorates the 1865 emancipation of enslaved Black people in Texas. The colors of the Juneteenth flag – red, white and blue – symbolize that enslaved Black people are American and deserve full recognition and rights.

As UCLA Health continues our commitment to advancing equity, join us today as we celebrate Juneteenth and the strength and progress of Black Americans.

06/18/2025

Age-related macular degeneration can affect how you see the world, but there are ways to adapt and maintain quality of life.✨ Learn how you can adjust and thrive:

06/13/2025

Behind the heartfelt stories on Love on the Spectrum is the science of PEERS (Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills.) UCLA psychologist Elizabeth A. Laugeson began the development of PEERS over twenty years ago, a time when the project of teaching adults with autism how to date was considered somewhat taboo. Today, PEERS is helping people with autism build new relationships. Learn more:

When U.C.L.A. psychologists first proposed teaching adults with autism how to date, funders wouldn’t go near it. Now we are in a new world.

06/09/2025

Having a hobby releases feel-good chemicals in the brain, boosting happiness and emotional resilience. This is particularly true for activities that combine mental and physical effort. Read here about how hobbies can help keep you young:

06/08/2025

Stress can contribute to new or worsening back pain, even during everyday tasks. Taking time to unwind can protect your spine.🧘 Learn more from UCLA Health's Dr. Eve Glazier and Dr. Elizabeth Ko as we Ask the Doctors:

06/05/2025

It's not "just another podcast." Launched in March, "Medically Speaking with Dr. Eve Glazier" aims to demystify medicine and make health information easier to understand. From guests like Katie Couric, to physicians in integrative medicine and OBGYN, Dr. Glazier has a long list of experts and topics to cover. Learn more, and listen now:

Breadcrumb Home News & Insights New ‘Medically Speaking’ podcast takes the mystery out of medicine Host Dr. Eve Glazier empowers audiences to better understand their bodies. Dr. Eve Glazier, right, spoke with journalist Katie Couric for the first episode of the "Medically Speaking" podcast. (Pho...

06/03/2025

A brief walk after dinner can significantly benefit your health. Just 15 minutes can enhance heart health, improve blood sugar control, and elevate your mood. Find out more from UCLA Health's Dr. Eve Glazier and Dr. Elizabeth Ko as we "Ask the Doctors":

05/31/2025

This weekend, high temperatures are forecasted for LA County. Read these tips to avoid heat-related illness:

Breadcrumb Home News & Insights It's hot out there: Tips for avoiding heat-related illness Do you know the signs of heat stroke and heat exhaustion? May 30, 2025 By Sandy Cohen, Senior Writer 5 min read Temperatures are expected to soar, Friday, May 30, in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys,...

05/30/2025

Honoring the heroes who give life. At the UCLA Blood & Platelet Center’s annual luncheon, top blood donors were recognized for their generosity. Liver transplant recipient Shaylon Brown, who received more than 40 transfusions during a three-month hospital stay, expressed her appreciation. With her care team by her side, she had the rare opportunity to meet several donors who helped save her life.

This year marks a major milestone: 50 years of saving lives. From a single-room operation in 1975 to two full donor centers today, UCLA now collects about 24,000 units annually - supporting patients in need of critical care.

You can make a difference, too: https://ucla.in/455YvEY

05/27/2025

In the aftermath of the January fires that swept through parts of L.A., Palisades Charter High School was left without a campus—displacing hundreds of students and staff.

Now settling into a temporary campus at a former Sears store in Santa Monica, the "Pali South" community is reconnecting. UCLA Health is proud to stand with Pali High, providing every student with a custom Pali Strong shirt as they rebuild. 💙💛

04/23/2025

Free Weekly Meditation Class with Diana Winston and Guests

Join UCLA Mindful’s Director, Diana Winston, and other guest teachers live-online for a weekly opportunity to practice together and learn about different aspects of mindfulness. Each week we will explore a new theme or topic in mindfulness. Topics may include self-compassion, working with judgments, obstacles to meditation, dealing with difficult emotions, mindfulness in challenging times, the spectrum of awareness, and much more.

Each class will include a guided meditation, lecture, time for questions, and exercises related to the theme. Guest teachers will also visit the class. Check weekly for the schedule.

All levels of practice experience are welcome!

No need to register, just drop in any week, but please come to the full 90 minutes.

Upcoming Class Schedule:
April 23- Diana Winston

April 30- Special Event:
Film Showing of Three Short Mindfulness Films about Kids, Teens, and Mindfulness and Talk-Back with the Director, Julie Bayer Salzman

“Just Breathe”, “Release”, and “Into Light” are the first of three films in the Mindful Shorts series by filmmaker Julie Bayer Salzman. “Just Breathe” is an introduction to mindfulness with kindergarteners as teachers; “Release” offers middle-school kids a lesson in mindful breathing to help alleviate their stress and anxiety; and “Into Light” features four teens who use mindfulness tools to navigate depression. All three films, though designed with particular age groups in mind, are universal in their function.

We'll shorten our meditation to 15 minutes and then watch the films, followed by a discussion with the director on mindfulness for kids and teens, youth mental health, and the role of filmmaking in sharing mindfulness.

03/26/2025

UCLA Mindful is proud to present this six-week immersive course with Mitra Manesh, designed to help you move beyond survival mode and step into a more intentional, conscious way of living.

Built on the pillars of mindfulness and real-world application, each session includes:

📌Guided mindfulness practices to strengthen presence and awareness
📌Interactive teachings that bridge wisdom and daily life.
📌Live coaching and Q&A for personalized learning and support

🗓️Sundays, March 30 - May 4, 11:00 am - 12:30 pm PT

🎥 Recording available for registered participants

💵 Financial Assistance available

02/27/2025

Join us today online via Zoom and every week either in person at the Billy Wilder Auditorium or live-online. Thursdays 12:30-1pm, PT.

Thursdays not good for you? We now have free drop-ins Monday through Thursday every week!

Looking forward to practicing with you.

10/30/2024

✨ Need a midweek reset? ✨

Whether you’re at work, at home, or posted up at your favorite coffee shop, you can drop in anywhere for a mindful moment with UCLA Mindful and Diana Winston! 🌿💻

🗓 Every Wednesday
🕓 4 PM - 5:30 PM Pacific Time
📍 On Zoom

Join us each week for a FREE mindfulness session — open to all levels. Recharge, reconnect, and bring a little more calm to your day, right from wherever you are.

Tap the link in bio to join us 🌟 See you there!

09/27/2024

Mindfulness, Science, and Space

Mindfulness - Coming to a planet near you! 🤓

09/10/2024

Happy Tuesday UCLA Mindful Community 😃

Join us today (and every Tuesday) for a FREE drop-in Meditation class at Santa Monica Medical Center.

Facilitated by our knowledgeable and creative TMF grads 🫶🏼 .khetarpal and others!

Drop-Ins are available to staff, patients, and general public. All are welcome!

12:30-1pm
Santa Monica Hospital Auditorium
1250 16th St, Santa Monica, CA

07/29/2024

Dear Community,

Thank you so much for your patience during these past months when MARC has been undergoing a hiatus, a transition, and a restructuring process. We wanted to update you with the latest information.

As of 2024, the MARC remains at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience, where it is administratively housed in the Norman Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology.
Due to financial restructuring, Diana Winston and Serena Hoenig have migrated to the UCLA Healthcare System to create a new mindfulness education center, UCLA Mindful.
We thank you for your continued support to our organizations.

Stay tuned for exciting offerings coming from UCLA Mindful. Subscribe or view our newsletter by clicking link in bio.

08/01/2023

Journaling is a great way of reflecting on your daily life, habits, and practice. Try these prompts:

What practices do you think benefit your overall wellbeing most?

List out the specific benefits you notice.

Do you look forward to those practices?

What gets in the way of practice?

07/28/2023

Register here: https://www.uclahealth.org/programs/marc/daylongs

MARC's daylong retreats are designed to benefit both beginners and those with an existing mindfulness practice.

Beginners benefit from teacher support and the multitude of ways mindfulness meditation is available during a daylong retreat. Participants often enjoy the balance of weaving lecture with guided meditation to enable a longer period of practice.

More advanced meditators report a deeper concentration during supportive group practice all while learning new approaches to add to their toolbox of practice techniques.

No matter your level of experience, daylong retreats are a great addition- or start- to your meditation practice.

07/27/2023

Start by taking one breath with awareness.

07/26/2023

Did You Try Meditating for the First Time During COVID-19?

If you meditated for the first time between March 2020 and January 2022, would you be willing to share your experiences?

Hello, my name is Carol Beckerman. My doctoral study explores the motivations behind millions of people turning to meditation during the pandemic. You can learn more at meditationduringpandemic.org and find out if you qualify to take a brief survey (10-20 minutes). The survey is completely anonymous.

Learning more about the motivation to meditate will help inform meditation teachers, app developers and healthcare professionals about the underlying reasons why people turned to this practice during a global crisis.

Your time and the sharing of your experience is very much appreciated. If you know anyone who qualifies, please share this invite. meditationduringpandemic.org

07/07/2023

Equanimity is a state of balance, even-mindedness, a sense of stability and calm amidst the changing nature of life.

We all have had access to it many times in our lives, and it can also be cultivated. It can be cultivated through noticing that things change (“this too shall pass”), mindfulness practice in general, and through a specific equanimity practice described in the image.

Equanimity can seem like dispassion, disconnection, or apathy, but true equanimity is a deeply connected state of mind. One can be passionate yet recognize the truth of things “as they are.”

Having equanimity does not make us inactive. We can still engage in actions for justice, but do it from a mind of equanimity.