David Creswell – Exploring Equanimity

In this episode, Wendy speaks with social psychologist and contemplative researcher David Creswell. David has been studying the effects of meditation on stress and resilience for over a decade, and has conducted some of the most rigorous studies to date investigating which aspects of mindfulness interventions bring benefit. This conversation covers many topics, including: integrating psychology and Buddhism since high school; understanding stress and resilience; acceptance and equanimity in mindfulness; bringing scientific rigor to the study of mindfulness through dismantling trials; effects of equanimity on the stress response and positive emotions; how contemplative skills spill over from the cushion into daily life; how practice changes the brain and why those changes matter; a risky study with a president's daughter; the promise of apps to deliver mindfulness; how acceptance differs from passive resignation; and viewing biology and psychology as two sides of the same coin. Full show notes and resources