Untangle Rewire Your Brain with Mindfulness and Self-Compassion. With Dr. Shauna Shapiro
Mar 12, 2026
Dr. Shauna Shapiro, clinical psychologist and mindfulness researcher, shares her path from crisis to two decades studying mindfulness and neuroplasticity. She explains how intention, attention, and attitude reshape the brain. Short practices like a morning self-compassion routine, the mindful pause, and the 5% principle for gradual change are highlighted.
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How Mindfulness Saved Shauna After Emergency Surgery
- Shauna Shapiro discovered mindfulness while bedridden after emergency scoliosis surgery at 17 and it offered a pathway out of despair.
- Months in a hospital and later monastery study convinced her practice — not time — shifted her relationship to pain and suffering.
Use Mindfulness To Improve Chronic Pain Functioning
- Use mindfulness practice to change how you relate to pain; studies show it decreases pain and increases functioning even if pain intensity doesn't drop.
- Apply mindfulness interventions for chronic pain to regain daily activities and quality of life.
Intention Attention Attitude Are The Mindfulness Core
- Mindfulness consists of three elements: intention, attention, and attitude, which together train the mind like mental fitness.
- Intention releases dopamine to mark importance, attention strengthens present focus, and attitude cultivates kindness instead of judgment.
