What is focus, and why is it important to talk about focus now? Daniel Goleman talks about the subtle and elusive nature of attention and makes the case for appreciating attention itself and its power in our lives before we start to look at how to work with it and improve it. The Endangered Human Moment Since the devices we depend on have “built-in” seductions, we need to be more mindful of when our attention wanders off, Goleman....

Are you up to give their challenge a shot? If not for the week, maybe just for the day? Who knows? You might like it! Just so you know, you’d be giving up meat, dairy, and eggs i.e. anything that comes from an animal. rabble.ca has recipes, menus and shopping lists to get you started. Take the challenge alone or get your co-workers involved. The more involved, the more recipes and experiences you can share together....

Savour Stratford Perth County Culinary Festival is Ontario, Canada’s foremost celebration of authentic local cuisine with 12 award winning chefs, 30 illuminating tutored tastings, cooking shows and skills workshops led by renowned culinary authors, artisans and innovators, as well as exclusive sampling events. This year’s theme is “Celebrating Our Culinary Roots.”

“There is a sense of being a little isolated and separated even when we are in the same room. There is the sense of greater alienation. So at an emotional level, I’ve been trying to orient my teaching to the two deficits that students are experiencing: social connection and co-regulation.” Co-regulation happens when peers or adults help each other self-regulate during stressful situations by using their voice and gestures to show that they are felt with or attuned to....

Humor begets more than LOLs—Scott Aukerman, creator of the podcast Comedy Bang Bang! talks to BigThink about how it’s a life skill that can help us navigate uncertain social waters and garner more authentic interactions. 3 Ways Humor is a Skill that Builds Empathy 1) Humor disarms. Aukerman says some of the most powerful people throughout history brag and make fun of people—it’s an easy and popular way to get laughs, but it doesn’t invite empathy....

A. Set a clear intention before you begin. An intention is like a compass: It directs your mind, keeping you motivated and focused. Here are a few examples of powerful intentions: I am going for a run to clear my head. During this yoga class I will be kind to myself. On my walk, I’ll let these prickly thoughts fly. I’m going swimming to increase my strength. I won’t judge myself during this weight training class....

In a nutshell, if mindfulness is a state of being where the mind’s constant stream of thoughts is noted with a gentle curiosity and politely set aside, then meditation is just one means to get there. The paths to this place of gentle awareness are many, and none of them involves desperately trying to keep the mind clear at all times. For a restless mind like mine—and perhaps yours, too—this is good news....

Scientists compared the genetic makeup of deceased human brains with and without major depression. What they found in the brains of individuals with depressive disorders was more limited and fragmented abilities to process information. This is due to a genetic transcription factor, or “switch,” that, when activated, can turn genes on or off. The transcription factor is known as GATA1, and it switches off the activity of key genes that form synaptic connections between the brain and neurons....

Stress among adults is rising at an alarming rate, according to the 2019 Stress in America Survey. This means that more Americans are walking around with high levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, which is linked to most diseases, including cancer, diabetes, and depression. Cortisol is one of a number of biological measures of psychological stress. Psychological stress occurs when the demands of our lives are greater than what we feel we can manage....

Tanya Davis is good with solitude. She wrote a poem called How To Be Alone, full of tips on the many ways you can come to enjoy being by yourself. How To Be Alone—shared in both a YouTube video and an illustrated book by filmmaker and animator Andrea Dorfman—has received more than eight million online views. As a yoga practitioner and meditator, Davis has found a way to deal with feelings of loneliness....

Take my youngest son. Despite his intelligence, kindness, and great sense of humor, he’s shy about reaching out to others. In comparison to many of his peers, he seems to spend a lot of time alone and rarely joins group activities. Now that he’s about to go off to college, I worry that he may have trouble adjusting to a new community of strangers. Having good social relationships is important to health and well-being, of course, but the best way to cultivate them isn’t by pretending to be someone you’re not....

When we practice tuning into these qualities, we give ourselves an advantage in moments of great distress, for these are the qualities of mind that will see us safely through difficulty, and they are also the ones that can disappear just when they are needed most. Today we’re focussing on one of these qualities: befriending. What Does It Mean to “Befriend”? The shift from aversion to befriending is the most radical shift any student of mindfulness can make....

Making friends with our anxiousness while making an important presentation to decision makers may appear intimidating but if we are kind to ourselves—breathing, slowing down, and being grateful—we may discover a confidence that is as familiar as coming home. Michael Carroll is the author of Fearless at Work. Q: I’m a leader whose days are eaten up by operational concerns. How can I force myself to delegate more and make time to assess what’s most important?...

When we sense the suffering of others, that’s empathy. But our response might be to forget about it, or feel like we can’t bear it, or we might start blaming. Having compassion is a choice we make consciously and it can only happen with the balance of equanimity. In this conversation between Sharon and Dan Harris, of 10 Percent Happier, they talk about the difference between empathy and compassion, and explore a few ways to avoid burning out....

Notice your body exactly as it is. See if you can tune in to any sensations that are present to you in your body in this moment. There might be heaviness or lightness, pressure, weight. There might be vibration, pulsating, movement, warmth, coolness, These sensations can be anywhere in your body, and all you have to do is notice them. Notice what’s happening with curiosity and interest. Take a breath....

As I sat enjoying the rain for a while, I began reflecting on a few words from mama Alice Walker’s poem “Be Nobody’s Darling.” Be nobody’s darling;Be an outcast Be an outcast;Be pleased to walk alone I felt alone, but not separate. I exhaled. Something sacred was in the midst: an undivided knowing. A deeply-rooted conviction of belonging arose within me. It was as if I was bearing witness to my boundless love....

Mindfulness equips us for these moments. It’s compassion and love that connect us all. It’s wisdom that calls us to practice mindfulness, to wrestle with our inner demons so that, to the best of our ability, we may embody equanimity in the face of difficulty. That can feel like a tall order in the midst of chaos, confusion, and competing narratives. But one thing that’s been revealed over the last few months is the reality of our interconnectedness....

Researchers at Western Washington University conducted a study to see if mindfulness meditation could enhance coping flexibility, which they defined as the ability to pay attention to, and modify strategies for dealing with stress. Previous research has shown that people who can shift and adapt their responses to stress are more optimistic, and have less depression and anxiety. For this study, researchers gathered one hundred fifteen male and female undergraduate students with no prior meditation practice....