I love it when a man—or a woman—opens a door for me. There is something about that moment of mindfulness, that attention to detail, that little pause, that feels wonderful. I feel acknowledged, cared for. And I feel as though there is hope for the planet. Okay, that may sounds like a bit of a leap, but seriously. It feels as though there is hope for the planet because one person is pausing to do something kind, something thoughtful, something courteous, for another....

Earth science content that has proven suitable for illumination with contemplative techniques includes geologic time, chemical and physical weathering, and characteristics for distinguishing different mineral groups. Professor Schneiderman will also describe techniques that have been useful in environmental justice seminars to support students’ explorations of environmental and social justice problems, which can be overwhelming. Questions may be submitted via chat during the webinar. For more information and to register, click here....

I began to think about boredom and children when I was researching the influence of television on children’s storytelling in the 1990s. Surprised at the lack of imagination in many of the hundreds of stories I read by 10- to 12-year-old children in five different Norfolk schools, I wondered if this might partly be an effect of TV viewing. Findings of earlier research had revealed that television does indeed reduce children’s imaginative capacities....

Let’s face it. Sometimes, despite the hours logged on the cushion, despite the meditation retreats, and certainly despite our best intentions, we don’t handle relationship conflict well. I’ve written a lot about how mindfulness makes us better lovers. But can it make us better “fighters”? The short answer is yes. Mindfulness practice can help us fight fair, and fighting fair predicts relationship success. Marriage research tells us that even healthy couples argue, sometimes with plenty of negative emotion and yelling....

A Growing Brain vs. a Static Brain A body of research that began in 2011 suggests that this aversion to mistakes can be a cause of poor learning habits. The research suggested that those of us who have a “growth mindset”—believing that intelligence is malleable—pay more attention to mistakes and treat them as a wake-up call, a teachable moment. By contrast, those who adopt a “fixed mindset,” believing intelligence is static, shut down their brain in response to negative feedback, and thereby miss one of the key opportunities to learn....

In the Sunday Times, Porath pours over recent studies that indicate just how damaging a mean boss can be. On the health side, there’s repurcussions for the immune system as well as elevated hormones that influence appetite and weight. On the organizational side, incivility “hijacks” focus. In one case, Porath’s study participants were belitted before being asked to complete a word puzzle. They performed 33 per cent worse and came up with 39 per cent fewer creative ideas during a brainstorming task....

Writer Stephen King starts every day at 8 to 8:30 a.m. and doesn’t stop until he reaches his daily goal of 2,000 words, usually between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Before sitting down to write, he takes a multivitamin with a glass of water or cup of tea and makes sure the papers on his desk are arranged meticulously. “The cumulative purpose of doing these things the same way every day,” he told his biographer, Lisa Rogak, “seems to be a way of saying to the mind, you’re going to be dreaming soon....

But a few childhood memories stand out from before I ever learned mindful walking and these still resonate in my teaching kids and teens today. One of my favorite memories is the sweet Audobon Society camp where I spent a number of summers growing up. One particularly vivid memory stands out to me: a group of eight-year-olds walking in the woods, following our counselors’ instructions to make no sound and leave no trace....

A 12-Minute Meditation to Arrive, Breathe, Connect READ MORE Lili Powell December 2, 2022 Frank Ostaseski January 11, 2022 Cynda Hylton Rushton January 4, 2022

One aspect of wisdom is understanding the complexity of a situation—appreciating how every event arises interdependently with every other event, how a whole sequence of causes and conditions have gone into creating this moment. When we practice gratitude, we’re acknowledging the many factors, large and small, that contribute to this moment. Part of the joy that arises when we practice gratitude is that we feel freedom from the illusion of separateness, a sense of the common humanity that we share but often forget....

With listening practice, we develop the qualities of receptivity, relaxation, and a sense of naturalness. We don’t need to make much effort to hear anything. A sound arises and is known quite easily and naturally in awareness. So, with this particular meditation, the intention is to cultivate a sense of ease, receptivity, openness, and where we allow the sounds to be the focus for our attention, simply present to the ebb and flow in the soundscape....

Walking meditation can be a formal practice, like watching the breath. Or it can be informal, bringing awareness to this everyday activity, whenever you need to travel from point A to point B. Walking meditation gives us an opportunity to gather our awareness which so often becomes distracted or even stuck when the mind is left to its own devices. Whether moving between floors of a building, on a city street, or in the woods, it is an opportunity to guide ourselves out of the distracted autopilot we live in throughout so much of our day....

My body was disconnected from sexual pleasure. Throughout my entire life, I heard messages from the world like “women don’t like sex” and “women who like sex are sluts.” Truth be told, guys don’t have it any easier. They are constantly asked to “be a man” and at the same time are receiving messages that they should not show their desire because that could be creepy or predatory. A great part of being an adult is that we get to choose which messages we want to believe, including messages about sexuality....

Sometimes there are things in our life that we’re not crazy about, that are quite unpleasant, very distressing even—and yet there’s nothing we can do about it. And in those moments acceptance, acknowledging what is true without adding on layers of “I don’t want this to be true,” “It’s not fair,” “I don’t like this,” “Why did this happen to me,” can help us get through these difficult times with more ease....

Sit or lie down on the floor in a relaxed, comfortable posture. Your eyes can be open or closed. Now bring to mind a pleasurable experience you had recently, one that carries a positive emotion such as happiness, joy, comfort, contentment, or gratitude. If you can’t think of a positive experience, be aware of giving yourself the gift of time to do this practice now. Take a moment to cherish whatever image comes to mind with the recollection of the pleasurable experience....

Only you know the structure of your life, but along with noticing that you don’t have an extra 30 minutes a day lying around where you wonder how you might possibly fill it, I’d like to encourage you to take a moment to contemplate a different question that might lead you someplace helpful. Why are you asking the question? Specifically, what is it about mindfulness practice that is compelling enough for you to consider trying to squeeze it into a day that is presumably as packed as the proverbial clown car at the circus?...

To help us gain perspective and maybe even reclaim some calm, Mindful’s Content Director Anne Alexander talked with mindfulness expert and psychiatrist, Dr. Judson Brewer, Director of Research and Innovation, Mindfulness Center, at the Brown University School of Public Health. Dr. Brewer has been researching how app-based mindfulness can help calm anxious minds for several years. Anne: As a psychiatrist, can you explain a bit about what’s going on in our brains as we absorb the fact that we are all in the midst of a global pandemic?...

Yes, but… There is a hitch. If I’m asked, “Are you happy?,” I start rapidly running down a list of what’s been happening (things are going well for my children, or not, money is OK, or not…) and what looms ahead (the house is falling apart, the car is falling apart, hell, I am falling apart). That simple question transports me into evaluative head games about the past and the future, until finally I blurt something out....