title: “October 2014 Mindful Store " ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-13” author: “Paul Flores”

He has been a great influence on my personal and professional work, helping provide an essential framework for understanding our emotional needs and the needs of others. In a world that can often feel disconnected, he leaves us with a wholeheartedly effective path toward connection and healing. One of many examples came from his work in the 1980s when Marshall taught NVC to Palestinian refugees. On his way to the camp he was greeted with people shouting at him: “Assassin!...

They’re a path to compassion. In the video above, Adrian Grenier of Entourage fame encourages us to share our personal stories of compassion, as a means to bring compassion more fully into our lives. “If there’s one thing we need right now—in our politics, in our dialogue, in our communities, in our world—it’s compassion,” he says. Grenier has confirmed the Charter for Compassion, a multi-faith, multi-national cooperative effort to restore compassionate action and thinking to the center of religious, moral, and political life....

Sharon holds a special place in our hearts here at Mindful. In our formative days, she was the first person to agree to a regular column, at which point we danced a little jig. She has appeared in every issue since. No one else holds that distinction. She was also always a pleasure to work with. She never missed a single deadline and was unfailingly collegial and flexible as we worked through suggested changes....

Turkle is an M.I.T. professor and author of Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age. Today, she spoke with Anna Maria Tremonti on The Current, hosted by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Tremonti asked what happens when never have to be bored. From Turkle: Solitude is the key to a successful relationship Turkle argues we need solitude (i.e. not to be constantly distracted) in order to come to other people and form relationships....

Wishful thinking. Pew surveyed the associations between people’s self-reported social media use and how stressful they perceive their lives to be, but it did not attempt to determine how Internet and social media use affects stress levels. The Pew report did find that “women who use Twitter, email and cellphone picture sharing report lower levels of stress.” But we have no idea if there is a cause-and-effect relationship. Perhaps the low-stress women Pew surveyed have more leisure time, which both lowers how stressful they perceive their lives to be, and also gives them more time to send their friends pictures from their smartphones, and to post to Twitter....

One wonderful illustration of the power of attention can be found in the life of the brilliant mathematician and economist John Nash, whose struggles were chronicled in the film A Beautiful Mind (Goldsman and Nasara 2001). Nash was tormented by delusions that were so real that they skewed his reality and made daily living extremely hard. Eventually, he came to recognize that his mind was not always playing fair, because it often depicted illusion—actually, delusion—as fact....

Finding the Space to Lead: It’s easy to get caught up in a swirl of thoughts and worries. But what we really need as leaders is continual attention to detail and to the needs of others while still appreciating the big picture. Janice Marturano, former vice president at General Mills, shows us how it’s possible to find the space to lead. Putting Mindfulness to Work: Tara Healey of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care suggests four steps to bring mindfulness to your workplace....

80% say they exercise at least three times a week (23% work out every single day). Bravo on being mentally and physically fit, people! Why do you exercise? 91% do it for health—the clear priority here. After that, just 15% exercise because it’s “fun,” while 6% are in it for the perfect beach bod, and 6% are all about that endorphin rush. Popular answers: • It’s part of my commute • The dog needs a walk!...

When you’re arguing, where do you feel it most in your body? What’s the best thing about being in a relationship? “SUNDAYS.”“Having a person who knows you like no other.”“Cuddlies.”“Complicity.”“Having both a Saturday night date and being able to stay home.”“The warmth, companionship, and ego-limiting opportunities.” Do you tend to hold grudges? What’s your main objective when arguing with a significant other? 76% say they aim to work through difficult emotions and miscommunications, while 14% want to ease tension, 3% want to make the other person feel better, and 7% just wanna win!...

If we are not “in the moment,” where are we? Often, with food, the irony is that we are everywhere else. We’re thinking ABOUT the food, we’re worrying about the calories, we’re watching TV, we’re reading, we’re talking, we’re judging ourselves as we put the next bite in our mouths, and then we are more aware of the guilt than of the pleasure. From “Usual Thoughts” to Mindful Thinking Mindful eating can be done without meditation practice—but meditation practice is a powerful way of training ourselves to be “in the moment....

Between the ages of 12 and 24, the brain changes in important, and oftentimes maddening, ways. It’s no wonder that many parents approach their child’s adolescence with fear and trepidation. According to renowned neuropsychiatrist Daniel Siegel, however, if parents and teens can work together to form a deeper understanding of the brain science behind all the tumult, they will be able to turn conflict into connection and form a deeper understanding of one another....

The Science and Practice of a Hug In one study published in Nature Communications, researchers injected the hormone Oxytocin in older mice with muscle damage. After nine days, the older mice healed faster than the younger, more strapping, mice. These older mice could repair muscle damage up to 80 percent better than the younger mice. There is real biological power in the simple act of a hug. It can melt away the stress from a day....

I want peace.I want more time.I want to feel more connected, and be able to stay in the present moment more often when I’m spending time with those in my life. Seem like a tall order? Not necessarily. In fact, we can reach some of these goals by simplifying our approach to everyday activities and encounters. One practice that brings us closer to strengthening our inner stability is letting go. I came into contact with the practice of letting go from one of my first teachers and mentors, James Baraz....

Flip the Script? Change your storyline or simply notice it? Which is better? Many therapies—not to mention the advice we get from friends and our grandmother—encourage us to change the story we’re telling ourselves when that story causes us anxiety, depression, or other challenging mental states. In the recovery world it’s called “stinkin’ thinkin’,” the kind of self-talk that tells us we are no good or things are not going to work out or that the person we are about to go talk to is an absolute ogre....

That’s where mindfulness comes in. When we practice tuning in to the chatter of our minds and sweeping sensations of our bodies, we learn to separate those triggers from the deep well of knowledge that is our innate awareness. By practicing mindfulness we slowly give ourselves permission to choose how we respond in the world. It’s pretty powerful stuff. In this Big Think video, former Canadian intelligence officer Shane Parrish, creator of the website and learning community Farnam Street, shares three tips for making more mindful decisions:...

In this video from BigThink, Offerman shares three lessons on happiness that have carried him through life. 1) Discover what you love Offerman notes that for many people, it’s easy to do the minimum amount of work and still manage to have a comfortable life. “You can cruise through school as long as you get passing grades. You can get some job with which you can cover your living expenses, and that allows you to just watch TV, play video games to amuse yourself, engage in leisure all of the time you’re not earning your living,” he says....

The article also quotes Ohio Congressman and A Mindful Nation author Tim Ryan about this learning concept. SEL programs are expanding to schools in his district. To read “Goldie Hawn helps kids get zen—and smart,” click here. For more about mindfulness and education on Mindful.org, click here. For our continuing coverage of MindUP, click here. [Image: From “The Hawn Foundation – The MindUP Program” YouTube video] 06/21/12