Health Journal Online

Category: Mental Health

  • Bring Your Practice to Digital Work

    Bring Your Practice to Digital Work

    I’m fascinated by technology, yet I yearn for a calm, peaceful life. This dual interest led me to draw insights from both camps and experiment with a mindful way of being with tech, not against it. For my entire adult life, I’ve been trying to figure out how to live mindfully and love technology at the same time.

    This has been a very personal journey, but a big part of it is professional, too. I love sitting in silence when I can, but I’m also a tech designer and entrepreneur. I lead a fractional product team creating mindfulness-related technologies remotely from a laptop, so I know the struggle of finding balance with tech more than most. 

    It’s not easy to do your best work, think deeply, and be creative in this attention economy. 

    It’s not easy to do your best work, think deeply, and be creative in this attention economy. It’s even harder to stay grounded when the pressure is high and you’re swimming in emails, notifications, and demands. Here are a few of my favorite tips to mindfully fine-tune the ways you engage with tech at work. 

    1. Redesign Your Work Environment

    Recently, I had a big project that demanded a lot of focus. It was hard to even imagine, knowing all the requests that pull at my attention on any given workday. I reduced the burden on my willpower by installing my second computer monitor on a swivel and putting a big, comfy chair on the other side of my desk. 

    Now, whenever I need to focus on something (including as I type these words), I rotate my second monitor to face backward with nothing else visible. I sit on the wrong side of my desk and type on a wireless keyboard with no trackpad. I can’t reach my email, social media, and web browser. And they can’t reach me. 

    Those who create tech aren’t the only ones who can leverage the power of design. My physical setup provides me with the constraint I need to get into a flow without too much effort. I couldn’t redesign the operating system, but I did redesign the room in which it operates.

    This mindset also helps me park my phone outside of work hours. When I’m at home with my family, I try to leave it charging on my desk as much as possible. If I want to check something, I’m forced to politely excuse myself and walk over to my desk. Less convenient, but just enough friction to prevent me from habitually reaching for Slack or my work email while my six-year-old is trying to play with me.

    2. Be Intentional With Email 

    When I start my workday, the first thing on my calendar is a block of time to clear my inbox. I do this for a few important reasons.

    First, I don’t have work email on my phone, so I don’t see messages in the evening or early morning and feel like I need to catch up. On top of that, I like taking time to respond thoughtfully to people to prevent downstream conflicts and miscommunications. I even try to include something in every message that might make the receiver smile.

    Mindfully noticing patterns in how tech influences your state of mind will help you make similar skillful adjustments to accommodate your unique habits and idiosyncrasies.

    At the end of the day, I check my email one last time, but I try not to send any replies. If I do, I’ll ruminate on whatever I sent and compulsively check for replies in the evening. And if I actually get a reply in the evening, instead of satisfying me, it usually ends up with me sneaking back into my office late at night to follow up.

    This tip isn’t necessarily for everyone; it’s a nuance I’ve discovered about myself. Mindfully noticing patterns in how tech influences your state of mind will help you make similar skillful adjustments to accommodate your unique habits and idiosyncrasies.

    3. Reject False Urgency 

    Across both personal and professional information channels, there’s one destructive illusion that makes tech way more stressful than it needs to be: false urgency. Work messaging becomes much saner when you customize it to present with an appropriate level of urgency for the information being conveyed.

    Consider how urgent your current settings are, compared to how urgent they need to be.

    For email, team messaging, calendar alerts, project notifications, or any other information channels, you can consider how urgent your current settings are compared to how urgent they need to be. An alert on your phone notifying you that a critical system just failed makes sense. That same alert is unnecessary for a random email that can easily wait until tomorrow.

    It also helps to manage urgency with your team. At Still Ape, we have a communications charter that describes how urgently we expect each other to reply: Emails warrant a response within two days, work messaging within one day, a text within a few hours, and calls immediately. When we tag someone in a document, we don’t expect them to see it until they’re actively in the file. Not only does our charter protect receivers’ attention, it also prevents senders from anxiously waiting for immediate replies on a non-immediate channel.

    If you’ve been frantically refreshing your inbox, it might feel pretty uncomfortable to slow down. It’ll get easier as you form new habits and your team builds new expectations. Rejecting false urgency frees up a lot of mental energy for focus, creativity, deep thinking, and effective collaboration. 

    4. Use AI Wisely

    You can use AI apps to gather and assemble ideas quickly, but at least for now, you need to pause to verify facts, trim the excess, and edit for clarity and authenticity. For many tasks, AI is more like cruise control than autopilot; you still need to steer.

    By now you’ve probably seen an AI agent join a video call, listen to an entire meeting, and then email everyone an immediate summary. But did you actually read the summary? Probably not, unless a human being who understood the full context edited it down to what actually matters.

    Things are evolving quickly in this space, but as a rule, I recommend making sure it doesn’t take you less time to create something than it will for others to engage with it. If it does, respect your recipient’s attention by spending a bit more time reading it and refining it yourself. Something feels off about having ChatGPT whip up a 10-page report in two minutes and expecting others to read it in-depth when you didn’t even bother.

    Your work might look very different from these examples. It’s all good. People are diverse, and things change over time. What matters is that a mindful relationship with technology is all about paying close attention to how different tech affects you and using that insight to fearlessly experiment in your own life.

    Excerpt from Reclaim Your Mind: Seven Strategies to Enjoy Tech Mindfully by Jay Vidyarthi, published by Still Ape Press. Copyright © 2025 by Jay Vidyarthi. 



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  • Tap Into Ease with This Guided Meditation for Holiday Stress

    Tap Into Ease with This Guided Meditation for Holiday Stress

    Get the latest on everything mindfulness

    Our free newsletter delivers updates on the science of mindfulness, guided mindfulness meditation practices from leading teachers, special offers, and rich content to support your mindful growth.


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  • To Manifest What You Want, Passion Will Spark Your Intentions, Not Pressure

    To Manifest What You Want, Passion Will Spark Your Intentions, Not Pressure

    It’s draining to reach for what you want when you’re disconnected from passion. Here are 7 steps to investigate what drives you, so you can get clear on staying the course.

    What drives you? What gives you goosebumps? Makes you smile unexpectedly? What do you get lost in? Lose time in? Within the answers to those questions, you’ll find your passions. And when it comes to manifesting what you want out of life, a good place to start is gently investigating your passions.

    Here’s a simple, 7-step guide to help you bring life to new directions and to create a compelling sense of the why behind your intentions. I call it the RESOLVE practice.

    How to Manifest What You Want: RESOLVE

    R — Recognize a yearning for change

    So, you want to turn in a new direction? Then you’ve already got what you need to start making changes. Once you can see that you want more freshness in your life, you can kick your resolve into gear and make it happen.

    E — Engage all your resources

    As we learn to tune into the body, watch our thoughts, and become friendly with our emotions, we develop inner “resources” that we can call on to help us create a feeling of stability. Engaging your resources can include forming an allegiance with someone who is also seeking to strengthen their resolve. Anything that helps support you in your cause is a resource.

    Engaging your resources can include forming an allegiance with someone who is also seeking to strengthen their resolve. Anything that helps support you in your cause is a resource.

    S — Soften your need for speed

    Instead, make headway slowly. Impatience can be a tremendous drain on your motivation. You learn as you go, so adopt a more relaxed pace that allows you time to investigate and learn from what you are experiencing.

    O — Open up to why this matters to you

    Let yourself feel why this is worth the effort. Recall that you chose this route because you were determined to grow your resolve. Return to this initial inspiration whenever you need a boost of motivation.

    L — Learn to make allies of your obstacles

    If you take the time to stop, breathe, and examine your obstacles you might discover that some dissolve under inspection. We often fear taking a stand.  We may use catastrophic thinking or overly exaggerate a negative result. Sometimes the greatest obstacle is the fear of change itself. We can gently notice this too. Awareness will feed our resolve.

    V — Value your own efforts

    It takes determination, energy, and powerful intention to connect with our heart’s desires. No effort is wasted. All will serve to strengthen your ability to trust yourself and your ability to stand up for what you want.

    E — Enjoy the twists and turns

    Plans have a nasty habit of changing or veering off course. Learn to adapt your route as your resolve propels you forward. The curve balls and surprises are what make life such a titillating adventure.

    This article provides additional information related to a column that appeared in the February 2018 issue of Mindful magazine.

    How to Make a Mindful Resolution 

    Hard-knuckling it through our New Year’s goals can strain even the best intentions. Here’s a mindful strategy for less stress and more success in keeping your resolutions. Read More 

    • Elaine Smookler
    • June 5, 2018



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  • Why We Wake Up At Night and How Mindfulness Helps Us Sleep Again

    Why We Wake Up At Night and How Mindfulness Helps Us Sleep Again

    You’re awake, and the time on your nightstand shows 3:33 a.m. There’s no reason to be awake, but your mind has other ideas. Some nights it could be an overactive mind; other times, you’re fighting a hot flash or the urge to scroll on your phone, hoping to fall back asleep.

    Regardless of what’s calling to you in the middle of the night, the message you really need to hear: You’re not alone.

    Nearly 18% of U.S. adults report trouble staying asleep, and 30–50% experience insomnia symptoms, including difficulty falling or staying asleep. And yet, our initial response to waking in the middle of the night tends to lean toward frustration or anger rather than curiosity.

    Dr. Jessica Shepherd asks her readers to be curious about the patterns and symptoms we experience around wakefulness instead of moving towards “fixing” our sleep problem.

    What would happen if we chose to investigate our feelings around wakefulness with self-compassion and mindfulness, instead of pushing against our own discomfort with what’s unwanted? Understanding more about why we wake up at night can help.

    The Nervous System and Sleep Disruption

    When did 3 a.m. become the new wake-up call?  If you’ve slept soundly for most of your life, only to be suddenly confronted with a nightly routine that involves struggling to get back to sleep, know you’re in good company. These “wakeups” happen across ages, genders, and all life stages. Some of us (ahhem, menopause ladies, we see you) begin having some of these issues as a result of hormone shifts (we’ll get into that later).

    What you need to know is that waking in the night is not a personal failure.  Oftentimes, your nervous system responds to cues your body sends, both internal and external. Here are a few reasons why we wake up at night, and why your sleep may be feeling more fragmented:

    • Hyperarousal: Stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline can trigger micro-awakenings. Even while asleep, your brain is scanning for potential threats.
    • Racing or overloaded mind: Daytime to-do lists, worries, or plans can linger into the night, keeping your brain alert.
    • Environmental triggers: Neighborhood noise, light, temperature swings, or even screens can subtly wake the brain.
    • Aging sleep architecture: As we age, our sleep naturally becomes lighter and more fragmented.
    • Hormonal shifts: As I mentioned above, if you’re in perimenopause or menopause, changes in estrogen, testosterone, and progesterone can significantly affect your sleep cycles. They can disrupt sleep when you’re experiencing hormone imbalances. Still, these shifts are a small part of the overall picture when we consider why many people experience nighttime wakefulness.

    Why starting with curiosity helps

    OB-GYN and author of Generation M, Dr. Jessica Shepherd, asks her readers to be curious about the patterns and symptoms we experience around wakefulness instead of moving towards “fixing” our sleep problem. Here are four questions she poses to help guide reflection: 

    • Is this wake-up due to hot flashes or night sweats?
    • Am I waking repeatedly or having trouble breathing?
    • Is my mind racing too much to fall asleep or fall back asleep?
    • Do I need to use the bathroom frequently at night?

    While Dr. Shepherd is a go-to source for menopausal struggles and solutions, these questions can be used to assess your symptoms, regardless of your age. Typically, mid-morning wakeup calls fall into one of these four categories:  mental overactivity, changes in body or room temperature, repeated environmental disruptions, or physical cues. When we understand the causes and conditions for our experience, we can cultivate a mindful response.

    Why Are My Thoughts Awake at 3 a.m.?

    The main culprit for middle-of-the-night wakefulness can vary from person to person. No matter what time you’re waking up, if it’s before your alarm clock goes off, it’s likely to feel unsettling.

    For those of you in perimenopause or menopause, the shift of our hormones (feeling hot flashes/night sweats) can make us feel very stressed out. As our stress levels rise, so do our cortisol levels. Typically, this stress hormone rises around 3 a.m. to prepare us for waking, but if our stress levels are too high, it can shift that baseline and cause us to wake up earlier than usual.

    Mindfulness offers a different way to approach these interruptions. It nudges us first to accept what’s happening in the present moment, and then to gently turn towards curiosity and self-compassion.

    For those of you who have surpassed that hurdle of menopause or generally have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, this time of night can feel so much louder than usual. When we’re alone with our thoughts in the middle of the night, our fears can feel heightened. Sleep deprivation heightens amygdala reactivity, making even small anxieties feel intense. Mindfulness can help settle our nervous system by guiding us towards practical tools that help us eliminate spiraling narratives.

    So, how can you shift your perspective when it comes to that mid-morning wake-up? Mindfulness offers a different way to approach these interruptions. 

    We’ve all heard the phrase, What you resist, persists, and you likely know from experience that it doesn’t work to fight sleeplessness or try to force yourself to go back to sleep. 

    Mindfulness nudges us first to accept what’s happening in the present moment, and then to gently turn towards curiosity and self-compassion. So perhaps the questions and phrases we could be engaging with might sound more like, “How can I offer myself compassion when sleeplessness makes itself known?” or, “What is this experience trying to show me?”

    Look for clues in your daily routines

    Sleep expert and author of Powerful Sleep, Shawna Robins, encourages people who have trouble navigating the “wide-awake” brain by taking a look at what they’re doing during the day.

    She emphasizes laying the groundwork for a healthy routine (meals, exercise, self-care) that supports hormone balance and your nervous system. For Robins, that begins with stress management, proper nutrition, and some form of physical activity. When we do these things, sleeping, and specifically “falling asleep” or returning to sleep after that three o’clock wake-up, can get much easier. Robins says, “Healthy sleep starts during the daytime with healthier habits. It’s not just about what happens when you get into bed at night.”

    Mindful Sleep Strategy

    What does a mindfulness strategy look like for cultivating good sleep? Think about all the tools you’ve developed over the course of your mindfulness journey and start putting them to use.

    Sleep supports the choices we make before bed.

    That means journaling, sitting regularly, mindfully eating and noticing the times you’re eating. It can also involve checking in with your physical body (think body-scan meditation or breathwork), coupled with daytime routines (yoga/gym workout, exercises you can do throughout the day at work/your desk, etc.) that will help create a stable space for you to reset your energy and recalibrate your nervous system. Sleep supports the choices we make before bed.

    If you find yourself up in the middle of the night and can’t get back to sleep, here are some different ways you can try to help yourself. 

    1.  30-Second Body Scan
       Redirect attention from racing thoughts to physical sensations, noticing each part of the body without judgment.
    2. Lengthened Exhale Breathing (4–6 breaths)
       Extending the exhale calms the parasympathetic nervous system, signaling the body that it is safe to rest.
    3. Thought Noting
       Label thoughts gently (“I’m worrying,” “I’m planning”) to create mental distance.
    4. Journaling
       Keep a notepad by the bed to externalize racing thoughts and reduce cognitive load.
    5. Gentle Somatic Grounding
      Release tension in the jaw, shoulders, or belly to help the body signal safety.

    Nighttime wakefulness often coincides with vivid or emotionally charged dreams. Sansan Fibri, founder of the app Wakefully.io, describes dreams as “our subconscious screenplay, where hidden narratives sometimes replay on repeat.”

    Wakefully is an AI-driven dream-analysis and journaling app that allows users to examine dream themes and emotions or reframe dreams with evidence-based techniques. For those who wake at night due to intense dreams or lingering emotional tension, incorporating tools like Wakefully alongside your mindfulness practice can help shift into a more reflective space, calming a reactive mind. With curiosity, gentle awareness, and practical tools, you can transform these moments into opportunities for connection with your body and mind.

    When we approach sleep with mindfulness,  we can meet moments of wakefulness with curiosity instead of frustration, helping us meet them in the middle of the night with presence and ultimately a sense of well-being.



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  • Alive, Together – Mindful

    Alive, Together – Mindful

    A letter from Mindful Magazine’s 2026 Editor, Amber Tucker.

    I read a quote recently that spoke to me, and to a key idea in this edition of Mindful: “We do not have to live as if we are alone.” (That’s writer and environmentalist Wendell Berry, quoted in writer and teacher Sebene Selassie’s Substack newsletter, Remind Me to Love.) I know I’m not the only person who feels alone, sometimes, in long hours hunkered over a desk, grasping for a sense of gosh-darn interconnectedness.

    At the same time, making a magazine is an inherently (and at the best of times, a joyfully) collaborative endeavor. Countless tiny yet critical steps involving dozens, even hundreds of people around the world, all counting on one another’s skills, knowledge, and dedication. Having worked at Mindful for more than seven years, I remain in awe of the ecosystem that brought into being the Trust Yourself issue you’re reading now.

    Like a healthy relationship, a meaningful project requires trust in others, and trust in ourselves. There’s a generative power in that. Trust that we’re more resilient than the sore back or disgruntled thoughts or horrific headlines or aching heart that may, right now, be overwhelming. Remember that we’re in this together, our feet planted firmly. As meditation teacher and author Kimberly Brown says, in Stephanie Domet’s article: “It does take time to become intimate with your body and your mind and become friendly with it. But when you can let yourself become familiar, then you can also start to trust.”

    The stories in these pages explore trust from numerous angles. Sue Hutton shares science-backed strategies to honor your unique brain wiring, while Misty Pratt investigates why the brain craves certainty and how to lessen anxiety about the unknown. Mara Gulens reckons with the grief of a changing body—maybe an unexpected path to wholeness. Sharon Ross extols the art of a simple invitation to help us break through loneliness and nurture community. And if you’re ready for a fresh start with mindfulness (at any age or experience level), turn to page 12 for a week’s worth of audio meditations, and to page 75 for a guide to your own daily practice: essential to becoming more familiar and friendly with you.

    I hope this issue of Mindful adds tools to your kit for this lifelong adventure of returning to ourselves and to one another. Amidst the chaos and pain and love of being alive, we are all we truly have. May we all find our way to trust in that.



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  • 2026 Annual Issue: Bonus Material

    2026 Annual Issue: Bonus Material

    Retreat Guide 2026

    Find space to pause, reflect, and reconnect

    Step away from the noise and return to what matters. The 2026 Mindful Retreat Guide curates a thoughtful selection of mindfulness retreats from around the world, chosen for their depth, integrity, and respect for both inner practice and place. Whether you’re seeking silence, nature, community, or renewal, this guide is designed to help you find a retreat experience that truly supports reflection, restoration, and meaningful time offline.



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  • A Meditation for Easing Pain and Inviting Joy

    A Meditation for Easing Pain and Inviting Joy

    This week, mindfulness teacher Vanessa Hutchinson-Szekely shares a tender meditation for those in the middle of pain.

    Sometimes seasons of intense suffering show up in our lives—no warning, no easy answers. 

    This week, mindfulness teacher Vanessa Hutchinson-Szekely shares a tender meditation for those experiencing pain. Based on her own experience with an extended episode of chronic back pain, she offers a moment of reprieve and caring attention to release tension and open to the possibility of joy.

    A Meditation for Easing Pain and Inviting Joy

    Read and practice the guided meditation script below, pausing after each paragraph. Or listen to the audio practice.

    1. Take a moment to settle in wherever you are. You might be lying down, sitting comfortably, or even supported by pillows or blankets. Allow your body to find stillness. Allow your mind to arrive.
    2. Take a deep breath in through your nose. And a long exhale through your mouth. Inhale slowly, feeling your body expand. Exhale, letting go of anything you’ve been holding on to today. A space to soften, to breathe, to be with yourself in kindness. Continue at your own pace to take a couple more deep breaths in through your nose, and then to exhale slowly through your mouth.
    3. Notice how your body feels right now without judgment, without needing to fix anything. Maybe there’s a place that feels tight, inflamed or achy. Maybe you feel tired or heavy. Whatever it is, let it be here. We’re not fighting the pain, we’re meeting it with awareness.
    4. Now with each inhale, imagine you’re breathing in a soft golden light. And with each exhale, you’re releasing tension like a mist gently leaving your body. Continue to breathe, picturing that golden light coming in and washing all over you, and with each breath out more and more tension is released. Now feel that golden light travel through your body. From the top of your head across your face, softening your eyes, your jaw, your neck. Let your shoulders drop away from your ears. Unclench the muscles across your back.
    5. Now let the light move down your arms through your elbows, wrists, hands, and fingertips. Breathe into your chest. Feel your ribs expand, your heart open. Let your belly rise and fall gently, your breath like waves at the shore. Let that golden light move through your hips and down your legs through your knees, your calves, your ankles, and all the way to your toes. Your whole body is bathed in light, breathing, releasing, softening.
    6. Now bring your attention to the area that’s been calling for care where the pain lives most strongly. Breathe gently into that space. Imagine the air reaching every cell that needs relief. You’re not trying to push the pain away, you’re surrounding it with love, with breath, with presence. Visualize a soft light, perhaps golden, perhaps warm rose or calming blue, cradling that part of your body. You might even whisper quietly to yourself, I’m here with you. You are safe. You are healing.
    7. Now let’s shift our focus to sensations that bring joy. Think of something that makes your heart feel light. Maybe it’s a favorite place—the ocean, a mountain trail, a cafe, your cozy bed. Maybe it’s a sound—laughter, birds, a song that always lifts you up. Or perhaps it’s a taste, like warm bread, ripe berries, tea with honey. 
    8. Let one joyful image take center stage. See it clearly, feel it in your body, notice any warmth in your chest, a softening in your shoulders, a hint of a smile forming. That is joy. That’s your body remembering wellness. Now send that joy throughout your body to the places that feel good and the places that need healing. Let joy move through you like sunlight melting through ice. Repeat softly in your mind, I send love and light throughout my body. I am more than my pain. I am whole.
    9. Take a deep breath in exhale fully. Now bring to mind one thing you feel grateful for today, big or small. Maybe your breath, maybe a friend, maybe the courage to press play on this meditation. As you breathe, let that gratitude expand, filling your body from the inside out. Feel that gratitude travel beyond your body, radiating out like ripples in a pond to your loved ones, your community, the world, and quietly repeat, May I be well. May others who are suffering find ease. May peace grow in me.
    10. Now imagine your whole body surrounded by shimmering light, a cocoon of healing energy that holds you in safety. This light is gentle yet powerful. It’s recalibrating every part of your mind, body and heart. You are safe. You are loved, you are whole. Let your body soften into this knowing. Let yourself rest here for a few breaths. 
    11. As we close, take one final deep breath in through your nose and out through your mouth. Inhale love. Exhale gratitude. Inhale peace. Exhale tension. Inhale light. Exhale release. As you slowly bring your awareness back to the room, remember you are not your pain. You are the light that shines beneath it, and that light is always there, ready to guide you back to joy. Thank you for showing up for yourself today. May your body rest, may your heart be light. And may you walk forward in peace.



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  • Wellness Washing and the Rise of Mandated Mindfulness

    Wellness Washing and the Rise of Mandated Mindfulness

    In June 2023 New York Mayor Eric Adams announced a new policy that would go into effect that fall. Every morning every public school student would engage in two to five minutes of mindful breathing unless they chose to opt out. At a time when the youth mental health crisis was a major news story, this seemed like a win. Research had suggested that mindfulness could have a beneficial impact on adolescent anxiety and depression. Now the more than one million students in NYC public schools would be getting a daily dose of it.

    Yet to those in the mindfulness world, the reaction was nuanced. While mindfulness can be a powerful tool, it is one that is typically taught by experienced practitioners. Asking overwhelmed teachers to add another lesson to their plate on a topic they might not have familiarity with had the potential to backfire. Programming that is implemented by burnt out educators going through the motions with bored students is not usually a recipe for success.

    Asking overwhelmed teachers to add another lesson to their plate on a topic they might not have familiarity with had the potential to backfire.

    Weighing Positives and Negatives

    As a PE teacher and Mindfulness Director at a PK-8 school in Massachusetts, I had my concerns from afar. I’m well aware of my own skills and limitations. If, for example, research revealed the benefits of singing, and there were a mandate to practice if for a few minutes at the start of every class, my lack of expertise would result in some seriously out of tune kiddos. There is a reason people are encouraged to teach to their strengths.

    Kimberly Daniels, a School Counselor and Mindfulness Director at The Greenwich Village School in Manhattan, saw the mandate as a positive step at first. Both Daniels and I worked with WholeSchool Mindfulness to integrate the position of Mindfulness Director at our respective schools. I wanted to get her take as someone who understands the benefits of bringing mindfulness to schools and as an expert on the thoughtful, research-backed implementation of these practices.

    “Initially, I was like, that’s actually really good,” said Daniels. “It’s being seen as something all schools should be doing. It’s a strange thing to mandate, but if it’s bringing awareness to all New York City public schools, that could be a good thing.”

    Asking More of Already-Overwhelmed Teachers

    The reaction among teachers, however, was more of a mixed bag. “I think a lot of teachers were rolling their eyes because it was one more thing they were being mandated to do,” said Daniels. 

    Once the program got underway, Daniels was able to be a thought partner with teachers at her school and provide resources and ideas. “When it first rolled out, I talked about it at a professional development session at my school,” recalled Daniels. “We were able to come up with different things that teachers could do in the classroom. A lot of teachers really loved the idea of mindful coloring.” However, her position is a rarity in the public school system, and other schools lacked the support of an educator trained in the discipline.

    Is There Needed Support?

    The other major issue was the overall lack of accountability and support from the Department of Education. It is one thing to announce a mandate and then provide training, resources, and professional development on the subject, as might happen with the introduction of a new math curriculum. It is quite another to issue a mandate without any plan for following through and supporting teachers.

    Such a mandate may serve more as a form of wellness washing: allowing the powers-that-be to gain positive press and check a box without actually creating effectual change. Is it a coincidence that Mayor Adams’ federal corruption investigation came to light only a few months after this announcement? In the end, this kind of empty mandate only serves to promote the interests of the administrators and politicians who can claim such initiatives as feathers in their cap while a generation of students becomes alienated by half-hearted wellness measures.

    Such a mandate may serve more as a form of wellness washing: allowing the powers-that-be to gain positive press and check a box without actually creating effectual change.

    Additionally, unsupported initiatives like these don’t take into account the potential pitfalls of mindfulness practice in environments not suited to it, such as unintended trauma responses. There is evidence that mindfulness practices can trigger trauma, and a classroom teacher who is forced to teach it might not have the requisite training or experience to recognize and respond to students who are in distress because of practice.

    In addition, if a teacher is not bought into mindfulness programming but has to introduce it anyways, they might do so in a way that stokes apathy in the practice rather than interest. As a basketball coach, I certainly wouldn’t want people who don’t have a passion for the game to be tasked with introducing to students, but that is precisely the case with mindfulness. Students who first encounter practice in a classroom setting where it is being rolled out without enthusiasm or knowledge might sour on it pretty quickly.

    What Now?

    So what would be a better approach? Daniels believes a much more lasting impact would come from the adoption of an Social Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum with a focus on mindfulness. An SEL curriculum includes programs and lessons designed to help students develop “soft” skills that are actually essential for healthy functioning in relationships and in the world—things like managing emotions, setting goals, showing empathy, building positive relationships, and making responsible decisions.

    “If you don’t have your own mindfulness practice and it’s not something you’ve ever been interested in, I think it can be daunting for teachers,” said Daniels. “But if it were an actual curriculum that you’re properly trained in, that would have way more of an impact than than two to five minutes of mindfulness per day.”

    Mindfulness is an incredible tool for stoking awareness. Yet it can’t be just a means of wellness washing, and requires the same pedagogical mastery as any other discipline, whether it be art, chemistry, or social studies. All of those disciplines are taught by educators trained in a specific philosophy or curriculum.

    Despite the potential benefits of mindfulness being more accessible and widely disseminated, the reach may not be worth the risk without follow up, support, and training for teachers. In the end, to be most effective, mindfulness practice must be implemented thoughtfully by those with experience in the discipline. In other words, we need to be mindful about mindfulness programming.



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  • The Simple Joy of Writing by Hand

    The Simple Joy of Writing by Hand

    Have you noticed that we are writing by hand less and less these days? Sometimes it’s just a signature with a blunt stylus at the grocery store, or your finger signing crudely on a credit card pay screen. Handwriting certainly looks like a dying form, as we type away merrily on our keyboards, responding to emails that fly off in all directions.

    Is this withering away of handwriting a problem? Or is it the inevitable unfolding of language forms evolving over the centuries, from oral to written to printed, and now electronic? Before we dash headlong forward, let’s slow down for a moment and consider the role that writing by hand plays.

    An Art Form Worth Reviving

    I believe that handwriting still serves a deep purpose in our lives and that letting it fade away will be a loss to our spirit. Precisely because it is no longer essential for communication, handwriting can now be free to express its true nature as an embodied practice of creative expression, a synchronization of mind and body. Handwriting need not fold up and die. It can rise again as the original artistic act, unique to each of us, available to all, and really close at hand.

    Before writing, humans made marks. They were drawn in the sand, painted on cave walls, carved on rocks. The making of these marks grew out of a deep desire to connect with the power of the world. By drawing the tree, the bison, the moon, an understanding occurred, an energy touched. (Anyone who draws is familiar with this.)

    Our alphabet evolved out of these drawings—of an ox, a fish, a hand, a hook, a house, a cave. These forms were passed along, the original images becoming simplified in the handling. By 1200 BCE, an alphabet of 22 letters emerged with the Phoenician traders and evolved over time into the Roman letters. This syllabic system was efficient for commerce. It also remained a magical portal linking the inner voice with the outer world, bringing thoughts into form through the movement of the hand and stylus on the page.

    Our Brains Like It When We Write By Hand

    A recent article in the New York Times (“What’s Lost as Handwriting Fades”) described a study at Indiana University where children who had not yet learned to read or write were asked to draw a letter freehand, then trace it from a dotted outline, and then press the correct key on the computer. The researchers were amazed to see that the brain activity from the freehand drawing action was stronger, firing off in three different areas, while the tracing and typing motions barely stimulated the brain at all.

    The article went on say that apparently children who handwrite are able to generate ideas more easily, and that older students seem to retain information better when they take lecture notes by hand. There is something about the messiness of writing, its variable nature, that wakes us up, fires the synapses, brings us to the task at hand. That ancient way of understanding the world through drawing is still at work in the process of writing by hand. It turns out it’s the imperfection and changeableness of how we write that sparks our creative flow.

    Writing By Hand as a Mindfulness Practice

    Whether you enjoy your handwriting, or are embarrassed and uncomfortable with it, getting on the page each day with some “slow writing” can open your channels of creativity and keep them humming.

    This is a practice of seeing ourselves through how we write, allowing our handwriting, and ourselves, to be unique, quirky, imperfect—and appreciated.

    This is not about improving your handwriting, anymore than meditation is about improving your character (though both may happen as a side benefit!). It’s a practice of seeing ourselves through how we write, allowing our handwriting, and ourselves, to be unique, quirky, imperfect—and appreciated.

    When I write by hand, I come under the spell of the forms and the magic and mystery of who I am and how I show up in this world—the confused, shaky self, the graceful easy moments, or the part that doesn’t know what to say next. The letters are the marks left behind, the tracks of my inner journey through this life.

    When I write by hand, the familiar shapes tumble out and make new combinations. But it is something about the physical act—the holding of the hand and pen—that is meditative, bringing me into the present. The body sensations are the foundation—the ache, the touch, the softness of the paper. The moving line is the breath that keeps flowing along. And the words that show up on the page are the thoughts taking shape, the weather appearing on the horizon.

    It is this physical aspect of writing—the sitting down and listening through the body, the hand, the pen—that can bring forth something substantial and true. Each shape, each word, is an expression of how the world is living in me. When I write by hand, I keep going all the way to the end of the page, enjoying the sensual touch of it all, the way the letters link and dance and skip along, my fingers waiting expectantly for the next pulse, the next wave, the next thought showing up, ready to be described. Handwriting is the reporter, giving form to it all, grounded in the past, amazed and present to this moment.

    Embracing Both Old and New

    I’m not suggesting we abandon our computers and return to pen and paper. (Though taking the time to write a thoughtful handwritten letter can be a really nourishing activity.) I’m as involved as anyone with the ever-expanding world of online information.

    What I am proposing is that handwriting can become a contemplative practice, a generator of insight, a deepening down activity that counterbalances the vast, rapidly moving electronic world we’re bathed in. Handwriting is a powerfully simple way to bring natural creativity and connection back into our lives. It is an act of wholeness.

    Practice: Put Pen to Paper

    Sit down with a couple sheets of paper in front of you and a pen that you like to write with. Feel your body, your fingers holding the pen, your hand resting on the paper, your arm ready to guide, your feet on the floor or your back resting on the seat.

    At the top of the page write the words, “When I write by hand,” and then notice what shows up in your mind next. It could be a memory from childhood of learning to write—or an aching in your fingers in this moment—or something about the sound of the pen touching, pausing, moving along on the page. Describe whatever it is, following the associations until you come to a pause in your thoughts.

    Write the prompt again, “When I write by hand . . . ” and head off, letting the words tumble out, not concerned with making full sentences or perfect punctuation or spelling. Sit stable. Let your writing slow down. See how the forms change with this shift of speed. Notice how you’re feeling.

    Fill up two sheets of paper, or write for 10 minutes, then read what has come through. Where did you start? Where did you end up? You’re involved in an age-old act of bringing the loftiness of thought—what the ancient Chinese called “heaven”—down to the practicality of “earth.” Joining “heaven and earth” through human expression is the essence of art.

    This featured practice appeared in the June 2016 issue of Mindful magazine



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  • Are We Wired to Want Stuff?

    Are We Wired to Want Stuff?

    I’ll never forget a holiday moment a few years ago, when I found myself in a negotiation with my younger daughter over her gift list. In theory, I’ve never wanted my kids to make lists of things they want for Christmas and Hanukkah. But we did “go see Santa” when they were younger, and they did prepare to ask him for a gift, so I’ve never really put my money where my mouth is.

    Anyway, my daughter was in the back of the car rattling off all the things she wanted for Christmas, excitedly, as though it were a done deal and she would soon be receiving everything she ever hoped for.

    And I was anxiously trying to do damage control. I explained that Santa only brings one toy (“Nah-ah, Mom, he brought Ella THREE last year!”). Santa can’t bring live animals (she passionately wanted a live llama). And if your grandparents get you Uggs instead of Payless knock-offs, you won’t get any other presents from them (economic logic lost on a seven-year-old).

    I thought I was going to lose my mind. I’d been trying to create special holiday traditions that foster positive emotions like gratitude and altruism—traditions that would bring meaning, connection, and positive memories. And it all seemed to be falling on deaf ears. My children had wish-lists longer than they were tall. Even my parents were fighting me on going to church Christmas Eve, because they thought it would cut into the gift exchange.

    I know I’m not alone; nearly all of my coaching clients have expressed similar dismay. So if we don’t want our children to be whipped into a consumer frenzy, and we value other things, why does this happen, year after year?

    One answer, of course, is that on some level our society has come to believe that our economy depends on a gift giving extravaganza, and that the holidays wouldn’t be fun without all the gifts. I’ve been reflecting on this, and on the other forces at work this time of year. Here’s why I think we want, want, want so much stuff come the holidays.

    Why Holidays Are About “Wanting” Stuff

    1. We systematically confuse gratification, which is fleeting, with real joy or lasting happiness.

    It’s a complex concept for a seven-year-old (and sometimes, for a 37-year-old): We can feel gratified when we get something new—we might even get a hit of pleasure—but that gratification isn’t really the same thing as happiness.

    Think of how gratitude feels—or compassion, inspiration, or awe. Think of how you feel when you are madly in love with your new baby, or amorous towards your longtime spouse. Those are deep positive emotions—and to me, they’re the positive emotions that are at the foundation of a happy life.

    Gratification still feels good. It is central to our brain’s reward and motivation systems. But when we confuse it with actual happiness, we think that we can’t really be happy—or that our kids won’t be happy—without all the gifts and shopping.

    2. Our brains are hardwired to pursue rewards. Happiness is a reward. It’s not that we aren’t built to pursue happiness, because we are.

    But the key word here is pursue: Our brain’s built-in reward system motivates us toward all the carrots, large and small, that are dangling out there. We’ll pursue anything that seems like a reward, and our kids will, too.

    When our brain identifies a possible reward, it releases a powerful neurotransmitter called dopamine. That dopamine rush propels us toward the reward. Dopamine creates a very real desire for the carrot dangled in front of us.

    It makes us more susceptible to other temptations as well, which is why when we decide that we want a cashmere sweater, that cookie over there suddenly looks pretty good, and so do those cute Pottery Barn dishes. High dopamine levels amplify the appeal of immediate gratification (which is why you suddenly can’t stop checking your email), and makes us less concerned about long-term consequences (like your credit card bill).

    Unfortunately, our brain doesn’t distinguish between rewards that actually will make us happier and the things that won’t. Dopamine just motivates us to chase them all. In that way, we are wired to want all kinds of things.

    3. All the carrots being dangled out there are dizzying.

    They don’t call it neuro-marketing for nothing—believe me, the advertisers know how to stimulate that dopamine rush in our children.

    And how does a kid pursue a reward in December? They put it on their wish-list, then endlessly nag us until we break down and concede that, yes, sometimes Santa does bring more than one gift. Or that every night of Hanukkah can bring a “little something.”

    So when our kids seem greedy or materialistic at this time of year, it doesn’t mean that we’ve failed to instill good values in them, or that they are spoiled and bratty. It means that they are human, and that they are under the siege of a marketing-induced dopamine rush.

    What’s the wisdom in the wanting?

    This is an important lesson for our kids to learn! Here’s how we can help: We can teach them to recognize what makes them want, want, want. We can teach them to realize when they are being manipulated by advertisers.

    This is hard, but I’ve seen that it’s possible: The other day, my older daughter was barely watching a distant TV in a Thai restaurant, and she said, “Wow, I know that commercial was meant to make me want those pants, and it WORKED. I really want those pants. I feel like I might be happier if I had THOSE PANTS.” She still wanted the pants, of course, but at least she was gaining some insight into her desire. She couldn’t prevent the dopamine rush, but she could respond to it.

    Finally, by creating meaningful traditions, we can teach our kids what truly will bring them lasting happiness during the holidays—like starting a gratitude tradition or helping others. Those are the things that they really will remember.

    This article originally appeared on Greater Good, the online magazine of UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center, one of Mindful’s partners. To view the original article, click here. GGSC’s coverage of gratitude is sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation as part of the Expanding Gratitude project.



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