I’VE HEARD SOME WONDERFUL EXPLANATIONS of mindfulness. Sylvia Boorstein, a writer and teacher, calls it “awake attention to what is happening inside and outside so we can respond from a place of wisdom.” The Vietnamese Zen teacher and poet Thich Nhat Hanh says, “I like to define mindfulness as the energy that helps us to be there one hundred percent; the energy of our true presence.” But my favorite definition comes from a fifth-grader at the Piedmont Avenue Elementary School in Oakland, California.
The school offered a program of five weeks of mindfulness training from a coach who visited classrooms twice a week, leading 15-minute sessions on how to have “gentle breaths and still bodies.” The students trained their attention by focusing on their breath and noting the emotions that arose. The coach also asked them to cultivate compassion by reflecting—“taking a moment”—before lashing out at someone on the playground. A reporter asked a boy participating in the program to describe mindfulness. “It’s not hitting someone in the mouth,” the 11-year-old said.
His answer is wise, wide, and deep. It illustrates one of the most important uses of mindfulness—helping us deal with difficult emotions.
This story is from the May/June 2020 edition of Spirituality & Health.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the May/June 2020 edition of Spirituality & Health.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Let's Not Limit Nature- According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, nature is first defined as "the external world in its entirety," with etymological roots from multiple cultures and originating meanings
The ancient Greeks had no word for art. Many indigenous people have no word for religion. Art and religion were inherent to human life until outsiders needed to critique and study these concepts-so they named them. The legacy of the word nature is similar. We speak about nature as if we are separate from itas if, like a starkly delineated shadow on a sidewalk, you can stand with one foot in nature and one foot outside of it.
QUEEN DIAMBI KABATUSUILA SHEDS A NEW LIGHT ON AFRICA
In 2016, before she became queen of the Bakwa Luntu people of the Dimbelenge territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Queen Diambi Kabatusuila was a 48-year-old therapist going through a difficult divorce, living in Boca Raton, Florida, and having a recurring dream about an old woman in an African village.
Over the MOON About Helping Animals (and Their People)
Since I was a child, I've had a ritual: Every night, I go outside and search the sky for the moon and stars. I marvel at the magnificence of a dark, crisp, clear, midnight blue sky and its symphony of constellations, occasional meteors, and the glorious moon herself-each illuminating the vastness. This simple practice always gives me the deepest peace and centeredness. It aligns my internal compass every night before bed.
Unlikely Lightworkers from Liverpool
The Beatles were more than musical masters-they were spiritual pioneers.
ENTER THE SAUNA
Journalist Emily O’Kelly shares some uplifting research on the benefits of sweat bathing, a global healing practice not just limited to Northern climes.
LEAVING MESA VERDE
After 21 years of service at Mesa Verde National Park, RANGER DAVID FRANKS recently guided his last tour of the pueblos and cliff dwellings. He says he was fortunate to assist the archeologists with a variety of work and never lost his amazement with their ability to figure out how and when things happened. The question he still wrestles with is much deeper: Why they left?
MY SMILING NEIGHBOR CALLS ME A CHRIST KILLER...
ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE FOR THE SPIRITUAL TRAVELER
FEATURED ARTIST - Paul Lewin
Lead digital editor Brenna Lilly spoke with artist Paul Lewin about ancestral inspiration, visions for the future, and the art of patience.
3 Poses for Awakening
The difference between yoga and many other forms of exercise is that while you are doing it, you are paying attention. You notice your breath, your rhythm, the specific ways the body feels in each posture. Yoga can be a form of moving meditation. This can be true for any pose, but these three advanced poses, which bring energy into the head, heart, and throat, are especially helpful for awakening.
THE SIMPLE THERMODYNAMICS OF ENLIGHTENMENT
When S+H was conceived, evolutionary neuroscientist PEGGY LA CERRA, PhD, awakened to a new understanding of the nature of the mind created by evolution. It’s not widely taught, but the science seems pretty obvious.
