Headspace
Check out "The Science" at Headspace.com for a helpful overview of the benefits of mindfulness. Then run a YouTube search of Headspace animations to find a plethora of helpful video clips on mindfulness meditation, created by Andy Puddicombe. |
The Calling of Delight: Gangs, Service, and Kinship
This interview with Greg Boyle (Jesuit priest working in gang-ridden neighborhoods of Los Angeles) calls us to a life of compassion and spiritual depth, highlighting the ways that being in the present allows us to love others well and mutually. His book, Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion, is also recommended. |
Hand Model of the Brain Daniel Siegel demonstrates the power of mindfulness from a neurological standpoint. Utilizing a simple hand model of the brain, he effectively explains the role of mindfulness in retraining our brains -- learning to pause during times of emotional intensity in order to calm the innate reaction of the limbic system through activation of the pre-frontal cortex. |
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Hokusai Says
This poem, written by Roger Keyes and read here by Mark Williams, is a tribute to the ability of the human spirit to grow and thrive in the midst of life's challenges. Through word and image, we are exhorted to live a life that is fully alive, a life of attending to the things that actually matter. "Don't be afraid." |
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Just Breathe Children get straight to the point, teaching us to use the power of mindfulness to calm intense emotion and control impulsive behavior. Other explorations of using mindfulness with children can be found on the "Multimedia" page of www.mindfulschools.org. |
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Listen to Your Life
Christian author Frederick Buechner, in his memoir called Now and Then, sums up his life's work with the following words: "Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery that it is. In the boredom and pain of it no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace." See this brief clip of him talking about learning to observe. |
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Selective Attention
This video, created by researchers at the University of Illinois, provides a glimpse into the power of attention for determining our perception of reality. Other interesting example videos can be found at www.invisiblegorilla.com/videos.html. Mindfulness is a powerful tool in increasing our powers of observation, thereby providing corrective information as we form our views of reality. |
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