While out on an errand, I was caught in a mindful moment. I was initially struck by the bright blue detailed staircase, then the mural depicting several swimmers gracefully navigating the waves, and finally at the end of the block, illuminated by the sun overhead, the sign “Rebirth” hung, so poignantly affirming the moment.

I found a shift in perspective. The somewhat meaningless errand along an often travelled path, became something more…enhancing the moment and lightening my mood.

Resilience is the ability to respond to adversity, something we all need in these challenging times.

Check out this workshop offered by the Mindfulness Center of the Cambridge Health Alliance, a teaching hospital of the Harvard Medical School.

Starts Wednesday, April 21, 5:30 PM EDT - 8-Week Workshop

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is an evidence-based educational program shown to prevent depressive relapse and reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression. MBCT combines the practice of mindfulness with practical tools from cognitive therapy.

In MBCT-R, you will learn skills for responding to the anxiety and emotional challenges arising from our current situation. Through the practice of mindfulness you will learn to engage

By Angela Babin

This is a true story that I used to recount to my young patients undergoing medical treatment for very serious illness. I first told this to a set of identical twin brothers – one of whom was very sick with a blood cancer – while the other one was very healthy and athletic. This was during my years working at a major children’s hospital in New York City as part of the ancillary health care team. (My young patient was challenged with cancer – but he resonated with this recounting of serious injury.)

The True Story

There was a set of twin brothers named Rodrigo and Rogério. They grew up on a farm in Brazil and were extremely active. When the boys were just 11 years old, Rodrigo was involved in a terrible accident in which he was pinned underneath a tractor for hours.

By Michelle Morrison

In This Meditation, Recorded The Day After The Start Of A New U.S. Administration, we take time to envision a future of safety, peace, and happiness for our fellow Americans.

By imagining a bright future for our neighbors, we may come to see that our happiness is not separate from their happiness.

Finally, we reflect on what steps we might take towards making that future a reality.

This was offered as part of the weekly "Free Friday Mindfulness at Noon" sessions. To join, visit: https://learnmindfulnessnow.com/free-...

-Michelle Morrison Michelle’s Website

SEE THE VIDEO: CLICK “READ MORE”

“The quality of our day is directly related to the quality of our thoughts”

By Annie Shackelford

A powerful statement that had me thinking for awhile; how does this relate to my own experience? Am I spending too much time on any one thought, unaware of my current experience? Now, a year (of unimaginable events) later, I am once again reflecting on this message. Our ability to connect with awareness to a thought is one of the best ways to ground ourselves to the present. Once grounded, we then have a choice in following a thought or letting it go.

By Angela Babin

I have described to clients “My Grandmother’s Good Pearls.”

When she was in her 80s, and struggling with aphasia – she and I would walk together at an outdoor flea market in New York. She would hold up items to me and point out the good things – like a correctly rolled hand-stitched hem on a vintage scarf or – the way that the silk thread was knotted in between each pearl on a necklace.

…. these knots prevent grave loss and accidents. Imagine your strand of pearls suffers a break. In the case where there are no knots, all of the beads cascade away following the first bead that got wrenched off. Some of the beads may even get lost as they roll away, on the floor, on the street.... However, with a knotted strand - in time of accident, break, injury – exactly a single pearl is lost.

Let is apply this image to our experience with mindfulness…..

It’s widely accepted that the more we give, the more we receive.

That’s certainly been true for me.

Take my formative event as a mindfulness teacher:

After lunch, I'd been washing up the big pots in the soup kitchen on Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn. We'd served hot soup to a hundred poor or homeless people. Many in ragged clothes, dirty, smelly. Some remarkably well dressed but needing the handout of free food nevertheless.

Then, as I left to return to my office, it happened.

I was inspired by a recent teaching by Tara Brach on mindful listening. A link to her 12-minute video is here and also below. I recommend it..

Here is what Tara inspired in me:

It has been said that "Hearing is through the ears, but listening is through the mind and heart.”

Even when we do pay attention, we often hear rather than listen.

Is there someone you have a hard time listening to? Perhaps a colleague, friend, or family member?

Have you developed strategies to avoid listening to this person, like doing the dishes while you hear, or going through your least essential emails?

When a person isn't listened to, they can become irritable and reactive.

One of the things badly missed in these times of pandemic is Human Touch.

No matter how much we get used to machines and technology, we as humans need human touch.

One of the most underrated yet influential human touches is ”A HUG”.

A good hug has the power to uplift our mood, cut down stress, reduce depression, and a lot more.

But the million-dollar question is, can we hug each other when social distancing has become the new normal?

The good news is: Yes, we can, but mindfully.

Still, there will be some degree of risk as long as the virus is around. Please consider your personal risks.

Perhaps it’s helpful to balance the risk against the emotional gain.