I joined the Mind & Life Institute team in my early twenties as an intern. It was 2019 and I’d just spent two years traveling, working, and searching for my life’s purpose as a recent college graduate. A childhood of curiosity and awe for the natural world led me to study the sciences, and my …
Perspective Type Archives:
In Your Dreams: One Mind & Life Grantee Has Big Hopes for Exploring the Past and Future of Tibetan Dream Yoga
Humans spend at least two hours a night dreaming. That’s more than seven hundred hours a year, and six years spent dreaming in a lifetime. While we all have our own struggles and patterns of successful sleep, dreams are a unifying factor of humanity. Whether you’re riding the subway to work, standing in line for …
How Mindfulness Helps Us to Build Meaningful Social Connections
The article below by Polina Beloborodova was recognized with an honorable mention by the Mind & Life Institute for its 2022 Award for Public Communication of Contemplative Research. Early last summer, I was in a Zoom room with a dozen people, who had enrolled in my workshop, “Here, now, and together: How mindfulness helps us …
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Happiness Education in India: Two Researchers Set out to Ask What Students and Teachers Think
Imagine students in nursery school through Grade 8 developing the skills to cultivate greater happiness in life—from the inside out. In daily half-hour happiness classes, students learn from teachers and engage in games, storytelling, guided mindfulness practices, and role-playing. Each is encouraged to reflect on their feelings, thoughts, and behaviors, and how these impact their …
How Self-Compassion Can Improve Teen Mental Health (Part 2 of 2)
This piece by Karen Bluth, PhD is part 2 of an article honored with the 2022 Mind & Life Institute Award for Public Communication of Contemplative Research and was originally featured in Psychology Today online. Part 1 explained what self-compassion is and its role in improving teen mental health outcomes. But how can self-compassion be taught, and how can …
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Turning Over a New Leaf: 2023 President’s Letter
The beginning of a new year evokes a fresh start. The phrase “turning over a new leaf” dates back to the 16th century when the pages of books were called leaves. To turn over a new leaf was to turn to a new page. Collectively, I’d like to think of all of us as turning …
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How Self-Compassion Can Improve Teen Mental Health (Part 1 of 2)
This piece by Karen Bluth, PhD is part I of an article honored with the 2022 Mind & Life Institute Award for Public Communication of Contemplative Research and was originally featured in Psychology Today online. Teens in the United States are suffering. The reasons are many, including the lingering effects of the pandemic, fears stemming …
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New Global Majority Leadership and Mentorship Program Heralds an Era of Anti-Racist, Inclusive Contemplative Scholarship and Science
Following a successful pilot phase, Mind & Life’s Global Majority Leadership and Mentorship Program is opening a new era of contemplative scholarship and science by building inclusivity and liberation pedagogy into its framework. While conventional mentoring programs typically adopt a hierarchical approach wherein mentors bequeath knowledge and guidance to mentees, the Mind & Life program …
Sona Dimidjian Honored with 2022 Mind & Life Catherine Kerr Award for Courageous and Compassionate Scholarship
An estimated 280 million people globally experience depression, with more than 75 percent of people in low- and middle-income countries receiving no treatment at all. What role can mindfulness play in cultivating mental health and wellness? And how can researchers help ensure equitable access to mindfulness-based approaches? Clinical psychological scientist Sona Dimidjian has spent over …
Contemplative Researchers Seek to Leverage Power of Technology for Well-being
A familiar scene for many: It’s the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and we’re missing social lunches and coffee dates. Connection is lacking and we’re confined to our homes for work, play, rest, and everything in between. In this reality, online tools like Zoom and social media skyrocketed as a resource for maintaining relationships and …
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