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Lessons from the Milpa: Exploring Indigenous Contemplative Practices for a More Sustainable and Connected Future

For millennia, Indigenous cultures in Mesoamerica have relied on an agricultural system known as the milpa. Milpa involves the growing of corn, beans, and squash, often with other crops and trees. Together, they enter into a harmonious, symbiotic relationship. Strong corn stems support climbing beans. Bean plants transform nitrogen from the atmosphere into soil nutrients. …

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Indigenizing Mindfulness: A Path Toward Well-being for Native American Youth

For thousands of years, Indigenous cultures in America have engaged in sacred ceremonies and practices—singing, dancing, beadwork, prayer, basketmaking, drumming, running, and more—that nurture present moment awareness and a felt sense of interconnection. How can such practices be integrated into efforts to support the mental health and well-being of Native American youth today? With support …

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Toward an Ethics of Love at Mind & Life’s 2023 Summer Research Institute: A Reflection on How Science and Spirituality Can Contribute to Collective Liberation

The following reflection by no means captures the totality of knowledge, wisdom, and relational experiences shared during Mind & Life’s 2023 Summer Research Institute (SRI) held from June 4-10. Rather, it is a reflection of what precipitated through the associative web of my thoughts and emotions during SRI this year. Precipitation in Chinese, my mother …

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Bridging Contemplative Practice and Climate Action: One Community’s Experience

If climate change, as many now assert, is a crisis of epic disconnection, then how do we go about rekindling our relationship with one another and the natural world? And what role can contemplative practice play in relieving climate grief, inspiring climate action, and reminding us of the interdependence of all life? A group of …

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