Mind & Life periodically invites guest writers to contribute to the blog. In this post, a Mind & Life Contemplative Changemaking grantee shares her experiences and insights gleaned through the grant. In 2018, I was diagnosed with cancer. From then on, I chose to complement my medical treatments with a deep connection to nature and …
Continue reading “Connecting with Nature’s Healing: Forest Therapy for Cancer Patients in Chile”
February 24 marks the grim three-year anniversary of the Ukraine War. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country, more than a million people have been killed or wounded on both sides. The conflict has devastated critical infrastructure and shattered livelihoods, precipitating an environmental crisis that will take decades to remediate. Those working to serve their …
Continue reading “Cultivating Resilience: The Power of Mindfulness Training in War-Torn Ukraine”
Originally intended for 10,000 inhabitants, the Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Malawi now hosts over 60,000 people, with new arrivals exacerbating already strained conditions. A majority of residents suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, with daily life characterized by relentless stress and anxiety. Yet despite these challenges, thousands of refugee children and teens here are finding hope …
Continue reading “Teaching Yoga in Africa: The Silent Revolution”
This blog post was originally published online with Psychology Today. The academic landscape poses formidable challenges for people of color, who often experience systemic racism and microaggressions within the competitive and predominantly white environments characterizing higher education. Such challenges and inequity have been found to contribute to higher rates of depression and anxiety among BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) students …
Continue reading “Nurturing Equity in Academia: It Involves Mindfulness, Mentorship, and Community”
In the northwestern United States, two interconnected upland wet meadows are surrounded by densely packed Douglas Firs, Western Red Cedars, Western Hemlocks, and other common evergreen flora of the southern Cascade mountain range. A group of youth take off from a nearby parking lot and are led through a restored grassland, the surrounding woods, and …
In Uvalde, Texas, healthcare workers, teachers, counselors, and community leaders are benefiting from contemplative wisdom practices to deal with extreme stress, loss, and trauma in the wake of the tragic mass shooting that took place there in May 2022. In rural Colombia, women who have a history of being psychologically or physically mistreated are engaging …
