This session features three scientists who are at the forefront of creating social change in climate attitudes and mitigation behavior. Ed Maibach (“How We Talk About Climate Matters”) will address the importance of climate attitudes, effective vs. detrimental messaging to raise awareness and change behavior, and the science of effective advocacy. Christine Wamsler (“Inner Transformation …
Continue reading “Panel Discussion: Science Forum: The Science of Social Change for Sustainability”
Equanimity is often mistaken for indifference. In fact, equanimity is the very quality that is needed when the stakes are high and you are deeply concerned about the outcome. It allows us to recover perspective and balance in order to see clearly and act with wisdom. Like all contemplative virtues, it can be trained. In …
Continue reading “Meditation: “Cultivating Equanimity” and Contemplative Arts”
Research on contemplative practices and their larger context can take various pathways, but as a methodology, one key method is neurophenomenology, an approach that fully acknowledges the mutual importance of an account of experience from within experience, along with measures, such as behavioral data and brain imaging, that purport to stand outside experience. Developed especially …
This session will feature talks on how contemplative and mindfulness-based training can help to enhance social connectivity and aid in the development of individual and societal flourishing in vulnerable and marginalized populations, including older adults, African Americans and people living with chronic medical conditions. David Creswell Mindfulness training to decrease loneliness and enhance social connectivity …
Mind-wandering has recently come to occupy a central position in cognitive psychology and neuroscience. Most theories and research so far have examined it in terms of task-unrelated or stimulus-independent mental contents that occur at particular moments of time. A defining feature of mind-wandering, however, are its dynamics: how thought moves over time. In this talk, …
Continue reading “Keynote and Q&A: “Understanding Human Thought Through Dynamic Brain Systems””
Even the best-intentioned efforts to stem the climate crisis often fail to address root causes; namely, our disconnection from one another and the earth. Could solutions to this and other climate-related challenges lie within the human mind? More than 900 scholars, scientists, contemplatives, students, and activists from 30+ countries convened online for Mind & Life’s …
Could transforming our mental states create a better world? This audacious proposition lay at the heart of the Science & Wisdom of Emotions Summit presented by Mind & Life and The Awake Network Foundation on May 2-5. Reflecting growing interest in the cultivation of emotional well-being, more than 100,000 people in 140 countries gathered for …
Our April conversation features Amishi Jha and Jon Kabat-Zinn, and cellist Barbara Bogatin. Learn more about the inner workings of the mind, and how to cultivate greater attention and wise action in how we conduct ourselves individually and collectively.
In honor of Women’s History Month, we’re pleased to profile Mind & Life grantee and Fellow Tish Jennings, a pioneer in mindfulness and education and social-emotional learning whose research over two decades has fostered greater teacher well-being and more compassionate classrooms. America faces a growing teacher shortage, made only worse by the pandemic. According to …
Continue reading “From Teacher Burnout to Teacher-led Reform”
Mind & Life periodically invites guest writers to contribute their perspectives and experiences to the blog as a way of deepening dialogue and understanding around key themes related to our mission. What is it about mindfulness practice that underpins such diverse positive outcomes? And aside from less-tangible notions of awakening, what supports the widespread intuition that mindfulness …
