# data[].attributes.body
healthy mind...healthy life

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Current Issue Discover the latest issue of Mindful magazine read our newsletter Get the latest in mindfulness, delivered to your inbox

# data[].attributes.body
Mindful

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Taking a short break to tune in to the body and mind allows us to wind down from stress, but also get curious about our triggers.

"Creating space in the day to stop, come down from the worried mind, and get back into the present moment has been shown to be enormously helpful in mitigating the negative effects of our stress response," Elisha Goldstein writes in Mindful magazine. "When we drop into the present, we're more likely to gain perspective and see that we have the power to regulate our response to pressure."

In the video below, Goldstein goes through a short practice you can weave into your day to step into that space between stimulus and response.

1. Stop: Get comfortable in the position you're in, almost as if you're relaxing into this moment.

2. Take a breath: Take a few deep breaths, and as you're taking these breaths, see if you can pay attention to the sensation of the breath coming in and the sensation of the breath going out as if this was the first time you've ever noticed this breath before.

3. Observe: Begin to observe your experience right now in this moment. This includes your body, your emotions, and your thoughts. Beginning with the body, notice the position of your body and gently scan the body to notice any sensations that are there, being aware of any emotions that are present, too-if there's a sense of calm or restlessness, or neutral emotion of some kind. Become aware of if the mind is able to focus in this moment, or if it's off distracted in the future, or the past. If need be, gently guide the mind back to this moment.

4. Proceed: As we proceed we want to ask ourselves the question: What's most important right now to pay attention to? And whatever comes up in your mind, that's what you'll continue with.

When we use mindfulness to get rid of stress, we're no longer being mindful. Try this practice for being with and reimagining stressful moments. Read More

Mindful antidotes to get you through the pressure cooker of merriment that the holidays can sometimes become. Read More

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Taking a short break to tune in to the body and mind allows us to wind down from stress, but also get curious about our triggers. "Creating space in the day to stop, come down from the worried mind, and get back into the present moment has been shown to be enormously helpful in mitigating the negative effects of our stress response," Elisha Goldstein writes in Mindful magazine.

# data[].attributes.body
Character Lab

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The ability to connect with other people

Strength of Heart

"Human beings are social creatures....[S]imply to exist as a normal human being requires interaction with other people."
-Atul Gawande

Why does social intelligence matter?

Social intelligence is as important as IQ when it comes to happiness, health, and success. Empathetic people are less likely to experience anxiety, depression, and addictions later in life. They are also more likely to be hired, promoted, earn more money, and have happier marriages and better-adjusted children.

Pulse Check

Think about yourself. How many of these things are true?

I have a lot of relationships that are mutually beneficial, enjoyable, and supportive.

Most of the time, I can tell how other people feel and have a good idea about how to respond appropriately.

My relationships make me feel good about myself.

The people in my life help me be my best.

How do I encourage social intelligence in others?

Model it.Wait your turn before speaking, and when you speak, acknowledge others' points of view: "I see why you look at things this way, and it makes sense why you do. But I have a different perspective." Treat others' feelings with curiosity and validation, not frustration or judgement.

Celebrate it. Notice when someone made others feel included and valued: "It was nice of you to make sure the younger kids had playing time in the game, so they all felt like they had a role." Encourage teamwork and loyalty over hierarchy and competition. Reframe conflict as an opportunity to better understand how deeply reasonable people may feel about opposing views: "Our neighbors voted for another candidate, but we all care about the good of the country; we just have different ideas of how to achieve it."

Enable it. Create opportunities to help everyone feel equal, for example by giving even young family members responsibilities or a say in decision-making, or allowing students to vote on a classroom activity. Environments in which everyone feels needed and consistently acknowledged help reduce victimization and increase achievement and productivity.

About the author

Mitch Prinstein, Ph.D., is a board-certified clinical child and adolescent psychologist and serves as the John Van Seters Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is the author of Popular: Finding Happiness and Success in a World That Cares Too Much About the Wrong Kinds of Relationships. Prinstein and his research have been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, Los Angeles Times, CNN, U.S. News & World Report, Time, New York, Newsweek, Reuters, Family Circle, Real Simple, and elsewhere.

Related Thoughts of the Week

The hidden costs of self-promotion

View All

Videos about Social Intelligence

Mitch Prinstein, "Does Our High School Popularity Affect Us Today?"

Character is more than just social intelligence.

There are many other strengths of heart, mind, and will.
LEARN MORE ABOUT CHARACTER

The art and science of communication

The hidden costs of self-promotion

Why we need feedback to develop social intelligence

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The ability to connect with other people Strength of Heart "Human beings are social creatures....[S]imply to exist as a normal human being requires interaction with other people." -Atul Gawande Social intelligence is as important as IQ when it comes to happiness, health, and success.

# data[].attributes.body
Character Lab

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Doing what's best in the long-run despite short-term temptations

# data[].attributes.body
Character Lab

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Actions or speech intended to help others

Strength of the Heart

"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible."
-Dalai Lama

Why does kindness matter?

When you act kindly toward others, the benefits go both ways. Small, thoughtful acts-like helping, sharing, listening, or teaching-can change both how you are perceived and how you see yourself. When children are encouraged to be kind, their peers want to spend more time around them. Not only does kindness strengthen social relationships, but it also can show that your choices have an impact and that you have valuable skills (like the ability to make friends). In short, being kind to others is also being kind to yourself.

Pulse Check

Think about yourself. How many of these things are true?

I pay attention to what other people want or need to try to figure out how I can help.

I go out of my way to do favors for others, speak up to support them, share what I have, or simply listen when they need a friend.

I consciously make small sacrifices to be kind to others, like taking a few minutes to do an extra chore or listening to a story even if I'm not in the mood for it.

I try to think about how much my actions mean to others instead of how much of a burden they are for me.

How do I encourage kindness in others?

Model it. When being helpful to others, talk about why you're doing it. Try to include the cue for the behavior and what outcome you anticipate: "I noticed that you all seem a little down today because it is Monday, so I decided to give the class an extra five minutes of free time to talk to the people around you. I hope that this can help you feel a little more awake and excited to work." Point out things you notice about others, and brainstorm together about things that you can do. " I notice that Grandma is unhappy when her house is messy. What do you think I could do to help?"

Celebrate it. When you notice kind behavior, try to make clear why it's so generous. " I saw that you gave your seat up on the bus for the older gentleman. That was very thoughtful of you to choose to stand so that he could sit. I am sure that you helped give him a rest." Work with the young people in your life to become "kindness detectives" who are constantly alert to others' needs or wants.

Enable it. Making "If ___, then ___" plans can support habit formation. For example: "If someone is walking behind me through a door, then I will hold the door for them." Planning what to do in future situations can make the decision happen more naturally when they arise.

About the Authors

Julia Revord, M.A., is a doctoral student at the University of California, Riverside. She is an avid learner whose research seeks to question assumptions underlying much of social psychological research. Currently, she is interested in revisiting affective measures and definitions, and designing intervention studies that leverage resources to answer more questions.

Sonja Lyubomirsky, Ph.D., is a professor and vice chair of psychology at the University of California, Riverside, and author of The How of Happiness and The Myths of Happiness. Lyubomirsky's research focuses on the benefits of happiness, why some people are happier than others, and how generosity, connection, and gratitude can be increased.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Actions or speech intended to help others Strength of the Heart "Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible." -Dalai Lama When you act kindly toward others, the benefits go both ways. Small, thoughtful acts-like helping, sharing, listening, or teaching-can change both how you are perceived and how you see yourself.

# data[].attributes.body
Character Lab

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Commitment to making a meaningful contribution to the world

Strength of heart

"Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose."
-Helen Keller

Why does purpose matter?

Having a purpose is good for both you and the world. It drives you to make positive contributions in line with your own interests and strengths. And this pursuit gives your life direction and forward momentum; it motivates and guides your short-term goals and daily activities. With a strong sense of purpose, you flourish: you enjoy a more meaningful life, are healthier and more resilient to setbacks, live more energetically, and feel good about what you've accomplished.

Pulse Check

Think about yourself. How many of these things are true?

I look for ways to have positive effects on others' lives.

I often reflect on my life goals and the kind of person I want to be.

When I plan out my day, I consider how my activities connect to what I want to accomplish with my life.

I often think about what I can offer the world, taking into account what the world needs as well as my personal strengths and interests.

I often think about what matters most to me and why it matters.

How do I encourage purpose in others?

Model it. Engage in activities that connect to your own purpose, such as meaningful work, volunteering, or creating art-and invite young people to participate with you. Talk about your goals and why they are important to you: "I volunteer at the library because I think everyone should have free access to books and information."

Celebrate it. Praise and support actions that serve a larger purpose: "I love that you participated in the local cleanup day-picking up litter makes the town better for everyone." Point out connections between activities and long-term goals: "It makes sense that you've joined the Girls Who Code club at school, since you've always been interested in computers and can now help teach younger kids."

Enable it. Encourage young people to talk about their values and the kind of person they want to be. What do they want to contribute to the world? Notice sparks of potential purpose in children's interests and guide them toward opportunities to engage with them in meaningful and productive ways, such as volunteering or joining a club. No matter their age, children can be helpful to others.

Try This:

Identify your values and write about why they are important to you.

About the Authors

Heather Malin is a senior research scholar at the Stanford University Center on Adolescence, where she conducts research on youth purpose development. She is the author of Teaching for Purpose: Preparing Students for Lives of Meaning. Prior to her career in research, she taught K-12 students in schools and out-of-school programs and provided pre-service and in-service teacher training. She holds a PhD from Stanford University and an MA from Teachers College Columbia University.

William Damon is Professor of Education at Stanford University and Director of the Stanford Center on Adolescence. He is the author of The Path to Purpose, Noble Purpose,and several other writings on the development of purpose across the lifespan. Damon's other books include Greater Expectations (winner of the Parent's Choice Book Award); Some Do Care: Lives of Moral Commitment (with Anne Colby); and Good Work (with Howard Gardner and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi). Damon is a member of the National Academy of Education and was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2014.

Related Thoughts of the Week

Whatever life gives you, give back

What we care about.

View All

Identify your values and write about why they are important to you.

Whatever life gives you, give back

What we care about.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Commitment to making a meaningful contribution to the world Strength of heart "Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose." -Helen Keller Having a purpose is good for both you and the world.

# data[].attributes.body
Character Lab

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Tenelle Porter is a Character Lab scientist-in-residence and a post-doctoral researcher at the University of California, Davis where she studies intellectual humility, motivation, and learning. Her work has been featured in , NY Magazine's The Science of Us segment, and won an Open Mind Award from the Heterodox Academy. She has also written about intellectual humility for Behavioral Scientist. She has a PhD from Stanford University, and a Master's degree from the University of Oxford.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Tenelle Porter is a Character Lab scientist-in-residence and a post-doctoral researcher at the University of California, Davis where she studies intellectual humility, motivation, and learning. Her work has been featured in , NY Magazine's The Science of Us segment, and won an Open Mind Award from the Heterodox Academy.

# data[].attributes.body
Character Lab

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Passion and perseverance for long-term goals

Strength of Will

"Ever tried. Ever failed. No Matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better."
-Samuel Beckett

Why does grit matter?

Excellence sometimes seems like the result of natural talent. But no matter how gifted you are-no matter how easily you climb up the learning curve-you do need to do that climbing. There are no shortcuts. Grit predicts accomplishing challenging goals of personal significance. For example, grittier students are more likely to graduate from high school, and grittier cadets are more likely to complete their training at West Point. Notably, in most research studies, grit and measures of talent and IQ are unrelated, suggesting that talent puts no limits on the capacity for passion and perseverance.

Pulse Check

To gauge your current level of grit, consider how true the following are for you.

I enjoy projects that take years to complete.

I am working towards a very long-term goal.

What I do each day is connected to my deepest personal values.

There is at least one subject or activity that I never get bored of thinking about.

Setbacks don't discourage me for long.

I am a hard worker.

I finish whatever I begin.

I never stop working to improve.

How do I encourage grit in others?

Model it. If you love what you do, let others know. Wear your passion on your sleeve. When you fail, openly share your frustration but go out of your way to point out what you learned from the experience. Emphasize playing the long game-life is a marathon, not a sprint.

Celebrate it. When you see grit, draw attention to it: "Your work this past quarter has demonstrated enormous dedication. I know it wasn't always easy." Praise passion: "You're so into this! That's just awesome!"

Enable it. The paradox of grit is that the steely determination of individuals is made possible by the warmth and support of friends, families, teachers, and mentors. Don't let people you love quit on a bad day.

Try This:

Help students build incrementally toward mastery.

Reflect on a personal success and learn from a personal failure.

Identify your values and write about why they are important to you.

Want it all? Download the full Grit Playbook.

About the Author

Related Thoughts of the Week

Learn More

Videos about Grit

Help students build incrementally toward mastery.

Reflect on a personal success and learn from a personal failure.

Identify your values and write about why they are important to you.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Passion and perseverance for long-term goals Strength of Will "Ever tried. Ever failed. No Matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." -Samuel Beckett Excellence sometimes seems like the result of natural talent. But no matter how gifted you are-no matter how easily you climb up the learning curve-you do need to do that climbing.

# data[].attributes.body
Character Lab

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
An Experiment in Gratitude | The Science of Happiness

Demonstrating the power of gratitude letters, five people write them, then read them aloud to the recipients, with emotional results.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
An Experiment in Gratitude | The Science of Happiness Demonstrating the power of gratitude letters, five people write them, then read them aloud to the recipients, with emotional results.

# data[].attributes.body
Character Lab

# data[].attributes.body
Character Lab

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The ability to connect with other people

Strength of Heart

"Human beings are social creatures....[S]imply to exist as a normal human being requires interaction with other people."
-Atul Gawande

Why does social intelligence matter?

Social intelligence is as important as IQ when it comes to happiness, health, and success. Empathetic people are less likely to experience anxiety, depression, and addictions later in life. They are also more likely to be hired, promoted, earn more money, and have happier marriages and better-adjusted children.

Pulse Check

Think about yourself. How many of these things are true?

I have a lot of relationships that are mutually beneficial, enjoyable, and supportive.

Most of the time, I can tell how other people feel and have a good idea about how to respond appropriately.

My relationships make me feel good about myself.

The people in my life help me be my best.

How do I encourage social intelligence in others?

Model it.Wait your turn before speaking, and when you speak, acknowledge others' points of view: "I see why you look at things this way, and it makes sense why you do. But I have a different perspective." Treat others' feelings with curiosity and validation, not frustration or judgement.

Celebrate it. Notice when someone made others feel included and valued: "It was nice of you to make sure the younger kids had playing time in the game, so they all felt like they had a role." Encourage teamwork and loyalty over hierarchy and competition. Reframe conflict as an opportunity to better understand how deeply reasonable people may feel about opposing views: "Our neighbors voted for another candidate, but we all care about the good of the country; we just have different ideas of how to achieve it."

Enable it. Create opportunities to help everyone feel equal, for example by giving even young family members responsibilities or a say in decision-making, or allowing students to vote on a classroom activity. Environments in which everyone feels needed and consistently acknowledged help reduce victimization and increase achievement and productivity.

About the author

Mitch Prinstein, Ph.D., is a board-certified clinical child and adolescent psychologist and serves as the John Van Seters Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is the author of Popular: Finding Happiness and Success in a World That Cares Too Much About the Wrong Kinds of Relationships. Prinstein and his research have been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, Los Angeles Times, CNN, U.S. News & World Report, Time, New York, Newsweek, Reuters, Family Circle, Real Simple, and elsewhere.

Related Thoughts of the Week

The hidden costs of self-promotion

View All

Videos about Social Intelligence

Mitch Prinstein, "Does Our High School Popularity Affect Us Today?"

Character is more than just social intelligence.

There are many other strengths of heart, mind, and will.
LEARN MORE ABOUT CHARACTER

The art and science of communication

The hidden costs of self-promotion

Why we need feedback to develop social intelligence

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The ability to connect with other people Strength of Heart "Human beings are social creatures....[S]imply to exist as a normal human being requires interaction with other people." -Atul Gawande Social intelligence is as important as IQ when it comes to happiness, health, and success.

# data[].attributes.body
Mindful

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This guided meditation is meant to be done in the middle of the day, wherever you may be.

In mindfulness practice, you'll often hear the term "natural awareness." By "natural awareness" we mean the awareness that just comes with being a human being. It's free from judging and characterizing-it's just noticing and sensing the world. It's done when you open your eyes, you see something, or you hear something, or you touch something. So, the simplest awareness that just comes as part of the equipment of being alive, without a lot of filters around it or judgments. You can trust that it's always there.

By "natural awareness" we mean the awareness that just comes with being a human being. It's free from judging and characterizing-it's just noticing and sensing the world.

An Awareness Practice You Can Do Anywhere

This is a short practice intended for doing in the middle of the day, wherever you are out in the world, for settling. It's done with eyes open. So let's begin.

1. Settle into your seat. Begin by taking a seat, or if necessary, standing. The important thing is to feel where your body is touching the seat and touching the ground.

2. Scan the body. Sense where your bottom is touching the seat. Sit up straight or stand straight but not stiff. Make sure your feet are completely touching the ground, connecting you to the earth. Your eyes are open, so take in the surroundings of where you are. Lower your gaze slightly.

3. Connect with the breath. Pay light attention to your breath as it goes out.

4. Follow the out-breath. At the end of the out-breath, let there be a gap while the in-breath is happening. And in that gap you have natural awareness: it's there already, you don't have to create it. So, follow the breath out, and out, and out. As thoughts arise, treat them as you would anything else you encounter: Notice it, and use that noticing to bring you back to the out-breath and ride it out. Out, and out, and out.

When we meditate, we inject far-reaching and long-lasting benefits into our lives: We lower our stress levels, we get to know our pain, we connect better, we improve our focus, and we're kinder to ourselves. Let us walk you through the basics in our new mindful guide on how to meditate. Read More

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
A One-Minute Meditation to Focus Your Mind - Mindful

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This guided meditation is meant to be done in the middle of the day, wherever you may be. In mindfulness practice, you'll often hear the term "natural awareness." By "natural awareness" we mean the awareness that just comes with being a human being. It's free from judging and characterizing-it's just noticing and sensing the world.

# data[].attributes.headline
Kindness Activities to Counter Negativity Bias

# data[].attributes.subject
Kindness Activities to Counter Negativity Bias

# data[].attributes.body
Mindful Schools

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Posted in

Inspiration

"There's so much negativity-they're always tattling and calling each other out. How can we change this? I am open to ideas!" This was a recent plea from a 4th and 5th grade teacher.

As a part of the educational team at a therapeutic school, I'm often called on to consult or provide direct intervention in the areas of self-awareness, self-regulation, and social emotional learning. We serve students who live with mental health diagnoses, have behavioral challenges, and often come to us with a history of trauma. As such, social emotional learning is often the area where they need the most support. Mindfulness instruction, yoga classes, and psychosocial skills curricula are an integral part of our school day.

When I work with our teachers and students, I will often introduce Kindness exercises to help address the "negativity"-you can find three exercises below. But first, let's discuss the science of why and how we experience and remember "the negative."

Why So Much Negativity?

As psychologist Rick Hanson notes, evolution has primed our brain, and specifically the amygdala, to have a negativity bias. At one time this bias was necessary for survival. The amygdala is the brain's alarm center, with strong connections to our emotions and memories. The amygdala uses about about ⅔ of its neurons to watch for negative experiences and once found, these experiences are stored quickly. For children and teens who have had adverse experiences growing up, the amygdala can be even more sensitive and reactive. For then, the amygdala is like a smoke detector that is placed directly over a cooking surface, making alarm bells go off at the slightest hint of perceived danger.

"The alarm bell of your brain - the amygdala - uses about two-thirds of its neurons to look for bad news: it's primed to go negative." - Rick Hanson

Positive memories and experiences, on the other hand, are much slower to store, often have less intense body sensations, and need more repetition to "stick."

Promoting Kindness through 3 Mindful Activities

In order to provide opportunities to notice, practice, and spread kindness within our school, we host a month-long Kindness Challenge.

Our goal is to promote acts of kindness in the classrooms and school-wide and for teachers and students to experience the embodied benefits of sharing acts of kindness as noted in some of the studies cited here. Acts of kindness can benefit the person sharing kindness, the recipients, and also anyone who witnesses these acts. In our mindfulness classes, we talk about how experiencing kindness can feel in the body. Being connected to and aware of how our body feels during positive experiences is an important part of moving our brain's bias from negative to positive. We speak about how kindness is like the reverse of bullying.

Our Kindness Challenge has three main areas of focus: noticing acts of kindness, performing acts of kindness, and being kind to ourselves.

1) "Kindness Detectives"
Begin the month-long Kindness Challenge by brainstorming what kindness might look like in school. You can start by reading the book What Does It Mean To Be Kind? by Rana DiOrio for ideas. Then, give each class a bag of colorful paper leaf cutouts. Tell students that each time they see someone do something kind for a person or the school environment, they can write the act of kindness on the leaf. The challenge is to see how many leaves the class can collect.

At our school, this activity started off slowly, as many students were not used to "looking for the good." However, with modeling by staff, students soon became excellent kindness detectives and we collected over 100 leaves by the end of the challenge. Students also reported sharing this activity at home.

2) "I Am Kind" Flowers
Begin this lesson with a guided mindfulness practice to notice what it might feel like to give and receive kindness. You can read the book How Full Is Your Bucket? by Tom Rath to illustrate how acts of kindness can "fill the bucket" of the giver and the recipient. Then take the brainstorming ideas from the Kindness Leaves activity and let students select their favorites to create "I Am Kind" flowers. Students set an intention to practice these acts of kindness during the challenge.

3) "Self-Kindness" Beads
As part of our focus on kindness, we talk about the importance of being kind to ourselves. Students share how, when they are having a difficult time, it is much harder for them to be kind to others. Discuss ideas of how we can be kind to ourselves and what things make us feel better. With this list, introduce a kindness bead activity. Each bead signifies an act of kindness students can do for themselves. Invite students to add beads to their kindness bead string that reminds them to care for themselves. These beads can be hung on water bottles, belt loops, or backpacks.

Kindness is a Practice

Our Kindness Challenge ran for a full month. Some of these activities were done specifically in mindfulness class and others were taken into the classroom for collaborative work. Throughout the Challenge, I witnessed many occasions where students and staff went out of their way to be kind and to notice heartful acts done by others.

As with any new habit, this Kindness Lens takes practice, reminders, modeling and celebrations of success. We frequently revisit Kindness in mindfulness class. Students are encouraged to continue to notice and share kindness throughout the school day with staff and peers. We celebrate and notice how it feels to be kind and to see kindness in action.

The negativity bias is part of our human evolution, but every day we have the chance to change this, one heartful act at a time.
Gloria Sanford-Breton, OTR/L, RYT, RCYT is an occupational therapist who has worked with adults and children for over 30 years. She has trained with Mindful Schools, ChildLight Yoga, YogaNH to bring mindfulness, yoga, and a more holistic approach to her OT practice. Gloria offers specialized presentations on bringing trauma-informed mindfulness and yoga to youth, staff, and caregivers. She currently works in a therapeutic education program in Massachusetts, where she specializes in trauma-informed interventions, self-regulation, and manages the mindfulness and yoga program.
As for the teacher who was feeling overwhelmed by the negativity-she herself has been able to take a moment to notice "what went right today," even amid the daily challenges of teaching. This Kindness practice has become an integral part of our school culture-our teachers, staff, and students continue to notice and perform acts of kindness. I've seen this shift in our school culture support peace, respect and learning.

To stay up to date on articles like this, for our monthly newsletter.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Tip the Scale of Negativity Bias: 3 Kindness Practices for Your School - Mindful Schools

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
"There's so much negativity-they're always tattling and calling each other out. How can we change this? I am open to ideas!" This was a recent plea from a 4th and 5th grade teacher. As a part of the educational team at a therapeutic school, I'm often called on to consult or provide direct intervention in the areas of self-awareness, self-regulation, and social emotional learning.

# data[].attributes.body
Mindful

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
'Tis the season to practice saying no. Many of us frequently say "yes" to invitations, favors, and requests in order to avoid the difficulty and discomfort of saying "no," according to the research of Columbia psychologists Francis Flynn and Vanessa Lake. But saying "yes" when we mean "no" is a recipe for overwhelm and exhaustion.

Fortunately, there are ways to make saying "no" feel less uncomfortable. Below are research-based strategies for saying "no" (without ruffling too many feathers) in five different situations.

1: You're asked to work late, but you had been planning to take some time for yourself, like by getting outside for a walk with your dog.

It's hardest to decline a request when our reasons for doing so are vague, abstract, or seemingly unimportant-especially if we have to give our excuse face-to-face.

One helpful strategy can be to make our excuses more concrete. "I won't get enough exercise today" can feel like a weak explanation. But if you actually block off time for things like "hike with Buster" on your calendar, you'll be able to clearly see when you do and don't have time to work late. That way, you'll be able to say "no" with more conviction-like, "I have other plans tonight, but I could help you this weekend if you need it."

As a bonus, when you have your most important priorities already blocked off on your calendar, you'll be able to see when you actually do have time to help out. Offering those times to help out can make saying "no" even easier.

2: A committee, team, or group asks you to take on more work because they are all "too busy."

Saying "no" to a group can be especially hard, as we risk disappointing not just one person, but many.

However, we probably don't need to worry as much as we do. Because of what psychologists sometimes call the "harshness bias," we often believe that people may judge us more negatively than they actually do. The reality is that most people won't think less of you if you say no. In fact, people tend to respect us more when we are able to set healthy limits.

How best to say no in this situation? Take a moment to call up the respect for yourself that you'd like others to feel for you. It takes courage to consider your own needs and priorities along with the needs of the group, but in the long run it always feels better than being dumped on. Then be candid: "I'm so sorry, but I'm not able to do more than my share this week."

3: You've been invited to a party and are really tempted to go, but you're tired and suspect that you're getting sick.

We human beings will often choose what is most satisfying in the present rather than what will be best for our future, especially when the present option is as pleasure-packed as a party.

We can make better decisions by visualizing the future as clearly as we can, rather than thinking about what we will miss out on now. Think about the last time you skipped sleep for a party. Visualize what happened in as much detail as possible. How did you feel the next day? Ask yourself: What will I look and feel like tomorrow morning if I don't stay in and get some rest tonight?

Then in your response, summon your crystal ball: "Right now, in this moment, I want to go with you to that party more than you can imagine. But I know that I will regret it if I do. I can see my future if I go to that party, and I know I'll be too tired to enjoy tomorrow if I go."

4: Your plate is already too full.

It's counter-intuitive, but being short on time makes it even harder for us to manage the limited time we do have. That's according to Harvard behavioral scientist Sendhil Mullainathan and Princeton economist Eldar Shafir. In their book Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much (Picador, 2013), they explain that the busier we get, the more likely it is that we will have a harder time saying "no" to the next request.

The solution? Practice your reason for saying no before you need it: "I wish I could, but I can't take on any more responsibilities this week."

When we are stressed and tired, we tend to act habitually. Knowing this, we can train our brain to habitually say "no" rather than "yes" to requests by rehearsing a go-to response when people ask us for favors. Research shows that when we make a specific plan before we are confronted with a request, we are far more likely later to act in a way that's consistent with our original intentions.

5: Someone asks you to do them a little unethical favor, like cover for them while they skip work.

Americans tend to admire strong individuals who don't cave in the face of peer pressure, but that doesn't mean it's easy to reject an unethical request. In a series of studies published in the journalPersonality and Social Psychology Bulletin, psychologists had participants ask strangers to perform unethical acts-such as to vandalize a library book by writing the word "pickle" in it.

Fully half of the people asked to do something unethical did it. To say no to a request like this is even more difficult when it comes from a friend. To do so, we need to put our values front and center, reminding ourselves-and our friends-what matters most.

In this situation, two things are important: 1) compassion for your friend's troubles and 2) your own integrity. Express both of these. Say "no" clearly, and repeat yourself using the same words, if necessary: "I'm so sorry that you are struggling right now, and I wish I could help. But I can't lie for you. Integrity is really important to me."

"No" may be very difficult for your friend to hear-as difficult as it is for you to say. Stand your ground. Repeat your compassionate refusal as many times as you need to. By using the same words with each repetition, you indicate to your friend that you aren't going to be influenced no matter how much pressure he or she lays on.

This article originally appeared on Greater Good, the online magazine of UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center. View the original article.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
5 Research-Based Ways to Say No During the Holidays - Mindful

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
'Tis the season to practice saying no. Many of us frequently say "yes" to invitations, favors, and requests in order to avoid the difficulty and discomfort of saying "no," according to the research of Columbia psychologists Francis Flynn and Vanessa Lake. But saying "yes" when we mean "no" is a recipe for overwhelm and exhaustion.

# data[].attributes.headline
What Hearing Yes Does To your Child's Brain

# data[].attributes.subject
What Hearing Yes Does To your Child's Brain

# data[].attributes.body
Mindful

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
It's not about permissive parenting, says Dr. Dan Siegel in his new book "Yes Brain" with co-author Tina Payne Bryson. It's about using "yes" to find ways to relate, which encourages kids to explore and be resilient, instead of starting at "no," which shuts them down.

Yes is more than a word. It's a state of being, of relating, and a gateway to curiosity, growth, and resilience, according to internationally recognized educator, neuropsychiatrist, and bestselling author Dr. Dan Siegel. He and co-author Tina Payne Bryson have written a new book that offers parents everywhere a roadmap for developing and growing their child's inner spark and internal compass to guide them throughout their lives. It's called, " YES Brain: How to Cultivate Courage, Curiosity, and Resilience in Your Child."

Listen to the "Yes Brain" Interview with Dr. Dan Seigel:

Lu Hanessian: This is an important message and book. All parents want to raise kids who feel an inner sense of stability and authenticity, who can cope with life's disappointments and losses, who know themselves, and who care deeply about others and themselves. I think most people would say that's a no-brainer! Actually, you and Tina would say it's a "yes brainer."

Dan Siegel: It's a yes-brainer, exactly! The idea is that when parents or anyone caring for a child-a grandparent, a coach or a teacher-anyone who's supporting the growth of children, when they understand that the brain can get into a "yes brain" state and approach life with all of these positive features versus a "no brain" state, which is created when we feel threatened and we shut down, you're actually empowered as an adult to help raise children where these states of a yes brain that are repeatedly created become a trait of positivity in life.

Lu Hanessian: So, a "yes brain" is open, it's flexible, it can pause before reacting, all that good stuff, looks at the glass half full, or maybe filled and overflowing and "no brain" is...

Dan Siegel: "No brain" is where you're either getting ready to fight or you might get ready to flee and even, you don't know whether to fight or flee, so you freeze up your muscles and hold on until you figure out whether you're going to run or fight and those are the activating threat states of a no brain. There's also a deactivating no brain threat state which is where you collapse in a faint. So whether you're fainting or moving toward the freeze or flee or fight, all of those are called reactive states that are activated. For example, if I said "No" harshly several times, you'd feel that kind of reactivity rising up in you depending on your temperament and your history. You might tend to go to fight, you might tend to faint. We're all different from each other, but in any of those F's of a no brain state, you shut down learning and you shut down connection to other people. When it's repeated in a child, a child's development becomes curtailed because they're not open to new learning and connected with others.

Lu Hanessian: I've been at conferences where I've heard you speak and do that yes/no exercise you just referred to and it's incredible how the collective reaction of the "No" you repeat where people said they felt frightened or small or closed or rigid, and, collectively, people said that "Yes" made them feel 'open, free, safe, and trusting.' So if we think of these as states that our child could get into in relationship with us, I think parents might translate that to: "I feel connected," "My child is easy to approach or get along with," or, I think with no brain, a lot of parents kind of head into that "Oh, he's so stubborn or judgmental," but this affects parents, too. Parents have a yes brain and a no brain, as well!

Dan Siegel: Well, exactly Lu, and it's so beautiful to hear you remember workshops you've been to where I do the "No" experience and the "Yes" experience, and when parents have the opportunity-which is basically where the idea of the book came from-to distinguish these two in themselves, they learn from direct experience that a no brain can be activated when we're frustrated, when we're feeling at the end of our rope, when our kid pushes our buttons, when something at work isn't going right, a neighbor is doing this or that; there are so many things that can get us into a no brain state. And when you as a parent are yourself in that state, you can't do good parenting when you're in a reactive no brain state, when you're fighting with your kid, wanting to run away, when you're freezing up, or even collapsing in a faint, all of these reactive states shut down good, open, receptive parenting.

Instead you want to learn to move yourself from a "no brain" state you might be in to a "yes brain" state of receptivity where it's all those things you just described, openness, a sense of connection, curiosity. There's a positive approach to life that comes, when you look at the neural circuitry of the yes brain, a way you learn a challenge is an opportunity to learn more, not to collapse in fear, that a difficulty you're having with a friend or family member is an opportunity to get closer, rather than just fight back and hold a grudge. All of these yes brain approaches are, in many ways, the foundations for what Carol Dweck calls a growth mindset or Angela Duckworth would say is the component of grit, of having this resilience, to be in a positive mindset, where you look at difficulties and say, how can I learn from this.

Lu Hanessian: The book walks parents through four yes brain fundamentals as you and Tina call them. The acronym is BRIE. The B is balance, the R is resilience, insight is I and empathy is E. So just do a quick summary of each, because altogether, you make a really compelling, science-based case that BRIE is a growth-oriented process that reinforces itself, that the more we cultivate this process, it cultivates good things in us. It leads to an integrated brain and that integration creates more integration.

The 4 Elements of a "Yes Brain"

1) Balance - the state of receptivity that allows us to embrace the whole range of our emotional experience

2) Resilience - the capacity to shift from reactivity to receptivity and come back to balance

3) Insight - awareness of our own internal state that cultivates understanding of ourselves and others

4) Empathy - the sensations and feelings we get in response to others' emotions as well as the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person

Dan Siegel: B stands for balance. And the balance term really means, when you're embracing the wide array of feeling states you can have, the emotions that arise, the sense of meaning of things, sometimes positive sometimes negative, not pushing things away but actually holding them in awareness with balance. It's a kind of receptive state to your own variety of emotional experiences you can have, so you're open to the whole rainbow of emotions rather than saying I'm just going to have one or the other. So that's a way of thinking about integration that allows the brain to grow in such a fashion that instead of being frightened of intense emotions, you learn to surf the wave of emotions. When you can sail the ship of your mind through your body's experience with emotion, all these things that arise, they allow you to really come to life with a lot of strength and that's what balance means.

Lu Hanessian: You give a lot of really great strategies in each one. Let's just touch on one: the red zone, green zone, blue zone, where you teach kids and parents how to recognize when they're becoming hyper-aroused or hypo-aroused, just basically learning to check in, and see when they're becoming reactive.

Dan Siegel: A green zone is this band of experience, the width of intense emotions that are either low or high, that you can stay floating beautifully down this river. Sometimes those emotions get so upsetting, you get chaotic and that's the red zone, and sometimes they get so shut down that you're unable to be flexible, and that's the blue zone. The green zone is right in the middle, it's this window of tolerance-in science, that's what we talk about. When you translate that for a parent, you can teach a child or an adolescent to be aware of which zone are they in, and to widen their green zone-let's say for an emotion of frustration or fear or sadness or even anger, yes, you can experience these same emotions, but now you remain balanced, which is basically a synonym for integrated. You remain integrated while you're experiencing an emotion, whereas before, it really threw you. You don't have the skills yet to deal with anger or fear, let's say, and so we give lots of techniques for how to teach a child to stay present with their emotion and widen that green zone.

Lu Hanessian: And so, mindful of our child's window of tolerance, then, we can expand it together. But then, expanding the green zone itself is so interesting. You talk about cultivating resilience and how we can expand this really wonderful green zone. When we're in that space, how do we widen it, deepen it, so that the more we become mindfully present with our child, the more we promote our own yes brain. It's almost that we're co-creating that resilience, isn't it?

Dan Siegel: Exactly. Resilience can be thought of as, when I leave the green zone and I'm in red or blue, how do I get back to balance? And the way to think about that in terms of what you can do as a parent is this: When your child is in the red or blue zones, out of this green area of balance, in that moment, they're in a reactive no brain state. So you have worked with them to feel what that feels like, and that essentially to "name it to tame it" is the term you can use where literally, by identifying a state you're in, "I'm really really angry and I'm in the red zone" or "I'm really really frightened and I'm in the blue zone." When you name it, research shows, you're actually allowing the brain to go from huge amounts of firing or being shut down-the red or the green, the red or the blue-and now you're helping with the naming it and identifying it, and being aware of it, moving toward the green zone. Now, you may say that's kind of like magic. The way to think about it is when you as a parent are tuning into the state of your child, that child who is alone in their dysregulation, that is in the red fired up or blue shut down, in connecting with you, that dyad or pair, that interaction of two people, allows that child to use you as a resource in this moment to go, "Oh I can go from the red back to the green." You may give them some space, sensing a few breaths, stretching, walking around, having a drink of water, there's...regulated. You've basically taught your child, number one, be aware of your state. So when you're in a no brain state, just know that's where it is. You don't have to get mad at yourself, just know that's where it is.

Number two, when you're out of balance, when you're in this "no brain" state, you can come back to a "yes brain" state, the green zone. And here are the techniques your parent has taught you. They take a break, get a drink of water, put a hand on chest, hand on the belly, sense the breath, and they do what they've learned to do as a skill, to go from the no brain state to the yes brain state, they've gone from reactivity to receptivity, and you've taught them the skill of resilience.

Lu Hanessian: In the process of teaching them the skill of resilience, we are also developing insight, the I in BRIE -insight into themselves and into ourselves. One of the goals and benefits of living, loving, and raising our kids more mindfully is developing the ability to look within, to observe ourselves and understand who we are in relationship and in the world.

Dan Siegel: Exactly. For me, both as a dad and just as a human being on the planet, learning to be kind of aware, and it brings up the insight notion, aware of your own internal state, allows you to see that we're not alone in this world, we're very relational beings. And so the insight into your own internal state, like "Am I in balance?," the B, or "Am I off balance and need to get back." The need for resilience, your insight comes in here because you can say, well, "What I need to do now is to connect with another person, or even myself?" I begin to feel that life is okay, that if things are not so good right now, I've learned from experience that even if I'm in a distressed, imbalanced state, I have the experience that I can get back to balance. You use these deep connecting experiences to teach the skills of insight and also to teach how you can use these ways of changing your state to become more resilient.

Lu Hanessian: And these are all the building blocks of empathy, the E in BRIE. In your teachings, you've often shared another acronym SNAG which stands for Stimulate Neuronal Activation and Growth. Since what we practice grows, can you share a little about how a parent can SNAG a child's brain to cultivate empathy?

You don't have to be a neurosurgeon to help create an integrated, structurally strong brain in your child. You have to have a relationship that inspires them to rewire their brain toward integration.

Dan Siegel: Well thanks for reminding me of my acronym addiction! We've gone from cheesy brie to active snagging. The idea there is where attention goes, neural firing flows and neural connection grows. What that means is that where you help a child focus attention, like on their internal state or for empathy on the state of another person or family member or yourself -"Here's what I'm feeling right now"-you're stimulating neuronal activation. You don't have to be a neurosurgeon to help create an integrated, structurally strong brain in your child. You have to have a relationship that inspires them to rewire their brain toward integration.

You stimulate neuronal activation, that's where attention goes. You're helping focus attention, neural firing flows, and here's the secret to the next part of that little ditty: Where attention goes, neural firing flows and neural connections grows and that's the G of SNAG. And what that means is that, and it's absolutely fabulous about neuroplasticity, is that energy and information flow is what's directed by attention, so our relationship, which is where we share that flow, can actually shape our child's brain, stimulate neuronal activation in those circuits that are activated, turn on genes, create proteins and actually strengthen their physical and anatomical connections to each other! It's a fun acronym because it reminds you as a parent that you have the empowerment to figure out, how do you want to snag your brain? If you're a parent, the question is how do you want to help snag your child's brain. And the answer is toward well-being. And then you go, "Well how do I do that?" And that's toward integration and that's what the "yes brain" is all about. How do you create an integrated "yes brain" state so that repeated states that are created when your child is growing up with you become traits of positivity in the child's life? A state becomes a trait because of snagging the brain.

Lu Hanessian: I once heard you say, "Integration is kindness made visible." And I thought that's such a beautiful concept that is equal parts hopeful and hard science.

Dan Siegel: Exactly. I say yes to that!

Lu Hanessian: Alright two more questions, one that I know parents everywhere are going to be curious about...setting limits. " YES Brain " is not of course about permissiveness. It's not about saying yes all the time. Is it that when we promote our own "yes brain" we can set limits and say no and respond with flexibility and be confident in our choices all with an open-hearted stance, in other words, we can say no with a yes spirit? We can say no with kind of a yes energy.

One of the biggest issues with a book called the "YES brain" is that people think, "Oh, permissive parenting."

Dan Siegel: One of the biggest issues with a book called the "YES brain" is that people think, "Oh, permissive parenting" and that's not at all what we're saying. When a child has the experience of structure and they get freedom from structure and Tina Bryson, my coauthor and I, we totally embrace the importance for structure, for thinking of the word discipline as teaching and that when a child learns from your teaching that structure is their way to gain freedom and they learn the experience of that, then the "yes brain" approach to parenting is saying something like this. Let's do a simple example: a child is asking for ice cream before dinner, and you say "No way! That's the stupidest thing I've heard all day that is dumb!" So that would be one response. Here would be another one. "Can I have ice cream before dinner?" "Are you out of your mind?! How many times are you going to ask me something as ridiculous as that?!" Versus this: "Can I have ice cream before dinner?" "You know, I'm hungry too and ice cream before dinner sounds like such a cool idea. We need to eat our dinner first, and then, you know something, I'm so in the mood for vanilla. But why don't we figure out which flavor we'll get later. Let's have dinner and we can plan on when we'll get the ice cream together." So you've heard the request-I call it PART, another acronym-you're present for the request, P, you attune to the feelings behind the request, you resonate with it, you go, "Hey I'd like to ice cream too, I'm with you"... you develop the T trust. And then you say "No, we're not having ice cream." But I love the feelings behind the request. And it is totally understandable for you to ask for it so let's figure out a way to share our love for ice cream after we eat the nutritious food. So that's an example where you're creating structure and you're teaching a child that they can express their desire and how they'd like something to go. You're creating structure and saying "No, it's not going to go that way," but the desire behind your request I see and the feeling is a feeling I can even relate to. So that's the yes brain approach while being given structure and putting limits that we don't eat ice cream before dinner.

Helping kids create more meaningful lives

What do I want for my child? Investigating measures of success and happiness

Navigating "yes brain" parenting into later years

Lu Hanessian was part of the first cohort of one hundred international students enrolled in Mindsight Institute's online Interpersonal Neurobiology certificate program taught by Dr. Daniel Siegel.

"What's going on in that head of yours?" How many adults have asked an adolescent some form of that question? In his book, Brainstorm, a New York Times bestseller, Dr. Dan Siegel decided to go a step further and actually answer that question. The results are surprising-and very exciting. Read More

An in-depth look at the research and best practices for bringing mindfulness into schools. Read More

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Dr. Dan Siegel: What Hearing "Yes" Does to Your Child's Brain - Mindful

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
It's not about permissive parenting, says Dr. Dan Siegel in his new book "Yes Brain" with co-author Tina Payne Bryson. It's about using "yes" to find ways to relate, which encourages kids to explore and be resilient, instead of starting at "no," which shuts them down. Yes is more than a word.

# data[].attributes.body
MIndful

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Stress is everywhere. You wake up in the morning to the sound of your phone's alarm blaring, sending a hit of adrenaline through your system. Then, you might get another hit as you scroll through your news feed and learn about the latest global or local disaster. At times, it feels as if there are threats everywhere, real or imagined, and the body and mind react accordingly in any number of ways. Your heart may speed up or you may feel sweaty, hyper-focused, or simply avoid whatever happens to be unpleasant in the moment.

We all thought that technology would make our lives easier. But instead we are inundated with packets of data, much of it irrelevant. Facebook tells us what our long-lost friends are doing on vacation. Google reminds us of a holiday potluck we are supposed to attend. We can endorse professionals on LinkedIn so they will endorse us. Twitter truncates the day's news into tidy sentences, and a device on our wrist reports that last night, we had 45 minutes of "restless sleep." Email has become, in the words of a friend of mine, "a To-Do list that you didn't create." And the plethora of apps at your fingertips that help you, say, navigate IKEA more effectively, provide minimal payoff.

Our inability to step out of the information flow - such as at work where we may be required to stay plugged in or can't seem to get away physically or psychologically from our phones at any time - has a direct effect on our health and well-being. Namely, and not surprisingly to many of us, an increase in stress reactivity.

The Three Stages of Stress

There are many definitions of stress and one is from the original father of stress research, Hans Selye: the non-specific adaptation response of the body to any demand or problem. He described a process of how we respond to stress called the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) consisting of three stages: Alarm, Resistance, and Exhaustion.

Alarm involves a number of physiological reactions - hormonal, neurological, cardiovascular, etc. - and psychological reactions, as we move into a fight, flight, or freeze response for survival.

Resistance may be viewed as the physiological and psychological attempt to adapt to and overcome the effects of the stressor. This is all well and good if the stressor resolves - if not, the stress hormone cortisol will continue to be produced, resulting in poor sleep, increased illness, anxiety, weight gain, and poor cognitive functioning.

Exhaustion may follow when a stressor becomes chronic either from ongoing exposure or ineffectual and repeated attempts to deal with it. We become overwhelmed.

The Warning Signs of Burnout

Fortunately, most of us now live without the threat of sabre tooth tigers - but we instead face long commutes, harsh emails, striving for the almighty dollar and enhanced self-esteem. These stressors result in the same internal reactions as when we are confronted with something life threatening.

Stress itself may not be the issue but rather its chronicity and severity, our relationship to it, as well as what we do when stress shows up.

When we are faced with a stressor, regardless of whether it is positive or negative, it involves a change to which we must adjust: the new baby, job, relationship, death, and sickness, to name a few. Stress itself may not be the issue but rather its chronicity and severity, our relationship to it, as well as what we do when stress shows up. Humans must necessarily adapt psychologically, socially, biologically, and environmentally. And we are nothing if we are not problem solvers. But even too much problem solving can result in burnout.

Symptoms of burnout, according to The Maslach Burnout Inventory Manual, used by researchers as a measure for long-term occupational stress, include:

Emotional exhaustion - Emotionally overextended and exhausted by work or life. This is common for people in the helping professions when they reach a point where they feel no longer able to give of themselves.

Depersonalization - Negative, cynical attitude, or treating others as objects. We can begin to see others as deserving of their problems. This view is particularly tied to emotional exhaustion.

Sense of low personal accomplishment - Feelings of incompetence, inefficiency, and inadequacy. People feel unhappy and dissatisfied with themselves and their performance. This can lead to "learned helplessness" and "chronic bitterness."

The Mayo Clinic provides key warning signs that you may be heading toward burnout.

You feel disenchanted and cynical.

It's difficult to get out of bed - and it's equally as difficult to get started once you're at work.

You have a short fuse with colleagues and clients.

You feel sapped of energy - to follow through on projects, to concentrate on one task.

Sleep and appetite may be affected.

You may be using substances to avoid feelings.

You may experience physical symptoms including headaches and back aches.

All of this of course may affect both your work and personal life, making you miserable, affecting relationships, and decreasing productivity.

Mindfully Manage Your Stress in Six Steps

Regardless of the cause of your stress, there are a number of steps you can take to manage it. These include:

1. Make a list of your personal stressors. Susan Woods, a well-known mindfulness teacher, suggests we think of them in terms of those that are acute and chronic or internal and external. Realize that these categories may overlap. One can have an acute on chronic problem (e.g. an exacerbation of ongoing back pain due to an injury, or a stressor that may be both external and internal such as stomach pain due to a conflict you're having with a spouse). Writing them down can help you deconstruct them, making them less overwhelming and more manageable by externalizing them. We don't have to be them; we can simply have them. And remember: stressors are finite.

2. Determine which stressors you can change and which ones you can't. Once you identify a stressor that can't be changed, ask yourself, how you might bring a change in attitude or perspective to it. Can you see it differently? Can a problem become a learning opportunity or a challenge to overcome? Can a task become something that gives you a sense of accomplishment?

3. Do one small thing. Can you come up with a small, manageable way of beginning to address the stressor? Make sure the action you are going to take is stated in positive and concrete terms - Think about what you are going to do rather than what you won't do. Set a time to start and to finish. Don't try to do too much. Remember, small steps are key.

4. Build a support network. Can you identify your inner and outer resources for getting support and managing? For example, if you are feeling burned out from work, consider making a list of your internal resources. What are your strengths? Make a list of people, places, activities, or things that could be external supports. Maybe you need an exercise buddy, a friend to vent to regularly, or do an online search for a "meet up" that might fill a need. Monitor and write down those times when you feel even a little bit better. Monitoring whatever you do brings some kind of change. Maybe there are small activities you find nourishing that you've stopped doing like that cappuccino and podcast you used to listen to first thing in the morning or simply taking a few deep breaths when feeling overwhelmed. Remember: The breath is always with you! Above all, start small and schedule! Trying to do too much will likely result in you not doing anything except wanting to pull the covers over your head in a state of overwhelm.

Trying to do too much will likely result in you not doing anything except wanting to pull the covers over your head in a state of overwhelm.

5. Identify your triggers. Can you become mindful of your automatic and habitual reactions to the stressor? What shows up in your experience in terms of your thoughts, emotions, body sensations, behaviors, and impulses to act? Can you write these down using the web of reactivity? After you make a list, ask yourself where and how you might bring mindfulness to these reactions. Perhaps stopping and taking a breath, bringing attention to body sensations, or bringing curiosity to the experience may disrupt the tendency to cascade into a stress spiral.

6. Finally, don't forget that everything changes. Nothing lasts. And since change is inevitable, we can remind ourselves of this and get a little breathing room if nothing else until the stress storm passes.

Created by Mary Elliot and Evan Collins

Describe the situation (where, when, who, what)

List your initial "automatic" thoughts

List your emotions/moods (in one word: using your vocabulary of emotions if you wish)

List where you felt these emotions in your body

List your actions/impulse to act (using the vocabulary of behavioural response if you wish)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Get Your Mind and Body Out of Crisis Mode - Mindful

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Stress is everywhere. You wake up in the morning to the sound of your phone's alarm blaring, sending a hit of adrenaline through your system. Then, you might get another hit as you scroll through your news feed and learn about the latest global or local disaster.

# data[].attributes.body
Greater Good

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In 1999, psychologists Martin Seligman and Chris Peterson set out to create a new paradigm for psychological research and practice. Instead of focusing only on how to ameliorate mental illness, these two pioneers sought to move the field of psychology toward studying the positive side of human behavior, as a way of helping to promote human wellbeing and thriving. Their initial work to uncover and classify universal strengths and virtues is often considered the beginning of the positive psychology movement.

Now, a new book called Character Strengths Matter: How to Live a Full Life, edited by Shannon Polly and Kathryn Britton-and dedicated to Peterson, who passed away in 2012-provides an overview of the classification of character strengths and suggests ways that one can cultivate these strengths in everyday life. Proceeds from the sale of the book will help to fund a memorial scholarship in Peterson's name.

According to the model, there are 24 distinct "character strengths"-virtues that are recognized worldwide as important to a life well-lived-including bravery, fairness, humility, leadership, and open-mindedness, to name just some. Each person has a constellation of strengths, including signature strengths (which are most prominent and can be used in many settings) and weaker traits (which can be developed further, if desired).

Readers are invited to take a character strengths survey-developed by Peterson and Seligman and available for free online -to better understand their own personal profile, and then to use the book to explore their strengths and weaknesses in more detail. Ultimately, the goal is to help people tap into their strengths in everyday encounters in order to work more effectively, enjoy life more, and contribute to the greater good. And, according to Ryan Niemiec, one of the authors contributing to the book, research has shown that those who consciously apply their signature character strengths in new ways each day experience increased happiness and decreased depression.

The book is divided into two parts. In part one, each strength is given its own chapter, including a short description of the strength, an article or interview that flushes out more information about the strength (culled from articles previously published by Positive Psychology News), a list of five suggestions for how one can cultivate the strength in everyday life, and an inspirational speech or text that helps one embody the strength. In part two, a handful of individuals explain how they've used the concept of character strengths in their work-for example, as management consultants, educators, and therapists. The authors suggest that readers can either read the book cover to cover or skip around the book, as interest drives them.

The book has its positive side (no pun intended)-it simplifies the concept of character traits in a way that some will find refreshing and accessible. It's also nice to hear the voices of many scholars who've studied these traits and to get some good ideas on how to build one's character strengths through easy to do interventions.

On the other hand, I found the book to be maybe a little too simplistic, giving short shrift to the science. If you're looking for evidence and proof, this isn't the book for you. But if you are a curious type-or if you're already sold on the science-I suggest you go ahead and at least take the character strengths survey to see what it says about you. You can also get a taste of what approaching the world through character strengths is all about-and perhaps be inspired to explore your own personal strengths further. And that will be all to the good!

Greater Good wants to know: Do you think this article will influence your opinions or behavior?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In 1999, psychologists Martin Seligman and Chris Peterson set out to create a new paradigm for psychological research and practice. Instead of focusing only on how to ameliorate mental illness, these two pioneers sought to move the field of psychology toward studying the positive side of human behavior, as a way of helping to promote human wellbeing and thriving.

# data[].attributes.headline
10 Things We Know Abut the Science of Meditation

# data[].attributes.subject
10 Things We Know Abut the Science of Meditation

# data[].attributes.body
Mindful

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
During the past two decades, more and more scientists have studied mindfulness -a collection of practices aimed at helping us to cultivate moment-to-moment awareness of ourselves and our environment. Their early findings triggered an enormous amount of enthusiasm for meditation.

Sometimes, however, journalists and even scientists (who should know better) have overstated the physical and mental health benefits, which has fed growing skepticism about mindfulness.

Indeed, the science behind mindfulness meditation has often suffered from poor research designs and small effect sizes, as 15 psychologists and neuroscientists found after reviewing hundreds of mindfulness studies. Their paper, published by Perspectives on Psychological Science, argues that there is still much we don't understand about mindfulness and meditation. Worse, many scientists and practitioners don't even agree on the definition of those words. They end the paper calling for "truth in advertising by contemplative neuroscience."

In that spirit, here's a rundown of questions that seem fairly settled, for the time being, and questions researchers are still exploring.

1) Meditation almost certainly does sharpen your attention.

It's not surprising that meditation would affect attention, since many practices focus on this very skill. And, in fact, researchers have found that meditation helps to counter habit u ation-the tendency to stop paying attention to new information in our environment. Other studies have found that mindfulness meditation can reduce mind-wandering and improve our ability to solve pro b lems.

There's more good news: Studies have shown that improved attention seems to last up to five years after mindfulness training, again suggesting trait-like changes are possible.

Do these benefits apply to people with attention-deficit disorders, and could meditation possibly supplant drugs like Adderall? We can't yet say for sure. While there have been some promising small-scale studies, especially with adults, we need larger randomized controlled trials to understand how meditation might mix with other treatments to help both kids and adults manage attention-deficits.

2) Long-term, consistent meditation does seem to increase resiliency to stress.

Note that we're not saying it necessarily reduces physiological and psychological reactions to threats and obstacles. But studies to date do suggest that meditation helps mind and body bounce back from stress and stressful situations.

For example, practicing meditation less e ns the inflammatory response in people exposed to psychological stressors, particularly for long-term meditators. According to neuroscience research, mindfulness practices dampen activity in our amygdala and increase the connections between the amygdala and prefrontal cortex. Both of these parts of the brain help us to be less reactive to stressors and to recover better from stress when we experience it.

As Daniel Goleman and Richard Davidson write in their book, Altered Traits, "These changes are trait-like: They appear not simply during the explicit instruction to perceive the stressful stimuli mindfully, but even in the 'baseline' state" for longer-term meditators, which supports the possibility that mindfulness changes our ability to handle stress in a better, more sustainable way."

3) Meditation does appear to increase compassion. It also makes our compassion more effective.

While we may espouse compassionate attitudes, we can also suffer when we see others suffering, which can create a state of paralysis or withdrawal.

Many well-designed studies have shown that practicing loving-kindness meditation for others increases our willingness to take action to relieve suffering. It appears to do this by lessening amygdala activity in the presence of suffering, while also activating circuits in the brain that are connected to good feelings and love.

For longtime meditators, activity in the "default network"-the part of our brains that, when not busy with focused activity, ruminates on thoughts, feelings, and experiences- quiets down, suggesting less rumination about ourselves and our place in the world.

4) Meditation does seem to improve mental health-but it's not necessarily more effective than other steps you can take.

Early research suggested that mindfulness meditation had a dramatic impact on our mental health. But as the number of studies has grown, so has scientific skepticism about these initial claims.

For example, a 2014 meta-analysis published in JAMA Internal Medicine examined 47 randomized controlled trials of mindfulness meditation programs, which included a total of 3,515 participants. They found that meditation programs resulted only in small to moderate reductions in anxiety and depression. Furthermore, there was also low, insufficient, or no evidence of meditation programs' effect on positive mood and feelings and substance use (as well as physical self-care like eating habits and sleep).

According to the authors, meditation programs were not shown to be more beneficial than active treatments-such as exercise, therapy, or taking prescription drugs-on any outcomes of interest.

The research is also raising some interesting nuances about the effectiveness of meditation for different populations. For example, one recent, large-scale, well-designed study found that the "gold standard" Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) intervention for adults had no impact on depression or anxiety in teens. As the authors note, this doesn't mean meditation can't help teenagers-it could well be the case that we need to develop and test interventions aimed at younger people.

The upshot? Meditation is generally good for your well-being, yes, but so far it doesn't appear to be actually better than many other steps you can take to stay healthy and happy. It should definitely be considered an adjunct to, not a replacement for, other kinds of treatment for mental conditions like bipolar disorder.

5) Mindfulness could have a positive impact on your relationships.

There are many, many studies that find a positive link between mindfulness and relationship quality, which is probably a byproduct of the effects we've already described.

For example, in one 2016 study, researchers measured mindfulness in 88 couples. Then they took cortisol levels in each couple before and after they discussed a conflict in their relationship. Unsurprisingly, cortisol levels spiked during the discussion, a sign of high stress. But levels in the most mindful people-both men and women-were quicker to return to normal after the conflict ended, suggesting they were keeping their cool. This result is echoed in many studies of mindfulness in romantic relationships from the beginning to the very end.

Mindfulness is also linked to better relationships with your kids. Studies have found that mindfulness practice can lessen stress, depression, and anxiety in parents of preschoolers and children with disabilities. Mindful parenting is also linked to more positive behavior in kids.

A small 2016 pilot study used neuroimaging to see how mindfulness practice changes the brains of parents-and then asked the kids about the quality of their parenting. The results suggest that mindfulness practice seemed to activate the part of the brain involved in empathy and emotional regulation (the left anterior insula/inferior frontal gyrus) and that the children of parents who showed the most activation perceived the greatest improvement in the parent-child relationship.

We must remember, however, that these studies are often very small, and the researchers themselves say results are very tentative.

6) Mindfulness seems to reduce many kinds of bias.

We are seeing more and more studies suggesting that practicing mindfulness can reduce psychological bias.

For example, one study found that a brief loving-kindness meditation reduced prejudice toward homeless people, while another found that a brief mindfulness training decreased unconscious bias against black people and elderly people. In a study by Adam Lueke and colleagues, white participants who received a brief mindfulness training demonstrated less biased behavior (not just attitudes) toward black participants in a trust game.

However, social bias isn't the only kind of mental bias mindfulness appears to reduce. For example, several studies convincingly show that mindfulness probably reduces sunk-cost bias, which is our tendency to stay invested in a losing proposition.

Mindfulness also seems to reduce our natural tendency to focus on the negative things in life. In one study, participants reported on their general mindfulness levels, then briefly viewed photos that induced strong positive emotion (like photos of babies), strong negative emotion (like photos of people in pain), or neither, while having their brains scanned. More mindful participants were less reactive to negative photos and showed higher indications of positive feeling when seeing the positive photos. According to the authors, this supports the contention that mindfulness decreases the negativity bias, something other studies support, too.

7) Meditation does have an impact on physical health-but it's modest.

Many claims have been made about mindfulness and physical health, but sometimes these claims are hard to substantiate or may be mixed up with other effects. That said, there is some good evidence that meditation affects physiological indices of health.

We've already mentioned that long-term meditation seems to buffer people from the inflammatory response to stress. In addition, meditators seem to have increased activity of telomerase, an enzyme implicated in longer cell life and, therefore, longevity.

But there's a catch. "The differences found [between meditators and non-meditators] could be due to factors like education or exercise, each of which has its own buffering effect on brains," write Goleman and Davidson in Altered Traits. "Then there's self-selection: Perhaps people with the brain changes reported in these studies choose to stick with meditation while others do not." In other words, we should use caution when championing results.

8) Meditation might not be good for everyone all the time.

Some seem to believe mindfulness practice will invariably induce a sense of peace and calm. While this can be the experience for many, it is not the experience for all. At times, sitting quietly with oneself can be a difficult-even painful-experience. For individuals who have experienced some sort of trauma, sitting and meditating can at times bring up recent or sometimes decades-old painful memories and experiences that they may not be prepared to confront.

In a study published in the journal PLoS ONE, Jared Lindahl and colleagues interviewed 100 meditators about "challenging" experiences. They found that many of them experienced fear, anxiety, panic, numbness, or extreme sensitivity to light and sound that they attributed to meditation. Crucially, they found that these experiences weren't restricted to people with "pre-existing" conditions, like trauma or mental illness; they could happen to anyone at any time.

In this new domain of research, there is still a lot we do not understand. Future research needs to explore the relationship between case histories and meditation experiences, how the type of practice relates to challenging experiences, and the influence of other factors like social support.

9) What kind of meditation is right for you? That depends.

"Mindfulness" is a big umbrella that covers many different kinds of practice. A 2016 study compared four different types of meditation, and found that they each have their own unique benefits.

compared four different types of meditation, and found that they each have their own unique benefits.

During body scan, for example, participants saw the biggest increases in how aware they were of their bodies (unsurprisingly) and the sharpest decline in the number of thoughts they were having, particularly negative thoughts and thoughts related to the past and future. Loving-kindness meditation led to the greatest boost in their feelings of warmth and positive thoughts about others. Meanwhile, observing-thought meditation seemed to increase participants' awareness of their thoughts the most. Previous research also suggests that observing-thought meditation has an advantage in reducing our judgmental attitude toward others.

Taken together, these and other studies suggest that if you're tackling a specific issue-say, feeling disconnected from your body-then you can choose a practice aimed at helping that issue, like the body scan. Loving-kindness might help in conflict with others, while observing-thought meditation can help break rumination.

"The type of meditation matters," explains postdoctoral researcher Bethany Kok and professor Tania Singer. "Each practice appears to create a distinct mental environment, the long-term consequences of which are only beginning to be explored."

10) How much meditation is enough? That also depends.

This isn't the answer most people want to hear. Many of us are looking for a medically prescriptive response (e.g., three times a week for 45-60 minutes), but the best guide might be this old Zen saying: "You should sit in meditation for twenty minutes every day-unless you're too busy. Then you should sit for an hour."

To date, empirical research has yet to arrive at a consensus about how much is "enough." Aside from the raw number of minutes, other factors may interact to influence the benefits of mindfulness practice: the type (e.g., formal sitting meditation practice vs. informal meditation practices, mindfulness vs. compassion, etc.), the frequency (multiple times a day vs. multiple times a week), and the quality (sitting and actually doing the practice vs. doing the practice "on the go"). While it's possible that in the next 10-15 years we will see a CDC-style recommendation regarding meditation practice, to date, the empirical data on the topic are still inconclusive.

Our recommendation? Try out different durations, types, and frequencies of meditation and jot down how you feel before and after the practice-and see what seems to work for you.

This article was adapted from Greater Good, the online magazine of UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center, one of Mindful's partners. View the original article.

The benefits of meditation have been hard to show in concrete terms. Today, however, as the scientific world delves into the study of mindfulness, the capacity of the brain to transform under its influence inspires nothing short of wonder. Read More

Editor-in-Chief Barry Boyce on the path forward for effective mindfulness research. Read More

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.authors[].name
Jeremy Adam Smith, Jill Suttie, Hooria Jazaieri, MFT, Kira M. Newman

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
10 Things We Know About the Science of Meditation - Mindful

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
During the past two decades, more and more scientists have studied mindfulness -a collection of practices aimed at helping us to cultivate moment-to-moment awareness of ourselves and our environment. Their early findings triggered an enormous amount of enthusiasm for meditation.

# data[].attributes.headline
Neuroscience: How 50 Year Olds Can Think Like a 25 Year Old

# data[].attributes.subject
Neuroscience: How 50 Year Olds Can Think Like a 25 Year Old

# data[].attributes.body
Inc.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Neuroscientist Sara Lazar, of Mass General and Harvard Medical School, started studying meditation by accident. She sustained running injuries training for the Boston Marathon, and her physical therapist told her to stretch. So Lazar took up yoga.

"The yoga teacher made all sorts of claims, that yoga would increase your compassion and open your heart," said Lazar. "And I'd think, 'Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm here to stretch.' But I started noticing that I was calmer. I was better able to handle more difficult situations. I was more compassionate and open hearted, and able to see things from others' points of view."

Eventually, she looked up the scientific literature on mindfulness meditation (a category into which yoga can fall). She found the ever-increasing body of evidence that shows that meditation decreases stress, depression, and anxiety, reduces pain and insomnia, and increases quality of life.

So she started doing some neuroscience research of her own.

In her first study, she looked at long-term meditators (those with seven to nine years of experience) versus a control group. The results showed that those with a strong meditation background had increased gray matter in several areas of the brain, including the auditory and sensory cortex, as well as insula and sensory regions.

This makes sense, since mindfulness meditation has you slow down and become aware of the present moment, including physical sensations such as your breathing and the sounds around you.

However, the neuroscientists also found that the meditators had more gray matter in another brain region, this time linked to decision-making and working memory: the frontal cortex. In fact, while most people see their cortexes shrink as they age, 50-year-old meditators in the study had the same amount of gray matter as those half their age.

Lazar and her team wanted to make sure this wasn't because the long-term meditators had more gray matter to begin with, so they conducted a second study. In it, they put people with no experience with meditation into an eight-week mindfulness program.

The results? Even just eight weeks of meditation changed people's brains for the better. There was thickening in several regions of the brain, including the left hippocampus (involved in learning, memory, and emotional regulation); the TPJ (involved in empathy and the ability to take multiple perspectives); and a part of the brainstem called the pons (where regulatory neurotransmitters are generated).

Plus, the brains of the new meditators saw shrinkage of the amygdala, a region of the brain associated with fear, anxiety, and aggression. This reduction in size of the amygdala correlated to reduced stress levels in those participants.

How long do you have to meditate to see such results? Well, in the study, participants were told to meditate for 40 minutes a day, but the average ended up being 27 minutes a day. Several other studies suggest that you can see significant positive changes in just 15 to 20 minutes a day.

As for Lazar's own meditation practice, she says it's "highly variable. Some days 40 minutes. Some days five minutes. Some days, not at all. It's a lot like exercise. Exercising three times a week is great. But if all you can do is just a little bit every day, that's a good thing, too."

Turns out meditating can give you the brain of a 25-year-old. Too bad it can't also give you the body of one.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Neuroscience Reveals 50-Year-Olds Can Have the Brains of 25-Year-Olds If They Do This 1 Thing

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Neuroscientist Sara Lazar, of Mass General and Harvard Medical School, started studying meditation by accident. She sustained running injuries training for the Boston Marathon, and her physical therapist told her to stretch. So Lazar took up yoga. "The yoga teacher made all sorts of claims, that yoga would increase your compassion and open your heart," said Lazar.

# data[].attributes.headline
Five Easy Ways to Bring Mindfulness to Work

# data[].attributes.subject
Five Easy Ways to Bring Mindfulness to Work

# data[].attributes.body
Forbes

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
When many folks hear the word "mindfulness," meditation might be the first thing the comes to mind. While it's true that meditation can have a profoundly positive impact on your performance, the reality is that if you're not inclined to give it a try, you can still integrate mindfulness into your workday in a number of other ways and get some great benefits.

It all comes back to knowing that you always have a choice, and empowering yourself to make the conscious decision to focus on things in a way that will enhance your experience, instead of in a way that will detract from it. If you're interested in giving mindfulness a try but aren't quite ready to start a meditation practice, here are five things you can try out.
Visualize a day full of productivity first thing in the morning.
Your work day starts before you ever leave the house because you start anticipating how the day is going to go as soon as you wake up, as you're getting ready, and on the drive into the office. For example, you might anticipate a day full of meetings that are going to suck all your energy away or dread a difficult conversation you need to have with a person on your team. That's making the choice to look at things in a way that will detract from your experience because if we anticipate things are going to go badly, we tend to focus our attention on the things we don't like as confirmation, rather than seeing the opportunities in front of us.

Try this instead: When you're getting ready in the morning, set the intention that you're going to have a productive day at work, no matter what. Consider what you want to get out of the meetings on your schedule, knowing your goal for each one of them. Think about the positive interactions you want to have with your co-workers and your boss, and set the expectation that everything will work out to your maximum benefit. That sets you up to notice the things going well, and appreciate them.
Hit pause.
Things seem to be moving faster than ever. There's too many deadlines, too many meetings, and not enough time in the day. And most people think that means they need to constantly be on the go, moving from one thing to the next without taking the time to breathe.

It might seem like you have no choice but to keep moving, but science tells us that taking a brief break could be exactly what you need. It prevents decision fatigue, increases productivity and creativity, and restores motivation to keep pushing towards your goals. And it doesn't take long - taking a break could be as simple as going for a stroll around the block, eating a snack, and just setting aside a few precious moments to close your eyes and breathe deeply to clear your head. So, it might seem like it's "taking too much time," but making the choice to care for yourself in this way could be exactly the thing that propells you to success.
Turn off your email.
Studies show that multi-tasking is one of the biggest energy killers there is, decreasing your productivity by as much as 40%, and the constantly open inbox is one of the most vicious culprits of all. You could be deeply engrossed in a project when suddenly a notification pops up telling you that a new message has hit your inbox and suddenly you feel required to drop what you're doing to answer it as quickly as possible. Every time an email distracts you from something you're working on, you're inhibiting your ability to truly focus on a single task.

Instead, make the choice to take control of your productivity time with this experiment. For the first 45 minutes of an hour, turn your email completely off and allow yourself to focus all your attention on the task at hand. Then for the last 15 minutes, turn it back on and respond to any messages that need to be handled. That way, you're still replying in a very timely manner while also allowing yourself a bit of room to focus deeply. And if you feel nervous about that, just remember that no one should be sending an email if it's a true emergency that can't wait 45 minutes. They will call you on the phone or walk over to your office and knock on your door.
Forgive your difficult co-workers.
If we didn't have to interact with people who are in bad moods or generally have a curmudgeon disposition, work would be so much easier! But the reality is that there will always be people who make the choice to come into work and do things in the most difficult and frustrating way. If you meet that approach with annoyance, what are the chances of you having a positive interaction with that person? Likely, pretty slim.

Instead, make the choice to look past the things you don't like, or just let it go entirely. Forgiving other people of our grievances with them isn't about letting them off the hook. In fact, it has nothing to do with them at all. It's about making the choice not to allow their behaviors to impact you negatively through stress, frustration, and anger. Many people struggle with this choice in particular because it disrupts their sense of fairness and justice - this person is "behaving badly" and it seems as those you're just letting them get away with it. But you have to ask yourself which is more important - creating a positive experience for yourself that supports your productivity, or staying angry at this person? The two can't exist at the same time - you have to choose which one you value most. Your actions will follow your values.
Be grateful.
Finally, anytime you need a dose of positive vibes, you can simply make the choice focus your attention on the things that are going well and find a way to be grateful. The act of gratitude helps you to see that, no matter how much dark you have around you, there is also always light. Research has shown that those with a daily gratitude practice are able to change their brain over time, creating a much happier experience and freeing themselves from toxic emotions that just held them back. This isn't a time-consuming process - just take a beat, look around and find things that enhance your experience

Ferris Bueller once famously said "Life moves pretty fast sometimes. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you'll miss it." That's what gratitude is - when you stop, look around, and see the big picture to make sure you're not missing out on everything you have going for you.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Five Easy Ways To Bring Mindfulness To Work Without Meditating

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
When many folks hear the word "mindfulness," meditation might be the first thing the comes to mind. While it's true that meditation can have a profoundly positive impact on your performance, the reality is that if you're not inclined to give it a try, you can still integrate mindfulness into your workday in a number of other ways and get some great benefits.

# data[].attributes.body
Clip from 60 MInutes

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
60 Minutes: Anderson Cooper on Mindfulness & Anxiety

# data[].attributes.body
Based upon the mindfulness scale developed by researchers at La Salle University and Drexel University

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Do you savor life or let everyday stresses control you? In other words, how mindful are you? The practice of mindfulness has been linked to happiness, health, and psychological well-being, but many of us may not know exactly what it is, let alone how to cultivate it.

# data[].attributes.body
Do these with children whenever you like.
By Anika Harris

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
ORIGINAL ILLUSTRATIONS BY AMY JANE LARKIN

A nOTE FROM ANNAKA

Welcome to my guided meditations for children. All my recordings are designed for children ages six to ten, but the instructions are the same I would give to older children, teens, and beginner-level adults, so these recordings can be used by them as well.

Before you share these guided meditations with children, please review the "Instructions & Recommendations" tab above.

I hope you and your children enjoy them!

-AH

ENDORSEMENTS

"As one of the very first to bring secular mindfulness into public schools, Annaka Harris is uniquely qualified to teach meditation to children in a simple, direct, and authentic way. I highly recommend Annaka's guided meditations and lessons for children."
-Susan Kaiser Greenland, author of Mindful Games and The Mindful Child

"These are my favorite guided meditations for kids!"
-Rivers Cuomo, musician and lead singer / songwriter of the band Weezer

"Annaka Harris brings decades of expertise to guide children in beautiful, playful, and engaging meditations to access kindness and awareness. She is one of the pioneers in the field of children's mindfulness, and her accessible meditations are sure to delight children and parents alike."
-Diana Winston, Director of Mindfulness Education at UCLA's Mindful Awareness Research Center and author of The Little Book of Being

Also available on the Waking Up App

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Annaka Harris | MINDFULNESS FOR CHILDREN

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
guided meditation FOR CHILDREN Instructions & Recommendations Mindful Hearing Mindful Breathing Mindful Seeing See, Feel, Move, Breathe Nighttime Meditation Friendly Wishes Mindfulness Lessons Soothing Uncomfortable Feelings Connection Meditation Walking Meditation ORIGINAL ILLUSTRATIONS BY AMY JANE LARKIN A nOTE FROM ANNAKA Welcome to my guided meditations for children.

# data[].attributes.body
A Mindful Activity

# data[].attributes.body
From Big Life Journal

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
My Adventures Poster - Big Life Journal.pdf

# data[].attributes.body
By Susan Dunham

# data[].attributes.body
Greater Good Science Center Berkley

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Three Good Things for Students (Greater Good in Action)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Help students tune in to the positive events in their lives

# data[].attributes.body
Greater Good Science Center Berkley

# data[].attributes.body
From Flourishing Center

# data[].attributes.headline
Kindness Activity - Kindness Challenge and T-Shirt Design

# data[].attributes.subject
Kindness Activity - Kindness Challenge and T-Shirt Design

# data[].attributes.body
From My Big Life Journal

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Act of Kindness Challenge for kids - Big Life Journal.pdf

# data[].attributes.body
Expressing Gratitude Contributes to Our Well-Being

# data[].attributes.headline
Three Breathing Practices for the Classroom

# data[].attributes.subject
Three Breathing Practices for the Classroom

# data[].attributes.body
From Mindful Schools

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
As we move back into our classrooms, it's a good time to return to the basics of mindful breathing and explore ways to keep the practice interesting. Here are three activities to create short moments of mindfulness for your students, especially in transitions between activities. Children can love these playful moments of quiet.

1. SLOW DOWN, LOOK AROUND Ask your students to stand without making a sound. (This can be a fun game in and of itself.)

Invite them:
"Close your eyes or look down at your hands as you feel yourself standing. Take three mindful breaths." (Leave some silence for them to enjoy.) "Feel your feet on the floor, feel the anchor of your breath. Now lift your eyes and slowly scan the room without speaking. Now we're ready to move on..."

2. ANCHOR HAND
Students who don't like to close their eyes can still feel successful with this activity. Have them use their hands as an object of focus, seeing and feeling the touch of one finger on their outstretched hand. This is great while waiting in a line, waiting for materials to be passed out. Get suggestions from your students for when it might be helpful for them.

Invite your students:
"Hold up the hand you don't write with (the non-dominant hand), spread your fingers out wide. Use the index finger of the hand you use to write with, and tune in to the tempo of your breath. Now trace each outspread finger in time with a full cycle of breath. Feel your tracing finger move up as you inhale, keep looking as your finger moves down the other side, and you exhale. When you get to the end of your hand, your thumb or little finger, just reverse and keep on breathing and looking."

3. SPHERE BREATHING Students love this when they're backstage before going on to perform, or on the bench waiting for their turn in kickball.

Invite them:
"Pretend you're holding a large balloon in both hands, with relaxed elbows. When you inhale, gently pull your fingers apart so there's plenty of space between your fingers. Feel that long cool inhale. As you exhale, slowly bring your fingers back to gently touch. After a few cycles of breath, close your eyes and notice if you can bring your fingers back precisely. This fun game can be challenging: each time might feel different. Stay curious!"

Learn more about the research-backed Mindful Schools K-12 Curriculum in our Mindful Educator Essentials course!

To stay up to date on articles like this, for our monthly newsletter.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
3 Mindful Breathing Activities for Classroom Transitions - Mindful Schools

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
As we move back into our classrooms, it's a good time to return to the basics of mindful breathing and explore ways to keep the practice interesting. Here are three activities to create short moments of mindfulness for your students, especially in transitions between activities. Children can love these playful moments of quiet.

# data[].attributes.body
From Mindful Schools

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Where I grew up on the east coast, the cool air and rust-colored leaves of autumn always evoked in me a feeling of appreciation for the crisp beauty and fading light, mixed with a sense of nostalgia. As the Thanksgiving season approaches, we can use this time to reflect on and cultivate gratitude.

The emotion of gratitude reveals the treasure of an all too often forgotten word: enough. Gratitude practice runs counter to our culture of consumption, competition, and achievement. It also runs counter to the negativity bias that is so pervasive in our minds-always noticing what's wrong, what's missing. Gratitude is, by definition, deeply connected with a sense of presence and contentment.

Though the legacy and origins of this classic, American holiday are mixed, we can use the history to teach us how to find more harmonious ways to live. For gratitude is a key part of learning to live together and share resources on this planet. Noticing that which we appreciate uplifts the heart, strengthens resilience, and brings contentment. In the classroom, we can teach children and youth the wonderful potential they possess to nourish themselves by noticing the things they enjoy in life.

How to Practice Gratitude
The basic practice of gratitude has three simple steps:

1. Settle your body and mind; collect your attention in the present moment.
2. Recall something specific that you appreciate-the more concrete and tangible, the better. For example, rather than "having food" consider something delicious you ate recently, or any food that's in your cupboard.
3. Enjoy the feelings and sensations that arise; allow them to spread through your body.

I like to use the image of striking a bell to explain this process. Step one is holding the bell. Step two is striking the bell. Step three is listening to the resonant sound as it moves through you. Below is a short guided meditation you can use in your practice, followed by a few tips on leading a gratitude lesson in your classroom.

Guided Meditation on Gratitude

https://www.mindfulschools.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Gratitude-MS.mp3

Gratitude in the Classroom
Here are the basics of a gratitude lesson for any age. Feel free to expand and innovate!

Explore the concept of gratitude.

Differentiate genuine gratitude, which is spontaneous and heartfelt, from contrived gratitude, which is often forced onto children by adults as part of the socialization process ("Say 'Thank you.'")

Do a brainstorm of the things for which students genuinely feel grateful.

Have them notice how they feel, after just talking about gratitude.

Explain a bit about our minds' ability to learn internal skills as well as external skills. Gratitude is an internal skill.

Guide the students through the three basic steps of gratitude practice:
1. Begin with some mindfulness of breathing.
2. Think of something for which you're grateful. Make it specific and picture it in your mind.
3. Enjoy any feelings of warmth, delight, happiness, or ease that come.
... Repeat!

You can end by discussing how they felt while practicing, and when they might find this exercise helpful as a way of lifting their spirits or renewing their energy.

From all of us here at Mindful Schools, we wish you a happy Thanksgiving. May we each recognize and appreciate the goodness within and all around us.

To stay up to date on articles like this, for our monthly newsletter.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Nourished by Gratitude - Mindful Schools

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Where I grew up on the east coast, the cool air and rust-colored leaves of autumn always evoked in me a feeling of appreciation for the crisp beauty and fading light, mixed with a sense of nostalgia. As the Thanksgiving season approaches, we can use this time to reflect on and cultivate gratitude.

# data[].attributes.body
Joy Art Project

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Posted in

Inspiration

As the year comes to an end and the holidays approach, it's common for all of us to feel a range of emotions. Some students may be excited about the break while others may feel anxious about the extra time with family. Most adults can relate!

We can acknowledge the stress of this time of year while still supporting a spirit of generosity and kindness in our classrooms and school. This lesson focuses on recognizing and enhancing joy in oneself.

Joy Magnets Art Activity
Age range: All ages
Materials: Mini canvas boards, magnets with adhesive, art supplies
Time: 30 minutes
Prep: Affix magnets to mini canvas boards

Discuss the meaning of the word "joy" with your students. You can explore similar words: enjoy, rejoice, joyful. How does it feel when we experience joy? What are some things that bring us joy? Is there any difference between the kind of joy we experience from material objects and the joy we feel in relation to other people?

Explain that the holidays can be filled with both joyful and difficult experiences. Being aware of what brings us joy can help to balance the hard stuff. Acknowledging and remembering joy can enhance our experience of this emotion. Invite the students to choose something that makes them joyful and happy, and then to represent it by creating an image on a magnet (with markers, paint, or whatever art supplies you choose).

Have the students work in silence. After everyone is finished, go around the room and share what they created and why.

Carrie Edmond is a middle school counselor, a long time mindfulness practitioner, and a grad of the Mindful Schools Year-Long Certification Program. She is the founder of ONE Mindful Maven and SA Mindful Education, based in San Antonio, TX.

To stay up to date on articles like this, for our monthly newsletter.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Spark Joy with This Art Project - Mindful Schools

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
As the year comes to an end and the holidays approach, it's common for all of us to feel a range of emotions. Some students may be excited about the break while others may feel anxious about the extra time with family. Most adults can relate!

# data[].attributes.body
From Mindful Schools

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
You can use this simple art activity to help students connect with kindness and generosity.

Kindness Cards
Age range: All ages
Materials: Index cards, hole puncher, markers, yarn
Time: 30 minutes
Prep: Punch a hole in the upper corner of each index card; cut lengths of yarn

Begin with heartfulness practice, sending kind wishes to others. Invite the students to imagine others sending kind wishes to them, and to notice how that feels. Afterwards, talk about how it feels to send and receive kind wishes. How does it feel to actually do something kind for someone else?

Explain that you're going to do an activity to express those kind wishes to others and to study how it feels. Have students choose a few kind wishes in their own words. Give each student a few index cards and shared art supplies. Have them write a wish on one side and decorate the other side. Thread and tie a piece of yarn through the hole on each card.

Have the students give out their cards randomly to other kids during the day. The next time you meet, discuss how it felt to create and give out their kindness cards.

Carrie Edmond is a middle school counselor, a long time mindfulness practitioner, and a grad of the Mindful Schools Year-Long Certification Program. She is the founder of ONE Mindful Maven and SA Mindful Education, based in San Antonio, TX.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
You can use this simple art activity to help students connect with kindness and generosity. Kindness Cards Age range: All ages Materials: Index cards, hole puncher, markers, yarn Time: 30 minutes Prep: Punch a hole in the upper corner of each index card; cut lengths of yarn Begin with heartfulness practice, sending kind wishes to others.

# data[].attributes.body
From Mindful Schools

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Having fun and joyous moments with students is an important part of any class. This activity will ask your students to work together, practice being mindful, and have fun. Students will create waves, similar to the ones done by sports fans at a game, while paying attention to their peers, speed, and any sensations they feel.

Step 1

Tell students that they will be making a wave like they see in sporting events. As a group they will experiment with the wave and see what they notice. Let them know this activity is done sitting but can include standing.

Step 2

Ask students to start in a clockwise direction with with two slow waves only using their arms. The wave is complete when it returns to the beginning of the circle.

Step 3

Check in with students asking them what were some of the things they had to do to make sure the wave got around. Also ask them to report on any sensations they felt in their arms or anywhere in their body. Tell students you will now begin challenging them by asking them to change the speed of the wave.

Step 4

Have students start again and after awhile ask them to increase the speed of the wave as it travels around the circle. Explore how fast the wave travels and for how long it can go in this circle.

If the flow is interrupted by a student raising their hands too soon or late, simply restart the wave from the beginning. Remember that part of the fun is not getting it right and making mistakes.

You can also ask your students to switch directions, reversing the wave, or ask them to also stand when doing the wave for an added challenge.

Step 5

Make sure to end by debriefing with the class. Ask your students what made this challenging or easy? What were some thoughts or feelings they noticed as their turn to make the wave came? What are some of the ways they worked well together?

Make sure to remind your students that being mindful and working together is fun but also helpful in all areas of life.

Try the Making Waves activity in your class. How did your students respond, and where they able to work together to make the waves go fast? Share with fellow teachers in your school or on social media with #mindfulschools.
Based on a lesson designed by Brian Upholz a graduate of the 2016 Year-Long Certification Program.
To stay up to date on articles like this, for our monthly newsletter.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Make Waves With This Mindful Activity - Mindful Schools

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Having fun and joyous moments with students is an important part of any class. This activity will ask your students to work together, practice being mindful, and have fun. Students will create waves, similar to the ones done by sports fans at a game, while paying attention to their peers, speed, and any sensations they feel.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Mindful Breathing (Greater Good in Action)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A way to build resilience to stress, anxiety, and anger.

# data[].attributes.body
From Action for Happiness

# data[].attributes.headline
Coloring Pages for Young Elementary Children

# data[].attributes.subject
Coloring Pages for Young Elementary Children

# data[].attributes.body
From Action for Happiness

# data[].attributes.body
From Action for Happiness

# data[].attributes.body
Start Your Day The Mindful Way

# data[].attributes.body
Mindful Practice using the word STOP

# data[].attributes.body
Daniel Goleman on Youtube

# data[].attributes.body
From MIndful Teacher

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Have you ever eaten a favorite snack while reading? Watching TV? Checking messages on your phone? Doing or correcting homework?
How did it taste? Did you even notice?
Remember: It isn't a treat if you're not enjoying it.

This chart can help you truly appreciate what you're eating by slowing down and noticing not just the flavor but also the texture, scent, color, and even sound. photo of mandarins by Daria Yakovleva for
Pixabay

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Five Senses Snack: A Mindful Eating Chart

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Have you ever eaten a favorite snack while reading? Watching TV? Checking messages on your phone? Doing or correcting homework? How did it taste? Did you even notice? Remember: It isn't a treat if you're not enjoying it.

# data[].attributes.body
Infographic From The Garrison Institute

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
By Garrison Institute
Want to learn more on mindfulness and other contemplative practices? Sign up for the Garrison Institute newsletter.

10 Steps to Mindfulness Meditation by The Garrison Institute is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Infographic: 10 Steps to Mindfulness Meditation - Garrison Institute

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
By Garrison Institute Want to learn more on mindfulness and other contemplative practices? Sign up for the Garrison Institute newsletter. 10 Steps to Mindfulness Meditation by The Garrison Institute is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License

# data[].attributes.body
A Strategy from Mindful Schools

# data[].attributes.body
Celebrities Who Practice

# data[].attributes.body
A Poster

# data[].attributes.body
Mindful Awareness
From Mindful Teacher

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Human Camera is a sample activity from the book Planting Seeds: Practicing Mindfulness with Children, and is reprinted here with permission from publisher Parallax Press.

Planting Seeds was recommended by Meena Srinivasan as one of the The Best Children's Books About Mindfulness.

Have the children get into pairs. One child is the camera; the other is the photographer.
The photographer walks behind her "camera," with hands on her camera's shoulders. She carefully guides her partner, who keeps his eyes closed. She will have the chance to make three photos.
She can guide her camera to just the right spot, either lifting his head up or down, to get the right angle. When she's ready to take the picture, she gently squeezes her partner's shoulders.
He can open his eyes momentarily, and his partner can "take the picture." Then he must close them again right away.
After the third snapshot, have the partners switch.

From Planting Seeds: Practicing Mindfulness with Children (2011) by Thich Nhat Hanh and the Plum Village Community. Reprinted with permission of Parallax Press, Berkeley, California. www.parallax.org

related posts: A Dozen Ways to Explore the Five Senses
Marble Roll: A Cooperative Game for Teaching Mindfulness

Pebble Meditation: A Mindfulness Activity to Cultivate Peace
Rainbow Walk: A Mindfulness Activity to Move the Body and Rest the Mind

If you like this post, please share it using the social media buttons below.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Human Camera: A Mindfulness Activity to Engage the Senses

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Human Camera is a sample activity from the book Planting Seeds: Practicing Mindfulness with Children , and is reprinted here with permission from publisher Parallax Press. Planting Seeds was recommended by Meena Srinivasan as one of the The Best Children's Books About Mindfulness. Have the children get into pairs.

# data[].attributes.body
From Mindful Teacher

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The instructions for this mindfulness activity couldn't be simpler:

Go for a walk and mentally count or list all the different sounds that you hear.

It's essential to turn off your electronics or leave them at home. And No Talking, although you can certainly smile and say hi to anyone you happen to pass. (I'm sure it comes from growing up in the country, but I always feel this sense of camaraderie, like in that Paul Simon song: "Say, ain't we walking down the same street together on the very same day?")

Also, if you're doing this activity with a group or for a class, be sure to keep it noncompetitive: It could be interesting to discuss the different sounds people heard, but it doesn't matter who tallied up the most sounds by the end of the walk.

That said, you'll probably be surprised how many sounds you do notice when you stop focusing on everything else.

For example, here are the sounds I heard on my walk this morning:

My footsteps

on the pavement

on a gravel path

on dried leaves

on a wooden bridge

Two different types of birds, plus an owl

A jogger's sneakers fwopfwopfwopfwop on the pavement

A buzzing chain saw

Cars whooshing past

The hood of my coat swinging against my hair

My sleeves swishing against the side of my coat

A dog and a man: "Yipyipyip!" "Relax, Gus."

I'm sure you'll find that focusing on sounds is a great way to stay in the moment. Counting Sounds is also a nice alternative to Rainbow Walk , especially when it might not look very colorful outside.

Noticing the Five Senses: A Daily Mindfulness Log

If you like this post, please share it using the social media buttons below.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Counting Sounds: A Mindful Walking Practice

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The instructions for this mindfulness activity couldn't be simpler: Go for a walk and mentally count or list all the different sounds that you hear. It's essential to turn off your electronics or leave them at home. And No Talking, although you can certainly smile and say hi to anyone you happen to pass.

# data[].attributes.body
From Mindful Teacher

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This is probably my favorite mindfulness practice. I tend to spend too much time sitting around with my mind running in circles, and this helps get my body to move and my mind to rest.

The instructions are very simple: Take a walk, and look for something red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Keep going through the colors, in order, until the end of your walk.

You can do this anywhere, at any time of year. Obviously, it will be easier to spot a lot of different colors in a garden in the spring. But in the winter, you could notice some bright red berries, or a red ski hat, or even a stop sign.

Here are some suggestions for individual practice:

Bring a camera and take a photo of at least one image with each color;

Bring a sketchbook--even if you're not an artist, this will help you really focus on what you're looking at ( as Churchill said about painting);

Write in your journal about the things you noticed and how they made you feel.

And here are some suggestions for group practice:

Provide a worksheet for students to note and/or sketch something they saw in each of the colors.

First grade teacher Kate Schleyer generously shared her worksheet: click here;

click here for a slightly different version

Important Note About Downloads: These are printable worksheets, not fill-in-able pdfs. If you'd like to have your students fill them in and send them to you, the worksheets need to be downloaded as 'Format: Open Office XML.'

After the walk, discuss what different members of the group noticed--were different people focused on different things? (For example, one person may have noticed mostly flowers, while another person may have noticed mostly cars or clothing)

Here's a rainbow of photos from some of my own walks in different parts of the world. You might want to use them as a quiet contemplation practice on a day when you can't get outdoors.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Rainbow Walk: A Mindfulness Activity to Move the Body and Rest the Mind - Mindful Teachers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This is probably my favorite mindfulness practice. I tend to spend too much time sitting around with my mind running in circles, and this helps get my body to move and my mind to rest. The instructions are very simple: Take a walk, and look for something red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple.

# data[].attributes.body
Video

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Carol Dweck - A Study on Praise and Mindsets

# data[].attributes.body
Many free downloadable posters.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
HOME

Happiness posters

Happiness posters

These lovely posters have been designed to accompany our Ten Keys to Happier Living.

We hope you like them and that they inpspire you to put the Ten Keys into practice. If so please feel free to share and use them in any way you like: at home, at work, at school, wherever...

> Download the full set of posters

Ten Keys to Happier Living
Book: Ten Keys to Happier Living

Order your copy of our inspiring, science-based book and discover how to live a happier life and help create a happier world.

POSTER #7: RESILIENCE
Find ways to bounce back
POSTER #2: RELATING
Connect with people

POSTER #1: GIVING
Do things for others
POSTER #8: EMOTIONS
Look for what's good

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
HOME Happiness posters These lovely posters have been designed to accompany our Ten Keys to Happier Living. We hope you like them and that they inpspire you to put the Ten Keys into practice. If so please feel free to share and use them in any way you like: at home, at work, at school, wherever...

# data[].attributes.body
Keep Trying

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
"Ormie" by Arc Productions | Disney Favorite

# data[].attributes.body
Color Your World With Kindness Video

# data[].attributes.body
YouTube

# data[].attributes.headline
Growth Mindset Coloring Pages and Posters

# data[].attributes.subject
Growth Mindset Coloring Pages and Posters

# data[].attributes.body
What You Can do in A Minute

# data[].attributes.headline
Mindfulness Activities for the Classroom

# data[].attributes.subject
Mindfulness Activities for the Classroom

# data[].attributes.body
From Stop, Breathe and Think

# data[].attributes.body
Mindful Teaching Poster

# data[].attributes.body
Free printable coloring book with mindful quotes

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Jaime's Fantastically Fun Yoga & Mindfulness

Your browser does not support the video tag

99% of parents said...

Cosmic Kids has a positive impact on the PHYSICAL and MENTAL health of their kids
Source: Cosmic Kids Parents Survey (3378 respondents)
As recommended by

The Cosmic Kids App

All Cosmic Kids videos ad-free

Exclusive content & early access

Stream on your phone, TV & computer

MOST FLEXIBLE - Pause any time!

BEST VALUE - Save $80.88!

BEST VALUE - Save £45.89!

BEST VALUE - Save $91.89!

BEST VALUE - Save $53.89!

BEST VALUE - Save $55.00!

BEST VALUE - Save ¥4989!

BEST VALUE - Save 589 kr!

BEST VALUE - Save 390 kr!

BEST VALUE - Save €48.00!

BEST VALUE - Save $55.00!

"Thanks to Cosmic Kids, our little boy is light years ahead of us in self awareness"

Cosmic Kids Parents and Carers Survey 2021

"A modern-day Mary Poppins"

'Cosmic Kids is one of the best things that I've discovered as a parent. It has instilled an early love of exercise and mindfulness in my child.'

Cosmic Kids Parents and Carers Survey 2021

We're trying to reach every corner of the globe!

We estimate that 35% of views are in classrooms with 10 to 30 students!

Hello from Jaime!

"My goal is to create what my generation didn't have when I was a kid - a fun way of discovering yoga and mindfulness! I want kids to be equipped to look after their mental and physical health so they grow into happy adults."

5 fun maps to guide young yogis through 20 of Jaime's favourite yoga adventures. Includes completion certificate!

5 example class plans for kids yoga teachers. Includes scripts and fun game & craft ideas to match the class theme.

Bite-sized interactive activities designed to nourish your little ones' mental health and can be used year-round.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Cosmic Kids Yoga | The Home of Positive Screen Time

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Screen Time that gives kids SUPERPOWERS! SUPERPOWERS! SUPERPOWERS! Stream it all on the Cosmic Kids app! Your browser does not support the video tag 99% of parents said... Cosmic Kids has a positive impact on the PHYSICAL and MENTAL health [...]

# data[].attributes.body
A film about giving your life purpose for young adults and adults.

# data[].attributes.body
April 26th is 50/50 Day. This is a day to encourage a more gender balanced world. You will find short engaging films, action pledges and discussion materials for older students and adults.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
April 2nd marks the point in the year when the average woman's pay catches up to what an average man earned in 2018.

Asian Women: March 5, 2019 -$.85 (cents)

White Women: April 19th, 2019-$.77 (cents)

African-American Women: August 22, 2019 - $.61 (cents)

Native American Women: September 23, 2019 - $.58 (cents)

Latina Women: November 20, 2019 - $.53 (cents)

We want to invite you, our fabulous community to engage with our films, resources, tools we have to help support conversations with your coworkers, friends, and family on getting to a more gender balanced world.

Our films, Why I Pledge 50/50 and 50/50: Rethinking the Past, Present, and Future of Women and Power, the WhyIPledge5050.org tool, curated resources from our partners, the 50/50 Day Discussion Kits, and the Gender Equity Toolkit are all available to you for free! You can also watch interviews from our 50/50 Day speakers here.

We are planning our next 50/50 Day in 2020 to honor the 100-year anniversary of the 19th Amendment, the women's right to vote in the United States, s o stay tuned. You can sign up for our newsletter in the top right corner to find out more.

What a fantastic experience the second annual 50/50 Day was! Here were some of the highlights: Press highlights including 700,000 views of our 36,334 live events in companies, schools, museums, and homes in 62 countries all screening films, engaging in discussion about #GettingTo5050, and making action pledges; People tapping in online from nearly all 195 countries in the world; CNN, Forbes, NBC, NPR, CNET, and more; and live stream programming, live from our studio in San Francisco.

We brought We also tapped into 20 speakers into the live stream including Jada Pinkett Smith, Kimberle Crenshaw, Matt McGorry, and many more. 30+ events around the globe from Nigeria to India to the Empire State Building to Refinery29's Comedy 50/50 Day events to The Wilson Center in DC to the ERA Coalition's nation-wide campus 50/50 Day event featuring speakers like Patricia Arquette and Carol Jenkins.

All this with one theme: #GettingTo5050, a gender-balanced world that's better for everyone. All genders. All races. All ages. All issues.

Head on over to WhyIPledge5050.org to commit to an action that will help move the needle in #Gettingto5050. The site offers 50 specific things you can do, whether you're a CEO, a parent, a student, an educator, anyone. It also offers resources to help you realize your pledge(s).

We live streamed an amazing lineup of speakers, events, and conversations around the globe. Watch all speakers and events. And read bios of all the speakers here.

Our brand new 4 minute film Why I Pledge 50/50; our centerpiece 20 min film that started it all, 50/50: Rethinking the Past, Present, and Future of Women + Power; and curated films from our partners.

We offer hands-on discussion kits for all events. You can also use our online discussion materials for all ages. Materials are also translated in Spanish.

Co-Founder of 50/50 Day Julie Hermelin and the Office of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti have partnered to create this fantastic toolkit that offers a step by step guide to bringing greater equity to your city government or organization. This toolkit was unveiled as part of 50/50 Day 2018, and is a resource provided as part of the WhyIPledge5050.org Action Pledge Tool. Check out the toolkit here.

Join hundreds of 50/50 Day Ambassadors around the globe who are passionate about making this change. Join the Facebook group for a dynamic conversation, to share your resources, learn how to make the most of your 50/50 Day event, and to meet fellow thought leaders around the world.

Makenzie DarlingJon Luini, Chime InteractiveBrainTrust: Kristi Bergeron, Kendra Bracken-Ferguson, Nicole Grossberg, Danielle GarciaPKPR: Patrick Kowalczyk and Jenny ChangShinya SuzukiPatrick Spohrer 50/50 Day Founders: Tiffany Shlain, Sawyer Steele, Julie Hermelin
Partnership and Engagement:
Technical Co-Producer:
Video Production Partners: Mike Krenztman, Red Summit Productions, and Tim K. and Jeff McGinniss, ArgusHD
Social Media Strategy:
Press Relations:
Streaming Engineer:
Streaming Host :
Production Assistants: Daniela Sirkin, Tamara Williamson
Interns: Tyler Dolph and Stacy Andryshak

Check out highlights from last year, including a Times Square billboard, ABC News, NPR, Variety, Bloomberg, and Time Magazine on our highlights and press page. You can also watch the complete lineup of speakers from 2017 here.

50/50 Day and the greater #GettingTo5050 Movement is supported by a wide range of corporations, foundations, and individuals. Major 50/50 Day partners range from Refinery29 to British Airways (who showed 50/50 on all of their flights in May) to United State of Women, ERA Coalition, Global Fund for Women, and over 80 organizations dedicated to #GettingTo5050.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
April 2nd marks the point in the year when the average woman's pay catches up to what an average man earned in 2018.

# data[].attributes.body
Free Downloads from Live Happy to make The World a Happier Place

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Learn more about why you get that warm, fuzzy feeling when you share #HappyActs and subscribe to our non-spammy, fun-filled emails with science-backed tips on living happy.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
2. Volunteer at an animal shelter. 3. Cook a homemade meal for someone.
5. Let someone keep the change.

6. Volunteer at a senior center.
8. Let someone cut ahead of you in traffic.
9. Tell someone you love him or her.

11. Love the people you can be crazy with.
12. Give lunch to a homeless person with a positive note attached.
13. Make a store clerk smile.
14. Send a handwritten appreciation/thank-you note to someone in your life. 15. Pay for the person behind you in line (coffee, food, etc.).
16. Tell your friends how much they mean to you.

17. Send flowers to your partner for no reason.
18. Pick up trash in a park. 19. Be a good listener for someone.
20. Make your co-workers laugh.

21. Be the cream in someone's coffee.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
2. Volunteer at an animal shelter. 3. Cook a homemade meal for someone. 5. Let someone keep the change. 6. Volunteer at a senior center. 8. Let someone cut ahead of you in traffic. 9. Tell someone you love him or her. 11. Love the people you can be crazy with.

# data[].attributes.headline
Fifteen Happy Acts that You Can do Today

# data[].attributes.subject
Fifteen Happy Acts that You Can do Today

# data[].attributes.body
Relationship Building lessons from "The Ned Show", a site that promotes character development.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Get this and other free character education resources from our online library!

# data[].attributes.body
Bullying lessons from "The Ned Show", a site that promotes character development.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Get this and other free character education resources from our online library!

# data[].attributes.body
Mindful Activities for Children

# data[].attributes.body
Changing Responses

# data[].attributes.body
Why Having Our Own Bubble is Important

# data[].attributes.body
From Children's Hospital of Wisconsin

# data[].attributes.body
Facts about the 24 Character Strengths from VIA.

# data[].attributes.body
You Tube Vdeo

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
"Just Breathe" by Julie Bayer Salzman & Josh Salzman (Wavecrest Films)

# data[].attributes.body
You Tube Video

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Sesame Street: Janelle Monae - Power of Yet

# data[].attributes.body
You Tube Video

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Sesame Street: Common and Colbie Caillat - "Belly Breathe" with Elmo

# data[].attributes.body
You Tube Video

# data[].attributes.body
You Tube Video

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Kid President’s 25 Reasons To Be Thankful!

# data[].attributes.body
You Tube Video

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Why Mindfulness Is a Superpower: An Animation

# data[].attributes.body
You Tube Video

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How to Defeat Negative Thinking: An Animation

# data[].attributes.body
Growth Mindset Notes from Big Life Journal

# data[].attributes.body
Guided meditations for children and adults.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
FREE APP In schools At work For Workplaces Why Mindfulness in the Workplace What We Offer For Education Why Mindfulness in Education The Mindfulness Curriculum What We Offer Shop

# data[].attributes.body
For the Elementary Child

# data[].attributes.body
From the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin

# data[].attributes.body
From Big Life Journal

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Take Chances Keep Going Perfectionism Printable - Big Life Journal.pdf

# data[].attributes.headline
12 Intentional Activities to Increase Life Satisfaction

# data[].attributes.subject
12 Intentional Activities to Increase Life Satisfaction

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Copy of 12 intentional activities for lesson 1.pdf

# data[].attributes.body
A newsletter with Strengths Resources by Susan Dunham.

# data[].attributes.body
A newsletter with Growth Mindset Praise Resources by Susan Dunham.

# data[].attributes.body
A newsletter with Happiness Resources by Susan Dunham

# data[].attributes.body
A newsletter with Growth Mindset Resources by Susan Dunham

# data[].attributes.body
Gratitude Tips and Resources compiled by Kate Moraitis.

# data[].attributes.body
For older students and adults.