In a small, cinder-block room lit by shards of afternoon sun sneaking in through windows in the ceiling, thirteen jail guards in dark blue uniforms sit quietly on gray plastic chairs. The only sound comes from the blowing fan and the occasional squawk of their handheld walkie-talkie radios. The room is labeled “chapel,” though the only sign of that purpose is…
No one ever says, “You do leadership really well.” People say, “You are a great leader.” Leadership is not something you do; it’s someone you are. Leadership is a Personal Practice A client and friend of mine reflected that a critical and life-changing realization for him was that “with care and practice, with awareness and attention, by doing the work…
Roshi Joan Halifax is a Buddhist teacher, anthropologist, and author. In her newest book, Standing at the Edge: Finding Freedom Where Fear and Courage Meet, she explores the terrain of five psychological territories she calls “Edge States”―altruism, empathy, integrity, respect, and engagement. We spoke with her recently about some of the ideas from the book. You’ve spent a lifetime trying…
In November 2016, America and the rest of the world were stunned when a candidate whose platform included harming immigrants and discriminating against certain citizens won the presidency. When I learned he’d been voted in, my heart sank, realizing that America had become even less of a place I can call home. Many of us had been living under a…
Final preparations are being made by the Contemplative-Based Resilience (CBR) Project team for our biggest operational moment of 2018 so far. From March 20th to March 29th, the CBR Project’s team of psychologists and meditation and mindful movement teachers will be on the ground in the Middle East offering direct support and building the resiliency skills of aid workers in…
No one alive really understands death. But as one woman who was close to death once told me, “I see the exit signs much clearer than you do.” In a way, nothing can prepare you for death. Yet everything that you have done in your life, everything that has been done to you, and what you have learned from it…
But with all our contemporary tough-mindedness the question is still to be answered: what does man live for? Control of nature, mastery of the cosmos, which is what our world is mainly up to, fails to satisfy the longings of the human heart. It may be that we must in the end redesign and remake the heart. —Between Wind and…
In recent years, mindfulness has made tremendous strides into mainstream society. People are practicing it individually and bringing it into their organizations. Through my work at Mindful Leader I have encountered, advised, and learned from countless champions of mindfulness at the workplace across the globe and at companies of every size and industry. If you are interested in bringing mindfulness…