Tabla de contenidos para June 2015 en Mindful

you posted I agree with Congressman Tim Ryan’s points in “Does Fast Food Really Cost Less?” (April 2015). However, when you see a woman with her three kids unable to feed them any other way than by the McDonald’s dollar menu or the Big K kids meals, you can see that the problem isn’t just food—it’s education and how much we care for those in need. Gail Lehmann Facebook Is this article a joke? (“Have a Drink and Pay Attention,” April 2015). What’s next, mindful cigar smoking? Mindfulness faces the possibility of going the way yoga has gone in the US, becoming trivialized by market forces to the point where it looks faintly absurd. I think there are articles in this magazine that could be published elsewhere. This is one…

YES, AND Kelly Leonard and Tom Yorton • Harper Business No, but thinking is ruining our lives! When confronted with innovative possibilities, we say “No, let’s not do that, but why don’t we do what I want instead?” Not a prescription for trusting, playful, creative interaction. Instead, these comic improv specialists from The Second City say we need to embrace the core principle of improvisation, Yes, And: OK, I go along with you and now, how about this? Your pal responds in kind, and voila, you’re improvising. Everybody learns, new pathways are discovered, it’s fun and, at times, funny. This is a light book with a very helpful message. PEACE, BUGS, AND UNDERSTANDING An Adventure in Sibling Harmony Gail Silver and Youme Nguyen Ly • Plum Blossom Kids can be…

Tyson Nichols is a 37-year-old teacher who uses meditation to help students conquer the stresses of their high-tech, high-pressure environment. His secret? He’s struggled through some of the same challenges they face. He credits meditation with helping him conquer his demons, calm his mind—and become the teacher he is today. How has meditation changed the way you teach? Tyson Nichols: Students come to the classroom with an insane amount of chaotic energy. Meditating together for a few minutes defuses that chaos and focuses the energy. It makes a 51-minute class, with about 30 distracted teenagers, much more productive. I don’t have to redirect the students often, and when I do, it’s as simple as ringing my chime. What do you have the students do? I start by having them close…

1. Take Recess When we give ourselves a break from overwork, we increase our brainpower and convert stress into productive and creative energy. Have some playtime. 2. Switch Autopilot On This doesn’t mean being “mindless” and bumping into walls because we don’t know where we are. It’s about using our brain’s natural ability to run on well-grooved habits, which are more powerful than willpower in carrying life’s burdens. 3. Unshackle Yourself Take time to break free from things that tax us, like our smartphone’s constant siren song. It opens the door to more joy, and it’s much simpler to do than you think. 4. Cultivate Relationships What are friends for? Lots of things. It’s a cliché and it may sound hokey, but life is simply hard to pull off all…

1 Savor life’s joys Pay close attention to life’s momentary pleasures and wonders, and share them with others through writing, drawing, music, or photography. Tip Commit to taking a photo every day of something that captures your attention. Try it for a week, a month, or even a whole year if you’re feeling ambitious. 2 Drop grudges When we forgive those who have wronged us, we feel better about ourselves, experience more positive emotions, and feel closer to others. 3 Get moving Regular exercise increases self-esteem, reduces anxiety and stress, and may well be the most effective instant happiness booster of all. 4 Give thanks Research reveals the enormous power of simply counting our blessings. Regular expressions of gratitude promote optimism, better health, and greater life satisfaction. For many more…

“It’s complicated” has become a rather familiar phrase in relationship speak. It’s true—all relationships can get a little messy, and for some that’s because the relationship starts at work. For millions of us, love and work intermingle in one way or another: coworkers getting married, business owners dating, client relations going rogue. Most HR professionals get squeamish when the subject arises. Rightfully so, as the topic is littered with legal issues, charged emotions, and awkward conversations. Yet data shows almost half of workers have had or will have a workplace romance—which makes sense given how much time we spend at work. The truth is: office romance happens. But because most of us avoid talking about it, we often don’t know how to approach it respectfully and with intention. The truth…

What makes you feel fulfilled: 74% FIND FULFILLMENT IN APPRECIATING WHAT THEY HAVE, and 64% in a job well done. Meanwhile notoriety makes 4% feel fulfilled—twice as many as tequila (2%). SOME FUN ANSWERS: • Doing the right thing • Seeing that I put a smile on another person’s face • My dream man • Good coffee • Getting what I want Is there such a thing as “happiness”: 99.67% SAY “OF COURSE!” MUST BE TRUE! How often you feel happy: 82% CLAIM “MORE OFTEN THAN NOT.” Wow. What’s your secret, Mindful readers? Rating their happiness on a scale from 1 to 10, our readers answered an average: 7.5 HAPPINESS—NOT BAD! What qualifies as a “good day”: • My wife has a smile on her face. • Being able to…

LEARNING MATTERS Can mindfulness help kids do better in school? A recent study published in Mindfulness found that exposing school kids to an audio-guided mindful awareness training program for 10 minutes a day significantly increased their performance in reading and science—without disrupting teaching. NOT A PANACEA A growing body of research shows that meditation and mindfulness can do a lot of good. But you need perspective, too—or so suggests a recent one-week National Institutes of Health study that looked at whether mindfulness meditation improves working memory or decreases mind wandering. The study did not find evidence for that, but it did find that meditation eases stress-related memory impairments. Less Stress for Nurses More and more studies are showing that mindfulness can help health-care workers reduce job-related stress and burnout. A…

Recipes, food styling, photographs, and narrative by Béatrice Peltre. Find more of her work at latartinegourmande.com. Zucchini are a low-calorie food, and contain no fat or cholesterol. They are a great source of antioxidants and many crucial nutrients: • High in manganese, potassium, fiber, and vitamin C. • Good source of B-complex vitamins, iron, and other minerals. Source: whfoods.com and livestrong.com If I had to pick one word to describe zucchini, it would be “versatile.” You can use the juicy summer squash to create simple and sophisticated dishes alike, since its taste is so subtle. It has a wonderful crunch, yet it can be so tender. Technically zucchini is a fruit, which is perhaps why it's so well suited to baking as well as savory cooking. I often use them…

1 MYTH BUSYNESS = IMPORTANCE We so often wear our busyness as a badge of honor. We see our ability to withstand mounting levels of stress as a sign of character. TRUTH BUSYNESS = COGNITIVE OVERLOAD An overloaded brain hinders performance. It impairs our ability to think creatively, plan, organize, innovate, solve problems, make decisions, resist temptations, learn new things easily, speak fluently, remember important social information (like the name of our boss’s daughter, or our daughter’s boss), and control our emotions. TURNAROUND SINGLE-TASK Brains are not computers. They’re not designed to run on multiple tracks simultaneously. Switching back and forth makes us tired, less efficient, and error-prone. When we settle in, put distracting devices aside, and do one thing at a time, we worry less about keeping up with…

In 2008, during the financial collapse that followed the sub-prime mortgage debacle, millions of Americans lost their jobs. They also lost their homes. But in the midst of it, a housing boom started that few people noticed: a really small housing boom. The average new home in 2013 was 2,600 square feet—the area of a tennis court. A typical tiny house is one tenth that size, between 100 and 300 square feet—the size of a parking space. Over the last seven years, tiny houses have exploded in popularity. Homeowners, builders, planners, and bloggers love tiny houses—others love to hate them. Skeptics say tiny houses are misrepresented as functional, environmentally friendly, and affordable, when they’re actually an over-hyped trend. After all, why would anyone want to live in something that, well,…

Most of us spend a great deal of time sitting behind our desks, or in conference rooms or colleagues’ offices, so having a short practice that helps you relax while at work can be beneficial. This “desk chair” meditation gives you a way to incorporate a short mindfulness practice into your day. 1 You may need to be creative to find a quiet place. Many people have said they’re best able to do this practice by first leaving their office and finding an empty conference room, or even leaving the building to sit in their car during part of their lunch break. The desk chair part need not be taken literally. This meditation can be done anywhere you are able to sit quietly and practice, even an airplane seat. 2…

Our must-read story this issue: For more on fitting into the wrong size of bed, see our story on what it’s like to live in a tiny house on page 50 In ancient Greece, or so the story goes, there was an innkeeper named Procrustes. His slogan: No person is too tall or too short for the beds at Procrustes’. He made good on his claim by cutting off the legs of the tall people and putting short people on the rack to stretch them out. Everyone “fit” but there was a lot of pain involved, and so was born the notion of a Procrustean Bed: a norm that we try to fit everyone into. Every era has its brand of conformity. In the Information Age, where measurement is rampant…

mindful Get a quality education to accompany your nausea when you fly with JetBlue: The airline has added full college lectures to its in-flight entertainment. When a snowstorm hit Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, 82-year-old Bud Caldwell couldn’t make his daily visit to the bench he’d bought and dedicated to his wife. So two park workers shoveled him a path and promised to do so every day, in the name of love. Knitting isn’t just for grandmas anymore: One Maryland prison offers weekly knitting classes to male inmates to teach them discipline, work ethic, and patience—stitch by stitch by stitch. As of January, Kopplin’s Coffee in St. Paul, Minnesota, gives its baristas a living wage—starting at $4.50 above the state minimum—and tips go to a local food bank. Forget Internet trolls…

Christine Carter, Ph.D., is a sociologist and senior fellow at UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center. She is the author of Raising Happiness and most recently The Sweet Spot: How to Find Your Groove at Home and Work. Five years ago, I was a single mother holding down three demanding part-time jobs, and my life was a blur. Yes, our family did find a way to eat dinner together most nights, and we talked about what we were grateful for. But, for all of that, I was caught up in the busyness of modern life—winded, running on a hamster wheel, afraid to slow down. I’d lost my groove. For too many of us, life today is a pressure cooker. Even the most talented—and privileged—people are struggling to “balance” relentless work…

During long road trips when I was a kid, instead of switching on the radio my father sang, sometimes accompanied my mother. My brother had left home, so it was just me in the back, behind a blanket strung from door to door, pretending I was on a pirate ship headed for China, doing my best to blot out my father’s off-key warbling. Bernie was not a happy man, but his repertoire had a single theme: Happy Days Are Here Again, Smile (though your heart is breaking) and Put On A Happy Face topped his hit parade. My mother wasn’t any happier than my father, but it was as if she had drunk the same cultural Kool-Aid as he. They both had got the message that happiness is the only…

1 Upcycle Fixtures and appliances for smaller homes are hard to come by—but you can meet your needs in creative ways. The Kasls couldn’t find a bath to fit their washroom. Instead, they cut a wine barrel in half to make a kid-sized tub. Old bicycle baskets make cyclist-chic storage. Wooden boxes can become steps or shelves. Look around the RV and boating world for small second-hand appliances. 2 Furnish for Functionality Transforming furniture is key to a flexible space. You can find tables that fold up against the wall or down into the floor. Sinks can be covered to become counter space. Chairs can stack. There are benches, ottomans, and even stairs that conceal storage. 3 Do You Really Need That? Say goodbye to photos, DVDs, CDs, and textbooks:…

People often find some difficulty in caring for themselves, in receiving love, in believing they deserve to be happy. Imagine for a moment the amount of energy you expend brooding over the future, ruminating about the past, comparing yourself to others, judging yourself, worrying about what might happen next. That is a huge amount of energy. Now imagine all of that energy gathered in and returned to you. Underlying our usual patterns of self-preoccupation, stinging self-judgment, and fear is the universal, innate potential for love and awareness. Loving kindness meditations point us back to a place within, where we can cultivate love and help it flourish. Developing care toward ourselves is the first objective, the foundation for later being able to include others in the sphere of kindness. This loving…

Most meditators have had the experience of sitting down to meditate only to find ourselves completely on automatic pilot—as if meditation itself had become just one more thing on the to-do list. We don’t even quite remember why we’re meditating in the first place. And yet a central question for anyone who meditates is: “Why am I doing this?” What is your reason for meditating? What are your goals or aspirations? Reflecting on the intention that underlies our meditation practice—why we meditate—is an essential part of the practice itself. If we don’t consider our intention in meditating, it’s easy to get lost. Our practice becomes just another rote activity, such as brushing our teeth or going to the gym. But the invitation of meditation is the opposite of this automatic…

The key in meditation is to take time to get in touch with what you want, what you value most. With this practice, use intention to feed your passion and motivation. It will help you to dedicate time to meditation practice. 1 Feel the Body Begin by feeling your body, connecting with both feet, your legs, your seat, hips, tailbone. Sensing your spine, straight and upright, relax the shoulders down and allow your awareness to travel down through both arms and to the palms of the hands and fingers. Bring the awareness into the belly, the chest, the throat, and then resting your awareness on your face, release any tension in your jaw, eyes, forehead. Sense the whole body as you sit here. And feel the breath moving through the…