Blog

By Mo Edjlali, Mindful Leader Founder and CEO

Growing up in elementary school we would all hear this story of Thanksgiving, it goes something like this - 

A long time ago when the pilgrims first arrived in America they were struggling to get settled in. As winter approached they feared for their survival and were facing possible starvation. Then they meet the Indians. They formed a friendship with the Indians based on mutual respect and sharing of food and resources. They became friends and al…

By The Mindful Leader Team

How many projects should you work on at once for maximum productivity? This month’s Round-Up has the answer (it’s five), as well as the science behind achieving a mindfulness ‘high’, how breathing affects the brain, promising new treatments for changing epigenetic expression in teen trauma survivors, and even a new theory of consciousness. We have summarized the main ideas and key takeaways below with links to the full articles.

Your Brain Absolutely Can't Handle Mor…

Kristin Neff, Ph.D. at the 2019 Mindful Leadership Summit.

How to Motivate Yourself with Kindness with Kristin Neff, Ph.D. from @Work 2019. Dr. Kristin Neff, an Associate Professor at the University of Texas at Austin, illustrates the importance of self-compassion, from the individual, to business context, to use with military veterans. She explains the difference between motivation by self-compassion and self-esteem. Self-compassion is a carin…

By Joy Reichart, New Ventures West, Guest Contributor

The sun rose slowly above the redwoods surrounding the park as we ‘cooled down’ from that chilly morning’s tai chi practice. As we took our full minute to stand in stillness and center ourselves, I began to notice that the phrase “thank you” was riding on each exhale. Thank you for this exceptionally beautiful neighborhood. Thank you for the recent, much-needed rain that has popped everything into technicolor. Thank you for this circle of ki…

By Michelle L. Maldonado, Guest Contributor 

What happens to one of us, happens to all of us. These words repeat themselves like a song’s refrain playing over and over again in my mind just as strongly today as when my family and I first began to speak this phrase some time ago.

For many in our families, communities, and places of work, the vision and wish for equality and equity, coupled with wise and compassionate action to transform societal conditions, have been a life-long endeavor. For o…

Today is election day here in the USA, and sitting right outside of DC it’s hard for me to avoid the palpable political buzz in the air. Folks are watching with excitement and anxiety races across all states, keeping a close eye on the possibility of one party gaining power here and losing power there. On top of that, there are concerns about voter suppression, election denial, and attacks on politicians and their families…  I don’t need to state …

By Tia Philippart, Guest Contributor 

There are plenty of workers who are guilty of taking work home with them. Not only are they finishing projects up at home, but they are ruminating about their work during their drives to and from the office when they are least capable of physically completing their work. The frustration of overthinking work tasks is detrimental to these commuters’ mental health. It might not be obvious at first, but ruminating upon work thoughts leads to an unsuccessful wor…

By John J. Murphy, Guest Contributor

Every holiday has meaning. These mindful moments offer us the opportunity to step back, reflect, and honor an important time or pivotal point in history. In my mind, Thanksgiving is one of the most important holidays of all – for one simple reason. Gratitude elevates consciousness. When we are in a state of thanksgiving, we are temporarily letting go of anxiety, stress, criticism, and judgmental feelings about what is wrong in the world, and we are recognizi…