Where’s *your* focus? Where do you want it to be? Spurred by a suggestion from a Chicago-based listener, Ted and Lisa gallop into a conversation about focus. They start with a rousing round of the new game “D’jever?” (1:54) before Ted kicks off the topic by mentioning the simultaneous different focus tracks in his brain [more…]
Other than that, Mrs. Hamilton, how was the show? An “essentially American” evening for these panicky times
Last night (August 7, 2019) in New York City, following a weekend of more mass shootings in Dayton and El Paso, Times Square had a false alarm that demonstrated just how adrenalized our society has become. I posted the following on Facebook after the incident, both to share the story and to process the event [more…]
Monster Baby #2: Defining Mindfulness and Impulse vs. Pause
In this second episode, Ted and Lisa dive into defining (or at least describing) mindfulness (3:37), discuss what mindfulness is not (16:53) and then explore how improvisation amplifies or differs from mindfulness (21:06). They close by talking about the tension between honoring our impulses and taking a mindfulness pause before acting (42:26). Thanks for [more…]
Monster Baby Podcast #1: Intro and Relationship to Failure
A Monster Baby podcast is born! In this inaugural episode, Ted and Lisa introduce themselves and offer the Monster Baby origin story (1:10) and talk about how mindfulness and improvisation relate to failure (14:53), including whether or not it makes sense to celebrate failure (35:40). Welcome to Monster Baby—we hope you enjoy the curious romp! [more…]
Peace or Privilege? The Paradox of Mindfulness and Social Change
When I consider mindfulness and social change, two contrasting impulses arise within me. One voice suggests coming to peace with what is. That voice recognizes that the problem may not be “out there” so much as it is within me. That I need to develop a quiet, a stillness, a readiness, a clarity of intention before I [more…]
From Fad to Fact: Bringing Mindfulness to Wider Circles
Mindfulness has emerged from obscurity and has begun blooming in far-reaching fields. Whether in business or education, health care or athletics, law and criminal justice or any number of spiritual communities, increasing numbers of voices promote the practice. Better results through deeper presence, you hear. Success through non-striving. A practical panacea. These are heady times [more…]
5 Easy Ways to Introduce Mindfulness into Your Classroom
You may have heard that mindfulness practice—learning to pay curious and kind attention to the present moment—brings a wide-ranging host of benefits to the classroom or workplace setting. Greater focus, improved self-awareness and collaboration, reduced anxiety and hostility: the evidence-based, scientifically-demonstrated list goes on. Thankfully, you need not polish your pedagogy or meditate in a [more…]
Walking at Omega, 2014
Simple summer moments can prove so sweet. I just recently returned from a wonderful retreat at the Omega Institute with Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) luminaries Jon Kabat-Zinn and Saki Santorelli. We spent most of our time in the first few days engaged in mindfulness practice, cycling through sitting, walking, lying down and yoga meditations. Six [more…]
A Visionary Victory for Pete Carroll and the Seattle Seahawks: How a New Way of Thinking Bonded a Team and Brought Home a Championship
Pete Carroll had heard it for years and right up until Super Bowl game time. The ridicule. The doubt. The derision. Pete Carroll’s too much of a players’ coach. That rah-rah style might work at USC, but it won’t work with grown men in the pros. Seattle’s too lax to win a championship. Now, after [more…]
Under Pressure (The Wisdom of Mistakes Follow-Up Interview)
Shortly after the previous post, The Wisdom of Mistakes, appeared in the Northfield Mount Hermon School alumni magazine, a trio of students in the Video as Visual Art class asked if they could interview me for further reflections. I gladly obliged and felt even more thankful after hearing the sophistication of their questions—them boys made [more…]
