Last month, I attended the second annual End Well Symposium in San Francisco–a multidisciplinary event focused on reframing end-of-life care and conversations through the lens of design, health care, language, spirit, community activism, and policy. I caught up with founder Shoshana Ungerleider just before the conference to explore these themes and the long-term outlook of how to live well through…
If we had the technology to create a 3D map of what in our environment draws our attention–after getting over the initial mortification–we’d all be alarmed by how much energy goes towards our devices. Like a black hole for awareness, they have a certain gravitational pull. The amount of times I’ve found myself with my unlocked phone in hand and…
Jacqueline Carter and Rasmus Hourgaard of Potential Project recently published The Mind of the Leader: How to Lead Yourself, Your People, and Your Organization for Extraordinary Results, a book about how awareness can allow you to be an effective leader. We hosted a book launch event with Jacqueline that was moderated by James Gimian, Executive Director of the Foundation for a Mindful Society.…
On the Pathways Toward Planetary Health – the interconnected road to ecological civilization, Half-Earth, regenerative economics, and pervasive altruism – there must be awareness and a bedrock of underlying values. There must be an ethical framework and a capacity to generate solutions. There must be a basic morality. But there also must be something good to eat. And plenty of…
How do we emotionally and socially construct our notions of difference and “the other?” Are there core truths about otherness and racial bias that transcend geographic boundaries? In June, more than 130 scientists, scholars, students, and activists from 19 countries gathered at Mind & Life’s 15th Summer Research Institute (SRI), each held at the Garrison Institute. This year’s theme,“Engaging Cultural Difference…
As part of our “Garrison Talks at the JCC” event series at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan, meditation teacher and author Sharon Salzberg recently spoke with author and teacher Frank Ostaseski, a leader in the field of end-of-life care, about courage. Frank Ostaseski: My dear friend Roshi Joan Halifax recently published her new book, Standing at the Edge: Finding Fear…
Frank Ostaseski and Roshi Joan Halifax, pioneers in the field of contemplative end-of-life care, who have trained thousands of healthcare clinicians and caregivers, recently led a retreat at the Institute on the compassionate care of the dying. Being with those who are dying can be an intense, intimate, and deeply alive experience. It often challenges old patterns, reveals our deepest…
As part of our “Garrison Talks at the JCC” event series at the Marlene Myerson JCC Manhattan, meditation teacher and author Sharon Salzberg recently spoke with Dr. Chris Willard, a psychologist and educational consultant, and Dr. Mark Bertin, a developmental pediatrician and mindfulness teacher, about how to cultivate resilience in our children. Sharon Salzberg: Do you think it’s harder for kids these…