10 Ways Mindfulness Is Driving Real Change

The benefits of mindfulness in the real world may be broader than you think.

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Mindfulness is a fancy word for something very simple we all have: the ability to be fully aware of what’s going on around us, inside us, and with the people we encounter. We can cultivate this ability, and at Mindful, we make it our mission to support individuals and groups doing just that: improving lives by bringing mindfulness into the heart of our daily experiences, where the rubber meets the road.

In the midst of increasingly anxious and divisive times, mindfulness feels more relevant than ever.

In the midst of increasingly anxious and divisive times, mindfulness feels more relevant than ever. Here are just ten of the many ways it’s being used to cultivate a more deeply connected, content, and compassionate world.

  1. In hospitals and doctors’ offices, mindfulness training is making doctors better listeners, lowering their stress, and improving patients’ health with methods that complement traditional medicine.
  2. In classrooms, teachers are using mindfulness methods to foster learning environments with more emotional intelligence—teaching the whole student, mind and body together.
  3. First responders and soldiers are using mindfulness techniques to become more resilient, and trauma sufferers are using it to heal.
  4. In businesses in sector after sector, mindfulness and awareness—and yes, kindness and compassion—are increasing job performance and satisfaction.
  5. Neuroscientists and other researchers are putting mindfulness under the microscope, and learning more each day about what we’re capable of when our minds are more in tune.
  6. Tech innovators find that a little bit of mindfulness gives them the space to look at the bigger picture and try to solve real problems, not just create more distraction.
  7. Lawyers and judges are using mindfulness to avoid the burnout that leads to increased conflict and bad decision-making.
  8. Teen mindfulness programs are helping young people navigate the perils and pitfalls that come with starting out in life, empowering them to find their own sense of purpose.
  9. Marginalized youth are getting chances they might not have had without the opportunity to learn mindfulness skills that synchronize their bodies and minds.
  10. Politicians and public servants at the municipal, state, and federal level—in many different countries—are seeing how mindfulness can bring civility and clarity in the midst of chaotic, challenging times.

Help the mindfulness movement grow and flourish in 2019.

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About the author

Barry Boyce

Barry Boyce is Founding Editor of Mindful and Mindful.org. A longtime meditation practitioner and teacher—as well as a professional writer and editor— he is the editor of and a primary contributor to The Mindfulness Revolution: Leading Psychologists, Scientists, Artists, and Meditation Teachers on the Power of Mindfulness in Daily Life. Barry also worked closely with Congressman Tim Ryan, as developmental editor, on A Mindful Nation and The Real Food Revolution. Barry serves on the board of directors of the Foundation for a Mindful Society and the Centre for Mindfulness Studies in Toronto as well as on the advisory board of Peace in Schools, in Portland, Oregon.