Liberating Masculinity With Edward M. Adams and Ed Frauenheim

Stephanie Domet: Hello, and welcome to Real Mindful. This is where we speak mindfully about things that matter.

We’ll meet here twice a month to introduce you to some of the teachers, thinkers, writers, and researchers who are engaged in the mindfulness movement. You’ll hear all kinds of conversations here about the science of mindfulness, the practice of mindfulness—and the heart of it. 

I’m Stephanie Domet. I’m the managing editor at Mindful magazine and Mindful.org. And this is Real Mindful.

Ed Adams: I remember going to the Philadelphia Zoo and watching a lion just pacing back and forth in this small cage and in how it evoked in me a sense of dread or anger or something. It’s like, “poor thing,” you know, it can’t go anywhere. There’s nothing of interest and it’s so limiting.

SD: That’s Ed Adams. He’s a psychologist and the founder of Men Mentoring Men, or M3, a not for profit organization that provides peer coaching for men. He’s also the co-author of Reinventing Masculinity: The Liberating Power of Compassion and Connection, alongside Edward Frauenheim, a journalist, researcher, and speaker who often focuses on masculinity and workplace culture, as well as the intersection between the two. Coming up on Real Mindful today, a conversation with Ed Adams and Edward Frauenheim about their book, and the role mindfulness plays in liberating masculinity.

But first, Mindful senior editor Kylee Ross dropped by to talk about our annual meditation challenge, Mindful30. Hi, Kylee.

Kylee Ross: Hi, Stephanie. 

SD: So, the Mindful30. This is the fifth year for this challenge. Can you talk a little bit about what’s involved and who’s involved this year? 

KR: Definitely. So, every year we bring together eight teachers to guide us through 30 days of meditation, usually for the month of September. This year the theme is resilience, which was pretty interesting during the year that we’ve had. And interesting to go through what resilience means to all of these teachers. We have an amazing lineup. We have Tovi Scruggs-Hussein, Rashid Hughes, founding editor Barrie Boyce, Dr. Sará King, Sharon Salzberg, Dr. Mark Bertin, Dr. Shalini Bahl-Milne, and Sara Ivanhoe. 

SD: Wow, that’s a star-studded lineup.

KR: Yeah, it was just amazing to work with them.

SD: And so what kinds of practices are they serving in this 30 day excursion? 

KR: So, over the 30 days, they are serving practices that are kind of bite-sized. So 10 to 15 minutes. You’re able to wake up and do this practice through the entire month. And the practices vary, you know, we have mindful movement, we have breath-awareness practices, all kinds of practices.

SD: And now we’re a little bit into the month of September, but I could start this any time and receive it every day for 30 days. Is that right? 

KR: You can sign up any day throughout the month of September and start as if it’s day one.

SD: What do I need to be able to embark on this?

KR: You need very little. You need a few minutes, really. You can sit down wherever you are. You can download the practice, take it with you. So I would say I guess all you need is an internet connection. 

SD: Amazing. I have that. Thanks so much for dropping by and talking about this with us. 

KR: Thank you, Stephanie.

SD: That’s Kylee Ross, a senior editor at Mindful and Mindful.org. You can find out more about Mindful30 at mindful.org, and we’ll pop a direct link into the show notes for you.

Now, in the October issue of Mindful, Mindful coach Chris Peraro writes about a subject close to his heart: how mindfulness can allow men to show up as their full selves. He writes:

Once in a while, during a typical hectic day in our household, my wife will turn to me wearing a pretend-astonished smile and say: “Chris, did you know that we have three boys?” Although it seems like she’s just playfully stating the obvious, I hear her words like the ringing of a generations-old mission bell, a reminder of what’s most important to me. Each time, I’m struck by the responsibility of raising our boys in an era when masculinity, in the way that it’s long been defined, is being called to expand.

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