It’s a complicated world out there.
People everywhere are figuring out how to stay balanced.
I’m generally known as a happy person, but years ago I suffered frompanic and anxiety.
I’ve learned to manage the fear and pain.
I’d say it’s my life’s mission.
In 2003, I established theHawn Foundationto help children create greater brain health through mindfulness practices.
Working with neuroscientists, we’ve shown thatmeditationoffers a way to change brain chemistry.
On the playground, aggression goes down about 30 percent.
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Our curriculum offers techniques to manage emotions and behavior.
One exercise is a gratitude circle, where kids go around saying what they’re thankful for.
Sounds simple, right?
Well, at a school inVancouver, British Columbia, a boy had been bullied.
At gratitude circle, another kid said he was grateful for that child.
The boy’s mother told me it was the first time her son felt safe at school.
Mindfulness can help people of any age.
That’s because we become what we think.
If you have a negative thought “I can’t stand my boss” it perpetuates a negative worldview.
But if you supplant each negative thought with three positive ones, you begin to restructure your brain.
Research has proven that this practice can lift people out ofdepression.
That’s a powerful force.
This time in my life feels like a culmination of everything I’ve been practicing.
I’ve meditated since the 1970s, but now I really see the results.
People talk about the brain weakening as it ages.
Meditation thickens the cortex, where we make decisions, analyze, feel more connected to others and dream.
It’s all we’ve got.
