THE 

ONLY WAY TO ACHIEVE

HARMONY IS THROUGH
PRACTICING MINDFULNESS

ZHYHALKINA HANNA
 The practice of
mindfulness, a systematic
way of paying attention and
cultivating well-being, is
becoming an increasingly
important tool in education,
from top-level leaders to
elementary schoolchildren.
Mindfulness “allows us to meet the full
catastrophe of the human condition.
Difficult things happen, terrifying
things happen, unwanted things happen,
but the real question is how we’re going
to be in relationship to them. That’s the
challenge. And that’s what mindfulness
is about,” Kabat-Zinn said.

Kabat-Zinn is a professor of
medicine emeritus and the founding
director of the Stress Reduction Clinic
and the Center for Mindfulness in
Medicine, Health Care, and Society at
the University of Massachusetts
Medical School.
 Studies have shown benefits
against an array of conditions
both physical and mental,
including irritable bowel
syndrome, fibromyalgia,
psoriasis, anxiety, depression,
and post-traumatic stress
disorder. But some of those
findings have been called into
question because studies had
small sample sizes or
problematic experimental
designs.
Still, there are a handful of key
areas — including depression,
chronic pain, and anxiety — in
which well-designed, well-run
studies have shown benefits for
patients engaging in a
mindfulness meditation
program, with effects similar to
other existing treatments.
Christine O’Shaughnessy, a former
investment bank executive who
lead workshops at Harvard, said,
“All day we’re bombarded with
social media, colleagues, work,
children, etc. We don’t have time to
spend it in quiet reflection. But if
you practice it at least once a day,
you’ll have a better day.” To
skeptics who still view
mindfulness as hippie-dippy
poppycock, O’Shaughnessy has
four words: “Give it a try.”
 Recent scientific exploration has
largely focused on the secular
practice of mindful meditation, but
meditation is also a component of
several ancient religious traditions,
with variations. Even within the
community practicing secular
mindful meditation, there are
variations that may be scientifically
meaningful, such as how often one
meditates and how long the
sessions are.
 “Real education never ends.
You’re pulling on something
that’s already intrinsic inside.
It’s not like putting stuff in, it’s
not like filling a pail. Instead, it
becomes a love affair with
learning. There’s very little
that’s not really interesting if
you, in some sense, are
grounded in who you are.”