The Mindful Word

SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING: How teaching youth about emotional intelligence promotes happiness and success

Jenn Sims — Thu, 28 May 2026 18:00:00 +0000

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) has become one of the most important topics of conversation in modern education—and for good reason. While academic achievement remains essential, schools are increasingly recognizing that students also need emotional awareness, resilience, empathy, communication skills and healthy coping strategies to thrive both inside and outside the classroom. SEL helps build these foundational life skills. At its core, SEL is the process of helping children and youth understand and manage emotions, develop positive relationships, make responsible […]

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RITUALS TO MARK LOSS AND DEATH: Create your own in 3 stages

Contributor — Tue, 26 May 2026 18:00:00 +0000

With all beings throughout timeI will honour loss and griefBy giving myself to the momentMaking a ceremony of this passage Recent studies have provided proof of what humans have always known, that rituals, simple or complex, are extremely useful in processing grief. This chapter offers guidance for creating your own rituals to mark loss and death. Throughout history, humans have metabolized loss through the enactment of ritual and ceremony. The internal process of coping with major life changes has always […]

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10 YEARS AT THE FINISH LINE: But this time, I showed up differently

Feon Chau — Mon, 18 May 2026 18:00:00 +0000

My husband had just finished his first full Ironman-distance race since we had children. He came eighth overall and first in his age group. But when he reached the finish line, the feeling that swept over me wasn’t really about where he finished. It was about the 10 years that had brought us back to this distance, and everything that had to happen to make that moment—including my place in it—possible. A race is never just one day. It begins […]

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POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY AND CHILDREN: Why it’s important inside and outside of school

Jenn Sims — Wed, 13 May 2026 18:00:00 +0000

Positive psychology helps children focus on strengths, emotions, resilience, kindness, gratitude and healthy relationships, rather than only on problems or mistakes. Instead of asking, “What’s wrong with this child?” positive psychology asks, “What will help this child grow, thrive and feel connected?” For children, this approach can support confidence, emotional regulation, empathy, optimism and overall mental wellness. It teaches kids that happiness isn’t about being positive all the time—it’s about learning how to cope with challenges, appreciate life, build meaningful […]

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HAPPINESS VS. SUFFERING: From a Buddhist perspective, are they really opposites?

Contributor — Thu, 07 May 2026 18:00:00 +0000

I’ll see if I can help unpack this essential topic, although it’s very difficult and I’m not sure I’ll do a good job. But then again, the Buddha himself was unsure he could do a good job. After attaining enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree in India, a state of nirvana where he’d no longer ever experience unhappiness, he remained silent for seven weeks. He felt there was no way he could communicate this state of ultimate satisfaction to others. They […]

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CONSCIOUSNESS, UAPS AND THE LIMITS OF KNOWLEDGE: A conversation with Sinéad Whelehan

George Cassidy Payne — Wed, 06 May 2026 18:00:00 +0000

There are interviews that feel like structured exchanges of ideas, and others that feel more like a live wire carried through language. This conversation with Sinéad Whelehan belongs to the second category. It moves between neuroscience and mysticism, UAP sightings and philosophy of mind, while circling a single persistent question: What is consciousness, and how far does it reach into reality? Whelehan serves as Director of Communications at The Center for the Unification of Science and Consciousness. Her work sits […]

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DIGITALLY DIVIDED WE FALL: But humanly united we stand

Contributor — Mon, 04 May 2026 18:00:00 +0000

In much of science fiction, the future shows remarkable technological advances. There are flying cars, superintelligent machines and lightspeed travel. But one thing stays the same: humans. We’re still stuck in fear, division and conflict. The only difference is we have stronger tools to create and destroy. AI and other advances are often not used to improve us but to feed on our greed, lust for power and weakness. Rather than bringing us together, the technologies are used to divide […]

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NATIONAL VOLUNTEER MONTH: Moving through the world with intention

Barry Hoffner — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 18:00:00 +0000

Some birthdays stay with you. My sixty-second in 2022 was celebrated in Beirut, with a quiet dinner alone after a deeply moving afternoon spent with a Syrian refugee family. Exactly one year later, in Damascus, a city I’d longed to visit and still under the control of Assad, my guide Fadi surprised me with a birthday party. It was an unexpected celebration in a city I’d only known through headlines, and not good ones. The past two Aprils have been […]

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COMMUNICATION, PRESENCE AND RECONNECTION: 3 ways to bring mindfulness into your relationship

Jenn Sims — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 18:00:00 +0000

Modern relationships are often lived at a relentless pace, as work, children, responsibilities and the quiet pull of distraction constantly compete for attention. It’s not that love disappears; it’s that attention does. And where attention goes, connection follows. Mindfulness offers a way back—not through grand gestures, but through small, intentional shifts in how we show up for one another. What do mindful relationships entail? Mindfulness in a relationship is the practice of being fully present with your partner—without distraction, without […]

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THE MORNING I STOPPED TURNING AGAINST MYSELF: Saying goodbye to my inner critic

Feon Chau — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 18:00:00 +0000

It began with a fight over a sweater on an ordinary weekday morning, when all I wanted was to crawl back into bed and start over. My 4-year-old daughter refused to put one on, and I spent half an hour trying to practice what they call gentle parenting. No raised voice. No harsh words. Only calm explanations. She responded by throwing a full tantrum. My husband walked over and repeated what I’d been saying, and she listened immediately. Rationally, I […]

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