Bringing mindfulness off the cushion
and into social change efforts.

Mindfulness in Action


Police Lieutenant Richard Gerling: “Mindfulness helps take us from a black and white world to the gray world that actually exists. It helps us to pay attention to all the nuances of the person’s behavior. I was on a call where there was a 12 year old boy who was out of control…”

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“In the past I would have rolled my eyes and thought, ‘parents can’t parent.’  In this case, this 12 year old had a garden hoe and he’s busting windows out and he’s screaming. We got him under control, and I went and talked to mom. She was an admitted prostitute, an admitted drug user. I thought to myself there was a time when I would have been very judgmental to this mother. I think collectively our assessment of a call like this would have been ‘if this mom wasn’t a prostitute and she hadn’t done drugs this wouldn’t be happening’, because that is the only place we know where to land because we don’t have the capacity to be empathic.

But in this case,  mindfulness allowed me to compassionately speak to this mother, not to be judgmental. She knew I wasn’t judgmental and that was the power of this encounter. In that moment she found humanity in this encounter with police. And even though everybody around her in her neighborhood was likely judging her and had their own conclusions and knew the right answer and had a prescription for how she could change her life,  in that moment she got to encounter a police officer who wasn’t judging her or her world and who was simply able to help her. Mindfulness can really transform the relationship between police and the people we are sworn to serve.”


Leonard Riskin (mediator): What we do as mediators depends so much on what’s going on inside ourselves. We’re all limited by our thoughts and by the emotions that are rolling around inside of ourselves, and by our habits. In order to become aware of what’s going on in ourselves, we have to be able to look at ourselves. The method that I have found helpful is mindfulness meditation…


Judge Thelton E. Henderson encounters social problems, suffering, scary times, and difficult behaviors. He says: “meditation centers me, focuses me, helps me to feel more up to that scary task, helps me keep the balance…”


 

Everyone knows
That the yielding overcomes the stiff
And the soft overcomes the hard
Yet no one applies this knowledge

–Lao Tzu

Mindfulness and Social Change

Lao Tzu writes: “The yielding overcomes the stiff”.
Really? In our current contentious world?

  • Wisdom teachers down through the ages have said similar things.
  • Nonviolence as practiced by Gandhi and Martin Luther King has a lot to add.

The time is NOW to apply this knowledge.

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Mindfulness and transformative change

Self Care on the Front Lines: Without time for self care and reflection, activists and others on the front lines can experience stress, burnout and overwhelm.

Insight: Tuning into thoughts and feelings can give insight into our emotional reactions and open up more choice for how to respond.

Connecting Across Divides: Mindful communication.

Mindfulness and Activism: Working for social change without demonizing others. Alternatives to adversarial methods.

Mindful Organizations and Systems: Mindful leadership. Connection and collaboration rather than “power over”.