Real Mindful Ep 9: Find Your Focus with Amishi Jha

What can an ancient Greek play show modern audiences about the circumstances nurses have found themselves in over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic? That’s a question Theater of War Productions and Dr. Cynda Rushton, professor of nursing and bioethics at Johns Hopkins University, hope will be answered when The Nurse Antigone premieres to audiences around the world. A project by and for nurses, The Nurse Antigone presents dramatic readings of Sophocles’ Antigone on Zoom—featuring Taylor Schilling, Margaret Atwood, a chorus of nurses, and you. Mindful’s managing editor Stephanie Domet connected with the organizers, and we’re pleased to bring you that conversation. Stay curious, stay inspired. Join our community by signing up for our free newsletter, where we share compelling insights and actionable ideas to enrich your everyday life. Connect with us at mindful.org/signup.   Show notes:  Learn more about The Nurse Antigone: theaterofwar.com Can A Greek Tragedy Help Nurses Heal From the Stress of the Pandemic?

Here at Mindful we talk a lot about the wisdom of self-compassion and the importance of encountering our experience just as it is. And so, we’ve realized we need to take some of our own medicine. We need to rest for a moment. We’re going to model self-care, we’re going to model self-compassion, and we’re going to put this podcast on pause for now.  We’ll be back before long with another episode of Real Mindful. Stay curious, stay inspired. Join our community by signing up for our free newsletter, where we share compelling insights and actionable ideas to enrich your everyday life. Connect with us at mindful.org/signup.  

In this episode of Real Mindful, we pick up this remarkable conversation between old friends as Frank Ostaseski talks about the nature of our minds and how a useful comparison can be the ocean and its waves. After suffering from five strokes over two years, Frank shares how his mindfulness practice provided him with comfort during this difficult time and shares how letting go of his need to return to normal helped him focus on discovery rather than recovery. Show Notes:   Listen to the first part of this conversation here: ​​Lean In to Love with Frank Ostaseski - Mindful    Find more from Frank Ostaseski here: The Five Invitations: Discovering What Death Can Teach Us About Living Fully Zen Hospice Project A 12-Minute Meditation to Welcome Everything “Lean In to Love” from the February 2022 issue of Mindful magazine And more from Mindful here: February issue of Mindful magazine: Welcome Everything The 12 Minute Meditation practice podcast And don’t forget to let us know what you thought by emailing [email protected].

Frank Ostaseski is a well-known and much-loved teacher of meditation, mindfulness, and compassionate service. In the past two years, he’s suffered five strokes that affected his brain’s capacity and as many aspects of daily life became more difficult, Frank found strength and refuge in love, compassion, and curiosity. He also found his practice still very much alive through the whole experience—and his ability to communicate the nuance of what we discover when we welcome everything remains intact. In this remarkable conversation between old friends, Frank shares some of what he learned and leaned on with our founding editor Barry Boyce. We’ll bring you this conversation in two parts over the next two episodes of Real Mindful. Show Notes Find more from Frank Ostaseski here: The Five Invitations: Discovering What Death Can Teach Us About Living Fully Zen Hospice Project A 12-Minute Meditation to Welcome Everything “Lean Into Love” from the February 2022 issue of Mindful magazine And more from Mindful here: February issue of Mindful magazine: Welcome Everything More Real Mindful podcast episodes The 12 Minute Meditation practice podcast And don’t forget to let us know what you thought by emailing [email protected].

In this unique episode of Real Mindful, we’re looking back at some of the memorable moments at Mindful in 2021. Mindful managing editor Stephanie Domet sits down with members of the editorial and design team to discuss what stood out to them in the world of mindfulness over the past year. You’ll also hear all about how the folks at Mindful like to rest, a few things they’re grateful for, and the importance of taking the time to notice the small moments of beauty all around us.  Show notes: Powerful women of mindfulness, 2021: 10 Powerful Women of the Mindfulness Movement: 2021 Powerful women of mindfulness, 2020: 12 Powerful Women of the Mindfulness Movement: 2020 Powerful women of mindfulness, 2019: 12 Powerful Women of the Mindfulness Movement Read The Importance of Noticing Small Moments of Beauty: The Importance of Noticing Small Moments of Beauty Read How I Stopped Terrorizing Myself: How I Stopped Terrorizing Myself Read Healing in the Deep Ocean of Grief: Healing in the Deep Ocean of Grief Read Gentle Men: The Healing Power of Vulnerability: Gentle Men: The Healing Power of Vulnerability Ruth King Real Mindful Episode: Ruth King on Planting Seeds for the Future - Mindful  Enjoy our Mindful Gratitude Journal with a discount applied at checkout here: www.mindful.org/journal  Edward M. Adams and Ed Frauenheim Real Mindful Episode: Liberating Masculinity With Edward M. Adams and Ed Frauenheim Read the lastest Top of Mind section: How Naming Can Empower Patients, and Other Mindful News Rashid Hughes R.E.S.T practice: R.E.S.T.—A Guided Practice for the Tired and Weary

In this episode of Real Mindful, neuroscientist and author of the new book Peak Mind: Find Your Focus, Own Your Attention, Invest 12 Minutes a Day, Amishi Jha and Mindful managing editor Stephanie Domet discuss the brain science of attention, how mindfulness meditation helps hone focus, and why our brains are so distractible in the first place. Show Notes: Find more from Amishi Jha here: Peak Mind excerpt: “Find Your Focus: Own Your Attention in 12 Minutes a Day” Find Your Focus: A Conversation with Amishi Jha More from Amishi on mindful.org Find Your Focus course AmishiJha.com And more from Mindful here: December issue of Mindful magazine: The Science of Mindfulness The 12 Minute Meditation practice podcast And don’t forget to let us know what you thought by emailing [email protected].

This week, we have Mindful’s very own senior editor, Amber Tucker and junior designer, Paige Sawler here to discuss a very special project: The Mindful Gratitude Journal. In this conversation with Mindful managing editor Stephanie Domet, you’ll hear all about the joy, creativity, challenges and endless Zoom meetings that went into creating this—as we like to call it–work of art. We hope the Gratitude Journal will inspire you to not simply read, but take the practice of gratitude into every area of your life.  Shownotes: Enjoy our Mindful Gratitude Journal with a discount applied at checkout here: www.mindful.org/journal  Experience two weeks of Gratitude with our Mindful gratitude calendar here: The Mindful Gratitude Calendar  Find more artwork by Geraldine here: Geraldine Sy Illustration  And more from Mindful here: December issue of Mindful magazine: The Science of Mindfulness More Real Mindful podcast episodes The 12 Minute Meditation practice podcast And don’t forget to let us know what you thought by emailing [email protected].

This week, Mindful managing editor Stephanie Domet is joined by founding editor Barry Boyce for a personal conversation about stories and storytelling—a topic that has always been a pillar in both of their careers. In fact, in every issue of Mindful magazine, Barry writes the back-page column “Point of View,” and in the December issue he writes about stories and storytelling. In this conversation, Barry expands on that article to explore the role stories play, the way they sometimes expire, and what’s at stake when we don’t look past our stories to tune in with what’s actually happening in our firsthand experience. Show Notes: Alisongopnik.com Adamgopnik.com Find more of Barry Boyce here: “What is Possible When We Put Down Our Screens” by Barry Boyce More from Barry Boyce on Mindful.org The Mindfulness Revolution: Leading Psychologists, Scientists, Artists, and Meditation Teachers on the Power of Mindfulness in Daily Life And more from Mindful here: December issue of Mindful magazine: The Science of Mindfulness More Real Mindful podcast episodes The 12 Minute Meditation practice podcast And don’t forget to let us know what you thought by emailing [email protected].

Rhonda V. Magee is a professor of law at the University of San Francisco. She is also a highly practiced facilitator of trauma-sensitive, restorative Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) interventions for lawyers and law students. Rhonda Magee sat down with Mindful’s managing editor, Stephanie Domet to talk about why her work in social justice is important to her, how she navigates the difficult feelings that arise, what it looks like when she loses her cool—and why she’s not interested in burning it all down and starting again, because even in intergenerationally dark times, she says, there’s still the ability to love. And love can carry us through.

Before the pandemic, Mindful and mindful.org founding editor Barry Boyce visited the National Museum of the American Indian. In this rich conversation, he shares what he learned about awe, our relationship with nature, and each other while he was there. Plus, Barry offers a working definition of what is and is not “woo-woo.” Show Notes: National Museum of the American Indian Douglas Cardinal Architect Find more from Barry Boyce here: “In Awe of All Our Relations” “Why Meditation is a Practice of Liberation” The Mindfulness Revolution: Leading Psychologists, Scientists, Artists, and Meditation Teachers on the Power of Mindfulness in Daily Life And find more from Mindful on our practice podcast, 12 Minute Meditation. Let us know what you thought by emailing [email protected].