Hello, my name is Lisa Robinson. I’m pleased to be a guest blogger for Peace Learning Center, where my posts will highlight the relationships between the practice of mindfulness, emotional intelligence, and social and emotional learning (SEL). However, the most important part is that I’ll present resources to help adults and children to benefit from enhancing their use of mindfulness. Through my posts, my hope is that you will find tools and support to travel a mindful path that resonates with you.
A great definition of mindfulness comes from Jon Kabat-Zinn, who is known for bringing mindfulness into the mainstream. He said that mindfulness is “paying attention in a particular way; on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally.”
A number of important benefits have been identified with learning to regularly practice mindfulness. On 1/02/2014, The Huffington Post featured, ‘Why 2014 Will Be the Year of Mindful Living,’ which indicated that “recent studies have linked mindfulness with emotional stability and improved sleep, increased focus and memory, enhanced creativity, and lower stress levels, among a host of other positive health outcomes.”
Practicing mindfulness can translate into greater effectiveness and satisfaction. In business, this can help professionals to demonstrate enhanced emotional intelligence that facilitates success at work. In education, through enhanced social and emotional learning (SEL), mindfulness can help teachers to find more meaning and joy in their work, to engage students to accomplish more than they ever thought possible, and for parents to more effectively support the learning and growth that their children demonstrate.
This is just the tip of the iceberg; there are many different things for us to explore. For immediate, excellent resources, see:
(General Focus) Mindful magazine’s site – www.mindful.org
(Educational Focus) Edutopia, from The George Lucas Educational Foundation – www.edutopia.org To get started, you will find many initial resources if you search on “Social and Emotional Intelligence” or “mindfulness.”
If you have any questions or topic suggestions for future posts, please contact me at mindfulpath@outlook.com
I’ll be looking forward to sharing more ideas with you soon.
