Posted on April 9th, 2023

Mindfulness isn’t just to make us feel calmer and more relaxed, or to help ‘empty our minds.’ Filling our minds with the present, instead of allowing our minds to constantly shuttle between past and future, is a time-tested universal practice involving the self-reflective capacity of the human mind. Neuroscientists have shown that mindfulness enhances our ability to focus, self-regulate, cope in healthy ways, and feel interconnected. Each of these higher-order thinking capabilities or Executive Functions (EFs) has implications spanning individual to universal, local to global.

Chronic stress is ubiquitous in our lives, impairing our EFs and directly impacting academic potential, productivity, healthy life choices and the quality of our lives. Prof. Adele Diamond, a developmental cognitive neuroscientist at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, has recently shown in the largest EF study ever conducted, that “movement-based mindfulness practices are by far the best for improving EFs in every category of comparison.” Thus, mindful movement practices have the potential to empower the whole child, the whole parent, the whole teacher, and more, transforming our homes, schools, workplaces, clinics and communities.

Empowered with enhanced stress resilience, emotion regulation and empathy - key skills for navigating the challenges of this century, these children would grow up embracing the core values of equity, empathy, empowerment and excellence, and shaping our collective future by creating a more sustainable and regenerative, connected and compassionate world.

So, Can we afford not to give DMind a try?