Don’t follow the traffic. Follow the signs.

Inside Mindful Blog #2 from James Gimian, the Executive Director of the Foundation for a Mindful Society, has him out on the road learning lessons in unlikely places.

Alistair Cotton/Adobe Stock

I’m on the road as I write this, on the second stop of a five-city tour to learn first hand what’s going on with mindfulness in the world. It’s a great part of my job, catching up with old friends who’ve been leaders in the field for years, while also meeting new folks who are launching fresh, inspiring initiatives.

This is one of the ways we here at Mindful keep up with what’s happening, and it’s part of the unique role we play. We’re the ones whose job it is to see the overview. We learn about the wide range of initiatives, and from that patterns and themes emerge. Seeing those patterns helps Mindful figure out what stories to tell, what initiatives to focus on, and in general how best to help.

So far the themes I’m hearing on this trip aren’t particularly new, but they’re important. People are talking about how there’s lots of excitement about mindfulness practice in the beginning but it’s hard to get people to continue. Some folks are talking about “minimum effective dose” so it’s easier to get people into practice. Everyone agrees that apps are popular and easy to start with…