Have a Mindful Halloween

How to stay sane amongst the fears and temptations of Halloween.

Alexey Laputin/Adobe Stock

As millions of children go out to neighborhoods across the country, stalking the elusive full-sized candy bar, we offer you, the adults, a few ways to bring mindful curiosity to the tricks and the treats of the day.

5 Ways to Have a Mindful Halloween

  1. Don’t sanitize Halloween. We need more death awareness in our culture, not avoidance. A little reminiscing on our mortality actually makes us happier.
  2. Learn how to navigate a house full of chocolate. Teach your kids how to enjoy their holiday treats with these 11 ways to savor. (You should probably practice first, with a Twix, and then a Snickers, maybe some M&Ms…)
  3. Waste less. Americans will spend over 8 billion dollars on Halloween this year. And maybe you’ve already cleaned out the Halloween section of Target, but it’s not too late to take a look around and ask yourself how you can take a more minimalist approach next year.
  4. Imagine a future with Mindful costumes. Can you put a mindful spin on classic Halloween costumes: a Mindful Angel or a Mindful Frankenstein perhaps?  What would these costumes look like? How would they be different? We’d love to hear your ideas.
  5. Talk about death. The Death Café is on the rise. People are getting together and actually talking about death and finding that those conversations are changing their views on life.

read more