Bringing Mindfulness to Life
We are thrilled to be equipping the staff of various city agencies this year with mindfulness tools that lower their stress levels and help them maintain focus and calm in challenging situations. The Baltimore Station Executive Director commented, “I was struck by the openness and increased introspection among the staff. With SHINE, we created a space … so that regardless of staff position, they all began to relate positively to one another.”
How many times have you cut someone off mid-sentence, or blurted something out in a conversation or argument… only to regret it moments later? Being mindful is a learnable skill we can utilize to minimize hurtful situations, improve our communication and heal relationships. In SHINE groups we invite participants to practice mindful listening and speaking in several ways.
In my work at the PACT: Helping Children with Special Needs program, I’ve been guiding twenty staff through a SHINE program. Our goal is to integrate mindful awareness practices into the work of this group of diverse and dedicated clinicians. As a way of learning and practicing mindful listening and speaking, we share and use these Native American Council Guidelines in each of our SHINE sessions.
