What’s on your mind?
Please let us know any ideas, thoughts,
comments you have. We’d love to hear from you
as we work to share the best in mindfulness.Anne Alexander
Editor, [email protected]Anne Alexander is a longtime meditator, yogi, and editor. She is
the author of two New York Times best sellers and has had a hand in
shaping magazines, books, apps, and websites for Rodale, National
Geographic, and more.You know
that feeling
of electricity when someone tells you something—an
amazing story or fact—that is so interesting, you can’t wait
to share it? It’s like a bolt of energy and excitement that
needs to make contact and keep spreading.
That’s what I felt hearing neuroscientist Amishi Jha and
Lieutenant General Walter Piatt of the US Army talk about
the impact of introducing Jha’s mindfulness program to
his soldiers prior to their deployment to Iraq. I was riveted
as General Piatt told the story of a very young soldier who
was able to “zero the mind” (military parlance for being in
a state of hyper-focus) using his mindfulness training and
make a series of lifesaving decisions under the extreme
pressure of a dangerous, high-stakes mission. He also
shared how mindfulness helps his troops transition back
to civilian life and has played a pivotal role in his own
work trying to forge peaceful solutions.
Jha and Piatt’s work—and its effectiveness—immediately
sounded like a story for Mindful, and my mind zeroed in
on finding the right editor, writer, and photographer who
could bring it together and share it with you. So, on the
cover this issue is neuroscientist Amishi Jha, and on page
48, journalist Barry Yeoman and photographer Stephanie
Diani take us to meet General Piatt and his troops at Fort
Drum, New York. Online at mindful.org/train-brain, you’ll
find an exceptional video in which Jha guides you through
the foundational mindful brain-training exercise she uses
in her lab to train warriors to sustain and strengthen their
attention—and which you can use, too, no matter what
kind of stress you’re facing.
Another bolt of editorial lightning struck Heather
Hurlock, Mindful’s digital editor, for this issue’s story
on women in the mindfulness movement. For the past
three years, Heather has been working on the Mindful
program, our 30-day online mindfulness event featuring
top mindfulness teachers and experts. “Every year, when I
reach out to our network to see which teachers we should
feature for Mindful30, the list of names that people rattle
off first is always very male and very white,” Hurlock
explains, “and I wanted to claim space for a diversity of
mindful women to share their power, perspective, and
wisdom.”
I hope you feel a similar bolt of excitement as you read
these stories and that you’re struck by the urge to share
them with people you meet.With love,4 mindful August 2019PHOTOGRAPHS^ BY^ STEPHANIE^
DI
ANIfrom the editor