Goldie Hawn: The Hawn Foundation’s MindUp
Meditation as part of the school day, can you imagine? Goldie Hawn did. She’s made people think twice about what does and doesn’t belong in our ideas of “normal” – she’s changed a lot of minds in more ways than one!
The Hawn Foundation has created a revolutionary mindfulness curriculum called Mind Up that is being taught throughout North America. The stated purpose is to provide children with “emotional and cognitive tools to help them manage emotions and behaviours, reduce stress, sharpen concentration and increase empathy and optimism.”
There was a time not too long ago when taking an “emotional strategies” approach to learning and life meant you were instantly labeled me as “one of those types,” one of the “rainbows and unicorns” crowd who might not be able to handle the challenges of the real world. Times they are a changing though! Meditating, making mindful choices, taking time out to de-stress – it’s now seen as foundational. In Vancouver, where I am, they practically hand you a yoga mat and a flyer for a meditation class as you step off your plane.
Growing up in the UK, my siblings and I always laughed about how my parent’s generation used to have a “bath day” once a week. As Dr. Dan Siegel points out in his fantastic TED talk with Goldie Hawn (video below), maybe future generations will be equally amused by how normal we thought having a cluttered mind was.
People are waking up to the need to recognize that caring for yourself through mindfulness practices leads to care for others and by extension care for our environment. Seems obvious now that you mention it!
Goldie Hawn explains her dream of helping children in this wonderful TEDMED talk alongside Dan Siegal, author of The Mindful Brain: Reflection and Attunement in the Cultivation of Well-Being. He explains the neurological science behind the MindUp program and the importance of what he terms “daily brain hygiene.”
Sarah is a specialized educator, emotional intelligence expert and creativity based life coach. Her website is www.3Cworks.com.
