60 Mindful Minutes

With the new year upon us, I decided that it would be very timely to have a conversation about what it would be like to have the best year ever. I wanted to explore how we could all have a spectacular 2019, and not just because we crossed some huge things off our bucket list but because we tackled some little things in our day to day life that simply made living feel better and brighter.

The intentional community movement is growing in leaps and bounds. More and more people are leaving their subdivisions or changing their city blocks to make massive shifts in their sense of connection, belonging and contribution. There’s a growing desire to create a more humane society that honors our common humanity above money, or getting ahead at the cost of others. And the good news: you don’t need to move to a rural community to start cultivating the spirit of intentional community living

“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” William Arthur Ward. Gratitude is the opposite of entitlement and it’s the antidote to resentment and scarcity. It’s where we find generosity, humility and joy. As I learned from this week’s guest, it’s one thing to feel gratitude and an entirely different thing to express it. Want to learn how to up your gratitude game? We dive into the art of saying ‘thank you’ in this week’s episode.

John Neffinger and Matthew Kohut, co-authors of Compelling People: The Hidden Qualities that Make Us Influential, have learned a lot about the impact of a smile, our posture, our gestures, and our tone of voice on the people around us. Their goal is to help others understand how to be more compelling, because being able to influence people, whether that’s getting your toddler to eat her carrots or getting your employees to meet your company’s objectives, is how we make things happen in the world.

Good relationships have good communication. In this interview, author Jonathan Robinson shares insights and exercises from his book, More Love, Less Conflict, so that anyone can become better communicators with their spouse, learn to diffuse conflict and create more relatedness

If you’ve ever been to a yoga class or practiced at home, you’ve probably noticed that it not only makes you feel stronger and more flexible, but also more peaceful, attuned and grounded. Rob Schware wants prisoners, recovering addicts and veterans to feel that, too. He's the head of the Give Back Yoga Foundation, a non-profit organization that believes in making yoga available to those who might not otherwise have the opportunity to experience its many benefits.

If you’ve ever experienced improvisational sketch comedy, you’ve likely seen people unfurl and connect with each other in ways that just aren’t common, or maybe even possible, in their day to day life. There’s something so raw and real about learning to create a moment, in front of an audience, just with what comes into your head and out of your mouth. The result is a connection between the actors and to the audience that’s truly extraordinary.

Did you grow up watching Mister Rogers' Neighborhood? Fred Rogers was infinitely passionate about childhood education and using television as a tool to affirm children’s self-worth and offer them a place where they felt accepted and understood. In this episode, we feature Shea Tuttle, the author of the forthcoming book "In Search of Mister Rogers."

Only 1 in 5 five people step away from their desk for lunch. Today’s guest is on a mission to change that. Laura Archer is the author of Gone for Lunch: 52 Things to do on Your Lunch Break, a book she wrote on her journey to reclaim her midday break and to find more time for herself, her interests and her self-care. Laura aims to help individuals and companies to appreciate the unbelievable benefits of taking a lunch break - even if it’s only for 20 minutes once or twice a week.

As you can probably imagine, I read a lot about the topic of human connection and recently I came across an article written for Scientific American titled To Combat Loneliness, Promote Social Health. This is pretty astounding and I wanted to know more about the idea of loneliness as a public health priority, in the same way that nutrition and vaccinations area. So, I reached out to the author of the article, Kasley Killan, to see if she was open to an interview and she said YES!

How many of us give much thought to the quality of our friendships or the ways we could be intentionally nourishing our friendships? Turns out there’s not only an art and a science to how we create really good friendships, but there’s a formula to the process as well. Shasta Nelson, author of “Friendships Don’t Just Happen” and “Frientimacy: How to Deepen Friendships for Lifelong Health and Happiness,” has truly become one of the world’s leading voices for friendship.

Imagine if all the struggle and resistance and frustration dramatically decreased in our family life. Heather Turgeon, MFT and Julie Wright, MFT, authors of Now Say This: The Right Words to Solve Every Parenting Dilemma, did more than just imagine these idyllic sceneries: they created a formula for consistently creating more peace, calm, cooperation and relatedness between parents and kids.

Cycling Without Age started in 2012 by Ole Kassow in Denmark. Ole wanted to help the elderly get back on their bicycles, but he had to find a solution to their limited mobility. The answer was a trishaw and he started offering free bike rides to the local nursing home residents. Cycling Without Age has now spread to all corners of Denmark, and since 2015, to another 41 countries around the world.

Every month, Traci Ruble joins a group of volunteers near a busy San Francisco street with a sign that invites strangers to participate in free listening. It’s called Sidewalk Talk, a non-profit organization with a mission to nurture human connection by teaching and practicing heart-centered listening in public spaces. Since it began in 2014, Sidewalk Talk has grown to over 700 volunteers worldwide and now has chapters in 19 cities around the globe.

Kate DeBartolo is used to uncomfortable conversations. In fact, her job is to be a proponent of them. And here’s why. As the Director for The Conversation Project, her mission is to get people talking about one of the most difficult topics many of us will ever encounter: our end of life decisions and the end of life wishes of the those we love.