Top of Mind News and Notes

Some highlights from the world of mindfulness, the place persons are looking for connection, solidarity, and compassion in a struggling world.

Information tales

Good Neighbors

Gea Sijpkes directs Woon- en Zorgcentrum Humanitas Deventer, a Dutch nursing residence. She knew that intergenerational friendships can cut back melancholy and loneliness within the aged, and he or she additionally knew there was a scarcity of reasonably priced scholar housing. This led her to design an intergenerational program that gives a win-win for younger and outdated alike: When school college students provide 30 hours a month of dialog and companionship to the nursing residence’s residents, they get to dwell within the care heart freed from cost. This system has been operating for 12 years now, and its success has impressed different nursing properties (and even school campuses) world wide to implement comparable initiatives. 

A Higher Social App

In a time when polarization has brought on many to retreat into acquainted info silos, a father-daughter duo teamed as much as carry wholesome discomfort again. Sandbox is an app that connects folks seeking to have significant, open conversations throughout quite a lot of present matters. First, you’re paired with somebody with whom you agree in some areas and disagree in others. You get weekly matters and each day actions to share your views and be taught extra about your associate’s. Cofounders Libby and Lee Prosch search to reframe discussions throughout distinction, to assist folks transfer from a way of worry to one in all journey, and to acknowledge how very important good-faith disagreement is to democracy. 

Tales of Love 

Can “love tales” gas constructive social change? With its Spreading Love Through the Media initiative, the Better Good Science Heart (GGSC) on the College of California, Berkeley, is exploring all aspects of affection from a science-informed perspective—love in {our relationships}, but in addition as a therapeutic agent for widespread points equivalent to loneliness and division. The GGSC awarded 23 grants to fund articles, analysis, podcasts, and extra that encourage “a cultural shift towards higher empathy and connection,” based on the GGSC web site. The printed creations might be out there there, in addition to on partnering platforms.

Air on the Protected Facet

Making indoor areas more healthy, safer, and extra accessible is a strong act of consideration and look after our communities. Clear Air Libraries are popping up throughout North America, making this simpler than ever—to not point out free. Some libraries provide CO² displays, which measure high quality of air flow in indoor areas; others lend out air purifiers that effectively take away airborne viruses, allergens, and different well being hazards. Some libraries, equivalent to Ohio Clear Air Coalition, even present directions for choosing the proper air air purifier to your house, primarily based on sq. footage. Deep breath in…deep breath out.

Printing Potentialities

MakeGood NOLA’s 3D-printed pediatric wheelchair—the Toddler Mobility Coach—is vibrant, modular, and constructed for teenagers ages 2 to eight. Whereas the open-source design will quickly be free to obtain and print at residence, households can at the moment request a customized wheelchair or different assistive machine by means of MakeGood’s tailor-made design providers. Due to donor assist, gadgets are offered for free of charge. Elements are straightforward to reprint if broken, and designs are shared globally to assist accessibility worldwide.

The Aware Professor

In 2023, the College of Rochester launched the primary Mindful Professor Training Program to assist college assist scholar psychological well being and ease post-pandemic anxiousness. Over a semester, professors discovered mindful leadership—instruments for self-awareness, emotional regulation, and creating calm, compassionate lecture rooms. “The temper within the classroom begins on the high,” says program director Rebecca Block. Contributors reported an almost 19% enhance in perceived social and emotional assist, in addition to training mindfulness each day and bettering classroom communication. School additionally turned extra assured discussing scholar well-being—a vital shift as 80% of scholars flip to professors earlier than campus psychological well being providers.

Acts of Kindness 

This Strategy to Calm

KultureCity’s “Let’s Map Neu York” is a crowd-sourced information highlighting neurodivergent-friendly areas throughout Manhattan. Impressed by the enduring Vignelli subway map, it options 125 places assembly standards equivalent to low noise, mushy lighting, clear signage, snug seating, and bodily accessibility. The map promotes neuro-inclusivity and can seem citywide—in cabs, bus stops, Occasions Sq., and on Google Maps.

Consolation Instances

Rob Scheer entered foster care at age 12 with all his belongings in a trash bag. Many years later, shocked his adopted youngsters confronted the identical, he created Comfort Cases, giving foster youth backpacks filled with necessities. “Each youngster deserves dignity and hope. Don’t give them a trash bag,” Scheer mentioned. Over 250,000 instances have been donated nationwide since 2013.

Joyful to Discuss

Oliver Chan, an autistic artist, launched “Happy to Talk” benches in Camden, UK, to fight loneliness, with placards encouraging strangers to sit down and chat. Impressed by a Cardiff initiative, these benches create kindness by means of connection. Oliver says, “If somebody is having a nasty day, or can’t discover a good friend to speak to, it’s there for folks.”