I always thought I was content with speaking about my mental health struggles. It wasn’t something I felt ashamed about, rather it was liberating to let people know of my own struggles – it indirectly assured me that people could…
Openness at TEDxUofT 2017
To me openness is the ability to embrace that which you don't know. "OPEN" happened to be the theme of this year's TEDxUofT. Throughout the day, speakers from the U of T community shared with the few hundred of us…
Indigenous Education Week Preview
If anyone were to look at my Google calendar for the upcoming months, they would probably assume that I'm a pretty busy person. While that's not entirely incorrect, the truth is I schedule in a lot of things in my…
Meaningful Mindfulness
Hi there!
Last week I wrote about being ill, and I speculated that (in addition to cold weather and a nasty cough virus circulating in the air) my sickness was due to being out of touch with my body. It happens every once in a while when we get so busy that it can be a challenge to keep tabs on how we are (really) feeling and what our body (really) needs.
I mentioned to a friend in passing this week that I sometimes attend Mindful Moments sessions on campus to get better connected with my body. He giggled, and said that he imagines me sitting cross-legged with my eyes closed, deeply concentrating on foretelling the future. I think at some point my friend was misinformed—mindfulness, meditation, tai chi, or yoga are not activities done to prophesize about the future. Quite oppositely, the goal is to bring more awareness to the present moment, to the body, and the breath.