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Autistic Not Psychotic – Increasing Awareness & Preventing Tragedies

In 1973 when Judge Steve Leifman was interning in Tallahassee for a state senator, his office was notified that a parent was seeking help for their child being held inappropriately in a South Florida State Hospital. He found the young man tied to the bed, both arms and legs in restraints, and enormously overweight from the Thorazine (antipsychotic medication) hospital staff had been injecting him with. But the bloated young man strapped to the bed was not psychotic. He was autistic.

RESOURCES

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Creating Great Cities through Mindful Leadership and Comprehensive Systems

Civic leaders across America are aspiring to build flourishing communities. They have a vision for breaking down the silos to bring mindfulness training to leaders across all sectors in their cities. Engaged on the ground, cities like Flint, Michigan, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Boston, Massachusetts are countering rapid change and uncertainty, isolation, divisiveness, health problems, environmental degradation, and economic uncertainty with innovative social strategies rooted in mindfulness, compassion, and inclusivity. Why not Miami, Broward, and Palm Beach?

New approaches to social infrastructure, just like good physical infrastructure, are needed for communities and schools to thrive.

VIDEO: Mindful Cities in Jackson Hole, Wyoming with Sara Flitner, (1:06)
VIDEO: Mindful Cities in Flint, Michigan with Gerry Myers(0:52)

READ MORE AT MINDFUL.ORG ABOUT MINDFUL CITIES MOVEMENT

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In loving memory and honor: Ferris Buck Urbanowski

Ferris Buck Urbanowski, RIP

In loving memory and honor of my first MBSR teacher Ferris Buck Urbanowski who passed away on March 29, 2019. An early student of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, she was among the first practitioners of Mindfulness-Based Meditation in the U.S.  For years she worked with her friend Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn as the Director of Training, Center for Mindfulness, UMass Medical Center.  Ferris taught at many spiritual centers, universities, and professional institutions including Tufts, Harvard, Pepperdine, Omega Center, as well as in Canada, Wales and Denmark.

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Let’s Prevent More Tragic Heartache

U.S. Representative Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, a 2020 candidate for president and advocate for mindfulness, said in his book, “A Mindful Nation”:

“For a very small investment, we can prevent tragic future costs and heartaches in our communities. How much will we save in preventing substance abuse? How much we will save in preventing suicides and mass shootings because children feel isolated and alone? My goal is to get us to focus more on mental health and well-being in the most important asset we have in America – well-functioning human beings.” 

More: TimRyanForAmerica.com

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Why Mindfulness is Essential for Farmers and Their Health (AcresUSA)

Excerpted from … https://www.ecofarmingdaily.com/farmers-mindfulness-health/

Farming is tough on the body, and it can also take a toll on the mind. I’ve been a farmer for over six years now and not once has the job been less than physically and emotionally demanding. Before pursuing farming as my chosen career, I worked in a number of professions that exacted their own price from my body, including landscaping and cooking in professional kitchens. None of these jobs came close to matching the exhaustion I’ve felt after a hard day on the farm.

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If you picture a whole farmer health regimen as a stone arch, mindfulness is the keystone that holds it all together. On one side, the arch is made up of our physical practices such as diet and exercise, and on the other side are mental practices such as education and bookkeeping. Mindfulness helps keep us in the moment, focused on what is needed in the present.

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My friend and neighbor Tracy Hovde is a professional yoga instructor and part-time farmer with her partner, Mark Triebold. They run Lazy I Ranch, raising cattle on 80 acres just a few miles down the road from my farm. Mark bought the property 10 years ago and started raising Highland cattle six years ago. Tracy brings her yogic perspective to raising their cattle.

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I spoke to Tracy in September 2016 about her thoughts on how farmers can keep their bodies and minds healthy and what it is like to raise cattle and practice yoga in the countryside:

What led you to practice yoga, and what does yoga mean to you?

Like most people, I started yoga for purely physical reasons. I started a regular yoga practice when I was a dancer. The physical demands of dancing were extreme, and I wasn’t taking good care of myself. I was burned out and was constantly injured.

I found that the Vinyasa classes offered at the gym I worked at as a massage therapist satisfied my need to move, and did so in a way that didn’t strain my body. Now yoga is less about the postures and more about the way I live, the way I view the world around me and my place in it.

When you teach a yoga class, what are your goals, and how do you work toward them?

My goal is always to bring balance. I never know what that means until my students walk into the room and I see how they are walking, their mood, what are they talking about, their energy level, etc. I also factor in things like season, weather and time of day. I use different breathing exercises (Pranayama), poses and specific sequencing of poses, as well as different styles of yoga to help shift their energy toward balance.

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Read the full article at EcoFarmingDaily.com:

https://www.ecofarmingdaily.com/farmers-mindfulness-health/

By Andrew French. This article appeared in the April 2017 issue of Acres U.S.A. magazine.  Andrew French is a livestock farmer and permaculture designer based in western Wisconsin working on developing a viable model of regenerative pig farming from farrow to finish using a whole systems design approach. He can be reached at fullboarfarm@gmail.com. Visit fullboarfarm.com for more information.

 

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Congressman Tim Ryan Visits Miami-Dade Schools (The Miami Herald)

CONGRESSMAN TIM RYAN, D-OHIO

Published May 1, 2018 Copyright  (c) 2018 The Miami Herald

U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan
Rep. Tim Ryan

Congressman Tim Ryan, an Ohio Democrat, recently visited several inner city schools in Miami-Dade to raise awareness on the importance of using the Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction Program as a tool to combat stress, aggression, bullying and school violence.

Ryan visited the Academy for International Education in Miami Springs, Mater Academy of International Studies in Miami, and Arcola Lakes Elementary School in Liberty City. His visit was organized by Valerie York-Zimmerman, founder of Miami Mindfulness, which provides professional training of the program to teachers and counselors, who then teach students in the classroom. The training aims to increase attention and academic achievement, reduce stress and increase performance, improve impulse control and increase teaching time in classrooms, develop emotional regulation and teach students to respond instead of reacting, and build empathy and compassion.

“For a very small investment, we can prevent tragic future costs and heartaches in our communities. How much will we save in preventing substance abuse? How much will we save in preventing suicides and mass shootings because children feel isolated and alone? My goal is to get us to focus more on mental health and well-being in the most important asset we have in America — well-functioning human beings,” Ryan said.

Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/education/article210238134.html#