Mindfulness Can Help Rebuild a Better World

There is no hiding the fact that our world is broken. We are currently on the path to annihilation. We have an unprecedented global pandemic, a raging climate crisis, and an ignored humanitarian situation. The Covid-19 virus has shown that we are ill-equipped to handle emergencies. Millions have lost their jobs, their healthcare plans, their loved ones. Yet most of us need to keep functioning as usual. We barely take a moment to listen to those who are being systematically ignored and oppressed, those from weaker economic and social backgrounds. This moment is a defining one for all of us and yet it finds us wanting. 

As much as we preach unity this is the time to show it. This is the moment of decisive action to offer proof of the interconnectedness of all natural life. But, most of us still seem asleep, unaware of the magnitude of suffering that surrounds us. They need to be woken up and mindfulness is that waking call. 

Here’s how being mindfulness meditation can lead to a more sustainable, a more compassionate, and overall a happier world: 

 

Taking a pause to listen 

Mindfulness teaches us how to stop and listen. In a society overrun with technologically enabled distractions, we’ve lost the ability to listen. We're so caught up in our own lives that we are unable to create space to observe those around us. Mindfulness helps us take that pause to truly listen to them. To engage and connect instead of offering up knee-jerk responses. It helps us connect with our emotional intelligence and use it to achieve mastery over our default reactions and confusion. 

 

Knowing yourself

Mindfulness helps us gain awareness of our own biases and conditioning. It’s only by regular mindfulness practice that we can observe who we truly are, notice our unconscious actions and thoughts, and work on them. Each of us is conditioned to behave and act the way we do since birth. Mindfulness helps us dismantle these patterns and perceptions. It is the foundation upon which we can rebuild a more compassionate and aware version of ourselves. 

 

Mindful communication

Mindful communication is about creating conversations that are empowering and help build interpersonal relations. Often our communications reflect our own insecurities, fragility, which then translate into micro-aggressions inflicting pain and conflict on others. Mindfulness helps us develop a level of self-awareness and a judgment free viewpoint from which we can engage with others in a more meaningful way. It allows us to be present, to inquire with curiosity and kindness what is going on within us, and within those around us. 

 

A mindful response to a crisis 

Mindfulness helps us tailor our response to the crisis in a more action-oriented and positive way. It modifies the way we process information about risks and increases motivation to reduce suffering and spread compassion. It helps reduce the effect of default emotional reactions such as panic, anxiety, and depression when faced with overwhelming situations such as our present. It allows us to cope with the impact of disasters and to live healthily in their aftermath. 

 

A better and more inclusive world

Mindfulness makes us more sensitive to context and social justice through a more developed sense of empathy and belonging. It forces us to act through the moral compass of the common good. Whether it is the global climate crisis or income inequality mindful thinking leads people to consider the consequences of power structures and relationships. It creates an understanding of common values and rights that must be protected for all. It creates change within organizations and governments from within by enabling employees to be more open and flexible. 

 

In times of crisis, we need the full capacity of our minds to choose the best possible courses of action. To remain calm and to reassure those around us. Mindfulness has massive potential in helping us function better, to see things more clearly, and to be more present. Right from petty disputes to global issues, it provides us with the tools we need most: to see others better and to see the world for what it could be rather than what it is. It lets us go beyond survival functioning and selfish thinking and embody compassion and care.