By Mo Edjlali

In a recent whackfulness article titled "Digital Deepak: A Byte of Enlightenment?", I briefly discussed Deepak Chopra and his association with the AI Foundation. Subsequently, just a few days ago, I watched this session featuring OpenAI CEO Altman and Buddhist teacher Jack Kornfield, which left me with mixed feelings. While I acknowledge and respect the intentions and capabilities of these individuals, I feel a sense of uneasiness in my bones. And sure I have my concerns about AI,…

By Mo Edjlali

As you all know I’ve been writing monthly articles for our Whackfulness series and I’ve also been a bit obsessed with AI, writing about how we might use Chat GPT to support our work.  For my whole life, I’ve followed AI and in the last few years as the technology has advanced, I’ve been tuning into how it might apply to our field. One of the earliest and clear examples, and something alumni of our CWMF class have heard me talk about, is the subject of this article.

Picture this: …

Whackfulness: The unexamined, sometimes silly, side of Mindfulness. (Formerly Mindfulness is Whack)

Last month we started a series Mindfulness is Whack. It caused a bit of a stir - including this email from someone whose opinion I value, the message was in response to the first article and ended with: "Others may find the articles and discussions helpful. Not me."

Here is the full email with some parts redacted for privacy.

“I suspect you are the kind of person who likes to mix it up. That'…

By Mo Edjlali, Mindful Leader Founder and CEO

For those of you who have a close connection to Mindful Leader, you probably know that one of the things that really makes us different is our embracing of critical thought. I grew up with a critical mindset, and joke with folks that if I was a character in the X-Files, I'd be Scully. I’m no Mulder. I’m a skeptic and a critical thinker. As someone who has been involved in this field since 2009, I have witnessed the rise and fall of mindful celebriti…

By Mo Edjlali, Mindful Leader Founder and CEO

Growing up in elementary school we would all hear this story of Thanksgiving, it goes something like this - 

A long time ago when the pilgrims first arrived in America they were struggling to get settled in. As winter approached they feared for their survival and were facing possible starvation. Then they meet the Indians. They formed a friendship with the Indians based on mutual respect and sharing of food and resources. They became friends and al…

Today is election day here in the USA, and sitting right outside of DC it’s hard for me to avoid the palpable political buzz in the air. Folks are watching with excitement and anxiety races across all states, keeping a close eye on the possibility of one party gaining power here and losing power there. On top of that, there are concerns about voter suppression, election denial, and attacks on politicians and their families…  I don’t need to state …

By Mo Edjlali, Mindful Leader Founder and CEO

Recently I stumbled across a Linkedin post highlighting an article featured in the Washington Post, “An unintended consequence of mindfulness” by assistant professor Andrew C. Hafenbrack. I was excited to see folks taking a curious and thoughtful approach to the findings. It reminded me of a very different reaction we experienced when we shared a critical article on social media a few years ago - "You guys are idiots"- the article that ENRAGED our f…

As a pioneer in workplace mindfulness, we're always looking for new perspectives on our field. So, when we came across Work Pray Code by Carolyn Chen which was published last month, we decided to do a series of articles exploring this work with you. Our hopes are to encourage conversation and critical thinking. This excerpt is the second article in our Work Pray Code series. Check out the first article in the series here!

By Carolyn Chen

[Various consultants] and coaches teach Buddhist meditat…

By The Mindful Leader Team

As a pioneer in workplace mindfulness, we're always looking for new perspectives on our field. So, when we came across Work Pray Code by Carolyn Chen which was published last month, we decided to do a series of articles exploring this work with you. Our hopes are to encourage conversation and critical thinking. This review is the first article in our Work Pray Code series. Check out the second article in the series here!

What Happens When Work is the Place Where Amer…

By Mo Edjlali, Mindful Leader Chief Community Organizer

Our mission is to enable people to foster mindfulness and compassion in the workplace and we often talk about kindness. Until recently I never really looked at the act of kindness as a privilege.  The experience that I had a few months ago gave me an entirely new perspective. 

One night, heading home after work I caught an Uber and I started a conversation with my driver. He was a tall, handsome black man with a rugby player's build. I no…