the Mindful Monday Newsletter. 10th March 2025.

?From Mindfulness Matters. Today An eclectic, hand-picked selection of stories from the past few of weeks. Hope one, or some, of these pieces allow the opportunity for connection and the chance to pause, feel and think.?

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Are you interested in learning how mindfulness can assist with reducing stress levels, greater mental clarity, greater resilience, improved concentration and communication skills, and emotional intelligence? Please get in touch on this channel or [email protected] and +44 7920 257908

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Saturday was International Women's Day, an annual event promoting women's fight for equality and liberation that originated in 1909 when a "Women's Day" was organised by the Socialist Party of America. It’s a sad fact that girls’ self-esteem drops twice as much as boys’ during puberty (P&G), and women never really recover (ht Simon Derungs ).

This International Women's Day campaign takes its cue from the viral Saoirse Ronan / Paul Mescal clip.? The Beyond Equality Campaign, Asks Men to ‘See What She Sees’.

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The Guardian, on the remarkable power of silence for our bodies and minds.

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?Great episode from the Christian O’Connell Show (ex XFM DJ, now based in Australia) talking to the wonderful poet David Whyte . Thomas Crocker ?

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Thank you to Jo Henwood for this. Daniel Goleman says Emotional Intelligence Means Taking Back Our Attention

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Rewilding sees animals rebound in Hackney Marshes?

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This OK Go Video is Breaking My Brain?(3-minute watch). Band, OK Go continue experimenting with the music video form. This video is shot and displayed on 64 phones. Worth a watch. ??

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Pentagram’s Rebrand of the Roald Dahl Story Company?(3-minute read).In 2021 Netflix acquired the Roald Dahl Story Company with a plan to bring the classic stories and characters to life in exciting new ways. Pentagram have done a nice job in creating a new identity.

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10 of the world’s most impressive giant Buddha statues. Immense in both scale and beauty, these paeans to the Buddhist faith make quite the impression, whether you’re a believer or not

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What Happens When A Whale Dies?(5-minute read) A beautiful piece explaining what happens when a whale dies and sinks to the ocean. It’s one of those pieces that changes the way you think about the world:?“A single dead whale, sinking into the cold, dark silence, becomes a fully functioning ecosystem for thirty years. “We’ll keep this party going,” the ocean says, “No matter how much you wish we wouldn’t.”?

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Starlings Swoosh Like Brushstrokes Across The Sky?(3-minute watch). Photographer Xavi Bou?“condenses time by leaving impressions captured over several seconds as single frames. This process forms images that offer wondrous new perspectives on birds and their behaviours.”?It’s a very relaxing watch….

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The Teen disengagement crisis. By middle school, many kids’ interest in learning falls off a cliff. The ripple effects could last for years.

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Constantly scrolling on your phone? Why we can’t stand feeling bored.

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Prescient piece from mindfulness teacher and speaker, Leonie Schell . Over the past year, I’ve observed a concerning trend: clients increasingly reach out only “at the last minute,” often after significant organizational symptoms have already surfaced, including rising sickness absence, significant reductions in employee engagement and an uptick in staff turnover. Leaders hold a pivotal role in the early identification of stress and burnout within their teams. With regular interaction, they are typically the first to notice subtle yet significant changes in employee behaviour. And it is not only their responsibility to observe these changes but also a part of their duty of care to respond and offer relief.

"Duck Radio: Internet radio, playing 24/7, which changes station depending on the apparent movements and activity of some ducks in the garden of the site’s creator (there’s a sensor which triggers a change in frequency each time a duck pecks at it, apparently). This is utterly pointless and a genuinely terrible way to listen to the radio." Naturally, it's awesome.?

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This final post is prompted by a message from my son Luke Hammond , which I gratefully received whilst travelling and brought back happy memories of our family, between lockdowns, holiday in 2020 to Edinburgh and our trip to Hibernian FC’s ground. This video was taken after Hibs had beaten their arch rivals Hearts 2-1, in a league match. If you didn’t know that and watched this, you’d have thought that they had won a major trophy! The greatest football anthem ever? I would say so.

The song sung here (Sunshine on Leith) was adopted by Hibs fans in the 80’s after it was released by The Proclaimers, a band that I saw in a small pub in Leicester in 1985 (thank you to Jez Holdsworth for suggesting this, wherever you are now…). Overall, a two-fold personal reason for celebration. Hope you enjoy as well.

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?Hope you enjoy reading. Nicholas.

#mindfulness #meditation #powerofsilence #emotionalintelligence #attention #rewilding #internationalwomensday