We have all experienced moments in which we are so immersed in a task that we lose track of time and performance feels effortless. For some, this may occur on the sports field; for others, in the classroom; and still, for others, in the performance hall.
Yet, we have likely also experienced the opposite. For many children, the struggle for concentration is probably more prevalent.
Last week, we began a three-part series with Dr. Kevin Majeres. We discussed what anxiety is and how parents can help their sons—and themselves—turn occasions of anxiety into opportunities for growth. This week, we are back with Dr. Majeres to discuss attention and mindfulness.
In the episode, Dr. Majeres helps us begin to answer the following questions:
In the end, mindfulness offers us a doorway into two aspects of freedom that are at the heart of human flourishing. Learning to attend to our work at school helps us to attend to others in society. And, in both instances, learning to attend well is a pathway to love; for what we love captures our attention — what lover does not often find his mind turning to his beloved? — and that to which we attend, we can begin to love.
If education is the turning of a mind, as we hear in the Republic, then mindfulness may well be fundamental to its success. For when one turns toward the truth, he will thereby be ready not only to recognize it but, even more, he will be prepared to fall in love with it.
Chapters
Additional Resources
What is a Golden Hour? with Dr. Kevin Majeres and Sharif Younes
Back to the Basics: An Intro to OptimalWork with Dr. Kevin Majeres
OptimalWork on YouTube
Reflections on the Right Use of School Studies by Simone Weil
Also on The Forum
From Anxiety to Adventure with Dr. Kevin Majeres
Why We Need Exposure to Nature by Eric Heil
Training the Hand to Train the Mind by Robert Grieving
Three Guiding Principles for Homework by Rich Moss