Mindfulness in Politics: A Qualitative Study on Mindfulness Training in the UK Parliament.

Objectives: While mindfulness in the workplace has received substantial scientific attention in the past decades, it is not yet well-understood if, under what circumstances, and in what ways mindfulness training may be helpful for individuals working in political environments. The aim of this study was to explore the experience of mindfulness training among British politicians, as well as mindfulness facilitators who had taught mindfulness to politicians in the UK Parliament. Method: Between September and November 2021, semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with British politicians (n = 18) who had experience of mindfulness training and mindfulness facilitators (n = 4) who had taught mindfulness to politicians in the UK Parliament. The interview material was analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Results: Two main themes related to the experience of mindfulness training in politics were developed during the analytic process: (1) mindfulness approaches addressing particular challenges in political work, and (2) mindfulness sessions and group dynamics. Taken together, mindfulness training helped the politicians to better deal with the demands and stresses of political work, to reconnect with themselves and be more grounded, and - especially when taught in a group setting - to relate to other politicians and their viewpoints in a more humane and constructive way. Conclusions: The results suggest that mindfulness training can be beneficial at both the personal and professional level for individuals working in political contexts, which can provide a rationale for governments to introduce mindfulness-based programs to politicians. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12671-023-02156-x.

Mindfulness-based programmes and 'bigger than self' issues: protocol for a scoping review.

INTRODUCTION: Mindfulness-based programmes (MBPs) have an established, growing evidence base as interventions to optimise health, well-being and performance of individual participants. Emerging evidence suggests that MBPs also enhance prosociality, encouraging individuals to contribute to positive social change. This study focuses on the potential of MBPs to facilitate development of participants' inner resources that support prosocial shifts. The review seeks to detect shifts in MBP benefit from individual toward 'bigger than self', informing and empowering individual and collective responses to complex societal and global issues. The review aims to map current literature on MBPs and social change, into a descriptive overview with commentary on quality, trends, theoretical models and gaps, and on how training in MBPs potentially enables individual and collective responses to societal and global issues. Recommendations for future directions for researchers seeking to advance this evidence base, and practitioners developing innovative MBPs for this purpose will be provided. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A scoping review of peer-reviewed literature will be undertaken and reported on according to the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews guidance. Systematic searches of four scientific databases will be undertaken to identify potentially eligible articles published from all time to current date. Data will be extracted using an extraction template and analysed descriptively using narrative synthesis. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This scoping review involves no human participants, so ethics is not required. Findings will be shared through professional networks, conference presentations and journal publication.

At the intersection of mind and climate change: integrating inner dimensions of climate change into policymaking and practice.

Dominant policy approaches have failed to generate action at anywhere near the rate, scale or depth needed to avert climate change and environmental disaster. In particular, they fail to address the need for a fundamental cultural transformation, which involves a collective shift in mindsets (values, beliefs, worldviews and associated inner human capacities). Whilst scholars and practitioners are increasingly calling for more integrative approaches, knowledge on how the link between our mind and the climate crisis can be best addressed in policy responses is still scarce. Our study addresses this gap. Based on a survey and in-depth interviews with high-level policymakers worldwide, we explore how they perceive the intersection of mind and climate change, how it is reflected in current policymaking and how it could be better considered to support transformation. Our findings show, on the one hand, that the mind is perceived as a victim of increasing climate impacts. On the other hand, it is considered a key driver of the crisis, and a barrier to action, to the detriment of both personal and planetary wellbeing. The resultant vicious cycle of mind and climate change is, however, not reflected in mainstream policymaking, which fails to generate more sustainable pathways. At the same time, there are important lessons from other fields (e.g. education, health, the workplace, policy mainstreaming) that provide insights into how to integrate aspects of mind into climate policies. Our results show that systematic integration into policymaking is a key for improving both climate resilience and climate responsiveness across individual, collective, organisational and system levels and indicate the inner human potential and capacities that support related change. We conclude with some policy recommendations and further research that is needed to move from a vicious to a virtuous cycle of mind and climate change that supports personal and planetary wellbeing. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10584-022-03398-9.

Exiting the Anthropocene: Achieving personal and planetary health in the 21st century.

Planetary health provides a perspective of ecological interdependence that connects the health and vitality of individuals, communities, and Earth's natural systems. It includes the social, political, and economic ecosystems that influence both individuals and whole societies. In an era of interconnected grand challenges threatening health of all systems at all scales, planetary health provides a framework for cross-sectoral collaboration and unified systems approaches to solutions. The field of allergy is at the forefront of these efforts. Allergic conditions are a sentinel measure of environmental impact on human health in early life-illuminating how ecological changes affect immune development and predispose to a wider range of inflammatory noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). This shows how adverse macroscale ecology in the Anthropocene penetrates to the molecular level of personal and microscale ecology, including the microbial systems at the foundations of all ecosystems. It provides the basis for more integrated efforts to address widespread environmental degradation and adverse effects of maladaptive urbanization, food systems, lifestyle behaviors, and socioeconomic disadvantage. Nature-based solutions and efforts to improve nature-relatedness are crucial for restoring symbiosis, balance, and mutualism in every sense, recognizing that both personal lifestyle choices and collective structural actions are needed in tandem. Ultimately, meaningful ecological approaches will depend on placing greater emphasis on psychological and cultural dimensions such as mindfulness, values, and moral wisdom to ensure a sustainable and resilient future.

Mindfulness in politics and public policy.

A key factor in the popularity of mindfulness training in public life is the conviction of grassroots advocates seeking to pass on the benefits they have experienced through personal practice. In this manner, mindfulness training has found its way into the realm of government, with parliamentary programmes seeding ambition amongst politicians to research and employ its transformative potential at both interpersonal and policy levels. In a high-stakes, adversarial setting, mindfulness practice helps elected representatives to cope with specific challenges, and an inquiry by the UK Mindfulness All-Party Parliamentary Group has contributed to the emergence of mindfulness training in numerous policy narratives. By developing a new kind of familiarity with their own inner lives, a growing number of politicians are finding a new way to approach political discourse, and a corresponding enthusiasm for policy that tackles society's problems at the level of the human heart and mind. Some are starting to ask whether mindfulness might be more than a targeted intervention for specific issues, and may in fact contribute to the flourishing of society more broadly - marking an important development from concern with individual benefits to benefits for the whole.