As we approach 2020, mindfulness programs are becoming increasingly prevalent—from major corporations to the military to education—and research heralds their impact. Educators are recognizing the value of both practicing and teaching mindfulness to enhance their own and others’ intercultural competence. In this interactive session, we will discuss what mindfulness is, how it relates to intercultural learning and study away, and how practicing mindfulness can benefit you and your students. You will participate in and learn about several activities that you can use to start or further your own and your students’ mindfulness practice.

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Resources on Mindfulness & Intercultural Learning
Compiled by Tara Harvey, PhD
Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way:
on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally.
– Jon Kabat-Zinn
Relevant Quotes
“Mindfulness means being aware of our own and others’ behavior in the situation, and paying focused
attention to the process of communication taking place between us and dissimilar others. Mindlessness,
in comparison, implies habitual ways of thinking and behaving without conscious awareness of our
underlying intentions and/or emotions (Langer, 1989, 1997; Thich, 1991).” (Ting-Toomey, 1999, p. 16)
“Mindfulness means the readiness to shift one’s frame of reference, the motivation to use new
categories to understand cultural or ethnic differences, and the preparedness to experiment with
creative avenues of decision making and problem solving.” (Ting-Toomey, 1999, p. 46)
“Mindfulness lies at the heart of social emotional learning. It is essentially about choosing wiser and
more adaptive ways to be in relationship to one’s inner and outer experience as it is unfolding moment
by moment.” (Kabat-Zinn, in Rechtschaffen, pp. xvi-xvii)
“To allow ourselves to be truly in touch with where we already are, no matter where that is, we have got
to pause in our experience long enough to let the present moment sink in; long enough to actually feel
the present moment, to see it in its fullness, to hold it in awareness and thereby come to know and
understand it better. Only then can we accept the truth of this moment of our life, learn from it, and
move on.” (Kabat-Zinn, pp. xiii-xiv)
“Mindfulness trains our brains to respond in ways we choose instead of always in a default manner,
which often is a knee-jerk reptilian reaction. This is especially pertinent in situations that bring up stress
or conflict.” (Rechtschaffen, p. 33)
“Mindful awareness can lead to understanding, which can lead to compassion, which can lead to
empathic action.” (Rechtschaffen, p. 106)
“As one of the cornerstones of Personal Leadership, mindfulness means attending to our internal
environment, to our external environment, and to the interaction between the two, all at the same
time. (…) [I]t means engaging all of our senses out in the world—sight, sound, smell, touch, taste, and
any others we can call on. It means engaging all the stimuli within us—thoughts, emotions, physical
sensations. And it means paying attention to the relationship between these two realms, the external
and the internal, and how sensory input in one arena speaks to and influences sensory input in the
other. […] When we are paying attention in this way, we are paying attention to the full scope of our
intelligence.” (Schaetti et al., pp. 20-21)

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References & Suggested Reading
Gelles, D. (2015). Mindful work: How meditation is changing business from the inside out. New York:
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Kabat-Zinn, J. (2005). Wherever you go, there you are: Mindfulness meditation in everyday life, 10th
anniversary ed. New York: Hachette Books.
Langer, E.J. (1989). Mindfulness. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Books.
Rechtschaffen, D. (2014). The way of mindful education: Cultivating well-being in teachers and students.
New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
Schaetti, B.F., Ramsey, S.J., & Watanabe, G.C. (2008). Personal Leadership: Making a world of difference:
A methodology of two principles and six practices. Seattle, WA: FlyingKite Publications.
Ting-Toomey, S. (1999). Communicating across cultures. New York: The Guilford Press.
Online Resources & Videos
Mind & Life Institute: https://www.mindandlife.org/
Center for Investigating Healthy Minds (University of Wisconsin-Madison):
http://www.investigatinghealthyminds.org/
Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society (University of Massachusetts Medical
School): http://www.umassmed.edu/cfm/
60 Minutes Report on Mindfulness: http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/mindfulness/
Mindful: http://www.mindful.org/
Mindfulness in Schools: http://mindfulnessinschools.org/
iBme (Inward Bound Mindfulness Education): http://ibme.info/
Mindful Teachers (great ideas for teaching mindfulness): http://www.mindfulteachers.org/
Mindfulness without Borders: http://www.mindfulnesswithoutborders.org/
How to meditate in a moment (video):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6eFFCi12v8&noredirect=1