In a data streaming world of accelerating change, we are all dealing with the impact on our psyche. Even adults with fully developed brains are struggling in this whitewater of a 140 character world. Teaching a powerful technique called mindfulness, part of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), has been scientifically proven to be effective “to teach children how to focus, manage their emotions, handle their stress, and resolve conflicts.”

In his groundbreaking book, A Mindful Nation, Congressman Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) writes about the benefits of social and emotional learning and its benefits in education. “A young child who can regulate his emotions is a child who will do better in school. … Isn’t that what teachers and parents have been screaming to kids forever: ‘Pay attention!’? With mindfulness, we can teach them how to pay attention.”

There are several great organizations leading the effort in promoting and educating these techniques. One of these organizations, Mindful Schools, is on a mission “to help lead the integration of mindfulness into education,” and with its in-school program has taught over 30,000 children since its 2007 inception. What I really like is its adult courses designed not just for educators but also for parents and organizations.

For my birthday, my wish is for you to help teach our kids these essential skills by donating to Mindful Schools as I have done for my birthday, or if a donation isn’t feasible then just read this passage to know more about the benefits of mindfulness for the children in your life.

Other links worth checking out:

Room to Breathe Film

1440 Foundation

A Mindful Nation

Be Radical and Drop In To Right Now

Wisdom 2.0 Summit

The post My Birthday Wish: Giving Kids Room to Breathe appeared first on The Thinking Bench.

“We either focus on what we want to happen or what we are afraid will happen and either way we’ll be right.”

He ended his session with us by reciting this quote that’s worth sharing:

I AM THE DECISIVE ELEMENT

I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element.  It is my personal approach that creates the climate.

It is my daily mood that makes the weather.

I possess tremendous power to make a life miserable or joyous.  I can be a tool of torture, or an instrument of inspiration.

I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal.

In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de –escalated, and a person humanized or dehumanized.

If we treat people as they are, we make them worse.  If we treat people as they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming.

Goethe

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It finally made it back to me.

Four weeks had passed since it was dropped into the alkaline dust of Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, aka the Playa.

Holding it in my hand once again, feelings of astonishment and belief mixed around in my head; then a grin, almost a smirk stuck on my face.

Community. Karma. The Universe. Whatever you call it, once again proved its existence as it has done over and over again at Burning Man during my seven trips home to that magical place. It is one of the most amazing parts of the annual gathering. Even with 54,000 this year, it held true. #beautiful

So when I lost my camera the final night, just a couple hours before the man burned, that’s what I told myself: It has to come back to you. I just needed to believe it would. Things literally manifest themselves there when you need them. It happens so frequently and so consistently; it’s impossible to deny its existence.

Though, one of the greatest lessons I’ve taken from the unforgiving elements of the Playa is to let things go. And at that moment when I realized I had dropped the camera, I had to come to peace that I’d lost all the photos I’d shot during the week and to now just have fun. Quite painful, since I had purchased a new camera specifically to take night shots of the spectacular, light show rollercoaster that is a night at Burning Man.

But they were all gone. Even as we made the trek back to San Francisco, I said how hard it was to let go. I just had to believe there was a chance someone in the community would find all these wonderful memories and try and get them back to the owner.

Of course.

Within a few days of returning, a kind soul from Washington DC had finally made it back to the default world and posted a photo on his camp’s Facebook page, Distrikt. Lost & Found 2011. Within hours someone had identified me and tagged the photo.

Lost & Found Facebook Post

It took another couple weeks until my camera made it back to SF and into my hands, until the kind soul returned for a visit to the city (just before leaving for his sixth tour in Iraq). #hero

Thank you Paul, Josh, Benjamin, Brian, Ferd, Derek and everyone who carries the community of Burning Man with them. You made this possible.

The man burns in 327 days )’(

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California's Central Valley on Day 2 of the 545-mile AIDS/Lifecycle

 
 
DAY ONE

AIDS/Lifecycle Superhero Rest Stop 2

Blog Addition: Beginning with a 4am alarm, opening ceremonies and 90 miles into Santa Cruz, this is a long, exhilarating day.

AIDS/Lifecycle Day One

 
 
DAY TWO

Amigo Ferd Garcia being interviewed on Action 8 news in Salinas about his 13 years doing the California AIDS Ride.

Ferd Garcia Salinas Interview

Done! 108 miles through California’s Central Valley (where they grow everything) on Day 2 of the 545-mile AIDS/Lifecycle … Smells of strawberries, artichokes, cabbage, and two fields of cactus (not sure how that’s used). Gorgeous day with awesome tailwinds pushing us to King City.

Rider through California's Central Valley

 
 
DAY THREE

67 miles today over the infamous Quad Buster!

Rode through the blazing sun into Bradley (population 120) where the school has a BBQ = hamburger instead of ham and swiss box lunch the AIDS/Lifecycle provides today … this is their biggest fundraiser by far and provides essential $$ for their sports and arts program. Money from last year went to a road trip to LA to visit the museums.

It’s hard to top a line of kids slapping your hands as you enter town.

As we rode into camp at Paso Robles we were each given a letter from one of the students. This is the letter I received ♥

From Bradley, California

 
 
DAY FOUR

Day 4: 98 miles including climbing the Evil Twins which tops out at 1,700 feet in elevation and marks the HALF WAY!! mark on of the AIDS/Lifecycle.

What was terrifying was dropping those 1,700 feet to sea level over 8 miles in the cold fog, hitting nearly 38 mph. I could feel my bike wobbling as the semis barreled past me. (everyone survived)

My back tire wasn’t so lucky after smacking into the giant pothole on the road leaving lunch from San Luis Obispo.

Bike repair

Angry Birds dropped some eggs on us at Rest Stop 4 yesterday as we closed out Day 4. Definitely my favorite themed rest stop so far.

Angry Birds at Rest Stop 4

 
 
DAY FIVE

Despite the fun around the relatively short 44-mile wear red day (aka red dress day), AIDS/Lifecycle Day 5 is climbing, climbing and more climbing; and I love to conquer each peak.

My upper hamstring, however, isn’t so eager and is beginning to really show signs of strain from all the saddle time.

Icing ever hour. Hoping it can hold two more days. Wish me luck!

Icing the hamstring

 
 
DAY SIX

Hamstring held up for 88 miles but kept reminding me to take it easy. No racing today :(

 
Feels incredible riding to Ventura Beach knowing only one more day remains. Ended our night with a beachside candlelight vigil.

 
#thankful

Candlelight Vigil on Venture Beach

 
 
DAY SEVEN

Woke up for the last 65 miles on Day 7 and the clip that holds my shoe together had fallen off.

 
No way was I going to allow that to keep me from riding every one of the 545 miles of the AIDS/Lifecycle.

 
So happy to be done and to have slept in a bed last night.

 
Thanks to everyone who offered support and followed along during the last week. It really helped motivate me through the mental and physical exhaustion. Thanks again to all my donors who helped me raise $6k. This turned out to be the largest AIDS fundraiser of all time at over $14 million!

Taped up my shoe for the last few miles

 
 
MOJO CONGRATS

From Mojo Interactive’s Facebook page: Congrats Glen Lubbert for completing your 3rd AIDS/LifeCycle ride. They raised an amazing $13 MILLION. Mojo Orlando couldn’t be more proud of you!

Blog Addition: Mojo helped sponsor six riders on this year’s lifecycle including these awesome jerseys. Watch my twitter feed or mojo’s youtube feed for videos from each of the riders.

Mojo helps Sponsor AIDS/Lifecycle Riders

The post My Seven Days to End AIDS #AIDS/Lifecycle appeared first on The Thinking Bench.

The beauty and power of clean energy surrounds Palm Springs home of TEDActive

With less than a week away before the start of TED 2011: The Rediscovery of Wonder and after spending a few hours Sunday with several of the Bay Area TEDActivators including my co-host Leigh Rowan, my excitement for the week compelled me to share my favorite talks from TED 2010.

Just three topped my list which I wrote about last year:

1. Behavioral Economist Daniel Kahneman on Happiness
2. Jake Shimabukuro’s Ukulele Performance
3. Bill Gates’ Most Important Wish

Looking forward to seeing everyone Sunday in Palm Springs. Those unable to attend can follow along at home with the TEDActive Bay Area Twitter list.

glen.

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Antonia - Kiva.org loan recipient

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Googleplex

This shot is actually taken down the street from the main Googleplex at their new campus where we gathered for the third day of the Wisdom 2.0 Conference. It was the unconference day — a vibrant, creative day of sharing and learning with 200 fascinating people who were able to make this last-minute additional day (arguably the best day of the conference).

After lunch at one of the famous Google cafeterias, I sat on this bench and dangled my feet over the edge. Swinging back and forth over the water, my legs kept the time as I soaked up some sun — a perfect thinking bench for reflection after the weekend’s journey.

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Computer History Museum

Found this spot outside in the sunshine during one of the breaks at the Wisdom 2.0 Conference held at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California.

After hours of considering the flow of information in our always now, instant feedback 140 character world, and the authenticity of each of us within this reality, soaking up the sun and taking a moment for mindfulness seemed perfect.

I sat on the corner of this garden area right out in front of the museum and played with the rocks. #contentment

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The Babbage Machine. “Another Age Must Be the Judge.” – Charles Babbage 1837

Balancing. Breathing. Listening.

It was the closing circle to a weekend of presence and focus, both being in the moment as well as being in the flow of ambiguous focus. We were considering the confluence of mindfulness and the always now, instant feedback, data streaming 140 character world.

Describing the weekend of the inaugural Wisdom 2.0 Conference is a little like trying to understand the focus one needs to study multiple realities & string theory while equally contemplating the existence of the creator itself… basically not usual casual conversation.

At least it led to the most attentive audience, something Chris Sacca acknowledged during the #Wisdom2Conf opening panel at the Computer History Museum. Having done so many tech conferences with fellow panelists Greg Pass (Twitter) and Bradley Horowitz (Google), he laughed at himself – clearly he was a stand-up comic in one of those multiple realities – b/c most conferences had everyone’s head stuck in a device giving him only a few fragmented moments to make an impact.

He captured the stream of this conference as good as anyone.

“Life is not a race to he or she who answers the most email,” Gopi Kallayil, Google Marketing Manager, said after giving us his three goals for each day:

1. Get a good night’s sleep.
2. Take time for mindfulness practice, which for him is his non-negotiable commitment to yoga. For me it’s my morning affirmation of thanks to my friends and family as well as the opportunities the day will bring. He suggested to start by keeping the bar low and doing a one minute meditation — a moment to close your eyes and take a few conscious breaths (easy and helpful).
3. Engage in a physical activity — good for your body and your mind.

Rashi Joan Halifax gave a great quote: “Every stick has two ends.” She was describing all the benefits of our hyperconnectivity while highlighting the sense of false connectivity. I like this quote because its wisdom application is universal.

My closing circle summation… In our hyperconnected 140 character world, what if authenticity — on both ends of the stick — ultimately is our non-negotiable pursuit?

The post Wisdom 2.0 Notebook: Managing the Stream appeared first on The Thinking Bench.

Happiness talks are a crowd favorite at TED, which is probably why Daniel Kahneman, the founder of behavioral economics kicked off the event with his questions:

“Are you happy in your life?” or “Are you happy with your life?”

You can read the full post here, and as of today, TED has made the talk available to watch. Highly recommended. Definitely a Top 5 and probably my favorite TED 2010 talk.

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