Mindful

The revolution of mindfulness meditation in the business world - a critical look behind the facade of a modern, spiritual phenomenon.

Mindfulness: the art of simply being present. From Oprah to Phil Jackson to Anderson Cooper, it has been embraced by some of the world's most successful people. Featuring testimonies from Deepak Chopra, Thich Nhat Hanh, Sharon Stone, Oliver Stone, and more, this documentary shows you how to embrace mindfulness in your own life. Like mindfulness itself, the film is simple, direct, and effective.

Overwhelmed with insomnia and an incurable autoimmune disease, Shannon Harvey needed to make a change. But while the award-winning health journalist found plenty of recommendations on diet, sleep and exercise, when she looked for the equivalent of a 30-minute workout for her mental wellbeing, there was nothing. Worried for the future mental health of her kids who were growing up amidst epidemics of stress, anxiety, depression and addiction, Shannon enlisted a team of scientists to put meditation to the test. Could learning to quiet our busy minds be the simple solution the world so desperately needs? Throughout her year of living mindfully Shannon is poked, prodded, scanned and screened as she travels the world to interview 18 of the world's leading mindfulness scientists and pioneers. But after a 30,000 kilometre journey from the bright lights of Manhattan to the dusty refugee camps of the Middle East, what begins as a self-experiment, transforms into a life-changing experience. My Year of Living Mindfully is filled with compelling stories, groundbreaking science, and unexpected insights that go to the heart of what it means to be human in the twenty-first century.

Room to Breathe is a surprising story of transformation as troubled kids in a San Francisco public middle school are introduced to the practice of mindfulness meditation. Topping the district in disciplinary suspensions, and with overcrowded classrooms creating a nearly impossible learning environment, overwhelmed administrators are left with stark choices. Do they repeat the cycle of forcing tuned out children to listen, or experiment with a set of age old inner practices that may provide them with the social and emotional skills that they need to succeed? The first question is whether its already too late. Confronted by defiance, contempt for authority figures, poor discipline, and more interest in 'social' than learning, can a young meditation teacher succeed in opening their minds and hearts?

This insightful and informative documentary explores the popular world of Mindfulness from the perspective of four people who study and teach it.

A Joyful Mind is a film about finding true happiness and well being through the practice of meditation. Today, the accelerating pace of life poses real challenges to our well-being. At the same time, new understandings about meditation are shedding light on how its transformative powers can improve our lives. A Joyful Mind pulls back the curtain on what it means to meditate, on what modern science reveals about its benefits, and on how meditation and mindfulness can be used in workplaces and schools. This groundbreaking film serves to clear up the confusion around meditation perpetuated by the media and others. It features the experiences of both novice and master meditators, highlighting Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, whose teachings have touched people around the world with their clarity, wit and personal insight into how meditation can have a positive impact on our daily lives.

'Zen' Buddhist teacher Dogen Zenji is a very important religious person during the Kamakura period, 750 years ago. After his mother died, he decides to move to China and settle as a Buddhist teacher. One bright morning, enlightened, Zenji returns to Japan as a devoted evangelist of the 'new' Buddhism. However, this new form of Buddhism is not accepted in all communities.

This is the story of an ancient meditation technique named Vipassana, which shows people how to take control of their lives and channel them toward their own good.It is the story of a strong woman named Kiran Bedi, the former Inspector General of Prisons in New Delhi, who strove to transform the notorious Tihar Prison and turn it into an oasis of peace. But most of all it is the story of prison inmates who underwent profound change, and who realized that incarceration is not the end but possibly a fresh start toward an improved and more positive life. These people have shown that reform can work if it is self-reform. Their success has been so dramatic that recently the Indian Government decided to apply Vipassana in all the country's prisons. Other countries are becoming interested as well. The filmmakers spent about two weeks inside Tihar Central Prison in New Delhi and Baroda Jail in the Indian state of Gujarat. They interviewed inmates and jail officials, and filmed in places rarely accessible to film crews, whether Indian or foreign.