Embodying Mindfulness in Challenging Times

by Matthew Daniell

(Published in the Newburyport Daily News on November 7, 2025)

I was speaking to a friend recently about a situation in the world we had different opinions about. Our conversation, although initially cordial, became increasingly divisive; goodwill and apparent open-mindedness disappeared, and the conversation went nowhere.  

Isn't this how the world can become so full of conflict and strife? Some people have a certain view of something, and others have a different opinion. The two don't meet and they stop really listening. Voices may become louder, and the sense of self-righteousness – me vs. you, ours vs. theirs – gets stronger.

Clinging to our thoughts, blindly believing them, is so deeply ingrained in us humans that we sometimes literally can only think in ways we have become comfortable with and habituated to.  

We get "stuck in our heads." Thoughts fuel emotions and sensations in the body, forming a toxic brew of self-rightious reactivity. Gandhi said, "An eye for an eye and the whole world goes blind." But does it have to?  

The spiritual teacher Douglas Harding wrote a book titled, On Having No Head. This points to the invitation mindfulness training offers to shift attention from thoughts (in the head) into a fuller sense of sensations in the whole body. When we practice doing this, and become skilled at it, we can learn to not deny our thoughts and emotions, but experience more space and ease in relation to them by broadening and grounding our focus of attention.

I once lived and worked at a large meditation center. It was a fishbowl way of life. With so many people living and working closely together, lots of different agendas, emotions, and personalities were on display. Sometimes it was wonderful, sometimes tough. There was a sign in the kitchen I would pass often that said, "Got body?" This was a little reminder to come into a fuller sense of being present in an embodied way. When I did this it made a difference. It still does.

Thich Nhat Hanh, the Vietnamese Buddhist monk, tells of how during the Vietnam War refugees got on rickety boats and set out onto the open sea with the hopes of making it to Thailand and safety. It was a perilous journey and many boats perished in the rough seas. He later found out that on the boats that made it to safey, there was often at least one calm person on board. These calm people, he noted, were often deep practitioners of mindfulness of breathing, which is an aspect of bodily awareness. By doing this practice, in the midst of stormy seas, they could touch inner peace, and watch their own emotions of fear and anxiety come and go. Their presence was not only supportive inwardly, but also outwardly. By calmly seeing the conditions around them, they could be helpful to others, seeing what was needed to stay on course, or change course if need be.

The Buddha taught a two-step process for bringing meditative awareness into daily life: mindfulness and clear comprehension. Practicing embodied mindfulness can help us to drop down, and out, of the often relentless flow of thoughts and emotions that can block our ability to be present, connected, and responsive. In the ensuing calm, we are renewed and can reengage from an energy and intelligence infused with freshness and care. In challenging and uncertain times we may be asked to find new ways to respond to the ongoing question we face: "What is skillful action in this situation?" It may seem counterintuitive, but getting out of our heads and into embodied mindfulness may help us live this question in surprising and helpful ways.