making progress because, of course, when you sit down to meditate( and by meditating I simply mean anchoring your attention in the present-moment by watching the flow of your breath), you will see that your thoughts don’ t stop, so you may feel frustrated instead of calm. The trick is to stay curious about this instead of feeling that you are doing it wrong or it doesn’ t“ work.”

Another misconception is that it is an esoteric practice, or too fringe or“ woo-woo.” Others have concerns that it requires particular religious or spiritual beliefs or orientations. These misconceptions can keep people from being open to even experimenting to see if it might be useful for them.

P: In your book you mentioned that we live in an“ antimindful culture that values multitasking and rapid shift of focus.” How can one encourage young individuals to slow down and live mindfully? R: One of the greatest benefits of a regular mindfulness practice is that it allows us to begin to see that we all have weaknesses and strengths and differences and good days and bad days. And at the same time, we all want the same thing: to be happy and have peace of mind. This awareness can lead to greater empathy and compassion. In my mind, this is the most important element of culture change, but we can only get there one person at a time. In my experience, having worked with thousands of 20- somethings, they have the flexibility to learn these new practices and grow from them to a tremendous degree.

P: Can you share with us at least one piece of scientific evidence that offers proof as to how meditation helps children or young people cope better with stress? R: Our randomized, controlled trial of Koru Mindfulness at Duke University found that students who practiced mindfulness for 10 minutes a day for four weeks and participated in our Koru class felt less stressed, slept better, had higher levels of mindfulness and greater self compassion— all factors that add up to a higher quality of life. That’ s a pretty remarkable difference after only four weeks of fairly brief meditation practice.

P: You said young individuals have the tendency to experience“ grasping and aversion.” Can you expound on this and how can these two concerns be addressed? R: We all have grasping and aversion. Both are completely normal

“ If you are sleepy every time you sit to meditate, your body may be telling you that you are sleep-deprived. If so, take that seriously and start getting more sleep. If you know you are getting enough sleep, try opening your eyes while you meditate, standing up or doing a walking meditation,” Roger advises.

Procrastination, on the other hand, is quite common.“ If you notice yourself not in the mood to meditate, just stop where you are. Get as curious as you can about that feeling of not wanting to meditate. Where is it in your body? Does it change as you watch it for a few breaths? Being curious about the obstacle helps you move through it,” she says.

and hard-wired into our nervous systems. It is as old evolutionarily as anything, as it is necessary for survival. In experiments looking at single-celled organisms, if you put a drop of sugar water on one side of them and a drop of vinegar on the other, they will move away from the vinegar and toward the sugar water. That’ s grasping and aversion.

Thus, it’ s normal and we all do it. The problem is that we develop the belief that we can make ourselves happy by constantly seeking out pleasant experiences and avoiding unpleasant ones. Firstly, we know that just doesn’ t work. There is no way to avoid unpleasant experiences; we are all going to have sadness, loss, boredom and anger in our lives. Secondly, the grasping never ends on its own. You will always feel the need for one more victory or shiny object to be truly happy. The way to escape this dilemma is to see the grasping and the mind’ s unceasing desire, as well as recognize that constant grasping is the cause of unhappiness rather than the path toward happiness. n

AMIDST ALL THE STORIES of bullying and judgmental culture on social media where young people frequent, why is there an even greater need to cultivate a non-judgmental attitude? Click here to read Rogers’ advice.

March / April 2017 ■ PULSE 65