The University of Michigan professor and author Dr. Ethan Kross wrote the book
Chatter, interweaving groundbreaking behavioral and brain research with colorful, real-world examples to explain how the conversations we have with ourselves shape our lives and gives us the power to change them.
Dr. Kross is also the director of the Emotion & Self Control Laboratory at the university. He wrote the book after devoting the greater part of his career to studying the silent conversations people have with themselves in their own heads.
Dr. Kross explains the book
Chatter: The Voice in Our Head and How to Harness It and says it s a common experience that can have both positive or negative manifestations. He s not suggesting silencing your inner voice entirely but says our inner voices can be amazingly helpful for us. He says the challenge is to how we can make this inner voice work for our own betterment versus succumbing to the chatter.
Listen to the full interview.
Lou Weir of Ann Arbor says he became interested in the Diamond Approach initially because he had a sense that there had to be more to him than he was experiencing. He sensed there was a place that was more free and more open more himself.
Lou Weir
Credit Lou Weir / The Diamond Approach
Weir says, over time, we start to lose our direct connections to the innocent qualities we have when first born, including love. As we age, we develop more of an egotistic sense, which can seem less authentic for some people. The Diamond Approach, according to Weir, is intended to reconnect us with the essential nature of who we really are.
Dr. Rita Benn, co-founder of the Michigan Collaborative for Mindfulness in Education.
Credit Dr, Rita Benn / Michigan Collaborative for Mindfulness in Education
Mindfulness can build a critical foundation for transforming Michigan school communities. By developing skills to focus attention, regulate emotions, and relate to others with compassion, mindfulness training promotes a school environment where teachers can effectively teach and students feel safe, calm, and engaged to learn.
The Michigan Collaborative for Mindfulness in Education (MC4ME) is dedicated to fostering the teaching and dissemination of mindfulness practices in K-12 and higher education using best practices, established curricula, and scientific evidence.