Shifting the Balance: A Mindful Way to Be an Agent of Change

How can we solve our own problems—let alone our world’s—when so many of us are stressed to the breaking point? Ohio congressman Tim Ryan, author of A Mindful Nation and The Real Food Revolution, talks about his common-sense vision for our country’s well-being—from food policy to education to veterans’ programs—and shows us how cultivating awareness can help us see our challenges with new eyes and shift toward a conscious new agenda. The essence of a mindfulness practice, Tim explains, “isn’t just the moment that you’re sitting on a cushion or on a yoga mat or the hour you spend in church. It’s how you take the clarity from those quiet places and try to carry some of that with you into the real world.”