Healing Society and Reestablishing Compassionate Policies and Practices
Christine Mason, Melody Mann, and Chandni Lai
International Society of Contemplative Research 2025 Conference
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
This session will provide basic guidelines for applying mindfulness and Heart Centered practices, including those developed by the Center for Educational Improvement, to the broader realm of society.
Melody Mann is a doctoral student at the University of Maryland and member of CEI’s Advisory Board, and Chandni Lai, a doctoral student at the University of North Carolina and CEI Research Assistant.
Background
Currently, millions of global bystanders are waiting with an increasing sense of doom as politicians strip away the foundations and guardrails of democracy in the United States. As bystanders, we feel a sense of hopelessness. Yet, even amid chaos and growing doubts about the efficacy of long-standing societal practices in the US, we can find ways for kindness to prevail and perhaps even turn the tide to cultivate happiness and well-being for all.
This session will provide basic guidelines for applying mindfulness and Heart Centered practices, including those developed by the Center for Educational Improvement, to the broader realm of society. We realize that compassion does not come easily for all children. Similarly, some adults do not gravitate to compassion. For children, the Center developed a program aligned with CASEL’s SEL guidelines that focuses on the 5 Cs: consciousness, compassion, confidence, courage, and community (Mason et al., 2019–2024). We recommend a similar focus for improving societal practices, beginning with ensuring our own vitality and stress reduction, and including collaborative visioning and meditative practices envisioning health, healing, and compassion in all hearts.
Our approach is substantiated by research on heart-mind coherence, ways to strengthen the vagal nerve, and a wealth of studies on developing excellence through intentional communities of practice.
During this session, participants will engage in exercises applying the 5 Cs to concrete problems affecting the health, life, and well-being of all living beings and the planet, something we are calling Heart Centered Living. There will also be time for discussion and dialogue on innovative ways to strengthen this course of action for specific problems and the greater good.