Mindfulness as a Foundation for Health: Thich Nhat Hanh and Health@Google (Video)

Mindfulness as a Foundation for Health: Thich Nhat Hanh and Health@Google

To Skip Music Intro go to: 0:16:20 of the video.

Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh (known as Thay in his circles) made a rare visit to the Googleplex to lead a half-day Health@Google workshop in the fundamentals of mindfulness. The exercises and rituals of mindfulness lay the path to optimal health and happiness.

Thay may be the second most famous Buddhist monk in the world, right after the Dalai Lama. He is certainly one of the best known and most respected Zen Masters in the world. Thay is a best-selling author, poet, and peace activist who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Martin Luther King Jr. He is a key pioneer in actively applying insights from meditation to solving real-world social, political and environmental problems. Thay most recently published Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life, with Harvard School of Public Health nutritionist Dr. Lilian Cheung. At 85, he's touring North America before retiring to his monastery in France.

Life at Google is fast, furious and fun, yet it can take a toll on ourselves and our loved ones. Through Thay's specially crafted workshop, you'll learn how to reduce stress, eat for health, sleep better, find emotional stability, improve concentration and sustain optimal performance.

--Chade-Meng Tan

The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation

~ by Thich Nhat Hanh

In The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching, Thich Nhat Hanh introduces us to the core teachings of Buddhism and shows us that the Buddha's teachings are accessible and applicable to our daily lives. With poetry and clarity, Nhat Hanh imparts comforting wisdom about the nature of suffering and its role in creating compassion, love, and joy--all qualities of enlightenment. Covering such significant teachings as the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path, the Three Doors of Liberation, the Three Dharma Seals, and the Seven Factors of Awakening, The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching is a radiant beacon on Buddhist thought for the initiated and uninitiated alike.

Excerpt from Book:

Buddhist meditation has two aspects—shamatha and vipashyana. We tend to stress the importance of vipashyana ("looking deeply") because it can bring us insight and liberate us from suffering and afflictions. But the practice of shamatha ("stopping") is fundamental. If we cannot stop, we cannot have insight.

There is a story in Zen circles about a man and a horse. The horse is galloping quickly, and it appears that the man on the horse is going somewhere important. Another man, standing alongside the road, shouts, "Where are you going?" and the first man replies, "I don't know! Ask the horse!" This is also our story. We are riding a horse, we don't know where we are going , and we can't stop. The horse is our habit energy pulling us along, and we are powerless. We are always running, and it has become a habit. We struggle all the time, even during our sleep. We are at war within ourselves, and we can easily start a war with others.

~Thich Nhat Hanh

We need the energy of mindfulness to recognize and be present with our habit energy in order to stop this course of destruction.

~Thich Nhat Hanh

Native American Quotes

Photo of Floyd Red Crow Westerman

“Man sometimes thinks he’s been elevated to be the controller, the ruler, but he’s not. He’s only part of the whole. Man’s job is not to exploit, but to oversee, to be a steward. Man has responsibility, not power.”

~ Oren Lyons ~ Faithkeeper


"There is hope if people will begin to awaken that spiritual part of themselves...that heartfelt knowledge that we are caretakers of this planet."

~ Brooke Medicine Eagle


The faces of our future generations are looking up to us from the earth and we step with great care not to disturb our grandchildren.

~Traditional Circle of Elders


Lumbee elder Vernon Cooper says “Everything I know I learned by listening and watching. Nowadays people learn out of books instead. Doctors study what man has learned. I pray to understand what man has forgotten”.

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Oh Great Spirit

Let your voice whisper righteousness in our ears through the East Wind at the break of day.

Let us be blessed with love for all our brothers & sisters on Earth so we may truly live in peace.

Let us have good health mentally & physically to solve our problems and accomplish something for future generations.

Let us be sincere to ourselves and make the world a better place to live.

~Aho Mitakuye Oyasin All My Relations