Thich Nhat Hanh Center for Mindfulness in Public Health

07/20/2026

Reminder…
🌼 Flower fresh
⛰️ Mountain solid
💧 Water calm
🌌 Space free

During last week’s midweek mindfulness reset, Br. Phap Luu (Phap Luu) led our growing sangha through a beautiful pebble meditation practice, with the suggestion to venture out and find some of our own.

Have you collected your pebbles? If so, which one most deeply resonates with you? 🪨

06/02/2026

Reduce your stress, calm your nervous system, and reset.

Sit with a rotating group of some of the most influential instructors in the mindfulness space, including monastics from the Plum Village tradition.

Each virtual session offers a variety of mindfulness practices and insights to support your well-being. Open to all; no experience needed. Join via Zoom.

Details and registration: https://hsph.me/mindful-reset

Sessions begin on June 10th.

05/22/2026

A few moments from last month's symposium, Compassion in Action: The Science of Caring. Sending deep gratitude to those who were able to join us in-person and online to create such a special day.

We're happy to share that recordings of select presentations are available to revisit, including those from our esteemed speakers Jon Kabat-Zinn, Christopher Germer, David Vago, Phap Luu, and Eric Loucks: https://www.mindfulpublichealth.org/news-events/compassion-in-action-science-of-caring/

We look forward to future programming to continue to deepen our shared understanding of compassion, and strengthen our community through connection, practice, and education.

03/12/2026

Compassion in Action: The Science of Caring

This year's symposium brings together esteemed scientists, public health experts, and the visiting monastics from the Plum Village tradition to explore how evidence-based mindfulness and compassion practices can help improve individual and population health, with particular attention to how cultivating compassion—in ourselves, our communities, and our planet—can serve as a powerful force for healing and transformation.

Please RSVP to join us on April 8th from 9-11am ET for our livestream of select presentations by Jon Kabat-Zinn, Chris Germer, PhD - Mindful Self-Compassion, Elissa Epel, Eric Loucks, and Phap Luu: https://hsph.me/compassion-livestream

12/22/2025

The practice of mindful eating is an invitation to savor our food, enjoy our meals, and come home to the present moment. Whether you are sharing a festive table with family, joining a community potluck, or enjoying a quiet cup of tea, each bite or sip can be an opportunity to cultivate peace, gratitude, and compassion—for ourselves, each other, and our planet.

In this video, our beloved Brother Phap Luu shares a very special guided meditation to accompany the beginning of meals or drinks:

🥄 With the first mouthful, I offer joy to someone
🥄 With the second mouthful, I relieve someone’s suffering
🥄 With the third mouthful, I maintain a heart of joy
🥄 With the fourth mouthful, I practice inclusiveness.

Learn more about mindful eating and dive deeper into this gatha, or poem, at https://www.mindfulpublichealth.org/news-events/gift-of-presence-holiday-season/

Warm wishes for a peaceful and mindful holiday season.

04/03/2025

Last week, our third annual symposium gathered researchers and practitioners in public health, mindfulness, and communication to explore strategies for improving nutrition and planetary health. Our discussions focused on the power of social connectivity, community, and communication for making change:

🍊 Dr. Walter Willett emphasized interconnectedness in public health, highlighting the urgent need to feed the world healthily and sustainably.

🍊 Dr. Damon Centola shared insights into social networks, explaining the “fishing net” model where clusters of people at the periphery are where norms change.

🍊 Dr. Kasisomayajula “Vish” Viswanath discussed the essential role of communities in public health and highlighted the often-overlooked importance of social connections for well-being.

🍊 Dr. Shauna Bowes emphasized the role of intellectual humility in building trust in health communication.

Participants then jumped into four breakout sessions, covering topics such as working through political and industry resistance to dietary enhancements, and addressing misinformation and social media influences in dietary health.

Our time together was interspersed with practices of mindful breathing, eating, and walking, led by our monastic friends from the International Community.

Read more about the event here: https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/exploring-strategies-for-improving-nutrition-and-planetary-health/

01/16/2025

Nour Hammad, MSc, RDN, and PhD student at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health recently presented on mindful eating in a Harvard Medical School bioethics course. The course curriculum centers on food to explore questions of social justice, complex interactions between science and policy, and humanity's relationships to the environment and other species.

12/21/2024

11/25/2024

"Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for." - Thich Nhat Hanh

How to practice mindful gratitude:
- Take a deep breath
- Notice 3 things you're grateful for right now
- Feel the warmth of appreciation in your body

What are you grateful for? Feel free to share in the comments below.


“Peace in oneself, peace in the world”
Illustration by Thich Nhat Hanh, © Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism

09/19/2024

This afternoon, we had the pleasure of welcoming visitors from Blue Cliff Monastery-Tu Viện Bích Nham and other friends for a mindful lunch and guided meditation.

Present moment, wonderful moment.