Dear Editor
The SN Editorial on ‘Mindfulness’ on 30 June, 2022 is a useful contribution to the general discussion in Guyana about healing from the continued trauma of living in an ‘oil rich’ country. The editorial, with its focus on mindfulness in children, missed out on talking about the need for mindfulness in the parents, teachers, adults, Members of Parliament and others who create the dysfunction in the environment for the children. Children learn from the adults around them, directly and indirectly. The editorial referred to the work of New York Mayor Eric Adams, who practices what he preaches. Eric Adams is reportedly vegan and has been working with schools to reduce meat consumption, so mindfulness comes with other lifestyle changes.
Mindfulness and the associated practices are also being used in prisons and other places around the world. Mindfulness helps people to cope with many things when practiced properly and to work on personal challenges. The SN editorial referenced to an article in Psychology Today to support mindfulness. Another Psychology Today article
(https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/lifespan-perspectives/202108/the-limits-mindfulness) cautions about the limitations for some people. The SN editorial makes a passing reference to the ‘resistance’ to mindfulness. Many religious denominations, including those embraced by the Government, resist mindfulness, meditation and yoga because of their grounding in ‘Eastern’ practices. The religious diversity might be good for Guyana but then it becomes a problem when some religious beliefs are used to block helpful public policies and practices which are no problems for other religions.
The other issue with ‘mindfulness’ in Guyana is that the mindfulness industry now is closely aligned to the capitalist practices which are driving inequalities which are affecting the children in Guyana and New York. It seems as though we should breathe our way into accepting the violence of the State, the exploitation and destruction of the environment and the discrimination which divides us. Some politicians have described Guyana as a place to make money or to have Carnival, rum and fun. They dare not imagine it as a place to heal. The entrepreneurs of mindfulness will come to offer their courses and retreats and so on for those who can afford them, no doubt hoping that mindfulness will trickle down to those who are marginalised and oppressed and unhappy with the status quo. Mindfulness is associated with other ethical issues including the well-being of the community and the environment. There is a conversation which connects mindfulness to the work to create a just and equal Guyana. Mindful children will thrive in a mindful society.
Sincerely,
Vidyaratha Kissoon
