Small Acts. Big Impacts.

Reflections on a pandemic year

 

A little more than one year ago, the reality of the Covid-19 pandemic began to sink in for the Becoming Jackson Whole team. Our 2020 plans to hold a large community training at the beloved Center for the Arts, along with other in-person events, fell away immediately. What did we do? We took three really deep breaths and got to work.

We pivoted 180º and went digital, launching a major shift in how we go about making mindfulness second nature in Jackson Hole. This meant we could meet you in your living rooms and home offices with a blog and the 100 Acts of Mindfulness campaign (currently on Day 221 in its second iteration as “Small Acts. Big Impacts.”) that we kicked off with large banners around town displaying micro-practices you could do in the car. We also shared them with you through daily emails, on a revamped website, and in our social media, promoting resilience and wellness during major upheaval.

Here’s a little more detail of what we’ve done together in this year of social distancing:

  • Led by Scott Rogers and Dr. Amishi Jha, a world-class neuroscientist, author, and speaker, we completed two rounds of Mindfulness-Based Attention Training (MBAT) with 80 community leaders. Our fall MBAT, via Zoom, prioritized mental health and social service workers. Now we are wrapping up the rigorous Train the Trainer course with a group of soon-to-be certified MBAT instructors that includes law enforcement, a JHMR manager, hospital administrator, school nurse, Latinx community advocate, and two nonprofit service providers.

  • We received results from Dr. Jha’s first-of-kind research, using community leaders as a control group and trainees, which confirmed that MBAT works – after just 4 weeks of mindfulness practice, participants trained their minds to function differently BY DEFAULT.  Dr. Jha notes that “the exciting thing is the holistic pattern that emerged . . . This study gives me hope.”

  • You opened our daily micro-practice emails and our weekly blog posts 125,000 times.

  • You logged more than 5,500 minutes of mindfulness practice during live community sessions via Zoom.

  • More than 100 of you joined us for a mid-day meditation in our 100 Faces of Mindfulness online event.

  • 400 of you joined our first 21-Day Mindfulness Challenge, spending more than 14,000 minutes engaging with guided practices during January.

Here are a few recent comments from nonprofit and business leaders, educators, and healthcare workers:

“You should know about all that lift you are creating!”

“I am starting our meetings with your micro-practices. We save a ton of time, and it just feels better to start off on the same page.”

“Well-written post on how our mind ‘tricks’ us. I’m taking that with me today.”  

“Gratitude for all of you and the good work at BJW!  These consistent morsels and reminders have an impact.” 

We celebrate this community pulling together to face the challenges of these times, and we are humbled and proud to have played a small role in easing the strains. We are emboldened by the growing awareness of mental fitness’ role in our overall well-being. Expect us to build on this momentum in 2021 (click to learn more about our plans).

With gratitude and care,

Sara and the Becoming Jackson Whole team