The Mindfulness Effect

Dena Samuels, PhD serves as a mindfulness-based leadership development and cultural inclusion consultant. Author, activist, public speaker, and award-winning educator, she taught for 20 years at the University of Colorado - Colorado Springs in the Women's & Ethnic Studies program while consulting around the U.S. and beyond. Her passion is to inspire people to raise their personal and social consciousness to live more fulfilling, connected, and meaningful lives; and to assist organizations, campuses, and corporations in building more diverse, equitable, and inclusive cultures. Samuels' latest book, The Mindfulness Effect: an unexpected journey to healing, connection, & social justice (Night River Press, 2018) offers 25 mindfulness practices for self-empowerment and cultural inclusion. Her previous book, The Culturally Inclusive Educator: Preparing for a Multicultural World (Teachers College Press, 2014) provides transformative inquiry and strategies for building cultural inclusiveness. Over her extensive career, Dr. Samuels has been interviewed in print, radio, online, and on TV. Most notably, she was interviewed by the Colorado affiliate station of NPR; and by the Huffington Post. She is also a featured speaker in Thomas Keith's documentary, How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? (2019). Samuels volunteers as co-facilitator of the monthly Second Tuesday Race Forum of Denver, and also as co-chair of The Privilege Institute, the institutional home of the annual White Privilege Conference. In Denver, Samuels serves as a culturally inclusive, trauma-sensitive yoga and mindfulness instructor.

How can mindfulness change your life, and your impact on the world? In addition to challenging and dismantling systemic inequalities we are facing globally, we must also reflect on ourselves, our life's purpose, and the effect our social identities have on us and on others. Unpacking our social conditioning and the systemic inequalities that frame society allows us to discover what might be keeping us from fulfilling our life's potential and from deeply connecting with others. Building authentic relationships across cultural differences is an antidote to social injustice, provides us with a sense of belonging, and paves the way for a richer, more rewarding life. Offering 25 mindfulness practices and activities, The Mindfulness Effect provides specific strategies for healing, empowerment, and social justice so that we can live our lives fully and freely, with intention, connection, excellence, innovation, and meaning.