The Mindfulness Effect: An Unexpected Path to Healing, Connection & Social Justice

How can mindfulness transform your life and your impact on the world?


The Mindfulness Effect invites readers on a journey of discovery and empowerment. The ancient practice of mindfulness, or present moment awareness,allows us to clear the clutter from our hectic lives and find a sense of connection, belonging, and purpose. This powerful tool can be used for: stress-reduction, resiliency, self-empowerment, culturally inclusive leadership, social and environmental justice. This book shows us how.


Based on her own healing journey from a childhood of life-shattering trauma, combined with 20 years of experience as a social justice educator and author, Dena Samuels, PhD, offers us 25 mindfulness practices and activities. She provides a framework for understanding the difference between living our lives by rote based on our social conditioning where we have little choice in our reactions, and mindfully living from an inspired sense of ourselves, where we can choose how to respond to whatever situation arises.


Through embodied and transformational inquiry, The Mindfulness Effectoffers strategies to create mindful connection. Mindfully connecting to our inner wisdom promotes: health and wellness, a sense of belonging, and empowerment for a meaningful, purposeful life. Mindfully connecting with others minimizes unconscious bias, and paves the way for deeper, more authentic relationships – both personally and professionally – across social differences. Making stronger connections builds cultural inclusion, where everyone feels like they belong and can bring their whole selves into the room, advancing innovative problem-solving. 

Extended versions of all 25 guided mindfulness practices are available at Insight Timer and at denasamuels.com