Author Archives: Payal Patel

Practicing Distraction & Practicing Focus Part II: An Ancient Tradition in a Modern Era

Posted on April 2, 2018 by Payal Patel

In the previous post, we deciphered the mind’s tendency to wander through and be pulled into an uninhibited stream of distractions. This was most evident as we watched ourselves, as outsiders, click around in a monkey-like fashion around Facebook (or … Continue reading →

Posted in Focus & Clarity | Tagged ancient tradition, Balance, Breath, Meditation, Mind/Body, mindfulness, monkeymind | Leave a comment

Practicing Distraction & Practicing Focus: Part I

Posted on March 11, 2018 by Payal Patel

Distract your mind and it will frantically wander. Focus the mind and it will become still. Imagine yourself using Facebook. (If you don’t use Facebook, imagine yourself using another social media platform; if you don’t use social media, imagine yourself … Continue reading →

Posted in Focus & Clarity | Tagged Balance, Focus, Meditation, Mind/Body, monkeymind, Self-Regulation | 2 Comments

Cultivating Academic Humility (Part II): Allaying Anxiety

Posted on February 17, 2018 by Payal Patel

Have you ever had the experience where you are so sure of an erroneous understanding that you practically persist and argue to hold on to it in light of counterarguments? Often, in the classroom, I observe students that are so … Continue reading →

Posted in Anxiety & Struggle, Focus & Clarity | Tagged accept, Anxiety, embrace, Humility, Learning, openminded | Leave a comment

Cultivating Academic Humility (Part I): The Doorway to Curiosity, Innovation, & Passion

Posted on January 29, 2018 by Payal Patel

“The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know.” –Albert Einstein. It is no coincidence that one of the most influential scientists of the 20th century spoke these words. Hearing Einstein’s name often conjures up the … Continue reading →

Posted in Anxiety & Struggle, Curiosity, Focus & Clarity, Observation, Preparing the Mind | Tagged Curiosity, Humility, Learning, Observing, openminded | 1 Comment

On Struggle (Part 3): In Conversation With Struggle

Posted on January 16, 2018 by Payal Patel

In the my last article, On Struggle (Part 2): Embracing the Evolving Mind, I promised to post my meditation on understanding struggle and embracing the evolving mind. Today’s post is primarily a video containing a meditation with the background image … Continue reading →

Posted in Anxiety & Struggle, Grit, Metacognition, Preparing the Mind | Tagged BefriendingStruggle, Grit, Growth, Learning, Struggle | Leave a comment

On Struggle (Part 2): Embracing the Evolving Mind

Posted on January 6, 2018 by Payal Patel

At the core of productive struggle is a practice in which the mind accommodates new experiences and ideas by first allowing room for the questioning, and if necessary, loss of pre-existing notions. This practice is simply represented in the following … Continue reading →

Posted in Anxiety & Struggle, Grit, Metacognition, Self-Regulation | Tagged BefriendingStruggle, evolvingmind, Grit, Growth, Learning, openminded, Struggle | 2 Comments

On Struggle (Part I): Befriending Struggle

Posted on December 11, 2017 by Payal Patel

Struggle. This one word often invokes frustration, annoyance, and hopelessness among students. But why? I always ask my students: What’s so bad about struggle? Tell me about it! What’s the big deal? In fact, I just asked these questions to … Continue reading →

Posted in Anxiety & Struggle, Metacognition, Preparing the Mind | Tagged BefriendingStruggle, embrace, embracestruggle, emotions, Grit, Learning, learningfromchallenge, openminded | 2 Comments

Judging, Labeling, & Mathematics: An Unfortunately Common Practice

Posted on October 13, 2017 by Payal Patel

Every year, I come across students that say one of the following phrases in the beginning of the year and I work hard all year to change the beliefs behind such statements: “I used to be good at math but … Continue reading →

Posted in Anxiety, Math Anxiety, Metacognition, Non-Judgement, Preparing the Mind | Tagged Labeling, Learning, mathanxiety, Meditation, Non-Judgemental | 2 Comments

Test Anxiety Meditation II: Decluttering the Mind and Heart

Posted on September 24, 2017 by Payal Patel

NOTE: Those of us who are not students can use this by substituting test anxiety with extreme nervousness during high pressure situations (public talks, meetings with a boss, high-pressure deadlines at work, etc.) In high pressure situations, such as exams … Continue reading →

Posted in Anxiety & Struggle, Math Anxiety, Self-Regulation, Test Anxiety | Tagged Exam, Focus, NewSchoolYear, OldHabits, Test Anxiety, ViciousCycle, WhatIf | Leave a comment

Exam Anxiety Meditation I

Posted on September 4, 2017 by Payal Patel

NOTE: Those of us who are not students can use this by substituting test anxiety with extreme nervousness during high pressure situations (public talks, meetings with a boss, high-pressure deadlines at work, etc.) I had promised that I would post … Continue reading →

Posted in Anxiety, Anxiety & Struggle, Math Anxiety, Preparing the Mind, Test Anxiety | Tagged Breath, Focus, Meditation, Relaxation, Test Anxiety, WhatIf | 2 Comments

A New School Year…An Old Habit: Test Anxiety

Posted on August 30, 2017 by Payal Patel

NOTE: Those of us who are not students can read this article by substituting test anxiety with extreme nervousness during high pressure situations (public talks, meetings with a boss, high-pressure deadlines at work, etc.) As summer begins to point towards … Continue reading →

Posted in Preparing the Mind, Test Anxiety | Tagged Focus, Test Anxiety | 3 Comments

Unplugging for Clarity

Posted on August 17, 2017 by Payal Patel

When we don’t give ourselves the opportunity to unplug (literally, from all the electronic devices we use), and sit down with ourselves, acknowledge our exhaustion, our joys and failures of the day, our feelings of defeat, and our feelings of … Continue reading →

Posted in Focus & Clarity, Metacognition, Preparing the Mind, Stillness | Tagged Focus, ListenToYourBody, Mind/Body, NewSchoolYear, Relaxation, slowingdown, Social Media, Stillness, Unplug | 1 Comment

Waves of the Mind

Posted on August 7, 2017 by Payal Patel

Growing up, my parents told me a lot of stories from ancient Indian epics. There was one piece that always stuck in my mind. It was a repeated phrase which roughly translates, “In a moment of fury (or any other … Continue reading →

Posted in Focus & Clarity, Metacognition, Observation, Self-Regulation, Stillness | Tagged accept, Anxiety, emotions, Focus, Learning, Meditation, Mind/Body, monkeymind, observe, Observing | 7 Comments

Harnessing the Breath

Posted on July 27, 2017 by Payal Patel

As you turn to the next page of your exam, your teacher announces, “Ten minutes left!” You flip through the remaining problems and freeze, “I don’t think I’ll finish!” For a moment, you hold your breath and your hand tightens … Continue reading →

Posted in Focus & Clarity, Metacognition, Preparing the Mind, Stillness | Tagged Balance, Breath, Breathe, Focus, Harness, InhaleExhale, Mind/Body, Relaxation, slowingdown | 5 Comments

Embracing Your Pace

Posted on July 23, 2017 by Payal Patel

Imagine this scenario — You are silently reading a book and every few minutes, you hear sounds of turning pages. You look up – your friend is on page 16. You look down at your book – I am only … Continue reading →

Posted in Focus & Clarity, Metacognition, Non-Judgement, Observation, Preparing the Mind, Self-Regulation, Stillness | Tagged accept, Anxiety, embrace, emotions, Meditation, observe, Observing, slowingdown, Stillness | 4 Comments