About Left Brain Buddha

Left Brain Buddha is about living and parenting mindfully, joyfully, and thought-fully, especially in left-brain, analytical lives.

ABC News anchor Dan Harris says that meditation has a “massive PR problem” these days. The word “mindfulness” may conjure up images of berobed hippies and gurus, speaking in soft NPR voices about “finding your heart center.”

But many of us may be unaware that mindfulness practices have been rigorously researched, and new studies are coming out practically every day touting the benefits of meditation. Many of these studies focus on completely secular mindfulness practices, including Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, developed at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center over 30 years ago.

You can incorporate mindfulness into your life regardless of your religious affiliation. While mindfulness is based in part on the Theravada Buddhist tradition, these secular programs present the psychological teachings of mindfulness without Buddhist metaphysics.

“Left Brain Buddha?” What does that mean?

I’ve always thought of myself as a thinker. I aspire to live a mindful life, but I also love the life of a full mind. At first, I thought I would never be able to meditate– in my first yoga classes, I never understood the point of the instructor’s encouragements about “being in the present moment” and only “following the breath,” instead of indulging the myriad thoughts and ideas swimming in my head. {Doesn’t she know I have lessons to plan for tomorrow?}

I wanted to plan my grocery list during savasana, not clear my head!

I decided I liked the idea of mindfulness, but I could just read about it and learn about all the research and then I would TOTALLY be living a mindful life.

You know where this is going, right?

I couldn’t just be a left-brain Buddha, reading all that I could — I had to practice. I had to incorporate mindfulness into my busy life. And I realized I could do that AND still think and be analytical and read lots of books. LOTS OF BOOKS.

Wanna know the coolest thing I’ve learned? Practicing mindfulness increases the activity in the left side of your brain, which is more associated with positive mental states than the right side of the brain. HOW COOL IS THAT?!

And that’s what I share with you here — the research, the practice, and the personal experience of one busy left-brain gal trying to find time to slow down, catch a few breaths, and live and parent with greater skill and ease.

I can honestly say that practicing mindfulness has changed my life. I am passionate about sharing this practice and teaching it to parents and children and teachers and students and all other thinking breathing beings.

I hope by coming here you find inspiration, wisdom, and humor as we tame {and sometimes indulge} our overly-rational monkey minds. Think of it as mindfulness, without the woo-woo. Well, maybe a little bit of woo-woo. Evidence-based, of course.

Many of the ideas and practices I write about are inspired by the teachings of the Buddha, but I don’t consider myself a Buddhist. I know for certain that we are all star stuff and we are all connected — by spirit or god or the laws of nature or whatever you want to call it. I love yoga and meditation, believe in science and reason, find inspiration in all the world’s wisdom traditions, prefer the term spiritual~not~religious, and once taught a year of Sunday School. My left brain has a hard time reconciling all that!

My name is Sarah Rudell Beach. I am a Mindful Schools Certified Instructor, and the Executive Director of Brilliant Mindfulness. I spend my days teaching mindfulness to students and teachers, and parents and families. When I’m not working or writing, you’ll find me at dance class, reading a book, or hanging out with my little Buddhas. I live in Minneapolis, MN.

{For media information, official bios, and headshots, click here.}

My Favorite…

Classes to teach: AP European History, World Religions, Anthropology, Psychology
Non-mommy thing to do: Read
Mommy thing to do: Read to my kids
City in the world: Florence, Italy
Organizing method: Binders
Yoga pose: Natarajasana {Lord of the Dance pose}

Five Fun Things to Know About Me:

I was born on Valentine’s Day.
I once had an MRI report that my brain was “unremarkable.” I was both relieved and offended.
I have seen every single episode of Beverly Hills, 90210. Multiple times. I graduated the same year as Donna Martin, but with less drama.
I am a feminist. And I love makeup. Especially Estee Lauder. At free gift time. Woo-hoo!
I earned my B.A. in History, and my M.Ed. in Social Studies Education.