The TEDMED conference brings together leading thinkers in the areas of medical technology and the healthcare industry to participate in a conversation as it relates to personal and public health. Much like the popular TED conference, TEDMED features brief presentations from speakers in diverse fields addressing some aspect of health and medicine.
In this talk actress Goldie Hawn introduces her Hawn Foundation, which she founded to teach children the practice of mindful awareness and to educate them about their brains. Dr. Dan Siegel joins her half way through the talk to discuss the scientific reasoning behind bringing these practices into schools. His findings at the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA have demonstrated that mindful awareness practices can be more effective than prescription drugs when it comes to confronting many difficulties kids are facing in school. While these practices of reflection have previously been confined to religious traditions, Dr. Siegel feels that due to the scientific evidence backing their effectiveness they should now be incorporated into education along with reading, writing, and arithmetic.