Practicing Mindfulness: Thoughts for ALA Girls Nation Senators

     As I prepare for the 71^st American Legion Auxiliary (ALA) Girls Nation senators to arrive, I can’t help but wonder what they will be like. I can’t help but try to predict how they will respond to meeting public officials, walking through the Holocaust Museum, or how they treat their fellow senators. I remain hopeful that they will connect with one another the way I did back in 2013 as a senator from Nebraska and that they will rely on each other as they go through life after Nation – seeking roommates, internships, and personal advice. In preparing for ALA Girls Nation, I can’t help but to brainstorm ways to encourage an environment that is empowering, enlightening, and wholesome. That was when I discovered mindfulness. 

     Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be present – to be aware of where we are, what we are doing – and stresses the importance of not being reactive or overwhelmed by what is happening around us. It can reduce stress, anxiety, and depression. Mindfulness, which essentially hits ‘pause’ on negative thoughts, can be a powerful tool to tackle stress, miscommunication, and prejudice. Whenever you bring awareness to what you’re directly experiencing via your senses, or to your state of mind via your thoughts and emotions, you’re being mindful. And there’s growing research showing that when you train your brain to be mindful, you’re actually remodeling the physical structure of your brain; there is no reason that this way of behaving can’t inspire others to do the same. For many senators, this may be their first experience interacting with a person of color, ideology, and/or religion and this initial interaction can cause conflict and the mistreatment of people if others are not mindful. For myself, as a senior counselor and member of the American Legion Auxiliary, I want to promote an environment that is mindful. I want senators to use this week to be present, to open their minds, and to gain a 10-dimmensional perspective on how others view the world. During nightly reflections, I want to encourage senators to give their cohorts the benefit of the doubt and prompt them with more appropriate ways to ask questions without being defensive and reactive. It is my hope that senators will recognize that when floor debate becomes escalated, that it is OK to remove themselves from the situation to pay attention to their senses and respond in a manner that is constructive and thoughtful. The thing is, we don’t need to understand the aspects of every identity shared by senators and staff members this week, we only need a window. If we can ‘pause’ our negative thoughts, our prejudgments, and take a step into the hallway for five minutes, we can be that much more empowered to have the conversations we have never had before, to find windows that allow us to be empathetic with one another, but not feel the need to identify with the other person to be compassionate. We are all committed to enhancing the human condition, each one of us will simply do this in different forms.

     When I first meet the senators, I want them to be welcomed into communities, be giddy at the sight of the decorated halls and the ice cream machine in the cafeteria; but I also want them to be present. I want them to give themselves permission to be vulnerable at the expense of learning something new and utilizing their senses to contribute thoughtfully to late-night roommate conversations and Senate floor debate. As a counselor, I want them to understand and appreciate the coalition building that can happen at American Legion Auxiliary Girls Nation. I want them to be mindful and grow to be compassionate people who will revere their experience at ALA Girls Nation as the inciting incident to their stories of becoming military members, firefighters, public officials, teachers, and most importantly, kind, genuine people.

Carlin Daharsh

Nebraska

Senior Counselor, Spring Valley
Carlin was a 2013 ALA Girls Nation senator who returned in 2015 as a junior counselor and in 2016 as the dean of junior counselors. She is now an ALA member and has once again joined the ALA Girls Nation staff as a senior counselor.