Goldie Hawn an inspiration to young and old alike

When the phone rings and the caller is asking for a couple of hours to help with a worthy cause, you have two obvious responses: yes or no.

Unless that call is from the Arizona Foundation for Women, a remarkable organization that helps women overcome obstacles; find safe sanctuary, job training and employment; and empowers them to say, “Yes, I can!”

Of course, I was delighted to answer the call to act as emcee at the AFW’s annual Sandra Day O’Connor luncheon, which was a sold-out event for nearly 900 guests. The foundation honors three people each year for their contributions to the welfare of women and children. This year’s lifetime-achievement honoree was Goldie Hawn, a perfect choice.

I’ve long admired her as an Academy Award-winning actress, producer and director. I was less familiar with her work at the Hawn Foundation, which Goldie established to support research into helping children become healthy and eager learners. The more I heard, the more I realized that this foundation may be Goldie’s best work yet.

After her acceptance speech, I was lucky enough to interview her for nearly a half-hour about her fascinating projects. She was thoughtprovoking, content-rich and hilarious.

Her foundation has developed a school curriculum, MindUP, which teaches children vital social and emotional skills that empower them to manage and reduce their own stress to be happy. The evidence-based program, which is now taught in schools across five continents, combines neu- roscience, positive psychology, and social and emotional learning, in tandem with mindfulness. The result is young people who are living smarter, healthier and happier lives.

Among the lessons that enhance learning, children are encouraged to:

» Learn how their brains react to emotions.

» Take daily “brain breaks” and focus on breathing.

» Practice mindful sensing — exploring sight, taste, smell, hearing and motion.

» Consider the differences between optimism and pessimism.

» Learn to savor happiness. » Learn perspective and how to view differing results.

» Focus on compassion and empathy.

Does this sound like a program that should be limited to children? I don’t think so!

She explains this whole concept in her new book, “10 Mindful Minutes,” which I highly recommend. As Goldie says, “What I do know is that MindUP works for children, so its principles can work for parents, too.” I would extend that to all adults, including those who don’t have kids.

Mindfulness, she says, is “the conscious awareness of our current thoughts, feelings and surroundings — and accepting this awareness with openness and curiosity in a non-judgmental way. It means focusing on non-doing, a crucial skill in these distracted times.”

This differs from thinking in which she says “we often judge each moment by what has been or what could be.”

What impressed me most about Goldie’s book were the personal reflections that are sprinkled throughout. She shares observations from experts, educators, parents and children who explain the positive effects of the program.

When you think about it, she’s been an entrepreneur all her life. She had to go out and get jobs; use her sales and marketing prowess in heavy competition with other actors, producers and directors; hire staff; and use creativity, passion and vision to do all these things. Now, she’s put together all these skills to establish her foundation with an impressive board of directors. That’s mindfulness at its finest.

Mackay’s Moral: Goldie’s book and program are solid gold.