How did you initially get into mindfulness?
My introduction to mindfulness began when I was an overwhelmed working parent, attending college and going through a divorce. An observant friend noticed my anxiety and suggested that I try meditating, which I began by focusing on a candle flame for five minutes every night before bed. My son even joined me at times. I felt some improvement. It was the beginning.
After graduating from college, I continued my work as a parent educator at a family resource center. The main topic was managing parental stress as well as children’s behavior. I also began studying Aikido, a Japanese martial art and became a yoga teacher.
During graduate school for marriage and family therapy and once I became a family therapist, I continued to explore how to help children engage, connect and feel peace. I often felt my heart break for all those suffering from addictions and abuse, and wanted something that went deeper. I was always looking for a spiritual path for peace.
Tajali Tolan is a family and marriage counselor, and mindfulness teacher. She has been teaching with MMP since 2019.
That’s how I got started with the Children’s Global Peace Project – a curriculum we designed and brought into public schools. We incorporated dance, meditation and creative arts into a curriculum we brought into the school setting in Wisconsin and Illinois and eventually into classrooms in several other countries.
Kids wanted it – that was the best part.
Tell us more about the Children’s Peace Project.
Between 2005 to 2012 we worked with 40,000 children in eight countries.
In groups of 40 to 60 children at a time, we’d begin a class by talking about peace – why peace and where peace lives inside you. We would move students into a guided mindfulness practice; for 10-15 minutes each child was quiet and silent exploring peace on the inside. After the practice, students worked collaboratively with each other to make a peace banner.
This is where I really saw the impact – and the value — of creating opportunities for silence and awareness. I was amazed at how responsive the children were to mindfulness – the simple act of being quiet.
The project continued for five years and then closed due to funding.
How did you end up getting involved in the Montana Mindfulness Project?
After the peace project ended, I continued to work as a peace and mindfulness educator and as a counselor. I was thrilled when I moved to Montana in 2020 and connected with Margaret Kachadurian and the Montana Mindfulness Project. I was overjoyed to become involved with an organization whose sole purpose is to teach mindfulness skills to as many young people and adults as possible. I feel such reward when I walk into schools, and students run toward me, wanting to have moments of quiet peace.
What do you want people to know about mindfulness?
I believe we humans never stop learning and growing. Mindfulness is a key element. It’s our superpower. That’s what I tell students in my classes.
“Mindfulness is your superpower because it helps you notice when you feel upset or anxious, overwhelmed and that you need to pause,” I tell them.
Victor Frankl, a psychologist and Holocaust survivor, said “between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. And our response is our growth and freedom.”
How has mindfulness continued to impact your life?
I recently fell and experienced an injury of a broken arm and broken hips, and spent two months recovering in a hospital and nursing home. The practice of mindfulness supported me in my healing physically, but mostly my ability to adapt and be present with what was happening continuously. Throughout this time I was filled with deep gratitude for all the care I was receiving, and my body‘s own ability to recover.
What is a good way for people to engage in mindfulness?
I tell people to start by developing a practice of gratitude. It can be as simple as writing down one thing you’re grateful for that happened that day. There’s an aspect of developing gratitude that energizes our whole body. I believe gratitude is a fast track to the benefits of mindfulness because it feels good and it has positive reinforcing effects throughout our whole being, our relationships and throughout the rest of our day.
Tajali Theresa Tolan, MS is a Certified P Mindfulness Educator, Peace Educator, Marriage and Family Therapist, Family Life Educator, and Registered Yoga Teacher. She is the founder of both the Children’s Global Peace Project and The Consciousness Project–an Empowerment Life Coaching business. She has worked in the field for 30 years and is passionate about teaching social-emotional and mindfulness skills. Tajali’s work specializes in creative expression, communication, healthy parent-child relationships and peace work.
