May 21, 2026, Seward Folly

By Katie Cornwell
Executive Director, Seward Prevention Coalition

I have tried meditation on and off for a long time.

Growing up, I had an Eastern medicine doctor in my family circle who encouraged me from a young age to meditate. He clearly saw value in the practice long before I did. At the time, though, I just could not get on board. I found it boring. I felt like I was not any good at it. I could never build enough of a habit to notice any real change. Mostly, I was young, busy and not especially interested in doing internal work.

As I have gotten older, that has changed. The responsibilities of adulthood, parenting, and working in the field of prevention and youth wellness have pushed me to become more interested in doing that internal work. I want to become a better version of myself, mostly for my kids, but also because I want to be a healthier human being.

Like many people, I have tried a lot of things over the years. I have read self-help books, gone to therapy, exercised regularly, explored different Eastern medicine treatments, practiced breathwork, tried cold plunge, and looked for tools that might help me feel more grounded. I believe there are many ways a person can try to become a little more present, a little more patient, and a little more whole.

Meditation was always somewhere in that mix, but for a long time it was the thing I understood more in theory than in practice.

This past year, I began to notice that my stress had grown into something harder to ignore. My mental chatter had become a full, nonstop feed that would not rest. It was impacting my sleep. Even in my dreams, my mind was racing. I struggled to focus. I had a hard time being fully present with my kids. My brain felt consumed by runaway thoughts, constantly clicking through worries, plans, questions, and unfinished tasks.

At some point, I realized I needed to find a way to help my poor brain.

On the recommendation of a friend, I started listening to the 10% Happier with Dan Harris podcast. That became one of my entry points into actually learning about meditation, rather than just assuming I already understood it. One of the most helpful things I learned was that I had misunderstood the goal. I thought meditation was supposed to silence the mind. That always felt impossible to me, because it is impossible. The mind thinks. That is what it does.

What is humbling to me is that this work has been happening around me for years. Through the Seward Prevention Coalition, I have helped support mindfulness as a tool for youth, families, educators, and community members. But understanding something professionally and making space for it personally are not always the same thing.

The coalition has been implementing and supporting mindfulness programs in our community for years. Most of the staff at Seward Elementary School have been trained in Mindful Schools, and seven staff members have received additional training through Breathe for Change. Our Wellness for All program, overseen by Micheley Kowalski, has been offering Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction courses, meditation challenges, and other community mindfulness opportunities in Seward for more than eight years.

For a long time, I understood the benefit these programs could provide to kids and adults in our community. I could talk about why mindfulness supports emotional regulation, why it matters for young people, and why adults benefit from tools that help us pause before reacting. But I had not personally made time to participate in those opportunities.

Eventually, I had to admit that it was time for me to practice what I preach.

Over the past year, I have been working to create space in my life for a daily meditation practice. I am not perfect at it. I am not even close to where I could be. But I have started to notice small changes. My mind slows down a little more often. I have more moments throughout the day where I am actually present. I can catch myself before being completely swept away by anxiety or stress. Life feels a little less like something I am rushing through and a little more like something I am actually inhabiting.

I have started to think of meditation like strengthening a muscle group. Each time I sit down and take 10 minutes to ground myself in the moment, I am building that muscle. Over time, it gets a little bit easier. My mind gets a little bit quieter. My anxiety lessens a little bit. I become more able to meet the day in front of me.

One of the things I appreciate most about meditation is that it is a nearly free way to support emotional regulation. There are many free or inexpensive ways to get started, and it does not require special equipment, a perfect setting, or a huge amount of time. Meditation can happen for 15 minutes in the morning, two minutes while standing in line at the post office, while walking the dog, or in a quiet moment after getting a baby to sleep.

There is also a growing body of scientific evidence supporting the benefits of meditation and mindfulness, including impacts on stress, attention, emotional regulation, and overall well-being. But for me, the most compelling evidence has been lived experience. Meditation is not a cure-all. It does not remove stress or make life magically easier. It is one tool among many. But it is a tool that has been helping me.

This summer, Micheley is hosting a meditation challenge with more than 50 community members committed to practicing some form of meditation each day. I am one of them. My hope is that the challenge will help me continue building a routine, while also reminding me that this kind of work does not have to happen alone. There is something powerful about practicing alongside others, even when the practice itself is quiet and personal.

In prevention work, we often talk about protective factors: the relationships, skills, opportunities, and supports that help people stay well. Mindfulness fits into that larger picture. When young people and adults have tools for noticing their emotions, calming their bodies, and responding with intention, we strengthen not only individual well-being but the well-being of our families, schools, workplaces, and community.

This is still a new journey for me. I am still learning. I still have days when my mind is loud, my patience is thin, and sitting still feels like the last thing I want to do. But I am beginning to understand why people have been trying to point me toward this practice for so many years.

Sometimes, the most powerful thing we can do is also one of the simplest: pause, breathe, notice, and begin again.

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This article is part of a monthly column by the Seward Prevention Coalition, highlighting community partnerships and prevention efforts that help Seward’s youth and families thrive.
Learn more at http://www.sewardpreventioncoalition.org or email info@spcalaska.org.