Charles Stone is the pastor of West Park Church in Canada. Charles is passionate about the intersection of cognitive neuroscience and Biblical truth. Charles is the author of numerous articles and a handful of books, including Holy Noticing. He and his wife have three adult children and two grandchildren.
Key Questions for Charles Stone
– Our culture seems to be taken with mindfulness lately. Is mindfulness just a fad or is there evidence suggesting it is helpful?
– You talk about mindfulness as compelling us to action vs. being purely contemplative. How does that work?
– How can mindfulness help leaders lead better?
Key Quotes from Charles Stone
“Holy noticing is noticing, with a holy purpose, God and his handiwork, our relationships, and our inner world of thoughts and feelings.”
“If I can understand what’s going on inside of me—my mind and my emotions—I can be more present for you, the person I’m discipling, the person I’m leading, my wife and my kids.”
“Jesus is the prototype for what it means to be a holy noticer.”
“In our moments of reflection, we tend to go negative.”
“The Apostle Paul was the neuroscientist before neuroscience ever really was.”
“Many research studies have found that practicing mindfulness, just during the day…can actually put a brake on anxious moments.”
“Attention is a really important skill as a leader, as a Christian. Paying attention to God, paying attention to your friends, paying attention to your spouse and your kids.”
“Mindfulness actually has tremendously positive benefits in helping us reduce anxiety, the effects of stress, and depression…. Mindfulness is more effective than medication.”
“As leaders…our emotional condition is caught by others–both good and both bad. So we actually have a responsibility to steward our emotions.”
“As we learn to be more mindful of our emotions, our thoughts, and learn to submit those to the Lord, change them, beware of them, not let them control of, we’re flat out going to be better leaders.”
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