Presented with Mindfulness Outreach Initiative, a panel discussion and guided meditation will complement the film.

After a meeting with the Dalai Lama, Professor Richard J. Davidson, one of the world’s leading neuroscientists, decided to apply the same rigorous methods he used to study depression and anxiety to the study of compassion and kindness. This work led to experiments using such drug-free options as meditation and mindfulness to treat anxiety and trauma. FREE THE MIND follows three of Dr. Davidson’s test subjects – one school-aged boy and two veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan – on a daring journey into the deepest recesses of the human mind.

After the film, Nonprofit Association of the Midlands Chief Executive Officer Anne Hindery will moderate a panel discussion with Mindfulness Outreach Initiative Founder and Executive Director Johnathan Woodside; Dr. Terry North, Director of the PTSD program at the Nebraska-Western Iowa VA Medical Center; and Elizabeth Figueroa, a public school teacher with 26 years of experience who incorporates mindfulness in the class room. Audience members will also be led through a guided meditation as part of the evening.