Our Intention to Create a Movement 

We have chosen the concept of wearing a white scarf, based on the Tibetan Khata scarf that symbolises purity and compassion. The traditional white scarf is used as a sign of recognition of one’s love or respect for another. We will educate and encourage a western woman to wear the white scarf as a symbol of her own self-nurture in order to then respect and fully interconnect with others. The sharing of the white scarf will be underpinned by education of how mindful awareness and compassion can nourish self and serve others.

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We plan to source scarves from fair–trade centres around the world, starting with the Seven Women organisation (www.sevenwomen.org) in Kathmandu, Nepal. By sharing the unique story of the maker of the scarf with its wearer, we open the awareness that all people are essentially the same, sharing similar challenges and joys, “just like me”.

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We intend to:

• Encourage people to be empowered to lead healthier and more balanced lives.

• Offer mindfulness practices and education to enhance mental health and well-being.

• Promote a habit of wearing the White Scarf or Beads of Compassion to symbolise the sharing of compassion for yourself and for others in the world.

• Create a cycle of giving and receiving that cultivates kindness to others and gratitude for the simple things we often take for granted in more affluent western lives.

• Provide financial support to those living with fear and physical hardship, with donations and resources

With mindfulness education and skill practise we can aim to minimise the negative impact stress has on our physical and mental health. Making time for self-nurture and inner compassion should be a more acceptable practice, rather than self-criticism.

The intention is to strengthen attitudinal change in medical communities that mind does matter in physical health. A future Western health model could ideally prescribe meditation as an essential practice for optimising mental health, in the same way that exercise is an accepted recommendation for improving and sustaining physical health.