A Meditation on the South African Greeting Sawubona with Dr. Shelly Harrell

In recent years, mental health professionals have raised the alarm about the growing epidemic of loneliness. Millions of people feel separated and isolated, even when they are surrounded by colleagues or thousands of social media acquaintances. 

In today’s guided practice, Shelly Harrell offers one mindful approach that can counteract this sense of lonely atomization. It is the South African greeting of Sawubona, which carries an intentional willingness to see and to be seen, in our fullness, vulnerability, mutual belonging, and radiance.  

This meditation is part of our Powerful Women of the Mindfulness Movement series, where we will be sharing guided practices from the women featured in our 2025 special edition of Mindful magazine. 

If you’d like the transcription of this guided meditation, it will be online on Mindful.org next week. 

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Show Notes

Find more from Shelly Harrell here:

• The Soulfulness Center
• You can read Dr. Harrell’s story on Mindful.org, where we interviewed her for our 2025 Powerful Women of the Mindfulness Movement feature.

And more from Mindful here:

• More episodes of 12 Minute Meditation

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