I was finding the multiple email chains overwhelming so suggest we can move our conversation here. Here is the proposal I made via email:

I wonder whether we offer several different but related posts on Action Station, related to the different areas that mindfulness can impact. This could look like:

Mindfulness in primary and secondary schools.

• Can refer to PBS and Atawhai / KI here, as well as literature that Grant and Tash have supplied already.

Mindfulness in the workplace, starting with government agencies.

• This could also call for workplaces to have greater responsibility for the wellbeing of employees - measured not only in terms of mental illness but also with regards to flourishing. Will make for a more effective public service. Can refer to Mindful Initiative UK's report on Mindfulness in the Workplace.

Mindfulness in the health sector, for doctors, nurses, allied health professionals.

• Can refer to burnout / compassion fatigue in the healthcare professions, and the increased effectiveness of outcomes when the clinician is mindful and empathetic. Lots of literature on this.

I think that is probably enough - don't want to spread our efforts too thin - but if you have any other suggestions then feel free to suggest them. There is a distinct literature for each of these three areas.

What do you all think? Do you support this proposal - to eschew the document idea in favour of a focus on creating these three ActionStation campaigns? If you're in favour, do you have any alterations or additions you would like to suggest?

One con to this approach is that it doesn't allow people to edit the petition and add their own stories, but that could be addressed by inviting people to submit their stories directly via email.

Brigid, I love what you've done here with putting mindfulness into a broader context, both from a public health perspective and how it links with Te Ao Māori etc. For me this feels like too long for a petition, and too brilliant to not share widely. I think it could help garner public support for the changes we are advocating, and give the public a broader context for what we're talking about. I wonder whether we could keep working on it and submit it as an article to thespinoff.co.nz or another media outlet?

Then we could include it as a link in each of the ActionStation petitions, and also reference the petitions in the article, so they support each other, and that it also builds public awareness and support for what we're saying. I know Kristina Cavitt has a relationship with thespinoff so we could look into leveraging that connection? (P.S. Brigid I have transferred your Word Doc into a Google Doc so we can collaborate on it together, I hope that's okay. I'd suggest we all use this link now so it's all in one place).

Here is the link to the draft for a proposed Open Submission #1: Funding for Mindfulness Training in all NZ Primary and Secondary Schools. @grantrix @tashrix

Here is a link to the draft for a proposed Open Submission #2: Supporting flourishing workplaces through evidence-based mindfulness and wellbeing programmes. @heatherkean @clareelizabeth would value your input here.

Here is a link to the draft for a proposed Open Submission #3: Fund Mindfulness and Wellbeing Training for Healthcare Professionals @nadavny would value your input here, and if anyone knows Lila O'Farrell and/or Tony Fernando it would be great to get their input.

Hi just catching up on all the comms - you guys have been busy! So yes I’m really happy to proceed as proposed with the 3 action station petitions - best bang for buck. There are some questions I have though.
1. Is there still the intention to submit a version of the ‘broader mindfulness’ doc I drafted? I still think it is useful to have something overarching like this to contextualise mindfulness and put the various indications for mindfulness into place (I could just send as my personal submission maybe?)
2. The 3 action station petitions are all prevention focussed from what I can tell which is great. But what about also pushing for the benefits of MBIs for acute mental illness (vs. current biomedical model)? I wouldn’t want this message to get lost but perhaps it’s best addressed by the ‘broad mindfulness’ doc.
3. Sorry I have no idea what the spin off is but I like the idea of also developing the broad mindfulness doc into a promotional mindfulness article for wider distribution.
4. I notice Kyle McDonald’s action station petitions didn’t make any attempt to address the consultation document 4 questions. What is the view on the value of answering these or not?
Btw I heard from Nadav last night and he said Chris Ruane and also a Swedish mindfulness colleague are both happy to do submissions on MBCT. He was asking the best way to submit. I suggested written submission plus video message upload. Thoughts?
Also who will be at Raglan Hui this weekend? I’ll be there and happy to continue the conversation in person!

1. I think it could be submitted as a personal submission. If it was a Spinoff article - like this one by Kristina - then we could include it as a reference in the ActionStation petitions, which was my intention.
2. In terms of acute mental illness, there is already good uptake of interventions such as ACT and DBT, which are probably more popular than straight CBT nowadays. Interventions that are more meditation-based (such as MiCBT, MBCT, MBSR) are less common, but the barriers to these are not political, it depends on the clinicians and the developing evidence base - this is all changing at a quite rapid rate already, in a mindful direction. The push for a more holistic approach to mental health is something bigger than mindfulness (e.g. including Te Ao Maori, community-based approaches), and potentially another petition, or something to be covered in the Spinoff article / broad mindfulness paper. See attached for an inspiring vision on what this could look like from Mary O'Hagan, former Mental Health Commissioner and founder of PeerZone that could feed into this. Do you have energy for doing more of a push for system-wide change to a more holistic/community-led approach @brigidmareeobrien?
3. See link above for Spinoff
4. Good point, and perhaps we could structure the petitions so that they can easily put it into their framework, even having subheadings that match the questions?

That's great about the MBCT submissions, yeah I imagine written submission via the Have Your Say would be best (including references), plus a video, especially from Chris Ruane. I will be in Raglan, as will Robin Youngson, Robert Isler, and a bunch of others who could feed into the holistic health petition conversation.