The month of November marks American Indian Heritage Month
The Good Mind is an approach developed by the Native American Community which seeks to align positive thinking with everyday actions, attitudes and behaviors.
This universal teaching was the overarching theme of a lecture Tuesday by Native American Community Services Executive Director Michael Martin, as part of a series hosted by the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library.
Of this teaching, Martin says he has broken it down into four phases as a method of teaching:
"Talking about these four phases. The first phase is helping our community and others to understand the cultural foundations and traditional teachings of the good mind. And that's where we understand its concept and its intent. And then the second phase is helping people understand that the opposite of good mind isn't a bad or evil mind. It's what we call a clouded mind. And helping them to understand things that can cloud their mind is a way to unwind and understand why people aren’t using a good mind, and the third phase is once you understand your mind is clouded. How do you restore your goodbye to rise above or remove those clouds so that you can get the full benefit of good mindedness and then the fourth phase, which is usually the hardest is maintaining a good mind once you restore you get nine, how do you maintain it on a daily basis, and that's really becomes a discipline. But the ultimate benefit of good minds coming together is the development of positive sustainable solutions for all."
Martin, who is a member of the Beaver Clan of the Onondaga Nation, believes this process can be adopted by anyone regardless of culture, religion or heritage.
The month of November marks American Indian Heritage Month.
