During Jacob’s doctoral program, his brother passed away from lymphoma. Over the ensuing years, Jacob watched family members turn to various treatments for emotional pain—sometimes getting better, sometimes worse—and struggling to find deeper, more sustained relief. It left him with questions like: “Why aren’t these treatments leading to more comprehensive and lasting recovery? And what, if anything, can get at the roots of this emotional and mental distress that seems to be everywhere?”
After attending a conference on mindfulness-based approaches to healthcare, he was struck at how little public awareness existed on exciting new insights about the brain and recovery. He decided to explore this discrepancy in his dissertation research through interviews with individuals who faced serious depression. Beyond the actual pain of depression, it was the unique interpretations participants held about depression that stood out—views that, in many cases, departed widely from current emerging scientific research.
At this time Jacob met Jeff, a fellow graduate student who had also worked to document a surprising gap between current brain research and what the public actually knew. Jacob decided to experiment with sharing this research more broadly, starting with a community class he taught in his basement. As he expanded the class to other locations, the response was so encouraging that people began insisting he do what happens to all exciting ideas in our generation: put it on Youtube! Jacob and Jeff began making plans for online learning tools that could make these ideas more accessible.
Enter Tom. Recently returned from a four-year tour in China combatting sweatshop labor, Tom saw mental health in America as another worthy social issue to address. With over a decade of dedicated contemplative and meditation practice, he was teaching several mindfulness courses locally. Smitten by synergy, he volunteered to join forces and get the nonprofit started. Over the next eighteen months, they volunteered full time, alongside more than twenty part-time volunteers (5800 total hours as a team), to create this website and All of Life’s first online class.
And where does that leave us?
Exhausted and absolutely out-of-our-mind thrilled with what has emerged. Please keep your arms and legs inside the car at all times: we hope you enjoy your time here at All of Life!
[Click here to read our HUGE thanks and appreciations to the many volunteers and supporters over our first four, difficult years]