Haakon meditates with Goldie Hawn at Davos
AFP/The Local - [email protected]
Published: 24 Jan, 2014 CET.
Updated: Fri 24 Jan 2014 17:19 CET
Some go to Davos to strike billion-dollar back-room deals and bend global politicians to their wills. But not apparently Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway, who instead attended a meditation session led by US actress Goldie Hawn.
At the session French Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard, resplendent in orange and blue robes, led the assembled global elite in a calming moment of relaxation, while the 68-year-old star spoke of her meditation for children project which she said had "caught her by the bellybutton." The Davos participants, many sitting on the floor for lack of space, then heard from medical researchers on the benefits of meditation, breaking off frequently to look within themselves and find calm. "I went to a session like this a few years ago and that's what I find interesting about Davos, you can do a whole lot of different things," Prince Haakon told AFP. "This is not the sort of thing I get to do on a regular basis." To attend the session, the prince had to pass by on the most hotly awaited speech by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, which took place at the same time, But it's perhaps not such surprise that he should make such a sacrifice for alternative pursuits, given his younger sister Märtha Louise's claims that she can converse with angels. Goldie Hawn, who is best known for her comic roles, said that after the September 11th 2001 terrorist attacks, "realising that the world had truly changed forever and our children were going to inherit a world that I didn't think they had the tools to handle", she decided to help children harness the power of their minds. Her foundation has introduced meditation exercises in schools across five continents and she said the participating children were "just flourishing". Hawn told the global elite that the Davos focus should be on society and how people interacted with each other. "We have to create equanimity, we have to listen to each other. We have to care deeply, collectively, about our society as a whole, otherwise we will create a world not worth living in," she said to applause. "We have the power, we have the capability, we have the gift and god gave us the tools so let's use them."
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At the session French Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard, resplendent in orange and blue robes, led the assembled global elite in a calming moment of relaxation, while the 68-year-old star spoke of her meditation for children project which she said had "caught her by the bellybutton."
The Davos participants, many sitting on the floor for lack of space, then heard from medical researchers on the benefits of meditation, breaking off frequently to look within themselves and find calm.
"I went to a session like this a few years ago and that's what I find interesting about Davos, you can do a whole lot of different things," Prince Haakon told AFP. "This is not the sort of thing I get to do on a regular basis."
To attend the session, the prince had to pass by on the most hotly awaited speech by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, which took place at the same time,
But it's perhaps not such surprise that he should make such a sacrifice for alternative pursuits, given his younger sister Märtha Louise's claims that she can converse with angels.
Goldie Hawn, who is best known for her comic roles, said that after the September 11th 2001 terrorist attacks, "realising that the world had truly changed forever and our children were going to inherit a world that I didn't think they had the tools to handle", she decided to help children harness the power of their minds.
Her foundation has introduced meditation exercises in schools across five continents and she said the participating children were "just flourishing".
Hawn told the global elite that the Davos focus should be on society and how people interacted with each other.
"We have to create equanimity, we have to listen to each other. We have to care deeply, collectively, about our society as a whole, otherwise we will create a world not worth living in," she said to applause.
"We have the power, we have the capability, we have the gift and god gave us the tools so let's use them."
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