Jeremy David Engels

Jeremy David Engels is the author of six books, including the forthcoming On Mindful Democracy: A Declaration of Interdependence to Mend a Fractured World (Parallax, 2026). On Mindful Democracypresents a bold reimagining of civic life. Rewriting the Declaration of Independence as a Declaration of Interdependence, the book offers an antidote to political burnout and civic despair. It issues a call for a new politics grounded in everyday acts of mindfulness, compassion, and connection, reminding readers that true democracy is not a destination but a lived practice.

Engels is Liberal Arts Endowed Professor of Communication Arts & Sciences at Penn State University, co-founder of Yoga Lab, and a mindfulness and yoga teacher. You can find him in the classroom, lecture hall, on a meditation cushion, or a yoga mat, sharing his insights on how to become capable, compassionate, and engaged democratic citizens.

Engels’ research radically reimagines democracy. Long misunderstood as a contest between political parties, with citizens enlisted as soldiers in the battle, he argues that democracy is best understood as a communal practice rooted in care, deliberation, and shared responsibility. For Engels, democracy begins with common ground, embraces disagreement, and is embodied in everyday practices of mindfulness, compassion, and community-building. In his own words, “There is no way to democracy; democracy is the way.”

In recognition of his scholarship, Engels has received the Karl Wallace Award and the New Investigator Award from the National Communication Association. He was also honored with the Penn State College of the Liberal Arts Outstanding Tenure-Line Faculty Teaching Award in Spring 2017.

Through years of research and teaching, Engels has come to see that democracy cannot thrive without mindfulness. The skills cultivated through meditation, paying attention, pausing judgment, looking deeply, speaking lovingly, and listening carefully are the same skills required of engaged citizens. He views mindfulness as a form of civic education: for democracy to regain its transformative power, people must learn to live more mindfully.