Health Journal Online

Category: Mental Health

  • A 10 Minute Body Scan That You Can Practice

    A 10 Minute Body Scan That You Can Practice

    Explore this guided practice to calm your mind, notice sensations in the body, and bring awareness to the present moment.

    We’re practicing mindfulness each time that we bring attention to a body part and are aware that we are doing so. Practicing mindfulness through this 10-minute body scan involves moving attention through various parts of the body. You will notice sensations that are present in your feet or hands or legs such as tingling, tightness, temperature, or you might notice a lack of sensation; simply be aware of it.

    We’re practicing mindfulness each time that we bring attention to a body part and are aware that we are doing so.

    We typically do the body scan by lying down on the floor or a soft surface, but if that’s not possible for you, you can certainly do the body scan while sitting in a chair.

    A 10-Minute Body Scan Practice

    As we begin this 10-minute body scan, we’ll be slowly and systematically moving attention through the various regions of the body, from the feet to the top of the head, noting any physical sensations as we go along.

    1. As you are lying on whatever surface you’re on, notice what it feels like to be lying there. Noticing the sensations present in this moment, noticing temperature, noticing points of contact with the body and the surface, noticing the rise and the fall of the abdomen. Allowing the body to rest in this position and noticing sensations as you breathe in and as you breathe out.
    2. Left foot and leg: Feeling the air move in and out of your body, let’s begin by bringing attention to the toes of your left foot. With the in-breath, noticing the sensations present or lack of sensation. And then with an out-breath, letting go of the toes and move your attention to the bottom of the left foot, including the heel touching the floor. Noticing all the sensations present in that region of the body, also notice how lack of sensation is something the mind can be aware of. Move on to the top of your left foot and ankle, noticing sensation. Now moving to the lower leg, knee, thigh, and hip on the left side of the body.
    3. Right foot and leg: Moving awareness, now, to the toes of the right foot, the bottom of the right foot, including the heel touching the floor. Bringing awareness to the sensations present in that part of the body. Moving on to the top of your right foot and ankle and scanning that region with awareness, noticing sensations present or lack of sensation. Now move into the lower leg, knee, thigh, and hip on the right side of the body.
    4. Pelvis: Bringing awareness now to the pelvic region, noticing sensations present or lack of sensation.
    5. Lower back and abdomen: Bringing awareness to the lower back and abdomen, aware of what’s there, without judgment or assessment, simply noticing with awareness.
    6. Upper back, ribs, and chest: Continuing to scan the back, the rib cage, and chest.
    7. Shoulders: Moving now to the shoulder blades and shoulders, noticing what is present in those regions of the body.
    8. Fingers and hands: From here, go to the fingers and the hands, the left and right together. Tuning into the fingers, thumbs, palms, back of the hands, wrists, noticing what’s there, noticing sensations present in the hands and the fingers.
    9. Wrists and arms: Now moving awareness to the wrists, forearms, elbows, upper arms, and shoulders, and noticing what sensations are present in those regions of the body. On an out-breath, let go of the whole of the arms and the hands.
    10. Neck and throat: Moving now to the neck and the throat, noticing what is there or not there.
    11. Head: Moving on to the head and face, and scanning with awareness the jaw, and the chin, the lips, the teeth, and gums, roof of the mouth, tongue, the back of the throat, the cheeks, and the nose. Feeling the air moving in and out of the nose. Then bringing awareness to the ears, the eyes, the eyelids, eyebrows, forehead, temples, and scalp, holding the whole of that region with awareness.
    12. Now, notice the breath: Stay in the present moment with the breath flowing in and out of the body, simply awake to whatever arises and predominates in your field of awareness at any given moment. And this may include thoughts or feelings, sensations, sounds, the breath, stillness, and silence. Be with whatever comes up in the same way you were with the scan.
    13. Notice how you may tend to react to impulses, thoughts, memories, and worries: Let yourself purposefully observe them without rejecting or pursuing. Practice simply seeing and letting go, seeing and letting go. No agenda other than to be present and awake.
    14. Closing:  In a moment, you’ll hear the sound of the chimes and move the awareness from the body to the sound. And as you follow the last sound to the end, gradually wiggle the toes and move the feet and stretch in whatever way you like. Coming back into the room, fully awake and fully present.

    As we bring this 10-minute body scan practice to a close, may we be peaceful and at ease, may our hearts be soft and open, may we be safe and protected, and our bodies healthy and strong. And for all of those known and unknown to us, may they be peaceful and at ease, may their hearts be soft and open, may they be safe and protected and their bodies healthy and strong. May the merit of this practice be for the benefit of all beings.

    Introduction text adapted from Harvard Pilgrim. This practice was originally published on Mindful.org in October 2018.



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  • Savor the Day With A Guided Walking Meditation

    Savor the Day With A Guided Walking Meditation

    This short walking meditation from Jon Kabat-Zinn encourages you to embracing mindful awareness with every footfall.

    Walking meditation is not about getting somewhere on foot. Instead, you are being with each step, fully here, where you actually are. You are not trying to get anywhere, even to the next step. There is no arriving, other than continually arriving in the present moment where you can savor the day.

    You are not trying to get anywhere, even to the next step. There is no arriving, other than continually arriving in the present moment.

    With walking, we have the opportunity to be in our bodies in a somewhat different way than when sitting or lying down. We can bring our attention to our feet and feel the contact of the foot with the floor or ground with every step. 

    Walking is a controlled falling forward, a process it took us a long time to master, and one that we often take completely for granted, forgetting just how wondrous and wonderful it is. So when the mind goes off, as it will do in walking meditation just as with any other practice, we take note of where it has gone, of what is presently on our mind, and then gently escort it back to this moment, this breath, and this step.

    Distance: How Long Should I Walk For? 

    Since you are not going anywhere, it is best to minimize opportunities for self-distraction by walking slowly back and forth in a lane, over and over again. The lane doesn’t have to be long. Ten paces one way, ten paces the other way would be fine. In any event, it is not a sightseeing tour of your environment. You keep your eyes soft and the gaze out in front of you. You do not have to look at your feet. They mysteriously know where they are, and awareness can inhabit them and be in touch with every part of the step cycle moment by moment by moment as well as with the whole of the body walking and breathing.

    Speed: How Fast Should I Walk? 

    Walking meditation can be practiced at any number of different speeds, and that gives it lots of applications in daily living. In fact, we can easily go from mindful walking to mindful running, a wonderful practice in its own right. There, of course, we abandon the lane, as we can certainly do for long-distance and faster formal walks. But when we introduce formal mindful walking in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, it is done extremely slowly, to damp down on our impulse to move quickly, as well as to refine our intimacy with the sensory dimensions of the experience of walking and how they are connected with the whole of the body walking and with the breath, to say nothing about having a better sense of what is going on in the mind.

    If you want to try a walking meditation for yourself, try out the guided practice from Jon Kabat-Zinn below.

    A Guided Walking Meditation to Help You Savor the Day

    The above is adapted from Jon Kabat-Zinn’s Guided Mindfulness Meditation Series 3, available here. These guided meditations are designed to accompany Jon Kabat-Zinn’s book Falling Awake and the other three volumes based on Coming to Our Senses.

    Everyday Mindfulness with Jon Kabat-Zinn 

    When he started MBSR, Jon Kabat-Zinn didn’t have a detailed plan—just passion and an inkling that lots of good would come of it. He recently spoke with Mindful about his new MasterClass and shared insights on mindfulness and meditation.
    Read More 

    • Mindful Staff
    • February 1, 2024

    Take Your Mind for a Walk 

    Meditation can seem so meaningful and significant that it becomes a great big chore. In fact, with a slight shift in attitude, it can be as simple as walking the dog.
    Read More 

    • Steven Hickman
    • January 26, 2016



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  • A Meditation to Breathe Out Love

    A Meditation to Breathe Out Love

    In this week’s practice, meditation teacher Kimberly Brown offers a gentle loving-kindness meditation to allow difficulty and offer love.

    Tonglen, sometimes called loving-kindness meditation, is a Tibetan practice of giving and receiving.

    In Tonglen, we open ourselves to our entire experience, including what is painful and difficult. We acknowledge our suffering, including the suffering we share with others. Then, we release intentions for peace, healing, and love out into the world. 

    In today’s meditation, teacher Kimberly Brown guides us through a gentle practice based on Tonglen. This meditation is a space for us to simply experience our struggle, to breathe in any tension or tightness, and to breathe out love, both as a sense of openness and ease, and also as a way of being at peace with ourselves and others.

    Note that this practice includes longer pauses of complete silence for reflection and presence. If you want more time, feel free to pause the recording as you go.

    A Meditation to Breathe Out Love

    Read and practice the guided meditation script below, pausing after each paragraph. Or listen to the audio practice.

    Note: This practice includes long pauses of complete silence to give you time to spend in contemplation. If you want more time, feel free to pause the recording as you go. 

    1. If you’ve learned Tonglen before, you may have done it as a visualization. It’s often taught that as you inhale, struggle, and suffer, you can imagine you’re breathing in smoke or darkness. And as you exhale, you can imagine you are exhaling or giving light or clear, fresh air. In today’s meditation, I won’t be using a visualization, but you’re welcome to do that if that makes it more accessible for you.
    2. To begin, just get quiet and still. Find a place where you won’t be disturbed for about 10 or 15 minutes. And I know you’re on a device because you’re listening to me, but move that device away from you. Don’t check emails or listen to music or anything right now. Take this time, this opportunity to just get quiet and still and pay attention to yourself with kindness.
    3. You can lie down if you’d like, you can sit, or you could also walk or stand. Notice what’s arising in you right now. You might notice light is entering through your eyes. Smell is touching your nose. Sound is entering your ears, taste entering your taste buds, your mouth. Notice all the sensations of your body, the weight of you. The air on your skin. And notice your breath, allowing yourself to receive your breath.
    4. Remember, you don’t have to do anything. Just accept your breath, allowing your body to breathe and receive. In the same way, you are allowing yourself to receive the breath and receive light through your eyelids or your eyes, receiving sound through your ears, and receiving thought. You don’t have to think or push anything away, or create anything. Instead, you’re simply allowing all of these arisings to come and to go. 
    5. For the next few minutes, you don’t have to fix anything, and you don’t have to figure anything out. You’re just allowing all of these sensations to come to you and letting them arise and change and dissolve. They’re all going to come and go. If you get caught in a big story or something, that’s okay. You can gently use your breath as a tether to come back and then relax and open up again, just for a couple of minutes.
    6. After the time for silence, notice where your attention is. For example, notice light entering your eyes, thoughts entering your mind, smell entering your nose, receiving your breath, and taking a moment here to recognize your intention. You have chosen to practice a meditation today. You could be doing probably many other things, and yet you are taking your time and your effort and your compassion and your wisdom to practice in this way. Appreciate your intention, whatever is bringing you to this, knowing that it’s a beneficial motivation and that it is valuable to yourself and others. So please thank yourself. I thank you for being here today.
    7. Now, bring your attention to your breath. You can place a hand on your heart and on your belly and notice your breath: the rise of your chest and your abdomen as you inhale, and the relaxation, the contraction, as you exhale. Feel your presence. As you inhale, gently allow yourself to feel any places of tightness and stress.
    8. Allow yourself to notice painful feelings and thoughts. Bring them closer to you, breathing them in. As you exhale, let go of this tension. Relax. Offer yourself ease. Have a sense of space and openness. Continue in this way, very gently drawing in your difficulties, bringing them closer to you like you might be hugging someone you know in distress. And as you exhale, give yourself a sense of peace, a sense of ease, a sense of, It’s okay. Continue this repetition of breathing in your struggles and breathing out a sense of peace and ease and kindness and patience, just for a couple of minutes.
    9. Again, after the pause, notice where your attention is. If you need to begin again, that’s okay. Gently reconnect with yourself. Inhale your difficulties and exhale a sigh, a softness, and open just for one more minute.
    10. After this pause, consider for a moment that whatever your struggle is, there are many, many other people struggling in a very similar way. If you have an illness, there are others who are also experiencing that illness. If you’re having financial stress, there’s others experiencing that. If you are experiencing oppression, there’re others experiencing oppression. If you are in a conflict with someone you love, there are others in conflict with people that they love. So I’d like you to start to consider all of these other beings struggling in the same way you are. For example, my father died a couple years ago, and I am considering and thinking of all of the other people on the planet, perhaps even all the animals, who have lost their fathers. So, breathe in, very gently, this struggle, this difficulty that you and others have. You could imagine them or you can just have a sense of this collective difficulty and struggle and pain. Gently breathe it in, and then breathe out relaxation, openness, patience, ease for yourself and for all these others going through something similar. 
    11. Continue this process for as long as you like. If you want more time in silence, just pause the recording. Continue receiving and giving, breathing in difficulty and breathing out love. You can do as many rounds of this as you like. 
    12. When you’re ready, you can let go of the technique and gently allow yourself to rest. Thank yourself for your practice today. I thank you for practicing, for your good sense and for your beautiful heart. You can email me or leave comments if you have questions. Thank you. 



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  • The Science and Practice of Staying Present Through Difficult Times

    The Science and Practice of Staying Present Through Difficult Times

    Research suggests that when we turn towards pain and discomfort, we can experience less of it. Plus, Ed Halliwell offers a guided meditation for being mindful when things get tough.

    Research into mindfulness has shown the benefits of staying present, and of gently turning towards difficulty. Mindfulness-based relapse prevention (MBRP) trains people with addictive habits to manage their cravings mindfully by staying present to the sensations of craving, rather than trying to distract from them, avoid them or defeat them.

    The Science of Staying Present

    In a large trial of MBRP, mindfulness-trained patients drank and used drugs significantly less than those who were treated with cognitive-behavioural approaches, and a control group who attended twelve-step and psycho-education groups. The authors of the study conclude that mindfulness was the most successful approach, especially over the longer term, because it enabled patients to “monitor and skilfully cope with discomfort associated with craving or negative affect.” A similar study with smokers found that mindfulness training was more than five times as effective as a standard smoking cessation programme, as measured by abstinence from cigarettes after four months (31 per cent compared to 6 per cent). Another study has suggested that mindful people are more able to tolerate their own distress, rather than react in harmful ways.

    There are benefits to staying present with physical, as well as emotional, discomfort. Fadel Zeidan and colleagues suggest that meditation practice is associated with brain changes that indicate and reflect shifts in people’s experience of, and relationship with, pain. Meditators show decreased activity in the primary somatosensory cortex (an area of the brain involved in registering pain) and increased activity in three areas involved in the regulation of pain—the anterior insula, the anterior cingulate cortex and the pre-frontal cortex. When gently turning towards pain, people report that they experience less of it, and their resistance usually decreases. They may not get so caught up in the negative stories and evasive reactions that tend to accompany pain but do nothing to stop it (and, indeed, may increase the mind’s perception of it). This may be why people with chronic conditions have reported reductions in pain after training in mindfulness, even though they still suffer from the illness.

    When gently turning towards pain, people report that they experience less of it, and their resistance usually decreases.

    As far back as 1971, Robert Wallace and Herbert Benson found that meditation reduced activity in the sympathetic nervous system, which controls the “fight or flight” reaction. More recently, attending a mindfulness course has been shown to reduce activity and grey matter volume in the amygdala—a key indicator of how strongly this reaction is triggered. With mindfulness training also comes a thickening in parts of the pre-frontal cortex—the region directly behind the forehead—which may be connected to a strengthening of the body’s capacity to regulate stress. Connections between the amygdala and other parts of the brain weaken after mindfulness training.

    One part of the pre-frontal cortex associated with stress regulation is the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Poor ACC function tends to correlate with impulsive behaviour and mental inflexibility—which are both common among people who are under stress. Experienced meditators display more activity in the ACC, and better stress regulation. The capacity to self- manage during difficult situations may be trainable at a very young age. One study that tracked a group of pre-school children who attended a mindfulness programme over six months found that they were less impulsive (more able to regulate) than a group of children who did not receive the training.

    The Benefits of Leaning Into Discomfort

    Just the act of describing unpleasant experiences mindfully can have a positive effect on stress levels. In one study, people with a fear of spiders were asked to walk towards and try to touch a live tarantula. Some were invited to reassure themselves as they approached the spider, while others were advised to distract themselves from what they were trying to do. A third group was encouraged to acknowledge and turn towards their fear, saying something like: “I am frightened by the big ugly spider.” The members of this third group—those who openly stayed present to their fear— got closest to the tarantula, felt least upset by the experience, and had the least sweaty palms.

    Staying present to difficulties seems to have a significant impact on well-being. In Matt Killingsworth’s studies of wandering minds, he has found that people are less happy when their minds are distracted, even when they are engaged in an activity that we would usually describe as unpleasant. So, for instance, even though most people are not keen on commuting, they tend to be happier if their minds turn towards the experience of the journey rather than wander away from it. Other studies have suggested that setting oneself the goal of avoiding stress increases the long-term risk of depression. By contrast, if we view stress as a normal, helpful indicator—something we can handle and from which we can learn—rather than as something to eliminate, we are more likely to experience good health and emotional well-being.

    Try This 15-Minute Guided Mindfulness Meditation

    When you’ve established a stable foundation with mindfulness of breath and body you can experiment with turning towards difficulty.

    Sometimes our experience is painful and difficult. And there may be little or nothing we can do about the arising of the pain or difficulty. In these cases, we may be able to work with what’s happening skillfully by exploring our relationship to it. Most of us have a habitual pattern of turning away from problems or trying to get rid of unpleasant events. Unfortunately this often seems to increase our sense of stress, because if pain is already present, you can’t get rid of it by trying to run away from it. In mindfulness practice we gently experiment with reversing this habit by turning gently towards difficult experiences that come up in our meditation.

    This practice is usually best done in small doses at first. Preferably working with difficulties that aren’t likely to be overwhelming. It’s important to remember that you’re in charge of how you undertake this experiment. You can return to mindfulness of breathing as an anchor at any time or let go of this practice for a while if you need to, being kind to yourself.

    Note that this practice includes longer pauses of complete silence for reflection and presence. If you want more time, feel free to pause the recording as you go.

    1. Begin by settling into a dignified sitting posture. Upright, steady, grounded. Feeling the feet on the floor, bottom on the chair, spine erect shoulders dropped. Feel a sense of openness at the chest, muscles un-tensed, centered, feeling the breath in the belly. Attuning attention to sensations of the breath as it moves in and out. Being with the breath. Being in the body.
    2. And now expanding awareness to experience throughout the body. Being in the present moment with the body. Noticing what you find and allowing what’s here to be here. Especially noticing sensations in the body that are more unpleasant and difficult to be with. Maybe there’s an aching, throbbing, churning, or a tightening somewhere. There may be a physical or a more emotional tone to the sensations. If it feels helpful to label this for yourself, you could mentally say some words describing the experience: anger, pain, or restlessness, for example. Perhaps also noticing where in the body you’re feeling these tones of sensation and emotion.
    3. Now inviting you to experiment with gently taking your attention towards a region of more intense sensation. Turning towards the intensity. Being interested in the qualities of and changes in sensation from moment to moment. What increases or decreases in intensity are there? What shifts in location or texture? As best you can, staying with the direct experience of sensation and letting any thoughts about what’s happening or urges and impulses to react be held in kindly awareness in the background of the mind. Letting go of any need to try and get any kind of result here or for anything to have to change. Just gently turning towards what’s going on. And noticing what happens without an agenda. Riding the waves of experience, moment by moment.
    4. If you like you could offer a sense of breathing with the sensations, feeling them together with the rising and falling of the breath. Breathing in with sensations, breathing out with sensations.
    5. Noticing: are there any impulses to resist or pull away? Perhaps you find your attention drawn into thoughts. Rumination maybe or distraction. Maybe you find your thoughts trying to make sense of the difficulty or problem solving it or judge the success or failure of the practice by whether the intensity decreases or changes. As best you can, seeing if you can include these reactions in your noticing, allowing space for them to be experienced along with the sensations themselves—without having to buy into them or reject them.
    6. If it feels too much to be doing this it’s always okay to continue with or return to mindfulness of breathing or body or to stop practicing for a time. Gentleness is paramount here and there are no right or wrong things to happen when you try this. Just being interested in what does happen when you take your attention into a region of difficulty, moving towards it, letting the experience be observed and awareness without needing to do anything else.
    7. And experimenting now if this feels okay for you with breathing into the region of intensity. Opening further to the sensations on the in-breath and having a sense of softening on the out-breath, of letting go. This isn’t to try and change what’s happening but rather to offer a skillful relationship to it. Flowing with it. Offering space to it, allowing it. Breathing into the sensations on the in-breath, breathing out from them on the out-breath, softening, letting be, allowing.
    8. Staying present with the intensity only for as long as feels manageable for you right now. If you like you can gently move your attention away from and then back towards the intensity noticing what happens each time you work with redirecting your attention in and out. Inviting you to be like a scientist undertaking a laboratory experiment. Being interested in what happens rather than seeking a particular outcome. Coming back to mindfulness of breath or body as and when that feels right for you.
    This post was adapted from Into The Heart of Mindfulness, by Ed Halliwell, published by Piatkus). Download a set of 14 guided audio meditation practices from Ed’s books here.



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  • Is There a Time and Place for “Suck It Up”?

    Is There a Time and Place for “Suck It Up”?

    When I was a kid, my dad taught me how to do a backflip off the diving board. I was terrified, but with his encouragement, I pulled it off. Then he had me do it again—and again—until it stuck. Feeling confident, I decided to push myself and bounce higher. Bad move. I jumped high, but not far enough out, and ended up hitting my head on the diving board on the way down. Then I sank. Underwater, I saw my dad’s hand reach in to grab me. Once I was out, I burst into tears. That’s when I heard it for the first time: “Suck it up.”

    He told me to get back on the board and do it again. I was furious, scared, and confused, but his tough approach worked (ish). Though I didn’t want to, I climbed back up. I reluctantly mustered every ounce of courage and completed another backflip. Then I got out of the pool, fuming at my dad for making me do it again after I was hurt, and ran inside the house. I was pissed and I didn’t forgive him for years. Looking back, I get it now (ish). He totally could have handled it better, sure, but it was all he knew—it was his normal.

    Here’s the other thing I realized: There’s a time and place for pushing emotions aside to get through the chaos. In that moment, “sucking it up” was necessary for me to calm down, refocus, and get back on the proverbial horse. But here’s the catch: When that approach becomes your everyday norm—especially when your job is all chaos, all the time—it starts to bleed into every situation and every aspect of life, chaos or not.

    There’s a time and place for pushing emotions aside to get through the chaos—but when that approach becomes your everyday norm, it starts to bleed into every situation and every aspect of life, chaos or not.

    Calm Isn’t (Always) the Goal

    For the first responders I meet while leading Tactical Brain Training sessions, that’s the challenge. The nature of the work demands you set emotions aside to handle emergencies effectively.

    A detective once said to me, “So when someone is coming at me with a gun or knife, you want me to close my eyes, take a few breaths, and be peaceful and calm?” I replied, “Sure, if your intention is to get stabbed or shot!” (I may have cursed a bit here too.) I followed up with something like, “No, that would be the wrong move here. Instead, you can use mindfulness to complement your law enforcement training strategically …protecting yourself. And no, don’t close your eyes!”

    When the job requires you to literally place yourself in the fire, the stress that comes with it is understandable. And the trauma—whether experienced personally or from witnessing someone else’s—is inevitable. If we know that trauma is part of the job, it becomes our responsibility to address it. We train for every other aspect of the job—drawing a weapon, performing CPR, restraining someone—so why not train to manage the potential fallout? This is the gap I see between training for action and training for sustainability (that is, training to keep ourselves mentally healthy).

    Mindfulness interventions and Tactical Brain Training are not just about creating calm; they’re about regulating the nervous system, enabling someone to approach their job or their partner with purposeful actions rather than just reacting. Instead of letting emotions guide actions, mindfulness interventions train the brain’s prefrontal cortex to help guide actions. The prefrontal cortex is in charge of executive functioning: cognitive abilities such as working memory, flexible thinking, and self-control. Training this part of the brain means we’re able to operate in a responsive state rather than a reactive one.

    For first responders, veterans, and other people who face high-stress situations, having a variety of emotional regulation techniques increases access to balance. It’s about building a go-to toolbox of strategies. If one doesn’t work, toss it and try another. This isn’t about zoning out or ignoring the pain and suffering; it’s about training to tune into it while knowing you have a strategy to work your way out.

    How to “Suck It Up” With Mindfulness

    Mindfulness is not as simple as “just notice your emotions” or “just take a breath.” Asking someone who’s been trained to suppress their emotions in order to save a drowning person to suddenly feel and embrace every emotion can be overwhelming, distracting, and even frustrating. And asking someone who is highly agitated to stop what they’re doing and take a breath can be ridiculously annoying! If you ever see me write or hear me say “JFB,” this is my way of creating some levity in a stressful moment, which can have the benefit of incorporating an intervention without the associated stigma or frustration. JFB stands for Just F’ing Breathe (but I’m sure you already figured that out).

    It’s key to start small. You train your brain just as you would train your body—gradually, with manageable steps. It would be pretty dumb to start weight training by lifting 100 lbs. We need to build slowly and steadily (I’m currently at 10-lb weights—apparently I need to work on this.)

    You train your brain just as you would train your body—gradually, with manageable steps.

    For example, instead of starting with “I am so frustrated, where do I feel it in my body?” which can feel overwhelming, you can approach the mind-body connection interventions in a stepwise progression. Begin with something like: “First I want to train to feel sensations in my body, and then I will try to connect those sensations with an emotion.” It’s helpful to begin with noticing common physical sensations. Train for curiosity: “Where do I feel hunger?” “Where does fatigue show up in my body?”

    From Chaos to Emotional Regulation

    From there, you can build. Think a happy thought. What does happiness feel like in your body? And, think of something frustrating (but NOT traumatic, as there’s no need to purposefully trigger yourself here). And be curious again. Try and identify where you feel frustration. This step-by-step approach builds a foundation of awareness. By the time emotions are addressed directly, it’s no longer foreign or overwhelming. Skills have been developed to notice without being consumed.

    This is exactly why I call it Tactical Brain Training. It shifts the idea of mindfulness away from the stigma of being “emotional” and reframes it as a strategic way of thinking. The idea is not to disappear emotions in order to get the job done. It’s about creating a “suck it up container,” knowing you can return to those emotions once the chaos settles. Emotional awareness isn’t just about handling stress—it’s a tactical skill for navigating both the chaos of the job and the calm of daily life.

    Emotional awareness isn’t just about handling stress—it’s a tactical skill for navigating both the chaos of the job and the calm of daily life.

    Just like learning to backflip off a diving board, it requires practice, patience, and a step-by-step approach. And when mistakes happen—as they inevitably do—the training allows emotions to be acknowledged without letting them take control. Instead, they’re momentarily set aside, enabling clear focus to complete the task at hand.

    So many people I work with are surprised to learn that it can be this simple. I’m not saying  traumatic experiences are simple, and I’m not saying starting a mindfulness practice is easy. What I am saying is this:

    • Yes, stress and trauma are inevitable parts of the job.
    • No, you are not broken.
    • Yes, it is what it is—and now you know.
    • Yes, you can approach this in a way that feels relatable to you.
    • Now, let’s get to work! #JFB



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  • A Meditation to Help You Make Any Decision—Big or Small

    A Meditation to Help You Make Any Decision—Big or Small

    In this week’s practice, meditation teacher Toby Sola guides us through a practice to help get clarity when facing all different kinds of decisions.

    You might not think of mindfulness as being a resource to help with decision-making, but moments of intentional silence can sharpen our mental clarity and help us discern which choices feel most aligned.

    In this guided practice, meditation teacher Toby Sola offers a simple technique you can use, whether you’re facing a life-changing choice or are just feeling overwhelmed by all the smaller decisions that often crowd our busy lives.

    A Meditation to Help You Make Any Decision—Big or Small

    Read and practice the guided meditation script below, pausing after each paragraph. Or listen to the audio practice.

    Note: This practice includes long pauses of complete silence to give you time to spend in contemplation. If you want more time, feel free to pause the recording as you go.

    1. To start, lengthen your spine and relax your shoulders and arms. Sitting is great because you’re both alert and relaxed. 
    2. Take a moment to think of a decision that’s been on your mind. It can be a big one, like if you should have kids, or it can be a small one, like if you should buy peanut butter.
    3. Once you have your decision, come up with two statements: an “I will” statement and an “I will not” statement. For example, I will have kids and I will not have kids. Or, I will buy peanut butter and I will not buy peanut butter. You may have to simplify your decision in order to create I will and I will not statements.
    4. Say your I will statement a few times to yourself in your head. Don’t say it out loud, say it to yourself, in your mind. Now continue to use mental talk to list the reasons behind your I will statement. Your inner monologue may sound like this. Peanut butter is tasty. It goes well with the apples that I have. I think it’s on sale right now. Start listing the reasons for your I will statement now.
    5. Now let that go and say your I will not statement a few times. Begin listing the reasons why your I will not statement is a good idea. For example, The rest of my family doesn’t like peanut butter. It’s expensive.  
    6. Now let that go. Next, we’ll use our imagination to explore the decision. We’ll start with the I will side of things. Imagine what your future might look like if you go with the I will statement. Use your imagination to create mental pictures of this possible future. For example, if you’re considering whether to have kids, you might imagine waking up to kids jumping on your bed.
    7. Now let’s move on to the I will not statement. Use your imagination to create mental pictures of what your life might be like if you go with the I Will Not statement. Imagine how your life might unfold.
    8. Next, we’ll explore our emotional body. Bring your attention down into your body. Once again, consider the I will statement and notice if you feel any emotions. Maybe you feel excitement, joy, anxiety or nervousness. Maybe you don’t notice anything. It’s all good. Just notice any emotions that come up when you consider the I will statement.
    9. Now switch to the I will not statement. In the way that you did with the I will statement, notice any body emotions that come up with the I will not option.
    10. At this point, you may know what to do, you might not know what to do, you may realize that you need more information, or you may be realizing that you should be making another decision. Regardless of where you’re at, let’s take some time to feel good. To the best of your ability, cultivate pride and joy in your body. Intentionally smiling can help. Making decisions can be hard work, and even if we still don’t know what to do, at least we’re putting in the effort. We should feel proud of that—so smile; feel good. 



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  • Wise Engagement with the World: What to Do When You Wish Things Were Different

    Wise Engagement with the World: What to Do When You Wish Things Were Different

    Summary

    • Wise engagement starts with caring for yourself through loving, patient attention.
    • Staying present with your difficult emotions is a form of wise engagement that changes how you relate to your pain.
    • Engaging wisely with the truth that everything changes can give our actions more wisdom and clarity, helping to benefit others.

    What should you do when you feel helpless, hostile, or outraged? Maybe your spouse betrayed your trust, a friend criticized you behind your back, or your child refuses to listen. Or maybe, like many of us today, you’re heartbroken and angry about the actions of political leaders, corporations, or governments—especially when they cause harm to people, animals, or the planet.

    You’re not morally wrong and you’re not a bad person to feel the way you do, but your emotions aren’t hurting the people causing harm. They’re hurting you. They cloud your mind, contract your heart, and make it harder to act with the wisdom and clarity the world so badly needs right now.

    That’s why it’s essential to take care of yourself—not by checking out or pretending things are okay, but by meeting your pain with loving attention, patience, and kindness. This is the practice of non-hatred—the profound and deeply wise choice to relate to suffering without fueling the fires of rage, despair, or blame.

    Choosing Presence and Acceptance

    Taking care of your difficult emotions means staying present with your body, heart, and mind, even when it’s painful. You might put your hand on your heart or belly and bring your attention to the sensations, thoughts, and energies arising in you. You can gently say to yourself, “I’m here for you,” or use Thich Nhat Hanh’s powerful words: “I see you, [name the feeling], and I’m not going to leave you.” This simple act of acknowledgment softens the edges of emotional pain. You’re not trying to get rid of it—you’re learning to relate to it with openness, understanding, and tenderness. That’s how healing begins and wisdom arises.

    You’re learning to relate to emotional pain with openness, understanding, and tenderness. That’s how healing begins and wisdom arises.

    It also arises through metta, or loving-kindness. In the Buddhist tradition, this quality is sometimes translated as “non-hatred.” When you’re feeling hurt or upset with people or policies, you might not be able to wish them well. But you can choose to not wish them ill. Non-hatred doesn’t mean approving of harm. It means not letting malice or aggression take root in your own heart. It’s the wisdom of protecting yourself from the corrosive effects of hostility and ill-will while still taking meaningful action.

    Non-hatred includes compassion for your own distress and for those who are suffering. It’s rooted in the recognition that sustained anger clouds judgment, causes deep inner pain, and often leads us to act in ways that perpetuate harm rather than stop it. Choosing non-hatred allows us to respond—rather than react—with steadiness, strength, and clarity.

    Choosing non-hatred allows us to respond—rather than react—with steadiness, strength, and clarity.

    Contrary to current cultural messages, responding in this way isn’t weakness. It’s strength guided by wisdom. It means we stop harm when we can, but we do it from an undisturbed mind and a compassionate heart.

    Taking Comfort in Change

    You can also ground yourself and steady your upset with the truth of change.

    Nothing exists in isolation, and nothing stays the same forever. Even a simple wooden table is the result of countless factors: the tree, the soil, the weather, the lumber mill, the delivery system, the craftsman. Each of those conditions has its own causes.

    The same is true for suffering—personal, cultural, and global. Everything harmful or broken exists because of specific conditions. That’s good news, because if we can change the conditions, we can change the outcomes.

    Everything harmful or broken exists because of specific conditions—and if we can change the conditions, we can change the outcomes.

    That’s why your actions matter. What you think, say, and do shapes the world. Even small acts—motivated by wisdom, compassion, and non-harming—contribute to the conditions necessary for unity, generosity, and harmony. When your actions arise from steadiness and goodwill rather than reactivity, they’re far more effective. Calm, clear, and courageous responses don’t just feel better—they do better.

    You may not be able to control the actions of others or the circumstances of the world, but you can always choose to respond with wisdom and clarity.

    You begin by turning toward your distress with openness and gentleness. Then you cultivate the practice of non-hatred. And finally, you commit to using your thoughts, words, and actions to contribute to the conditions that bring benefit and avoid causing harm. You make a choice to participate in the creation of a more just, generous, and loving world—for yourself, your friends and family, and all living beings.



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  • Healthy Sleep Can’t Be Forced. Try this Sleep Meditation, Instead

    Healthy Sleep Can’t Be Forced. Try this Sleep Meditation, Instead

    Are you getting enough healthy sleep? If you’re like many of us, your answer is no. All day it’s go, go, go, then at night, when we mean to shut down, it’s not so easy. Eventually, the paradox of sleep worry kicks in: Thinking about sleep gets in the way of sleep. And not getting the rest we crave can be quite painful and can exacerbate other health problems.

    As with pretty much anything health-related, we may know better, but we don’t stick to what we’d tell our best friend: Keep to a regular bedtime and a consistent routine, and avoid whatever disrupts sleep, like caffeine, alcohol, and screens. Not that complicated, but what’s often hardest is what’s frustratingly out of our full control. Even following solid advice, sometimes we suffer through rotten nights, feeling anxious or struggling to settle ourselves.

    We have nothing but empathy for a friend with insomnia, yet as we lie awake in the dark we may not give ourselves the same degree of care. A good place to start, then, might be an adapted version of Kristin Neff’s self-compassion practice: Breathing in, say to yourself, My trouble falling asleep is a moment of suffering. Breathing out, All people have moments of suffering. And then, This is how things are right now. May I find peace and ease and a night’s rest.

    Since staying awake while we’re meditating is often a big challenge, it’s no surprise that mindfulness has been shown to promote healthy sleep.

    Since staying awake while we’re meditating is often a big challenge, it’s no surprise that mindfulness has been shown to promote healthy sleep. It’s not all that exciting to sit quietly and breathe. It can be downright boring, not to mention calming. But that’s not the whole story. Mindfulness practice encourages nonjudgmental awareness—seeing things exactly as they are, with openness and curiosity. If we accept the basic facts outlined above about what tends to lead to healthy sleep, and it contradicts how we live, it might be time to patiently explore what stands between us and change. With sleep, as with meditation practice, intentions are easier said than done. Here’s a little reflection and inventory list that may help.

    4 Sleep Routine Questions to Ask Yourself:

    1) Objectively consider your pre-bedtime routine—anything to change?
    A consistent bedtime, a quiet room, and a focus on settling down go a long way toward better sleep.

    2) Is it time to see a doctor?
    It may be unsettling visiting a doctor to find out if you have a sleep disorder, but it’s a good idea. For example, any amount of chronic snoring can disrupt sleep. Aging affects sleep too, which may be worth discussing with your physician.

    3) Are there routines other than bedtime that may help you settle? Notice your habits with screens, alcohol, or caffeine. How do you manage stress? How consistently do you exercise? Remember to have self-compassion: Don’t judge yourself for your habits, but take firm action when ready.

    4) Are you pushing yourself too hard and taking that into bed? Consider practicing non-striving while in bed. By not trying to sleep, sleep quite often arrives. Focus on the breath or the body. Notice the thoughts swirling: It’s happening again; if I don’t fall asleep soon I’ll be so tired tomorrow. Notice it all, and breathe. Maybe there’s nothing at all to do tonight except that, and to gently let go of thinking about (the) rest.

    Neither sleep routines nor mindfulness practice responds well to a heavy hand. If you set out to force yourself into sleep, you’re less likely to get a healthy sleep. If you strain for some picture-perfect mindset when meditating, you’ll create more stress and uncertainty. If you set yourself up with clear-sighted planning and patient resolve— intentionally but unforced—healthy sleep and mindfulness are both more to likely follow.

    A Guided Meditation for Healthy Sleep

    To allow you to fully experience this meditation, we recommend that you listen to the audio version. However, you can also simply read the text below. If you choose to do so, read through the entire script first to familiarize yourself with the practice, then do the practice, referring back to the text as needed and pausing briefly after each paragraph. Take about twenty minutes for the practice. You can do this practice in a seated position.

    In considering any meditation related to sleep, recognize that there’s nothing to force, and nothing to make happen.  Since striving makes healthy sleep more challenging, set out to practice without specific expectations or goals. We cannot make ourselves sleep, but perhaps, by aiming to stay settled and getting less caught up in our thoughts, we fall asleep anyway.

    For the meditation that follows, there will be no ending bell or instruction. At the end, continue to practice if you like, or hopefully enjoy a good night’s rest instead.

    1. Start while lying down, allowing your legs to rest in a comfortable posture, hip-width apart. You can place your arms by your side or your hands on your belly.
    2. Begin by noticing your breath.  Pay attention, as best as you’re able to the physical movement related to breathing, such as your belly rising and falling. Or, if you prefer, focus your attention more closely on the air moving in and out of your nose and mouth.
    3. It’s normal, expected even, to have thoughts — lots of them.  Your mind rehashes the day or gets caught up in worrying about tomorrow. Recognize those habits, and then practice letting them be. Label whatever grabs your attention, and come back again to noticing the breath. Breathing in… and breathing out.
    4. Notice if you get caught up in effort, or frustration, or fear, with compassion for yourself. Catch thoughts of self-criticism or frustration, and come back to just one breath, one more time. Thoughts are only thoughts. Breathing in… breathing out. There’s nothing you need to fix or change right now in this moment. Notice where your thoughts go, and label them “thoughts.” Come back to one next breath, over, and over again.
    5. Shift attention to sensations in your body. Start by moving your awareness to physical sensations in your feet. You don’t need to wiggle your toes or move your feet, just notice them — the temperature or the pressure of your heel against the blanket or the mat beneath you.
    6. From your feet, move your attention into your lower legs, noticing whatever there is to see. Letting go of a sense of effort or needing to make anything happen. And then from your lower legs, through your knees, and into your upper legs. If you feel any sense of stress or tension, aim to relax and let go.
    7. Then through your buttocks and pelvis, and into your belly and abdomen. You might notice a sense of your breath moving up and down, or other physical sensations, or sometimes even reflection of emotion (perhaps an emotion like fear or anger reflects in the stomach in the form of tension or tightness). And as you move from your belly and now into your chest, note each time your mind gets caught up in thoughts of discomfort or distraction. And then gently and with patience, guiding it back one more time.
    8. Move around into your back, certainly a place many of us hold tension in different ways, relaxing your muscles as best as you’re able, lowering your shoulders from your ears. If you feel a need to make an adjustment, allow that to happen with intention, pausing and choosing your next action. Shift your attention into your hands and lower arms, again without actively needing to move or change anything, observing and letting go.
    9. Then moving through your neck and into the muscles of your face, perhaps noticing any locations of tightness or pinching, and then with gentleness, as best as you’re able, relaxing those muscles. And then for a few moments, have a general awareness of physical sensations throughout your body.
    10. And now, if you’re still awake, bring your attention back to the breath, each time the mind wanders into the past or into the future, or wherever it chooses to go. If it’s a useful anchor for your attention, you can count breaths, breathing in, one, breathing out, one, breathing in, two, breathing out, two… When you reach ten, start at one again.
    11. If counting becomes a distraction, then just stay with the sensation of breathing — wherever you feel the breath entering or leaving your body, or the rising or falling of your belly and chest. Continue on your own now, counting breaths up to ten, patiently returning your attention whenever you become distracted. If you lose track of counting, that’s fine. Start over wherever you last remember.
    The Ultimate Guide to Mindfulness for Sleep 

    Sufficient sleep heals our bodies and minds, but for many reasons sleep doesn’t always come easily. Mindfulness practices and habits can help us fall asleep and stay asleep. Consult our guide to find tips for meditation, movement, and mindfulness practices to ease into sleep.
    Read More 

    • Mindful Staff
    • July 13, 2023



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  • The Nature Remedy: Find Freedom from Tech Overload

    The Nature Remedy: Find Freedom from Tech Overload

    In the summer of 2014, I participated in the first-ever digital detox retreat, Camp Grounded in Northern California.

    My camp name was Momma Zen. Each morning, I led mindfulness practice to ease the adult campers’ edgy tech cravings, guiding them through simple breath work to settle their restless minds.

    I had also joined a songwriting “play-shop.” I’d never written a song, but how hard could it be?

    Under a majestic canopy of towering redwoods, I was awkwardly front and center on the roughly hewn wooden stage, moments from belting out my just-written song “Digital Distraction Brings NO Satisfaction.” (Yes, inspired by the Stones’ classic.)

    On that last night, everyone was gathered beneath those grand old trees for our closing celebration. Unexpectedly, the young crowd of Silicon Valley techies stamped their feet loudly and cheered wildly.

    I mumbled to the musicians, “Can you play some slow funk?” Honestly, I had no idea what that was. Fortunately, they did. Then we all sang together, belting out the words:

    Digital Distraction Brings … NO Satisfaction

    Why does life often feel so empty
    When your digital feed never ends?
    Why is the night so long and lonely
    When you’ve got five thousand “friends”?

    Isolated inside children; families gone astray
    All sadly disconnected
    Forgotten how to play

    Selfies, trolling, swiping, scrolling
    Hey my friends, hear what I say
    Endless digital distraction
    Brings NO true satisfaction.

    We are living, breathing humans
    Who long to be seen
    Truly connected … heart to heart
    Face to face … not on a screen!

    Here in the redwoods, happy just to be
    Playing like kids again
    Joyously screen-free!

    That night we celebrated being free from all those notifications, the pinging and buzzing of digital demands. We were simply present. And it was glorious.

    The Lure of Digital Distraction

    You’ve probably felt that pull, too, right?—the urge to check your phone, the compulsion to scroll endlessly, the creeping exhaustion that comes from too many hours in front of a screen. Digital overload is real, and it’s quietly seeping into every corner of our lives.

    Here’s some good news: If you are already a meditator, or interested in mindfulness, you have a distinct advantage in finding freedom from tech overload.

    Dr. Michael Rich is author of The Mediatrician’s Guide and a Harvard University pediatrician who directs the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital. He has spent years studying the effects of digital media on our well-being (and is a major contributor to my book, Less Screen More Green). Threaded through all of his robust research are two major recommendations.

    Digital overload is real, and it’s quietly seeping into every corner of our lives.

    Here’s some good news: If you are already a meditator, or interested in mindfulness, you have a distinct advantage in finding freedom from tech overload.

    Make Friends With Boredom

    Dr. Rich advises not to fill most of our waking hours with digital media:

    “Bring back boredom! Perhaps the most difficult challenge to overcome in finding healthier alternatives to screens is our cultural aversion to boredom. Locked in our downward gaze, we no longer look at the world around us, or talk to each other. It’s easier to absorb the continuous feed of stimulus on our phones.”

    Balance screentime with more greentime

    “For many of us, our focus on screens has distanced us from the natural world. Albert Einstein said it well: ‘Look deep, deep into nature, and you will understand everything better.’ Time in nature is often prescribed by physicians aware of the many benefits to human health, and breaking free from tech overload. Research shows that even modest steps to spend more time outdoors can make a difference in our media use, and in our health and well-being.”

    When we keep these two maxims in mind—more boredom, more greentime—it’s easier to guide our choices as we take steps to bring more balance and sanity to our tech usage.

    Digital Detox, Made Fun: 4 Steps to Mindful Tech Use

    Dr. Rich offers four simple reminders for those moments when the pull of digital consumption feels intense or overwhelming:

    Be mindful. Use our powerful digital tools for what they do well and turn them off when they are not the best tool for the activity.

    Be balanced. Intentionally balance your screen use and non-screen activities.

    Be bored. Shake off the tendency to default to a screen and use the discomfort of nothing to do and the available space in your attentive mind to imagine the new.

    Be present. Consciously put down your devices so their near-infinite connectivity with strangers does not undermine our deep and sustaining connectedness with those we love.

    4 Practical Techniques for Freedom From Tech Overload

    1. Recognize the Early Warning Cues

    Just like we recognize hunger or thirst, we can learn to recognize the subtle (or not-so-subtle) signs of tech fatigue:

    • Eyes feeling dry or strained?
    • Headaches creeping in?
    • A vague sense of restlessness or irritability?
    • That odd, disoriented feeling when you finally look up from your screen?

    These are your body’s way of whispering, “Hey, I need a break.” Listen.

    2. Try the 20-20-20 Remedy

    One simple way to protect your eyes and refocus your mind is the 20-20-20 rule:

    Every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds.

    Your eyes will thank you, and so will your nervous system.

    3. Savor the Nature Remedy

    If you take away nothing else from this article, take this: Less screen, more green.

    Even if you live in the middle of a bustling city, find ways to step outside.

    • Drink your morning tea on the balcony.
    • Walk to a park on your lunch break.
    • Sit under a tree and just be.

    There’s something about fresh air, the movement of leaves, the simple act of looking at the sky—it resets us in a way that no digital escape ever can.

    4. Create Your Tech-Free Sanctuary

    Choose one place in your home to be completely screen-free. Maybe it’s your bedroom. Maybe it’s the dinner table. Maybe it’s that cozy corner where you like to read or meditate.

    Guard this space like a sacred garden, a refuge from the endless digital noise.

    Your Invitation to Healthier Tech Habits

    This isn’t about guilt. It’s not about demonizing technology or vowing to live like your great-grandparents. It’s about finding balance.

    Pick one of these steps and try it today. Just one.

    • Set a timer for the 20-20-20 rule.
    • Take five minutes to step outside.
    • Decide that, tonight, the phone stays out of the bedroom.

    And then, notice. Notice how you feel. Notice if you breathe a little easier. Notice if you see the people around you just a little more clearly.

    Notice how you feel. Notice if you breathe a little easier. Notice if you see the people around you just a little more clearly.

    If you do, I’d love to hear about it. Share your experience with us: What’s the hardest part of unplugging for you? What little changes have helped? Let’s start the conversation.

    And stay tuned for Part Two, where we’ll explore how to bring mindful tech habits into your workplace. Because if there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s that we can find freedom from tech overload. And it begins—always—with awareness.

    Excerpted with permission of the author from Less Screen More Green: Finding Freedom with The Mindful Tech Plans™ by Kerry Crofton, PhD. Revised and updated second edition (2025).



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  • Explore 3 Techniques in This Meditation Buffet

    Explore 3 Techniques in This Meditation Buffet

    In this week’s practice, meditation teacher Toby Sola walks us through three different types of meditations and explains what all techniques have in common.

    Have you ever wondered why there are so many different types of meditation practices, and why some of them seem to contradict each other in approach, style, or even objective?

    In today’s guided practice, meditation teacher Toby Sola walks us through three common types of meditation. Plus, he explains why the word “meditation” is very much like the word “sport”—and how all these different practices actually share the same overarching purpose.

    If you’re new to meditation or curious about trying new approaches, you’ll love this week’s practice.

    A Mindful Buffet: 3 Different Types of Meditation

    Read and practice the guided meditation script below, pausing after each paragraph. Or listen to the audio practice.

    As a meditation teacher, one of the most common questions I get goes something like this: Someone told me meditation is about focusing on your breath, but someone else told me meditation is about letting go. What gives?

    The answer to this question is simple. The word meditation is like the word sport. There are a wide variety of sports, and some sports even have contradictory rules. For example, in American soccer, you’re not allowed to touch the ball with your hands. But in basketball, you are. At the same time, there is a common thread that ties together all sports. You could say all sports develop some sort of physical strength, flexibility, and skill. Meditation is exactly the same. There is a wide variety of meditation techniques, and some of them even have contradictory instructions. But all meditation techniques develop the same core skills of concentration, clarity, and balance.

    In this meditation, I’ll give you a quick tour of three very different meditation techniques so you get a sense of what’s out there.

    1. To start, lengthen the spine. Relax the shoulders and arms. Bring your attention to what you’re hearing in your environment. Maybe you hear traffic, wind, or people talking nearby. Maybe you just hear silence. It’s all good. Just bring your attention to whatever you’re hearing.
    2. This type of practice is an example of a family of meditation techniques that I call “noting and labeling.” In noting and labeling techniques, you pick one or a few types of naturally occurring sensory experiences to focus on and simply redirect your attention if you get distracted.

      Feel free to pause the recording and give yourself extra time to practice this technique if you like.

    3. Next, we’re going to intentionally recite and focus on a positive word or phrase. Take a moment to think of a positive word or phrase. Here are some examples. The name of a positive emotion could be compassion or gratitude. An affirmation could sound like, I love you, keep going. Or, I am deserving of love. A statement about a positive behavior change could be something like, I go to the gym twice a week, or, I go to bed at 10 PM. These are just examples. Choose a word or phrase that you like. Once you’ve settled on a word or phrase, mentally repeat it over and over. Don’t say it out loud; say it to yourself in your mind.
    4. This practice is an example of a family of meditation techniques that I call “nurture positive.” In nurture positive practices, you don’t just pay attention to whatever happens to happen, like we were doing in the first part of this guidance. Instead, you intentionally create positive thoughts or feelings to focus on. Keep reciting and focusing on your phrase.

      Feel free to pause the recording and give yourself extra time to practice this technique if you like.

    5. For the third technique, we’re going to drop any kind of intentional focus. Here, you aren’t landing your attention on anything, but keeping your mind loose and unattached. If, for whatever reason, you happen to become aware of an intention to direct your attention, drop that intention. Otherwise, you don’t have to do anything.
    6. This is an example of a family of meditation techniques that I call “autofocus.” In autofocus practices, if you happen to become aware of an intention to control your attention, you drop that intention. Otherwise, you don’t have to do anything. Your experience may not be restful or particularly pleasant. It may not even seem like you’re practicing meditation at all, but you’re doing the technique perfectly when you just let whatever happens, happen.

      Feel free to pause the recording and give yourself extra time to practice this technique if you like.

    7. Notice how different, and even contradictory, the three exercises are. In the first exercise, we picked something to intentionally focus on, but we didn’t try to change it. In the second exercise, we created something positive to focus on. And in the third exercise, we dropped all intention to control our attention.
    8. This is why I say that the word meditation is like the word sport. There are a million different meditation techniques, many with contradictory instructions, but they all share the common thread of developing three core mental muscles: concentration, clarity, and balance.

    The word meditation is like the word sport. There are a million different meditation techniques, many with contradictory instructions, but they all share the common thread of developing three core mental muscles: concentration, clarity, and balance.

    1. As we wrap up, here’s the main takeaway I want you to remember. If you’re into meditation, you’ll probably listen to all sorts of guidance. If you hear instructions that contradict what you’ve heard before, that’s not a problem. Just follow along. The teacher is simply guiding you in a unique technique that you haven’t encountered before. And that’s no big deal because all the techniques develop the same core skills. Hopefully, this realization will allow you to appreciate and learn from the wide variety of meditation techniques out there. Enjoy.



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