Health Journal Online

Category: Mental Health

A Meditation for Creating an Anchor of Inner Strength
In this guided practice, we focus on qualities of inner strength that we can return to in times of uncertainty.
What does it feel like to experience ourselves—in our own minds and bodies—as a reliable place we can come home to in order to feel grateful, calm, and resilient?

In this week’s guided meditation, Melli O’Brien walks us through a practice we can return to in times of uncertainty or challenge to remind us of our own inner strength.

A Meditation for Creating an Anchor of Inner Strength

Read and practice the guided meditation script below, pausing after each paragraph. Or listen to the audio practice.
1. Start by finding your way into a comfortable position. Sit in a comfortable way, with the spine more upright rather than slouching. When you’re ready, gently close the eyes, if that’s comfortable for you. Otherwise, you can just have them downcast with a soft gaze. When you’re ready, take three deep, slow, full breaths.
2. As you exhale, allow your physical body to soften. Relax a little, feeling the softening through the jaw, shoulders, belly, and hands. Again, another breath in, and out. Let go of anything that’s on the mind. To-do lists, worries, ruminations—allow yourself to arrive right here, right now, in this time, this place, this moment.
3. As you let the breath settle back into its own natural rhythm, continue to feel the flow of sensations of that breath moving in your body. Breathe naturally, feeling the sensations of the breath as it enters the body and leaves the body. Rest awareness on the feeling and the flow of the natural breath, allowing the breath to anchor you in the present moment.
4. Now bring to mind a feeling of gratitude. What does gratitude feel like in your body? You might like to take a moment to dwell on thoughts of what you’re grateful for. The food in the cupboards or water from the taps. The fact that you are safe right now and that you have this time to take care of your mental well-being. Maybe you’re thinking about the acts of kindness you’ve received in your life, from the smile of a stranger to bigger gestures of support. Maybe you’re remembering the people who’ve loved you, supported you, forgiven you, encouraged you. What else can you be grateful for? Maybe the miracle that you’re alive at all.
5. Allow these feelings of gratitude flood through every fiber of your being, filling you up like golden light. That feeling of inner strength, when you notice that you have enough, that you’re supported by life, a feeling of relaxing and feeling abundant—intensify that feeling. What does it feel like in your body? How do you breathe? How do you hold yourself when you feel grateful? Bathe in that feeling. Feel the goodness of it, the strength of it. What do you say to yourself when you feel grateful?
6. Now squeeze your right fist gently as you feel that feeling of gratitude. Make an intention right now that you’re taking this gratitude forward with you in your life, maybe mentally saying to yourself, Thank you, this gratitude is with me now.
7. Now bring to mind the feeling of calm. Maybe you can remember times when you felt calm. Like when you were standing at the ocean’s edge watching a sunset or sunrise. Or you can just conjure up this feeling, maybe imagining a calm scene. Let calm wash through you. Let it come alive in you. What does calm feel like? Let it move through you, soothe you, and ground you. Bring the feeling of calm to mind when you feel fully at ease, when you can be totally yourself. You’re safe, comfortable, and relaxed. Notice how you feel when you’re calm. How do you breathe? How do you hold your body? Feel the peace, the serenity, and the ease. Bathe in that feeling.
8. Feel the goodness of calm, the strength of it, and then gently squeeze your right fist as you feel that feeling. Mentally say to yourself, This calm is with me now. Making an intention to take the calm forward in your life.
9. Now bring to mind a feeling of grit. What does it feel like when you have grit? You know that inner strength when you know you could never be stuck because you always find the way forward. You always find the way through. You’re not stuck in problems, you’re thinking about solutions and creative ways forward. You’re resourceful, determined, and even playful when it comes to facing difficulty and challenges. What would grit feel like? Imagine it, remember it, let it fill your body and flow through you. How do you breathe when you have grit? How do you move? When you’re empowered, you’re focused on where you’re going, and what matters deep in your heart, your purpose, your truth, nothing’s going to stand in your way. Intensify the feeling, that feeling of grit.
10. Feel the goodness of it, the strength of it. Squeeze your right fist as you’re feeling that feeling and make an intention that you’re now taking grit forward with you in your life, mentally saying to yourself, Thank you, this grit is with me now. Feel it become a part of you.
11. Now bring to mind the feeling of love. Maybe you’re remembering times when you opened your heart, when you gave love freely, when you gave someone the benefit of the doubt. Or a time when you forgave, showed compassion, kindness. Imagine or remember love: what it’s like to feel love, embody love, give love. Connect with it now and let it wash through your body and your being. Maybe even place your hands on your heart. What does love feel like in your body? Bathe in that feeling—the goodness of it, the strength of it, letting love wash through every fiber of your being, every cell of your body.
12. As you feel that love, gently squeeze your right fist. Mentally say to yourself, This love is with me now. Feel it become a part of you.
13. Now bring to mind another quality that you want to develop. Take a moment to remember what that feeling, what that quality feels like. Connect with it, remember it, conjure it up, and let it wash through you. Let it come alive in you now. What does it feel like in your body, in your mind, in your heart? See if you can intensify that feeling as if it was filling all the cells of your body, flowing through every inch of skin and bone and being within you. How do you breathe when you feel that feeling? What do you say to yourself? How do you hold your body?
14. Bathe in that feeling. Feel the goodness of it, the strength of it. And then squeeze your right fist as you feel that inner strength and make an intention that you’re taking this quality with you forward from this day in your life. Mentally saying to yourself, Well, this quality is with me now. Feel it become a part of you.
15. Now you can drop awareness back into your breathing. Just breathe naturally. Ride the waves of the breaths as the body breathes in and as the body breathes out, just feeling strong. As you breathe out, wriggle the fingers and the toes, and notice how you’re feeling after taking this time out for meditation. When you’re ready, open your eyes.
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April 4, 2025
Dual Anchor: A Neurodiversity-Informed Meditation for Wandering Attention
In this guided practice, Sue Hutton offers an approach to meditation that marshalls sensory awareness as a way to sharpen focus.
Traditional meditation practices can sometimes be frustrating and alienating for those who are neurodivergent. Bodily discomfort or intense mental restlessness can make even the most mindfulness-curious person feel like classic meditation techniques might not be for them.

Sue Hutton believes that mindfulness can be for anyone, and she’s dedicated her work to making mindfulness practices like meditation accessible for neurodiverse communities. In this practice, she guides us through what she calls “Dual Anchor,” a kind of meditation that engages the senses to help gently steer attention.

Dual Anchor: A Neurodiversity-Informed Meditation for Wandering Attention
1. This is a neurodiversity informed, guided meditation called Dual Anchor. It can be really useful to help bring a mind that wanders excessively and struggles to pay attention, to concentrate on two anchors at the same time with our senses. This practice utilizes our vision and our breath together at the same time.
2. Many of us carry a lot of overwhelm inside the body, so we don’t want to exacerbate that when we do our meditation practice. We come to this path seeking to cultivate calm stillness inside. I encourage you to bring a spirit of compassion to everything that you do in your meditation path, along with a sense of gentle curiosity. Try the practice best you can, but don’t push herself if anything is overwhelming or bringing up any kind of sensory overwhelm.
3. Let’s start off with concentrating using your vision on an object in front of you. A candle can be a very useful object to focus on the tip of the flame. But any object will do, allowing your posture to be upright and observing something in front of you with all of your attention visually.
4. Feel yourself concentrating on the center of that object. Notice the body softening as you concentrate on vision. The same way a film director zooms in, focus very clearly on an object. Allow your mind to sharpen, letting everything else fall to the background, holding full command of your gaze on this object.
5. Soften the brow, soften the jaw. Allow the body to be soft as you engage in observing this object very, very closely. Can you get a sense of the color, the texture, the shape? Just observe. Your vision is very focused.
6. Now let’s include awareness of the breath. Begin with closing your eyes just for a moment while you tune into the breath. As you close the eyes, just allow them to soften as though the eyelids just rest on the eyeballs, like gentle blankets, giving you a calm, quiet space inside.
7. Now, feel the breath in the way that works for you. You can observe the breath through sound, breathing in so loud that you can hear the sound of your breath like an ocean tide flowing in and out, observing the sound of the breathing, with full awareness of the sound on the inhale and exhale. You can also try experiencing the breath by just observing the gentle flow in and out of the body in a way that works for you. You can have your hand resting on the belly and the chest and just feel the sensations wherever it’s comfortable, either on this surface, feeling the hand’s rising and falling with the breath, or from inside the body. If it’s comfortable for you, you can try to feel where inside the body you notice that mechanism of breathing in and breathing out.
8. All the while, we’re bringing a sense of deep compassion and love for ourselves as we do this. You may even feel some warmth of compassion flowing into your body through your hands. So there’s a loving touch, compassion for ourselves as we breathe in and out. Remember, every outbreath is an opportunity to give yourself permission to relax and soften. This is a space for you to cultivate and calm within.
9. Now open your eyes once again and focus on that object, and let’s combine vision and breath. Focus deeply, all your concentration visually on this object: sharp concentration, unwavering, steady focus. Soften the brow and jaw.
10. Now, combine the rhythm of the breath in the way that works for you. Allow yourself to feel yourself right at the center of this deep concentration, sharp, focused vision and unwavering connection with the experience of the breath, vision and breath. Allow there to be a soft calm inside the body.
11. As you experience this compassionate rhythm of the breath, using this focused alertness with your vision. And allow the next exhalation to be one that lets go even more. What else can you relax and release on the next breath?
12. There is a clarity as we concentrate on these two objects at the same time. See for the next few moments if you can go even a little bit more committed to being in the center, staying focused on the breath and your vision, full concentration, and allow there to be even more softening and letting go of the whole body from the top of the head all the way down to the toes, releasing and relaxing, sharpening that concentration, vision, and breath.
13. You can now allow the eyes to close as you stay connected with the breath. Again, just resting like soft blankets over the eyes. Feel that letting go and softening of the whole face. You may observe it’s not pitch black under the closed eyelids, but there may be some shape, some light, amorphous, moving, perhaps softening you even more and observing what you can witness underneath these closed eyelids in this calm, relaxed space, feeling that compassionate rhythm of the breath.
14. If it’s comfortable, allow your eyes to gently open. Let the eyes just look around the room at different objects, observing how you can engage in vision as a grounding tool. Look at another random object and focus on that, observing the texture, the quality, the color. You can name the object, too—just one word, not description.
15. This is our dual anchor meditation practice for today using vision and breath. You can use that practice any time of the day. There are more practices like this on my website at SueHuttonMindfulness.com. Please come and visit. Explore other ways of engaging in neurodiversity and mindfulness. May you continue to find incredible ways of bringing mindfulness to your life in the unique ways that you can benefit from the most. Thank you for meditating with me.
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April 2, 2025
Calming Hands: A Mindfulness Practice for Kids to Ease Difficult Emotions
Try this creative, calming mindfulness practice for kids and families, designed to help ease difficult emotions and manage stress.
Key Points:
- When children feel anxious or overwhelmed, mindful breathing and counting can help them feel safe and calm.
- Engaging in mindful activities together as a family strengthens connections and boosts emotional resilience.
- Try this Calming Hands activity to help your child soothe strong emotions through breathing, counting, and making handprint art.
Mindfulness can be fun, simple, and hands-on—literally! The Calming Hands practice, created and shared by Rose Felix Cratsley at Ivy Child International, introduces young children to mindful breathing through art and counting. This activity is perfect for caregivers and educators who want to help kids cultivate calm and focus playfully.

Exploring this practice helps us connect with our bodies, our breath, and the calming energy of our hands. When we feel anxious, stressed, upset or overwhelmed, our hands can be a tool for bringing peace and relaxation. This practice can help you feel safe and calm, no matter what you’re going through.

Scroll down to follow along with the guided audio of this practice!

How to Adapt for Kids with Sensory Needs

Children are encouraged to explore different textures such as soft fabric, smooth stones etc. while practicing the calming hands technique, allowing them to engage with their senses.

Parental Hack

This practice is most effective when caregivers model by practicing alongside children, reinforcing the idea that mindfulness is a family activity and ritual. This can help both kids and parents bond while building emotional resilience and their psychological immune system, together.

Highlights and Benefits:
- Introduction: Guides children to notice the sensations in their hands and introduces the concept of hands as calming tools.
- Breathing Practice: Uses finger-by-finger breathing, teaching kids to inhale and exhale deeply while counting from 1 to 10.
- Reflection: Encourages kids to observe how their hands and bodies feel after the practice, reinforcing self-awareness and relaxation.
Calm and Creative: Make Art With Your Handprint

The Calming Hands practice is best paired with an engaging art activity where kids trace or do handprints, decorate, and personalize their calming hands. By integrating creativity with this simple and engaging mindfulness practice, this activity becomes a lasting tool for emotional regulation and relaxation.

What You’ll Need:
- Paper (large enough for a handprint)
- Non-toxic markers, crayons, or paint
How to Practice Calming Hands:
1. Make the Handprint: Invite your child to trace their hand onto the paper or create a painted handprint. Let them have fun choosing colors or decorating their hand outline—it’s part of the creative mindfulness process!
2. Number the Fingers: Together, write numbers from 1 to 10 on the fingers, starting at the thumb and moving outward.
3. Begin Mindful Breathing:
  
  Encourage the child to place their real hand on top of their handprint.
  
  Start at the thumb (1) and breathe in deeply, then exhale as you count out loud.
  
  Move to the next finger (2), breathing in and out again.
  
  Continue until all 10 fingers are complete.
4. Repeat if Needed: If the child enjoys the exercise, they can trace back through the numbers or start again.
Children and families can turn this mindfulness practice into a creative keepsake by tracing their hands, numbering their fingers, and decorating the artwork. This hands-on activity teaches kids to ease difficult emotions by providing a visual and tactile reminder of the breathing practice, making it easy for them to return to in stressful moments. Calming hands can be mounted on the fridge, bedroom door or even in the car as a tool to remind us all to count and breathe.

Audio Practice: Use Your Hands to Explore Mindful Breathing

By Rose Felix Cratsley

Before starting the practice, find a blank piece of paper and something to draw with, like a marker or pencil.
1. Step 1: Get Comfortable. Find a comfortable seat, either on the floor or in a chair, and sit tall like a strong tree. You can rest your hands gently on your lap, or place them in front of you. Let your shoulders relax, and your body feel soft. You are in a safe place.
2. Step 2: Notice Your Hands. Take a moment to notice your hands. How do they feel? Are they warm or cool? Do they feel heavy or light? If you’re feeling nervous or anxious, that’s okay—just notice what’s happening in your hands without judgment. If you feel tense, give your hands a little shake and let the tension fall away.
3. Step 3: Trace Your Hands. Now, we’re going to trace our hands to create a picture of calm. Place your hand on a piece of paper and trace around it with a pencil or marker. While you trace, feel your fingers, the palm of your hand, and the space between your fingers. Let each stroke of the marker be a reminder that you are safe and in control.
  As you trace your hands, know that you’re building something special. Your hands are your own calming tool, always available when you need to relax and feel grounded.
4. Step 4: Breathe with Your Hands. Now that your hands are traced, we’re going to use them to help us breathe deeply. Each finger will guide us through one breath. We will count from 1 to 10, one number for each finger. With each number, we’ll take a slow, deep breath in and out.
  Start with your pinky and breathe in as you count “1.” Feel your chest and belly rise. Now, breathe out as you count “2.” Let the air flow out slowly and feel your body soften. Keep breathing slowly, one number for each finger. As you breathe in, feel your hands fill with calm. As you breathe out, feel your hands and body relax even more.
5. Step 5: Focus on the Sensation. As you go through each number, pay close attention to how your hands feel. Do they feel warm, soft, or tingly? Notice any changes as you breathe. Imagine your breath flowing through your hands, bringing calmness to every part of your body.
  As your mind wanders, simply bring your attention back to your hands and your breath. Take your time, enjoying each breath as an opportunity to slow down and find peace.
6. Step 6: Feel Grounded and Safe. Take a moment to reflect on how your body feels now. Does your body feel more relaxed? Do your hands feel more calm and steady? Remember, this practice helps us feel grounded—like our feet are firmly planted in the earth, and we are in control of our breath and emotions. Your hands can always be a source of calm. If you ever feel anxious or upset, you can come back to this practice, take a deep breath, and find peace through your hands.
7. When you feel ready, come back to your day. Take one more deep breath in, and gently breathe out. Slowly bring your awareness back to the space around you. You are calm, centered, and ready to face whatever comes next. You can always return to your calming hands whenever you need them.
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March 27, 2025
A Meditation for Allowing the Possibility of Possible In Deep Grief
In this guided practice, Brenda K. Mitchell offers an invitation to anyone who might be struggling to see a way forward through grief.
When we are adrift in the wide sea of grief, it can be difficult to imagine any world other than the world of our intense sorrow and loss. Things like going back to our normal daily tasks, or having fun again, or being able to think of our loved one without crying—these can seem so far out of reach that they might as well be impossible.

In this guided meditation, Brenda Mitchell offers one tiny heart-opening invitation: simply allowing what she calls “the possibility of possible.” There isn’t an expectation that you have answers, or lots of hope, or a clear path forward. Rather, this is a tender way to be with the many difficult emotions that accompany losses in our lives, while opening the door just a bit to what might lie ahead.

Discovering the Possibility of Possible In Deep Grief
1. Let’s begin by closing our eyes and taking a few deep breaths. Inhale. One, two, three. And exhale. One, two, and three.
2. If you’d like, place one hand over the other on your heart. Remove everything that you may have brought in here with you—the tension and the anxieties that may be present in the moment, in the room, or in your neck. See if you can open up and loosen everything that you may have brought with you. Let’s breathe one more time.
3. Now, do a quick body scan and allow for more movement within the structures and the internal parts of our body. Let’s get comfortable—like a couch potato, like Netflix comfortable. Feel that release down into the neck as we open up to receive enlightenment and the divinity of nature and the wonderfulness that is our very own body system.
4. Let that comfort flow down through your shoulders and down through your hands. Shake your hands just a little bit to know that you’re in control and you’re operating and let that flow go through the center region of your body. Blowing up and down through your hips, your thighs, your legs. Allow your feet to feel planted on the solid ground beneath you today.
5. If you are facing deep grief in this moment, I invite you to make room for those feelings. You might notice that sometimes in our fragility, brokenness, and disappointments, we stop imagining that anything good can ever be possible again. There is a block there, a hopelessness. We can’t see a way forward at all.
6. For this moment, I invite you to embrace the possibility of possible. That’s it. You don’t have to have answers, or lots of hope, or a clear path forward. This is just about opening the door and allowing the possibility of possible.
7. See if you can gently settle onto a vision of yourself embracing possibility. What does that look like for you? Where are you? Are you indoors? Are you out? Is there anyone with you? Do you see the colors and the possibility of the dreams that we dream that can go dormant in grief? Maybe you can feel the warmth and the beauty of the sky. What does it mean for you to accept the hurt and pains of what was, while also moving toward the possibility of possible?
8. I invite you to open your eyes as you are ready, and return back to my voice. There’s a poem that I’d like to share with you that has allowed me to imagine a future version of myself who could open up to what is and embrace the possibility of possible. It is written by Gilda Radner and it states, I wanted a perfect ending. Now I’ve learned, the hard way, that some poems don’t rhyme, and some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next. It’s called Delicious Ambiguity. Thank you for your practice.
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March 23, 2025
A Meditation for Unconditional Love When You’re Struggling
In this guided meditation, Caverly Morgan invites us to move beyond “positive thinking” in difficult moments and instead tap into a deep well of unconditional love for ourselves
When we’re wrestling with experiences that challenge our identities or our confidence—like failures at work, relationship struggles, or letting go of old belief systems—it can be tempting to reach for positive self-talk that pushes back against the difficult feelings we might be having.

In today’s guided practice, Caverly Morgan offers something much sturdier, what she calls unconditional reassurances.

In this practice, we’re not just saying the opposite of what we’re feeling, hoping that it will be true. Rather, it’s about anchoring into a deep-down sense of worthiness and compassion that’s always present, regardless of how well things are going for us or how great we feel about ourselves in any given moment. It’s the difference between saying, Don’t feel bad! You’re the best! and saying, Whether you succeed or you don’t, I love you no matter what.

A Meditation for Unconditional Love When You’re Struggling

Read and practice the guided meditation script below, pausing after each paragraph. Or listen to the audio practice.
1. I invite you to begin this meditation with three of the longest and deepest inhalations and exhalations you’ve taken yet today. So often we take the breath for granted. Give yourself permission right now to simply enjoy breathing.
2. Picture a moment in your life in which you are struggling. If the scale is one to ten, ten being the greatest struggle you’ve ever known, pick something in the middle. Think of some time, perhaps in your recent past, when you were resisting what is, or seeking a different experience.
3. Notice what you were saying to yourself as you were struggling. Or to be even more accurate, what “the judge” was asserting, maybe commanding. Maybe for you there wasn’t any negative self-talk present, or perhaps the voice of the inner critic wasn’t alive in that moment. But for most of us, in moments of struggle the judge is somewhere on the scene. For this contemplation, see if you can get a sense of what’s being said.
4. Now see yourself as the one who’s listening to the judge. Really play with this in your imagination. Maybe you even see a young part of you that’s taking this message in. You might even let yourself feel, consciously identifying with this young part of you feeling what they feel.
5. From this space, ask, What do I need to hear? What do I need to know? If it’s not this, what is it?
6. Now in this struggle, take on the feeling as though you’re drowning, flailing your limbs around. See someone sitting on a dock nearby. Someone that really loves you, knows you, sees you. It might not be a real person in your life. It might be a kind stranger that is walking by the lake and doesn’t want to see you drown. See this person? With a bright, shiny, brand new life preserver in their hand, see them tossing it to you as your arms flail. Let yourself grab on to it.
7. If there were messages inscribed on this life preserver, what would the messages be? Perhaps it’s really simple. Like, I’m here. You don’t need to flail around any longer. You can hang on to me. I’ve got you. What phrases light up for you? What sentiments? Touch that unmet need. There’s no right or wrong here.
8. What is important is that the sentiments are unconditional. If they were to come in the form of phrases, they’re phrases that have no opposite. For example, they wouldn’t be something like, You’re a winner! Rather, they would be things like, I love you no matter what.
9. Take a moment now to say these phrases to yourself. Offer this part of you who’s been struggling unconditional Love. It’s not transactional or based on performance. Offer that now. Really see the part of you that needs to hear these things, needs to know these things.
10. If it feels difficult to access unconditional Love in this moment, that is absolutely fine. It’s just not the right moment to touch it. A part of you might be blocking the love. That’s always in the backdrop of our experience, but they can often feel out of reach. See if you can touch this love, this recognition that you are worthy.
11. Next, play with the image of releasing the life preserver. Just breathing and floating in the sea of presence. You don’t need to strive. Floating isn’t the byproduct of your hard work and your effort to do this “right.” It is your nature to float, just as it is your nature to love. If you meditate to be a better person, you’ll always be busy trying to be a better person. If you meditate because you’re in love, resting in your own luminous, infinite being in this sea of love, you’ll always be in love.
12. For one more full minute, let yourself rest in love. I’ll stop talking now. And if you wish to rest in this way for longer than a minute, I invite you to do so. If you need to move into your day, just give yourself one more minute before doing so. Resting in love. Letting yourself float. Thank you.
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March 21, 2025
Brighten Your Day: Learn Mindfulness From First Graders
Students Elijah and Romir share what they’ve learned about the practice of mindfulness via their school program run by the nonprofit Space Between.
There are myriad benefits of mindfulness being taught in schools. To name just a few, it supports students and teachers in managing stress, trauma, overwhelm, and more. But one of the cutest upsides has to be kids teaching meditation.

The Seattle-based nonprofit Space Between has been teaching trauma-informed mindfulness practices in school communities since 2016, supporting the mental health and well-being of both teachers and students.

Learn the Zig-Zag Breath With Romir

According to Romir, a first grader in the Space Between program, the Zig-Zag Breath involves just two simple steps:
1. Move your head in a zig-zag shape.
2. Breathe out calmly.
Romir says that this practice can not only help you feel warmer, but makes you feel better if you get hurt.

Thanks, Romir! We’ll be keeping this quick and easy practice in our toolkit should we get chilly or need a pick-me-up.

Practice Square Breathing With Elijah
1. Point your finger and close your eyes, if you feel comfortable. Get ready to imagine you’re drawing the shape of a square with the tip of your finger.
2. Breathe in through your nose and move your finger in a line, drawing the first side of the square in the air in front of you.
3. Breathe out through your mouth, drawing the next side of the square.
4. Breathe in through your nose and draw the third side of the square.
5. Breathe out through your mouth and complete the square.
6. Repeat this three times.
We know that deep, intentional breathing calms our nervous system and focuses our minds. This easy-to-remember practice is a great way to tap into the power of the breath any time, anywhere. Thanks for the lesson, Elijah!

Mindfulness Practices for Kids

If you’d like to explore mindfulness meditation with the school-aged children in your life, there are many ways to go about it. Over the years, we’ve gathered a number of wonderful guided practices for young children and teenagers, created by renowned meditation teachers. Here are just a few of our most popular articles to help you get started:
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March 19, 2025
Threads of Connection: 3 Ways to Overcome Loneliness Through Creativity
When connecting with others feels difficult, making crafts can offer a universal language that welcomes everyone and forges new bonds while exploring our creative side.
Loneliness is something we have all felt at one time or another. For some, it’s a fleeting feeling; for others, it’s a constant weight. This intense sense of loneliness has become so widespread that it’s now recognized as a public health epidemic, even at a time when we’re more digitally connected than ever. How is it that, despite endless communication at our fingertips, so many of us still feel profoundly alone? Perhaps it’s because loneliness isn’t just the absence of people—it’s the absence of true connection; the kind that makes us feel seen, heard, and understood. So, how do we bridge this gap?

There is no single answer to this issue. Some of us will turn to exercise, others to digital connections or therapy. Yet, a powerful tool that is often overlooked is the simple act of crafting.

Crafting has the power to pull us out of isolation and into shared spaces of creativity. It transcends the barriers of age, background, and ability, offering a universal language of connection.

Crafting has long served as a way for people to express sentiments that can’t always be put into words. But crafting can go even further, providing a meaningful way to combat loneliness and foster community. It has the power to pull us out of isolation and into shared spaces of creativity. It transcends the barriers of age, background, and ability, offering a universal language of connection. For those who are homebound, in particular, crafting can act as a window to the world and remind them they’re not alone.

How Creativity Nurtures Your Brain—and Your Relationships

Beyond the social benefits, crafting is a wonderful tool to nurture the mind. It’s focused nature, almost akin to meditation, can reduce anxiety and stress, calming racing thoughts. Have you ever felt so immersed in a project that time seems to disappear? That’s the magic of creating, and the science backs it up. When we engage in artistic tasks, the brain releases dopamine, a feel-good neurotransmitter that lifts our mood and reinforces neural pathways that keep the mind active and healthy. It comes as no surprise, then, that a recent UK study on arts and crafts found that engaging in creative activities significantly boosts people’s sense of satisfaction with their lives.

This blend of creativity, connection, and healing can be harnessed in so many ways, as I’ve discovered over the years. My team and I organized an annual crafting event called CREATE that is now in its 10th edition. This year, more than 2,300 people came together from all over the country for three days of virtual crafting. Once again, the CREATE community challenged outdated misconceptions about who engages in crafting. Attendees are rarely limited to one demographic; instead, they show that creativity is accessible to anyone with a desire to make.

Crafting isn’t just about creating beautiful things; it’s about fostering bonds we may have never otherwise had the chance to form.

What struck me most was the way crafting created space for genuine connection. I met an attendee whose story resonated with my own in a deeply personal way. We got to talking, only to find out that our grandmothers shared the same name, and our mothers passed away in the same year. In that moment, as we swapped stories and worked with our hands, I felt the presence of my lost loved ones in the room. The experience was more than a coincidence, but a reminder that crafting isn’t just about creating beautiful things; it’s about fostering bonds we may have never otherwise had the chance to form.

3 Ways to Connect Through Creative Activities

If you’re inspired to weave more creativity and connection into your life, here are a few ways to get started:
1. Host a Crafting “Connection Night”: Turn an ordinary evening into a meaningful gathering by inviting friends, neighbors, family, or others in your community for a night of simple crafting, either in person or virtually. No special skills needed—choose easy projects like card-making, painting, or DIY decor that anyone can enjoy. For virtual sessions, platforms like Zoom or Google Meet make it easy to create together from the comfort of your own home. Focus on the joy of being together rather than the outcome of the projects.
2. Take Your Crafting Out in Public: Bring your crafting out into the open and transform it into a community-building experience. Take your supplies to a park, a café, or a library. You might be surprised at who you meet: fellow crafters, curious passersby, or people who share your passion for creativity. The simple act of crafting in public helps create spontaneous connections and reminds us that community can often be found in the most unexpected places.
3. Teach a Crafting Skill to Someone Else: Sharing your crafting skills is a beautiful way to connect. Whether you love scrapbooking, knitting, or making jewelry, try reaching out to your community and invite them to join you in a simple project. The experience of teaching is about more than just passing on your technique, but about creating moments of shared joy. As you guide someone through the creative process, you open the door for conversation, laughter, and the kind of connection that lasts long after the project is done.
As you dive into your own creative journey, remember that every project holds the potential for connection. Crafting can be so much more than an activity, but only if we’re intentional about using it as a bridge to form deeper relationships and fight off loneliness.
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March 17, 2025
Terms and Conditions – Mindful

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By entering this promotion, participants agree to abide by these Terms and Conditions and the decisions of Mindfulness United Pty Ltd, which are final and binding in all respects.

1. Promotion Period

The Deep Resilience Book Giveaway (the “Giveaway”) begins on March 16, 2025, at 12:00 AM [local time], and ends on April 16, 2025, at 11:59 PM [local time] (the “Promotion Period”).

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This Giveaway is open to legal residents of jurisdictions where such giveaways are legally permitted, who are 18 years of age or older at the time of entry. It is void where prohibited or restricted by law. Employees of Mindfulness United Pty Ltd, and its affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising and promotion agencies, and their immediate family members and/or those living in the same household are not eligible to participate.

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Three (3) winners will each receive one (1) copy of Deep Resilience: A Four-Step Journey to Unshakable Inner Strength by Melli O’Brien. Approximate Retail Value (ARV) of each prize: $25.99 USD. Total ARV of all prizes: $259.90 USD.

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March 15, 2025
Feeling Lonely? 4 Ways to Release Shame and Build Healthy Relationships

Whether you are single or in a relationship, you may be struggling with loneliness. Just because you are alone doesn’t necessarily mean that you are lonely. For example, you might be single and live by yourself but not feel lonely, spending some evenings alone and others engaged with your community, whether that’s with your nieces and nephews, neighbors, or colleagues. On the other hand, if you don’t feel comfortable in your own skin, you can never truly enjoy solitude because you feel disconnected from yourself. And even if you do enjoy solitude, you can still experience moments of loneliness. The truth is that we all feel lonely sometimes, and we all need connection with other people, so I invite you to release any shame you experience around your desire for connection.

1. Destigmatize Feeling Lonely

Some people speak in a derogatory way about those who share their experiences of loneliness, equating loneliness with a lack of self-love, but I want you to know that this is a faulty assumption. You may be working on yourself, you may have come a long way, you may even love yourself, but you can still feel lonely at times.

Loneliness can take different forms. You may feel like no one really knows you, gets you, or spends quality time with you, even if there are “friends” around. You can be dating or married and still feel lonely. You could be at a family reunion, surrounded by people to whom you are related, and still feel lonely. Loneliness is not just about a physical absence of people around you but about a lack of authentic emotional connection. We need to feel at home within ourselves in the presence of another—whether in the context of friendship, partnership, or familial relationship. It is normal and healthy to desire authentic relationship with others; this certainly does not automatically mean that you are needy or dependent or insecure.

Loneliness is not just about a physical absence of people around you but about a lack of authentic emotional connection.

There is something beautiful about being known and knowing another. There is something beautiful about friendships that withstand trials. There is something beautiful about intimacy and healthy companionship. So if you are feeling lonely, do not judge the loneliness. Do not condemn yourself for feeling lonely. Acknowledge any loneliness you might feel without shame. After all, loneliness is a universal experience.

Some people have experienced seasons when they were so hurt—perhaps in the midst of a breakup, separation, or divorce—that they didn’t even feel lonely. They may have felt so dismantled by the ending of a friendship or a relationship that they wanted to spend the rest of their lives in isolation. In these cases, getting to the point of desiring connection again is far from a bad thing; it may even be an indication of growth and healing. So when they start to reawaken, when they feel they may begin to trust again, when they start to heal and develop greater self-awareness and insight into the lessons they learned during those difficult times, then they may see an awakening of their desire for connection, friendship, or romantic relationship. If you’ve been there, it is crucial to recognize where you are in the process.

2. Start With Self-Awareness and Healthy Risk-Taking

When we aren’t aware of our own loneliness, we can make destructive decisions. Sometimes loneliness can blind us to the truth because we are so focused on our need and desire for companionship. What might this look like? It might mean I want a friend so badly I miss the warning signs that this person is not my friend, and I continue to cling to them because I want connection. The same thing can occur in the romantic arena. I might desire companionship so intensely that I ignore areas in the relationship where I feel unfulfilled or where I can’t show up authentically. If I am in this person’s presence because I just want someone present, I have to tell myself the truth and recognize my loneliness without letting it obscure my view of the truth.

I want to reiterate that I am not coming at it with the attitude of “You just need to love you.” While self-love is significant, it does not preclude emotional pain or longing for a deeper relationship. If you are feeling lonely, I encourage you to find some things that you can do on your own. People who don’t have close friends or a partner can easily end up self-isolating and doing nothing, so take the risk of doing things in your own company. That’s one of the beautiful things about feeling at home in your own body.

Are you comfortable going out to eat by yourself, not just sitting in your car to eat during your lunch break? Are you comfortable going to the movies by yourself if there is a show that you really want to see and you don’t have someone to go with? Are you willing to go to an art gallery, a religious service, or a concert by yourself?

Even as we acknowledge our need for connection and companionship, recognizing that these are beautiful things to desire and working to develop that aspect of our lives, we must refuse to put our lives on hold. Too many of us are waiting until we have a boyfriend or girlfriend, husband or wife, to start our lives; we are waiting for other people to bring us joy. But you can live a full life now.

I invite you to intentionally find spaces where you can spend time around other people, even if they do not require a lot of interaction. Past hurts and social anxiety can make it difficult to form friendships and relationships, so it may be easier to self-isolate. Be gentle with yourself, taking one step at a time as you gradually become more comfortable with other people. Some social settings are less demanding than others and don’t require you to engage with people on a deep level. For example, you could take a class on something you’re interested in, whether it’s cooking, practicing an instrument, or learning a new language.

3. Cultivate the Relationships You Already Have

As we learn to connect with others, I invite you to consider the people who are already in your life. I have worked with clients who tell me that they don’t have anyone, but as we continue to talk, they’ll mention different people, and I’ll have to ask, “Well, who is that? And who is that?” It’s easy to overlook what we have, so ask yourself: Do I want to improve the friendships that I already have? Or am I really starting from scratch? Do I actually have no one? Or are there people in my life with whom I wish I had a more substantial relationship? Loneliness is sometimes rooted in fear and distrust. This is most commonly the case for people who are lonely even when they are surrounded by other people. Have you kept your friendships superficial? Or have you been hurt in the past, so it’s become difficult for you to open up again? In a dating relationship, it’s possible to experience physical intimacy without emotional intimacy, all the while saying that you want more. But true intimacy requires vulnerability.

You might be surprised to find that when you take the risk of being vulnerable and transparent, others are more likely to do the same. If you have a group of friends who just talk about fluff all the time, you might assume that no one in the group wants to have deeper conversations. But can I let you in on a secret? The others may be longing for more meaningful connection as well. So rather than making a false assumption, take the risk of venturing into deeper waters and being honest with people about how you feel.

Can I let you in on a secret? The others may be longing for more meaningful connection as well.

Being vulnerable is especially valuable for those who are used to being the strong one in a relationship. If you hold on to that identity, you’ll never really let people in. It’s very lonely to always be the giver, and you may end up feeling resentful or disconnected from the same people you’re trying to help.

It is necessary to cultivate spaces where you do not have to wear the mask of perfection, where you can speak freely about what is going on in your life rather than hide behind the automatic response “I’m fine. How are you?” Do you find yourself asking a million questions about someone else because you’re trying to distract them from what’s going on with you? If you do this, you can feel lonely.

For those of you who are in dating relationships or marriages where you feel lonely, what would it mean for you to risk showing up for real, to stop going through the motions, to stop coexisting merely as roommates? To clarify, when I talk about showing up for real, I don’t mean simply sitting someone down and sharing your list of grievances. That wouldn’t truly require vulnerability on your part because you’d be putting all the blame for the problems in the relationship on the other person. What would it look like to show up with honesty, to openly share your desires and your wounds with the goal of repairing the relationship, instead of just venting?

Greater connection requires greater vulnerability. Although vulnerability can feel scary, being really and truly known is worth the risk. This is what it means to be at home with yourself, not with a script or a mask, not as Superwoman or Superman, but as the real you in the company of another.

Greater connection requires greater vulnerability.

4. Let Go of Self-Sabotage and Learn From the Past

If you spend all your time with people you don’t enjoy, or stay at home by yourself but keep saying that you feel lonely and want connection—well, the old routine is not working for you. Unless the deliveryman turns out to be your soulmate, I don’t know how you’re going to meet anyone new. Wherever you live, I invite you to look online and find something that is happening in your city—whether it’s a fair, a festival, a lecture series, or a concert.

I also recommend getting involved in an organization that reflects your interests. While it’s great to go to one-off events, people don’t often spend a lot of time talking to strangers. Rather, they stick with the people they showed up with and then leave with those same people. But if you join an organization or group that meets regularly, that usually creates more opportunity for conversation. In this context, you can observe other people, get a sense of them, and develop greater connection over time. You may have to get out of your comfort zone while working to build up those relationships.

Reflect on past friendships and dating relationships and the lessons you gleaned from them. If I don’t have clarity about what damaged my past relationships, then I am likely to repeat the same mistakes and continue to have relationships that do not flourish. I’m not looking solely at what other people did to me, but also considering any role that I played in how I chose my friends, how I have treated them, and how I showed up in those relationships. What challenges do I experience around intimacy, whether on an emotional, a physical, or a spiritual level? In what ways, if any, have I sabotaged past relationships?

Someone recently wrote to me about owning their part, recognizing how they had ruined what could have been a good thing in their last relationship. We want to be honest with ourselves about how we may have sabotaged relationships, chosen or been attracted to people who were problematic, or closed ourselves off.

Nobody likes to be rejected, but if I’m always walking around looking unapproachable or angry, or if I seem arrogant or my attitude communicates that I don’t want to be bothered, then I’m standing in my own way of connection. It is foremost to try to get a sense of what I may need to heal and grow so that I can be more open to connection.

Exercise: Listen, Move, and Breathe to Honor Connection

If you’re at home right now and this speaks to you, I invite you to put on a song about love for family, friendship, or a romantic partner, get up, and dance to release whatever you’re carrying in your body. If now is not a good time, I invite you to make some space later today to put on some music, move, and breathe so that you are not consumed by loneliness as you make the commitment and take the steps to live fully and authentically, honoring your connection with yourself and with others.

Affirmation: If it aligns with you, read these words aloud: “I desire friendship, companionship, and connection. There is no shame in that. I honor my desire for deeper connection.”

Adapted from MATTERS OF THE HEART Copyright © 2025 by THEMA BRYANT. Reprinted here with permission from TarcherPerigee, an imprint of Penguin Random House Publishers.

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March 13, 2025
A Meditation on the South African Greeting Sawubona (“We See You”)
In this guided practice, Shelly Harrell introduces us to a way of seeing others that encourages liberating awareness, caring connection, and deep acceptance.
In recent years, mental health professionals have raised the alarm about the growing epidemic of loneliness. Millions of people feel separated and isolated, even when they are surrounded by colleagues or thousands of social media acquaintances.

In today’s guided practice, Shelly Harrell offers one mindful approach that can counteract this sense of lonely atomization. It is the South African greeting of Sawubona, which carries an intentional willingness to see and to be seen, in our fullness, vulnerability, mutual belonging, and radiance.

A Meditation on the South African Greeting Sawubona (“We See You”)

A note from the Mindful Editors:

Here at Mindful, we focus on secular mindfulness and meditation for many reasons, chief among them being accessibility: We want anyone to feel that mindfulness can be for them, regardless of background.

One thing we’ve learned from the wonderful teachers we work with is that accessibility sometimes looks like welcoming different ways of speaking about and relating to the practice of mindfulness. While the core meaning of mindfulness is the same, different people have different words for the sense of present-moment awareness, self-connection, interconnectedness, and other qualities that arise from the practice. And for some communities, words like “spirit” and “soul” will be a more helpful framing to tap into those qualities.

So, in the spirit of accessibility and welcoming diverse ways of being and thinking in the mindfulness space, we’re welcoming a broader, less strictly secular vocabulary and you may see this in some of the meditations in this series.

Read and practice the guided meditation script below, pausing after each paragraph. Or listen to the audio practice.
1. Sawubona is a South African phrase that means, “We see you.” It’s often translated as “I see you,” but it’s important to understand that in an African worldview context, this is an extended “I” as the self is experienced as collective. When greeted with Sawubona, it is a communication that you are seen, accepted, and cared about not just by the individual but by the ancestors and the interconnected community that we carry with that. Today we’re going to center on this phrase in our meditation practice.
2. Start by taking a deep centering breath, inhaling deeply to clear space. Gently sweep the clutter in your mind. Open a passageway to that deepest part of your body. Then exhale a nice, long exhale through your mouth, settling into yourself and full presence in this moment, with this practice.
3. Take another centering breath—a deep inhale, opening your heart space, receiving what you need in this moment. Exhale slowly to release any inner blocks or toxins that don’t serve you. Take another full clearing inhale, receive what you need. Open your heart. Exhale again, releasing, and go down to that inner river, settling on the riverbanks of your soul center.
4. Let’s start our Sawubona practice. I invite you now to bring to mind a person or group or community that you care about. It could be someone going through something difficult who may be struggling, suffering, who may feel unseen and unheard. Compassion begins with a willingness to really see, hear, and feel another person. Compassionate action is energized by love and infused with the truth of another’s lived and embodied experience. So visualize this person, group, or community in your mind’s eye. Feel them in your heart and soul.
5. Now imagine encountering that person or crew. Greet them with Sawubona and the intentions of its deepest meanings to see, hear, and feel another. Meeting them where they are. Meeting them and their truth as you greet them. Send them the energy of Sawubona with genuineness, humility, and care. Bring them into your mind’s eye and your heart center. When you greet them and say Sawubona, you are saying, “I see you. I see you through eyes that transcend my own sight, that transcend the visible and the material. I see you beyond your conditions and circumstances. I see you behind the walls you have put up and the masks you have put on. I see you as more than what you have done or what has been done to you. I see your humanity and your humanness. I see you at your best, thriving, soaring, and manifesting your greatest purpose and soul’s calling. I see the soul of who you are. I see you.”
6. Take another deep breath, inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your mouth. Bring this person or persons into your mind’s eye. Greet them and say Sawubona. You are saying, “I hear you. I hear you through ears tuned into the whisperings of soul and spirit. I hear you behind what has been silenced or muted. I hear you beneath what you say, beneath the words you use and the language you speak. I hear you beyond what I want to hear. I hear the voice of your deepest longings, your truest intentions, and your highest aspirations. I hear your cries and I hear your celebrations. I hear your song, your story, your truth. I hear the soul of who you are. I hear you.”
7. Take another deep breath. Bring your person or persons into your mind’s eye, into your heart. Greet them and say Sawubona. You are saying, “I feel you. I feel you from the vibration of our oneness, where our souls recognize each other. I feel you behind the visible and invisible barriers that separate us. I feel you beneath our differences in that space of our interconnectedness with each other and all life. I feel the power of the ancestors flowing through you over generations, across space and time. I feel your rhythm, your flow, your energy, your unique vibration in the world. I feel your vulnerability and your victories, your struggles and your strengths. Your tears and your triumphs. Your regrets and your risings. I feel your light and your glow. Your goodness and your love. I feel the soul of who you are. I feel you.” Take a deep breath. Sawubona.
8. Here are a few thoughts for reflection, discussion, or journaling. I encourage you to imagine your next encounter with the person or group you’ve visualized and imagine greeting them with Sawubona and all that means. In doing that, what might be different in your interaction with them? What would it look like for you if you were to bring the energy of Sawubona to how you interact, meet, greet, and see others? Finally, how might you bring the energy of Sawubona to how you’ll meet, greet, and see yourself? Let’s take a final deep breath together. Inhaling deeply, and exhaling slowly through your mouth. Thank you for engaging in this practice with me. Sawubona.
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March 11, 2025