Health Journal Online

Category: Mental Health

  • The Benefits of Meditating With Others

    The Benefits of Meditating With Others

    This article is independently researched and written by the Mindful editors. However, we may earn revenue if you purchase via links included.

    In the midst of the global pandemic that disrupted our routines and heightened stress levels, many people turned to meditation as a source of comfort, healing, and much-needed self-care in scary and uncertain times.

    Millions of people discovered the benefits of mindfulness, like deeper relaxation, heightened self-awareness, better sleep, and a more grounded sense of well-being. Plus, meditation apps and online platforms made it easy to practice in the comfort of our own homes.

    Research confirms the value of a regular meditation practice, and much of that research is focused on solo practicing. However, there’s now also an emerging recognition of the benefits that come with meditating in community.

    If you’ve been curious about expanding your own practice to include intentionally being with others, here’s what you need to know about the history and benefits of meditation in community.

    Meditation, in various forms, has a rich and diverse history that spans cultures, centuries, and traditions. Historically, rather than just being a solitary activity, meditation was often practiced in communal settings, rooted in the belief that collective intention enhanced the experience and benefits of the practice.

    Rather than just being a solitary activity, meditation was often practiced in communal settings, rooted in the belief that collective intention enhanced the experience and benefits of the practice.

    Monasteries, ashrams, and other spiritual communities have been pivotal in fostering a shared meditative environment for millenia, but group meditation certainly hasn’t only been connected to religious settings.

    In the West, meditation has been a part of secular communities for decades, focusing on the mind-body benefits of a regular practice: stillness, self-observation, calming reactivity, and extending compassion to all beings. Programs like Jon Kabat-Zinn’s Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction offer meditation instruction for clinicians, schools, offices, therapists, and other science-based healing modalities.

    In all of these diverse group settings, meditating in community has offered a space for people to share wisdom and support each other on their mindfulness journeys. And that tradition is still going strong.

    So why do people like group practice? Let’s look at what more and more people are seeking on their journeys, and how meditating in community can meet these needs.

    1. Enhanced Meaning

    If you’ve ever felt the amplified joy and connection of being in a like-hearted group—say, at an outdoor concert or a convention of dedicated enthusiasts—you’ve probably experienced that moment where it all seems like you’re tuned into the same beautiful channel. Meditating in a group can do exactly the same thing, creating a powerful and motivating atmosphere.

    2. Camaraderie and Connection

    Humans are inherently social beings, and meditation in community provides an opportunity for shared experiences. It fosters a sense of camaraderie, reducing feelings of isolation and promoting a supportive network. Especially after the years of the pandemic, people are hungry for a sense of meaningful social reconnection.

    3. Deeper Mindfulness

    Group meditation can deepen one’s mindfulness practice. The shared commitment to practice fosters a sense of accountability, encouraging regular meditation and creating a more profound and transformative experience.

    4. Diverse Perspectives

    In an era of unprecedented division and siloing, there is healthy, challenging work that can really only happen when we are intentionally present with people who are different from us. Meditating in community exposes individuals to diverse perspectives and approaches to meditation. This variety can enrich one’s practice by offering different insights, techniques, and philosophies.

    While there’s not much research available on meditation in group environments versus solitary practice, here are some of the benefits that people who have chosen to meditate in community report.

    1. Enhanced Focus

    The collective intention of a group can help participants achieve a deeper state of focus during meditation, reducing distractions and enhancing the overall quality of the practice.

    2. Stress Reduction

    Shared meditation experiences can contribute to a sense of calm and relaxation, especially in groups where there is a genuine sense of trust and care. Being around people we feel safe with alleviates stress and anxiety, promoting emotional well-being.

    3. Increased Motivation

    Sometimes going it alone is just plain harder. Group meditation provides a shared commitment, a space where everyone can feel cheered on, and a positive cycle of encouragement.

    4. Supportive Environment

    Meditating in community fosters a supportive environment where individuals can share their challenges, successes, and insights. This sense of community can be a valuable resource on one’s meditation journey.

    In the contemporary context, the choices for meditating in community have expanded, catering to a diverse range of preferences and beliefs. Importantly, these options are often designed to be inclusive and secular, making meditation accessible to people from various walks of life.

    Here are some to consider:

    1. Banyan

    Co-founded by globally-renowned teachers Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield, Banyan is an online platform that focuses on creating a digital meditation community where users can participate in live sessions, courses, discussions, and challenges. It strives to build a real sense of connection in the online space. Banyan honors both old and new, using proven practices from ancient wisdom traditions and adapting them to the modern world.

    2. Meetup Meditation Groups

    People can access the Meetup platform to connect individuals interested in local in-person or virtual meditation groups. This allows for a diverse range of community experiences. Many groups are secular and welcome participants with different backgrounds.

    3. Plumline

    For those who want to connect with people all across the globe and meditate in the Plum Village tradition, Plumline offers online group meditation options. Plumline also offers affinity groups, so meditators can connect with others sharing similar challenges or life experiences.

    4. Your Local Gym or Yoga Studio

    As demand grows, more fitness centers and yoga studios are featuring group meditation classes as part of their offerings. Call around and find out!

    5. Start Your Own Group

    As teacher Tara Brach notes, there’s nothing fancy or formal that is required to be in a meditation group. It’s possible to simply gather some friends together and create your own experience of meditating in community.

    As the world navigates the challenges of the pandemic and beyond, the practice of meditating in community offers a profound and accessible path to well-being. Whether online or in-person, the diverse options available cater to individuals seeking a sense of connection, shared focus, and personal growth.

    You can discover the transformative power of communal mindfulness with our 5-day online community event series, designed to fit seamlessly into your busy life. 

    Each day, you’ll experience a 20-minute guided meditation followed by a 10-minute Q&A session, led by our expert mindfulness teachers.

    We believe in making mindfulness accessible to everyone, so we’re offering this event on a ‘Pay What You Can’ basis. While we suggest a value of $75 or more to support the creation of these valuable resources, we welcome any contribution that feels right or possible for you.

    Event Details:

    • Dates: August 26th-30th, 2024
    • Time: 8am PDT / 11am EDT daily
    • Format: Live virtual event, 30 minutes each
    • Price: Pay what you can
    DATE TEACHER THEME
    26 Aug Chris Willard Belonging in Nature
    27 Aug Shamash Alidina Finding Peace Within
    28 Aug Caverly Morgan  Clear Inner Clutter
    29 Aug Sue Hutton Honoring Ourselves As We Are
    30 Aug Tovi Scruggs-Hussein Deepen Into BE-ing
    community connection meditation series



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  • A 12-Minute Meditation for Being with the Ever-Changing World

    A 12-Minute Meditation for Being with the Ever-Changing World

    Men Talking Mindfulness co-host Will Schneider guides listeners to release distractions and rest attention on breathing in and out, so we can bring our minds fully into the present moment.

    By tuning in to our body and mind, where we observe the nature of the ever-changing world, we can develop greater awareness of the shifts occurring around us and within us. Change can be difficult or painful, and often we yearn for things to be otherwise. This meditation helps us open to the idea that life can be easier when we flow with the currents of change. By choosing to simply be a witness to whatever is happening in this moment, we’re able to be there for ourselves without judgment, learning to meet life exactly the way it is.

    In this meditation, we’re going to start with concentrating on the breath. With this preparation, we shift our attention and notice what we can hear, see, and other sensory information coming to us, awakening our natural curiosity.

    A Guided Meditation for Being With the Ever-Changing World

    1. Begin by sitting comfortably. Find your seat or take a few moments and bring some movement into your body. Get the breath moving in your body a little bit. If you’ve been sitting all day, after you feel a little bit more awake and alive, then come back, press play, and let’s continue.
    2. Begin to find your breath. Settle into a nice and easy, deep breath. Make the breath a little bit bigger. Inhale really big. Let it go. And a few more like that, taking in deep, wide, broad breaths and letting it go. Do a couple more. Breathing this way is a great way to start calming down the mind and the body so we are present in this moment. 
    3. Let’s do a few rounds of the box breath. Inhale through the nose for five seconds. Hold that breath for a count of five. Then exhale for a count of five. Then stay empty for a count of five. And then repeat. After a few rounds of box breath, come back to your normal pace of breathing. 
    4. Let’s consider the role of accepting impermanence in our daily practice. The one thing that is constant in this physical world is change, also known as impermanence. We can use this constant to develop greater awareness. Everything is changing all the time, and life is easier when we flow with it instead of fighting the current and living with the delusion of control, or yearning for an experience of how the world should be. These efforts are futile. It’s a waste of energy and time. When we learn and practice detaching from our ego’s idea of how the world should be, we stop suffering and our emotional turmoil on the inside starts to dissolve. 
    5. From this more calm place, for the next few moments, listen for sound. We’re simply listening for sound in the environment as it is. Not trying to change it. Not trying to figure it out. Not criticizing it. Just being with everything, with what is. If you hear voices or traffic or birds, depending where you are, notice how sound appears and then it’s gone. Then maybe there’s a moment of silence, which still contains sound in some way, and then something else appears. And then it goes away. Simply listening for sound. 
    6. If you find yourself getting lost in thoughts, that’s okay. Just take a few breaths to bring your attention back to the body.
    7. Next, let’s take that awareness and go inside the body. Start to feel your heartbeat in your chest. If it’s helpful, you can bring one of your hands and put it across your heart and just feel your heartbeat. Be with that as it is, and notice even the little fluctuations if you can. Notice the change or the variability in the heart. Sit there and just be with it. Just observe. Just be the witness. Orient your energy and your awareness to your heart. 
    8. Now, let’s take our attention a little further. Maybe you can feel your pulse somewhere else in your body, like in your shoulder, armpit, or down in your forearms, or maybe in your pelvis or down in your legs. See if you can pick up that same pulse, that same kind of pattern flowing through your body, through your limbs, through your torso, through your pelvis. Just be curious. 
    9. Then drop your awareness into your hands. Either the right and left, you choose, or both at the same time. Notice if there are physical sensations in your palms or the back of your hands. Are they cold or warm or dry or sweaty or moist? Can you feel the pulse down in your palms? Again, just noticing. Just being with, just being aware.
    10. Then drop down into your pelvis. See if you can feel the weight of your sit bones in the chair. Maybe there’s a little bit more on the left, or a little more on the right side of your hips. Then just slowly start to scan from the base of the spine, gently all the way through to the crown of the head. Maybe there’s some stiffness in your back. Let it be. You can feel the breath in your body as you work your way up the spine. You can come back, and feel the heartbeat in your chest.
    11. Then come back to that breath. Take a moment of gratitude for showing up for your practice today and putting in the work. Maybe there’s one thing you can take away with you from this meditation and bring it into your day. Roll your head a little bit side to side and slowly make your way back. Come back tomorrow and do this practice again. 



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  • How Present-Moment Awareness Can Make Life More Meaningful

    How Present-Moment Awareness Can Make Life More Meaningful

    Presence is meditation in motion. It is the practice of bringing mindfulness into the activities of daily life. We can practice the art of being here, now, while waiting in a long grocery store line, changing a baby’s diaper, or sitting in traffic.

    Presence involves a simple yet incredible shift—from the ordinary state of mind wandering to bringing our attention to the experience of what is happening right now. You can make this shift anytime, anywhere. 

    Why develop this habit? Spiritual leaders and philosophers have attempted to answer this question for thousands of years. And yet Ferris Bueller (the impetuous high school student from the classic 1986 film) might just have the best answer: “Life moves pretty fast,” he warned. “If you don’t stop and look around for a while, you might miss it.”

    He’s right. Life without presence moves pretty fast. When we wake up, go to work, and do the other things we need to do, we often operate on autopilot; the days fly by, as do the weeks, months, and years. In fact, scientists have confirmed that this experience of time “flying by” increases with age. With each passing year, the novelty of life diminishes and our perception of time accelerates.

     When we wake up, go to work, and do the other things we need to do, we often operate on autopilot; the days fly by, as do the weeks, months, and years. 

    This has led the mindfulness teacher Jon Kabat-Zinn to argue that if you really want to live a longer life, presence—not drugs, healthy eating, or any other strategy—is the best solution. You may not actually live longer in terms of calendar time, but your experience of life and your perception of time will expand. The days, months, and years can be richer, more meaningful, and more fully lived.

    Appreciating the fall leaves, listening to the crunch under your feet as you walk on the winter snow, smelling the scents of flowers or fresh-cut grass, feeling the warmth of the summer sun—these simple acts of presence slow life down. They help us go through each day feeling more alive, awake, and content.

    There are other benefits, too. Presence doesn’t simply change the quality of being. It can also transform the quality of what you do, leading to greater creative flow, enhanced relationships, and increased productivity at home and at work. 

    Through developing the habit of presence, we can get in touch with the fundamental wonder of what it is to be alive, and even the most ordinary moments become extraordinary.

    How to Stay in the Present Moment

    But it’s not that simple. There’s also something quite mysterious about this moment. It’s not like the past, which stretches infinitely behind us. It’s also not like the future, which stretches infinitely ahead. In fact, the moment you try to capture it, it’s gone. It becomes just another part of the past. 

    Philosophers have strived to define the present moment. While some have seen it as almost nonexistent—fleeting and infinitely thin—others saw it as having infinite depth. 

    In fact, the ancient Greeks identified three ways that opening to the present moment increases the depth of our experience and productive possibilities of each moment. First, when we fully experience what is here and now, we no longer postpone what we most want. We live our fullest life now. The philosopher Epicurus captures this ethos of urgency:

    “We are only born once—twice is not allowed—and it is necessary that we shall be no more, for all eternity; and yet you, who are not master of tomorrow, you keep on putting off your joy?”

    This is something many of us have experienced. Have you ever heard the shocking and sad news that someone close to you has died and then thought, Am I living life as fully and as presently possible? Death makes us acutely aware of our aliveness and the preciousness of each moment.

    Second, attending to the present moment enables us to take advantage of the full range of possibilities that exist in each moment. This helps us adapt to even the most challenging situations. If you’re stuck at the airport with a long delay, you can let your mind swirl with thoughts about the past and future: I should have taken the earlier flight or I am going to be so late and tired. Or you can experience the power of the present moment and take advantage of the new possibilities available to you as a result of the delay: go for a brisk walk through the concourse, read for pleasure, eat a meal, or catch up with friends on the phone. 

    When we manage to enter the razor-thin moment of presence, something amazing happens: anxieties and resentments dissolve. We experience more ease, calm, and peace.

    Being present opens up a third possibility: happiness and well-being. When we spend the day traveling through the past and future, we tend to get trapped in a host of negative emotions, from anxiety to irritation to resentment. The Epicurean school of ancient Greek thought used sayings like this: “Senseless people live in hope for the future, and since this cannot be certain, they are consumed by fear and anxiety.” 

    When we manage to enter the razor-thin moment of presence, something amazing happens: anxieties and resentments dissolve. We experience more ease, calm, and peace. In short, we experience more well-being. What is the present moment? This almost sounds like a trick question. Everyone knows that the present moment is what’s happening now. The wind in the trees, the touch of fabric against your skin, your dog brushing up against your leg. 

    The Science and Practice of Presence

    The science on this is clear. Spending more time in the present moment leads to greater happiness.  A Harvard University study conducted in 2010 by Matthew A. Killingsworth and Daniel T. Gilbert, for example, revealed that happiness is inversely related to mind wandering—the amount of time that we spend time traveling through thoughts about past and future.  

    Killingsworth and Gilbert discovered that most of us spend a lot of time mind wandering—distracted from the present moment. In fact, the average person spends 47 percent of the day mind wandering: thinking about something other than his or her present activity.

    Their key insight, however, wasn’t just that our minds wander. It was the link between presence and happiness. Killingsworth concluded, “How often our minds leave the present and where they tend to go is a better predictor of our happiness than the activities in which we are engaged.” In other words, this landmark study shows that one of the keys to happiness lies in simply redirecting our attention from mind wandering and distraction to what’s happening right here, right now in the present moment.

     A Practice to Shift Your Attention to the Present Moment

    1. Notice—see if you can become aware—each time you step into the shower. 
    2. Shift your attention to the sights, sounds, and bodily sensations of the present moment. To do this, we recommend that you ground your feet and bring your attention to your breath. Use what we call the “4×4 breath” or the box breath—four counts in, four counts out, for four breaths. This move will help you begin building the habit of shifting your attention from mind wandering and stress to the present moment. 
    3. Rewire—encode this experience deep into your memory by savoring it for just 15 to 30 seconds.

    Quick Tips

    • Do it every day: Practice presence every day and, if you forget to do it in the shower,  practice presence during some other everyday life moment, such as walking up the stairs or starting your car.
    • How to remember to do it: The most difficult thing about building this habit is remembering. To help you remember, we have developed a low-tech but extremely effective method. Put a sticker at eye level on your shower door. If you don’t want to use a sticker (or don’t have a shower door), you could use a piece of masking tape with “Presence” written on it. After a month or so, once the habit is ingrained, you may find that you no longer need it.
    • How you know it’s working: After a couple of weeks or a month, you will likely start to notice that you no longer need to consciously remember to experience presence. It just starts to happen as you enter the shower. This is the magic moment of habit formation. It means that your brain has wired a new set of connections around this everyday activity.
    • If you want more: If you have mastered the habit in the shower, try adding an advanced cue: stairs. Every time you walk up or down a flight of stairs, see if you can be present. This is a perfect time to feel the sensations in your feet or to bring your attention to the sights and sounds that occur as you step. This additional cue will take you even deeper into the experience of presence.

    Adapted from Start Here: Master the Lifelong Habit of Wellbeing by Eric Langshur and Nate Klemp, PhD.

    Mindfulness teacher Jason Gant reflects on a heartfelt memory when he was able to lean on his deep practice and mindfully take action. Read More 

    Reclaim the first few moments of your day by dedicating some time to morning meditation or an empowering routine. To help you get started, we’ve gathered our best tips on how to ease your mind and body into a new day. Read More 

    • Mindful Staff
    • April 28, 2021

    Tita Angangco, cofounder of The Centre for Mindfulness Studies, shares a loving-kindness meditation that serves as an ignition to spark change. Read More 

    • Tita Angangco
    • April 12, 2021



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  • Compassion Is Key to Our Survival

    Compassion Is Key to Our Survival

    A fun fact about hummingbirds is that they are wary of loud noises. Barking dogs and loud music can scare the tiny creatures away because they don’t feel safe in noisy environments. People respond to unsafe environments like hummingbirds. We avoid situations that don’t feel safe, and when we find ourselves in one, we don’t stay long. But here’s where people differ from hummingbirds: safety issues can confuse us. Sometimes, we don’t recognize that the reason we’re uncomfortable is because we don’t feel safe, and other times we think we feel uncomfortable because we’re not safe, even though that’s not the reason.

    What do you need to be safe and take care of yourself ? The answer may not be as straightforward as it seems. Safety depends, at least in part, on whom you’re with, where you are, and how you feel. When I was in my twenties and thirties, living in New York City on my own, I regularly assessed whether riding the subway at a particular hour or in a certain neighborhood was safe. Later, living in Los Angeles with young children, I made a judgment call on whether their climbing on the high bars of a rickety jungle gym was safe. When they got older, I balanced their wish to be with friends against whether their driving a long distance at night was safe. As an empty nester, my focus shifted back to my husband Seth and me, and whether choices like getting a walk-up apartment rather than one in an elevator building made sense since our ability to climb stairs carrying luggage or groceries would change as we grew older. The answers to these questions hinged on physical safety and the odds of someone getting hurt.

    I don’t think about safety in such literal terms anymore. I now see safety as more nuanced and recognize the ways that my reactions spring from an evolutionary survival mechanism designed to keep me alive to pass my genes on to future generations, rather than critical thinking. We’re hardwired for survival. None of the ideas or takeaways I describe are scary. Still, some might carry you outside your comfort zone and trigger the survival mechanisms that run automatically when you’re in physical danger.

    When we feel safe, we’re in our comfort zones, where we perform well, set appropriate boundaries, rest, recharge, and reflect. It feels good when we’re in our comfort zones, but it’s not where we take risks or where much growth takes place. Development takes place when we’re on the far edge of our comfort zones, stretching existing skills and abilities. When a stretch is in reach, but we feel unsafe anyway, one of our innate survival mechanisms can switch into gear and shut us down. Then, a mechanism designed to protect us short-circuits our growth and gets in the way of reaching our goals. This tendency can be mitigated in several ways, but for now, I’ll mention one: kindness.

    As far back as Charles Darwin, scientists, philosophers, artists, and poets have drawn a straight line between our warmhearted urge to respond to suffering with kindness and the likelihood that we’ll survive, even thrive.

    As far back as Charles Darwin, scientists, philosophers, artists, and poets have drawn a straight line between our warmhearted urge to respond to suffering with kindness and the likelihood that we’ll survive, even thrive. To borrow from the preface of Dacher Keltner’s excellent book, Born to Be Good: “[S]urvival of the kindest may be just as fitting a description of our origins as survival of the fittest.”

    Navigating Sorrow With Kindness

    I was introduced to the poem “Kindness” from Naomi Shihab Nye’s first poetry collection when I heard it recited by Jon Kabat-Zinn, the founder of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). Kabat-Zinn and his teaching partner Saki Santorelli (at the time, executive director of the Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts medical school) were international rock stars in the secular mindfulness world, and I was primed to listen. It was early morning, midway through a weeklong MBSR retreat/training in the late 1990s at the Mount Madonna retreat center in Northern California. Light streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows in the meditation hall to backlight Kabat-Zinn, who was sitting cross-legged on a meditation cushion, up on a dais. The golden early morning light gave him and the entire session an otherworldly quality. He recited the poem from memory to a room full of meditators sitting around him in a semicircle, most of whom were also sitting cross-legged on cushions. One of the images in the poem stood out then and has remained with me since:

    You must wake up with sorrow.
    You must speak to it till your voice
    catches the thread of all sorrows
    and you see the size of the cloth.

    I’m struck by how often I’ve remembered this image of the enormity of sorrow in the world since I first heard it. The phrase has come back to me when someone I love has fallen ill or has died and when the loved ones of people close to me have struggled with illness or death. The size of the cloth hit me at an even greater level of magnitude as I watched news coverage of the Twin Towers coming down on 9/11 in New York City. The size of the cloth was almost unimaginable when I saw footage of the refrigerated trailers parked in front of hospitals in New York City functioning as temporary morgues during the early days of the pandemic. Maybe the theme of Shihab Nye’s poem that “it’s only kindness that makes sense anymore” resonated with me because it echoed rabbinic sage Hillel the Elder’s call to action: “If not now, when? If not me, who?”

    Discomfort is one way our bodies ask us to listen.

    Scientists have long suspected that kindness in response to other people’s pain is a survival mechanism that’s wired into our nervous systems. What’s often harder for people to remember is that kindness in response to our own sorrow is also a survival mechanism. For many of us, being kind to ourselves is more of a leap than being kind to others. It was for me. I thought kindness was the Golden Rule we teach young children—do unto others as you would have them do unto you. It didn’t occur to me to apply the Golden Rule to myself. I wanted to be a good mother, a good partner with Seth in providing for our family, and to make a difference in the world. I was one of the lucky ones and wanted to pay it forward. There was no room for me to take it easy. The harder I tried to do good and be good, the more of a toll it took on me. Still, it didn’t register that the pace at which I was working was unkind to my family and me. I had to burn myself out emotionally and physically a few times before I could internalize the commonsense truth that discomfort is one way our bodies ask us to listen. Just as it took me a while to develop a more nuanced stance toward safety, it took me time to adopt a more expansive idea of kindness that included being kind to myself.

    Exploring What Safety and Kindness Feel Like

    The following practices and activity-based takeaways are designed for you to integrate into daily life easily. Doing them shouldn’t be a heavy lift and tax you, but sometimes, mindfulness and meditation bring up big feelings that are painful to confront. Please be kind to yourself. Take a break if you feel overwhelmed or if discomfort becomes too much to manage easily. Time is your friend when it comes to inner discovery, and you have plenty of room to allow the process to unfold at its own pace.

    Practice: Reflect on What You Need to Feel Safe

    Identifying your safety needs and factoring them into your choices are a meaningful and effective way to be kind to yourself. Ask yourself, “What do I need to feel safe?” “Are my safety needs being met?” “How?” If they aren’t being met, “Why not?” Remember that whether you feel safe depends on various factors, including if you’re tired, hungry, or stressed. When safety and inclusion needs are unacknowledged and unmet, our nervous systems are ripe to become hijacked by one of our innate survival mechanisms.

    Reflecting on safety needs can seem like a waste of time. When you’re in your comfort zone, it’s easy to miss the point of looking at what it takes to feel safe. Here’s why you should do it anyway: If you identify your safety needs up front, while you’re in your comfort zone, you can better take care of yourself later when you are outside of it.

    1. Find a comfortable place where you won’t be interrupted. Close your eyes or softly gaze ahead or downward. 
    2. A few breaths later, listen for the loudest sound. When you are ready, listen for the quietest sound. Don’t chase a sound that’s hard to hear; relax and let it come to you. Let your mind be open and rest in the whole soundscape. 
    3. Ask yourself, “What does it take to feel safe and welcome in a new situation?” Hold the question in mind and listen to the answers that emerge. 
    4. When you’re ready, open your eyes if they are closed and jot down your insights. 
    5. Then, draw three concentric circles on a blank piece of paper. Prioritize your insights by writing the most important ones in the inner circle. Write those that are the least important in the outer circle. Write what’s left on your list in the circle in between. All your insights matter, but doublecheck to ensure the essential items are in the inner circle. 
    6. Review the diagram and consider ways to increase the odds that, in a new situation, you will feel safe and included.

    Takeaway: How might connecting with playfulness, attention, balance, and compassion help you feel safer and more welcome?

    Practice: Let Yourself Be Immersed in Self-Compassion

    Throughout our evolutionary history, humans have relied on kindness to survive. Strong social bonds, effective communication, and meaningful collaboration create a supportive external environment that allows us to thrive in diverse situations and overcome challenges. Similarly, we create a supportive internal environment when we are kind to ourselves, one where we become more emotionally resilient. Kindness is a self-reinforcing behavior. By being kind to ourselves, we can better support and care for those around us. By being kind to others, we build trust, strengthen relationships, and create a sense of social support and belonging that helps us cope with stress and navigate adversity.

    I first learned about the following self-compassion practice reading Zen priest Edward Espe Brown’s book No Recipe: Cooking as a Spiritual Practice where he writes: “[I]n the early ’80s, when Thich Nhat Hanh was giving a talk prior to departing from the San Francisco Zen Center where I was living, he said he had a goodbye present for us. We could, he said, open and use it anytime, and if we did not find it useful, we could simply set it aside. Then he proceeded to explain that, ‘As you inhale, let your heart fill with compassion, and as you exhale, pour the compassion over your head.’”

    1. Imagine you are in a sweltering but beautiful jungle, holding a coconut shell in one hand. Can you feel the rough shell against the palm of your hand? Picture a wooden barrel filled with cool rainwater on the ground next to you. Can you see your reflection in the sparkling water? 
    2. Imagine the rainwater is a nectar of compassion that soothes busy minds and big feelings. As you breathe in, imagine filling the coconut shell with compassionate rainwater. As you breathe out, imagine pouring the nectar of compassion over the crown of your head. 
    3. Let go of the images of the bucket and coconut shell to focus on sensation. Imagine what it would feel like for a nectar of compassion to wash over you and soothe your body from head to toe. 
    4. Starting at the crown of your head, feel the compassion rinse slowly over your face and head, then over your neck, shoulders, chest, upper arms, lower arms, and hands. 
    5. Move your attention to your torso and imagine feeling a nectar of compassion wash slowly over your torso, pelvis, upper legs, knees, lower legs, and feet. 
    6. When you’re ready, lightly rest your attention on your outbreath. If thoughts and emotions arise, don’t fight them. With no goal or purpose, allow your mind to be open and rest.

    Takeaway: Find at least one way to be kind to yourself today, then see if there’s a ripple effect.

    From Real-World Enlightenment: Discovering Ordinary Magic in Everyday Life by Susan Kaiser Greenland © 2024 by S. Greenland, Inc. Reprinted in arrangement with Shambhala Publications, Inc. Boulder, CO. www.shambhala.com



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  • Hooray for You! Nanalan’ Embraces the Power of Encouragement

    Hooray for You! Nanalan’ Embraces the Power of Encouragement

    Want to get inspired with simple acts of kindness? Rooted in the power of encouragement, things like celebrating small wins or recognizing others’ talents can help us uplift one another.

    In the Nanalan’ YouTube video “Hooray for You!” Mona and her Nana beautifully illustrate the power of encouragement both for ourselves and those around us. This episode, filled with joyful interactions and uplifting messages, serves as a perfect example of how mindful kindness can be seamlessly integrated into daily life to foster a supportive and nurturing environment.

    Actions like celebrating small victories, recognizing unique talents, or simply being present with a kind word play a vital role in building self-esteem and community. Let’s delve into these themes and explore how they resonate through the experiences of Mona, her Nana, and Russell.

    3 Ways to Encourage One Another with Kindness

    1. Celebrate Achievements

    In the video, Nana enthusiastically celebrates when Mona completes her artwork. This act of recognizing and celebrating achievements, no matter how small, is a powerful way to practice kindness. By focusing on the positive and acknowledging effort, we create an environment where individuals feel valued and motivated to continue pursuing their goals. Nana’s genuine excitement, and her decision to display Mona’s artwork on the fridge, underscore the importance of honoring accomplishments and reinforcing self-worth.

    Do you take the time to celebrate your achievements, no matter how minor they may seem? They could be as simple as finishing a task at work, or trying out a new recipe. Share your successes with loved ones and allow yourself to feel proud—and encourage others to share their achievements and celebrate together, fostering a supportive atmosphere.

    2. Practice Patience and Positive Feedback

    When Russell, the playful puppy, attempts his trick with the pork chop, Nana encourages him by affirming that practice makes perfect. This moment highlights that  patience and positive reinforcement are ways of being kind to others. By offering gentle encouragement, and acknowledging the effort rather than just the outcome, we help others build resilience and confidence. Russell’s perseverance, supported by Nana’s kind words, demonstrates the power of encouragement, nurturing patience, and providing positive feedback.

    When you offer kind words to those around you, it reinforces the idea that growth and improvement are valuable in their own right.

    Practice patience with yourself and others when learning new skills or facing challenges. Instead of focusing solely on the end result, recognize and celebrate the effort and progress made along the way. When you offer kind words to those around you, it reinforces the idea that growth and improvement are valuable in their own right.

    3. Create Joyful Shared Experiences

    Mr. Wooka’s puppet show provides a memorable shared experience for Mona, Nana, and Russell. Engaging in joyful activities together strengthens relationships and builds a sense of community where kindness can flourish. Shared laughter and enjoyment create happy memories and deepen connections. The puppet show’s fun and laughter highlight the importance of spending quality time together, fostering emotional bonds, and encouraging a supportive environment.

    Make time for joyful shared experiences with friends and family, whether it’s watching a funny movie, playing a game, or simply spending time together. These moments of shared happiness can deepen your connections and create lasting positive memories.

    3 Ways to Nurture a Culture of Encouragement

    In “Hooray for You!,” Mona and her Nana demonstrate the power of encouragement through various kind practices. By celebrating achievements, practicing patience, embracing individuality, creating joyful shared experiences, and welcoming self-expression, they create a nurturing environment where everyone feels valued and supported.

    Embrace these methods to foster a culture of encouragement in your own life:

    1. First, shift your mindset with affirmations. In today’s hectic world, finding moments of inner peace and self-worth can be challenging. Mindful affirmations, such as “I am capable,” “I am worthy,” or “I am enough,” offer a simple yet profound way to cultivate resilience, awareness, and compassion in your daily life. Whether you’re looking to reduce stress, enhance self-compassion, or achieve personal goals, incorporating affirmations into your routine can make a significant difference.
    2. Then, embrace the power of meditating in community. While meditation is often viewed as a solitary pursuit, meditating in community offers a transformative alternative. Beyond its traditional role as a personal practice, meditation has long been celebrated in communal settings across cultures and traditions. Today, exploring meditation with others not only enhances personal well-being but also fosters deeper connections and shared growth.
    3. Finally, discover the qualities of true friendship. Join philosopher Alain de Botton as he unveils six profound features that distinguish true friendships. Hint: Great friends don’t require you to be perfect in order to believe in you and cheer you on! Explore how these timeless qualities enrich our lives and support us through both joy and hardship.



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  • The Benefits of Being a Patient Person

    The Benefits of Being a Patient Person

    As virtues go, patience is a quiet one.

    It’s often exhibited behind closed doors, not on a public stage: A father telling a third bedtime story to his son, a dancer waiting for her injury to heal. In public, it’s the impatient ones who grab all our attention: drivers honking in traffic, grumbling customers in slow-moving lines. We have epic movies exalting the virtues of courage and compassion, but a movie about patience might be a bit of a snoozer. Yet patience is essential to daily life—and might be key to a happy one.

    Having patience means being able to wait calmly in the face of frustration or adversity, so anywhere there is frustration or adversity—i.e., nearly everywhere—we have the opportunity to practice it.

    A patient person is able to wait calmly in the face of frustration or adversity. So, anywhere there is frustration or adversity—i.e., nearly everywhere—we have the opportunity to practice. At home with our kids, at work with our colleagues, at the grocery store with half our city’s population, patience can make the difference between annoyance and equanimity, between worry and tranquility.

    Religions and philosophers have long praised the virtue of patience; now researchers are starting to do so as well. Studies have found that, sure enough, good things really do come to those who wait. Some of these science-backed benefits are detailed below, along with three ways to cultivate more patience in your life.

    1. Patient People Enjoy Better Mental Health

    This finding is probably easy to believe if you call to mind the stereotypical impatient person: face red, head steaming. And sure enough, according to a 2007 study by Fuller Theological Seminary professor Sarah A. Schnitker and UC Davis psychology professor Robert Emmons, patient people tend to experience less depression and negative emotions, perhaps because they can cope better with upsetting or stressful situations. They also rate themselves as more mindful and feel more gratitude, more connection to mankind and to the universe, and a greater sense of abundance.

    In 2012, Schnitker sought to refine our understanding of patience, recognizing that it comes in many different stripes. One type is interpersonal patience, which doesn’t involve waiting but simply facing annoying people with equanimity. In a study of nearly 400 undergraduates, she found that those who are more patient toward others also tend to be more hopeful and more satisfied with their lives.

    Another type of patience involves waiting out life’s hardships without frustration or despair—think of the unemployed person who persistently fills out job applications or the cancer patient waiting for her treatment to work. Unsurprisingly, in Schnitker’s study, this type of courageous patience was linked to more hope.

    Finally, patience over daily hassles—traffic jams, long lines at the grocery store, a malfunctioning computer—seems to go along with good mental health. In particular, people who have this type of patience are more satisfied with life and less depressed.

    These studies are good news for people who are already patient, but what about those of us who want to become more patient? In her 2012 study, Schnitker invited 71 undergraduates to participate in two weeks of patience training, where they learned to identify feelings and their triggers, regulate their emotions, empathize with others, and meditate. In two weeks, participants reported feeling more patient toward the trying people in their lives, feeling less depressed, and experiencing higher levels of positive emotions. In other words, patience seems to be a skill you can practice—more on that below—and doing so might bring benefits to your mental health.

    2. Patient People are Better Friends and Neighbors

    In relationships with others, patience becomes a form of kindness. Think of good listeners—the best friend who comforts you night after night over the heartache that just won’t go away, or the grandchild who smiles through the story she has heard her grandfather tell countless times. Indeed, research suggests that patient people tend to be more cooperative, more empathic, more equitable, and more forgiving. “Patience involves emphatically assuming some personal discomfort to alleviate the suffering of those around us,” write Debra R. Comer and Leslie E. Sekerka in their 2014 study.

    Evidence of this is found in a 2008 study that put participants into groups of four and asked them to contribute money to a common pot, which would be doubled and redistributed. The game gave players a financial incentive to be stingy, yet patient people contributed more to the pot than other players did.

    This kind of selflessness is found among people with all three types of patience mentioned above, not just interpersonal patience: In Schnitker’s 2012 study, all three were associated with higher “agreeableness,” a personality trait characterized by warmth, kindness, and cooperation. The interpersonally patient people even tended to be less lonely, perhaps because making and keeping friends—with all their quirks and slip-ups—generally requires a healthy dose of patience. “Patience may enable individuals to tolerate flaws in others, therefore displaying more generosity, compassion, mercy, and forgiveness,” write Schnitker and Emmons in their 2007 study.

    On a group level, patience may be one of the foundations of civil society. Patient people are more likely to vote, an activity that entails waiting months or years for our elected official to implement better policies. Evolutionary theorists believe that patience helped our ancestors survive because it allowed them to do good deeds and wait for others to reciprocate, instead of demanding immediate compensation (which would more likely lead to conflict than cooperation). In that same vein, patience is linked to trust in the people and the institutions around us.

    3. Patience Helps Us Achieve Our Goals

    The road to achievement is a long one, and those without patience—who want to see results immediately—may not be willing to walk it.

    In her 2012 study, Schnitker also examined whether patience helps students get things done. In five surveys they completed over the course of a semester, patient people of all stripes reported exerting more effort toward their goals than other people did. Those with interpersonal patience in particular made more progress toward their goals and were more satisfied when they achieved them (particularly if those goals were difficult) compared with less patient people. According to Schnitker’s analysis, that greater satisfaction with achieving their goals explained why these patient achievers were more content with their lives as a whole.

    4. Patience Is Linked to Good Health

    The study of patience is still new, but there’s some emerging evidence that it might even be good for our health. In their 2007 study, Schnitker and Emmons found that patient people were less likely to report health problems like headaches, acne flair-ups, ulcers, diarrhea, and pneumonia. Other research has found that people who exhibit impatience and irritability—a characteristic of the Type A personality—tend to have more health complaints and worse sleep. If patience can reduce our daily stress, helping us to remain calm in the face of challenges and maintaining a patient and understanding way, it’s reasonable to speculate that it could also protect us against stress’s damaging health effects.

    Three Ways to Practice Patience

    This is all good news for the naturally patient—or for those who have the time and opportunity to take an intensive two-week training in patience. But what about the rest of us?

    It seems there are everyday ways to build patience as well. Here are some strategies suggested by emerging patience research.

    • Reframe the situation. Feeling impatient is not just an automatic emotional response; it involves conscious thoughts and beliefs, too. If a colleague is late to a meeting, you can fume about their lack of respect, or see those extra 15 minutes as an opportunity to get some reading done. Patience is linked to self-control, and consciously trying to regulate our emotions can help us train our self-control muscles.
    • Practice mindfulness. In one study, kids who did a six-month mindfulness program in school became less impulsive and more willing to wait for a reward. The Greater Good Science Center’s Christine Carter also recommends mindfulness practice for parents: Taking a deep breath and noticing your feelings of anger or overwhelm (for example, when your kids start yet another argument right before bedtime) can help you respond with more patience.
    • Practice gratitude. In another study, adults who were feeling grateful were also better at patiently delaying gratification. When given the choice between getting an immediate cash reward or waiting a year for a larger ($100) windfall, less grateful people caved in once the immediate payment offer climbed to $18. Grateful people, however, could hold out until the amount reached $30. If we’re thankful for what we have today, we’re not desperate for more stuff or better circumstances immediately. We can find more ease in taking our time.

    We can try to shelter ourselves from frustration and adversity, but they come with the territory of being human. Practicing patience in everyday situations—like with our punctuality-challenged coworker—will not only make life more pleasant in the present, but might also help pave the way for a more satisfying and successful future.

    This article originally appeared on Greater Good, the online magazine of UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center, one of Mindful’s partners. View the original article. It was originally published on Mindful.org in April of 2016.



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  • New Life, Who’s This? Rediscovering Who You Are When Everything Has Changed

    New Life, Who’s This? Rediscovering Who You Are When Everything Has Changed

    Soon after my husband died, I invited my parents for lunch, and said that my brother couldn’t make it so there would only be the four of us. My mother asked who else would be joining us—who was the fourth person? In two heartbeats I did the math, and realized that there would not be four of us. No, there would only be three. I was no longer Mike-and-Elaine. I was just Elaine. My math had changed. And that was going to take some getting used to.

    Death, and endings of all sorts, can shock you in so many ways. One of the most slyly discombobulating is the change of identity that can slam into you at the same time that everything else is also falling apart. Maybe, like me, you’ve been part of a couple and now you’re a singleton. Or maybe you gave up a cherished role or identity to take care of someone, and now that you are no longer needed as a caretaker, you might feel like you’re hanging out in limbo.

    Even something we dread can sneakily become part of our identity. Whether you love or loathe your life and responsibilities, you may not have noticed how much of your identity comes from being a spouse, a lawyer, a sibling, or even an independent. Then one not-so-fine day you lose a job, a limb, or a loved one, and grief throws you into confusion as you look around at your strange new life and try to figure out who you are now.

    It makes perfect sense that being hurled into the unknown can feel distressing. Mindfulness supports your resilience by helping you recognize that whether you want it or not, something new is beginning and maybe that’s not all bad news.

    When you are grieving, it can feel so hard to look up, or look around—and as you try to navigate this unfamiliar landscape, you might experience pain and want to retreat. But if you can take a breath, and employ openness and curiosity, you might discover new possibilities hidden in plain sight.

    It can feel scary to lose your familiar identity—but as long as you’re alive, there are still more yous waiting to be discovered.

    It can feel scary to lose your familiar identity—but as long as you’re alive, there are still more yous waiting to be discovered.

    Who Am I Now? A Practice for Exploring Identity

    Use this four-step practice to find your footing again after an identity-shifting loss.

    Step 1: Investigate. What identity do you want to inhabit? As sad as you may feel about what has ended, what possibilities might there be that weren’t previously available? 

    Step 2: Explore. What do you need to help you accept your changing identity? If you are not sure, take as much time as you want to ask yourself: could you use a coach or a mentor? A new relationship? A support group? Retraining, or a geographical move? You’re in new territory. This is a great moment to be open and curious. 

    Keep a list of whatever you stumble across that just might be a piece in the puzzle of your ever-changing identity. What might you want to try, even just for a little while? Your life may be different, but you are still here living it. Dare to dream big. The biggest adventures are all made up of a zillion small, rich, and important steps. Take the adventure to be the fullest version of whoever you are. 

    The biggest adventures are all made up of a zillion small, rich, and important steps. Take the adventure to be the fullest version of whoever you are.

    Step 3: Stabilize. Grief can shake up your thinking, your digestion, and how you react to situations. One way to stabilize is to notice when you feel that you are under stress. Instead of ignoring it, immediately use this as a call to arms—a call to loving arms, that is, as you physically or metaphorically wrap your loving arms around yourself and find a path to calm and grounding. 

    If you feel trapped by distressing thoughts about the past or the future, you may be able to see that if you could stay in the present, those thoughts would be easier to manage. So what might help you stay in the present? It can include something as simple as counting your breaths, silently or out loud, to give your attention somewhere to land other than in the painful memories of the past, and fearful thoughts about the future. This won’t get rid of anything, but it can help reduce stress by giving you a breather from all the intensity.

    You could also explore moving your attention to your feet. Do you notice any sensations of tingling or numbness or contact or heat or itchiness? Do you notice that you have less attention available to be sucked into the land of difficult thoughts when you are trying to pay attention to subtle sensations in the feet?

    If focusing on your feet isn’t your bag, you might try something very ordinary, like placing a comforting hand on your stomach, cheek, or chest, or anywhere on your body that makes you feel cared for and supported. Always make the choice to be your own best friend!

    Step 4: Welcome the new. It’s not your imagination; your life isn’t what it was, and like it or not, whatever was will never be again—at least, not quite like that. 

    Feel free to take time to grieve, then recognize that this is a time for boldness. The unknown is what is here. What you get to choose is the way forward. So come on, step out into that awaiting unknown and welcome the identity that offers you the greatest opportunity to explore the constantly renewing present moment. 



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  • Let Your Practice Guide You Beyond Crisis Mode

    Let Your Practice Guide You Beyond Crisis Mode

    The pandemic tested many of us on every level: mental, physical, emotional, and financial. Whether it was the endless hours on Zoom, the extended periods of isolation, not being able to do the things we loved or see the people we cared about, the past year and a half has taken a toll on all of us as we’ve moved in and out of crisis mode. As a meditation teacher, I have noticed one kind of challenge in particular: For some people, this was the most time they had actually had to spend with themselves without external distractions. Understandably daunting, for those who have kept busy enough to avoid being alone with themselves for most of their lives. 

    Mindfulness, yoga, meditation, and breathwork all became desired tools to get through each day of lockdowns. I continue to be inspired by the shift I have seen in so many of my clients—Fortune 500 companies, entrepreneurs, soul seekers, and conscious leaders—during this period. And my own mindfulness path has taught me that challenges can always be a portal to growth if we can take a moment to pause, reflect, and develop practices to build inner strength and resilience that nothing outside of us can disrupt.  

    My mindfulness practice came to me when my life was crumbling and in crisis mode. Like most of society I had learned from an early age to lean on everything outside of myself to define my happiness and success. So, in a period of my life when I was stripped of work, relationships, goals, and personal timelines for accomplishing a number of things, I crumbled. It was one of those moments where there was nowhere to go, but in. This moment was a not so gentle nudge to start exploring what it meant for me personally to “journey inward” and discover tools and practices that could aid me on my journey. 

    Making Mindfulness a Way of Life

    Since 2007 I have trained physically to climb mountains. For me, not being a naturally skilled athlete, climbing is 20% physical and 80% mental. When I summited peaks like Mt. Everest, it was mindfulness that was the game changer in my training, that got me up the mountain. My daily practice truly developed after my successful summit in 2013. Before that, I was using my mindfulness practice only as a tool to get out of a “hot mess” state or to accomplish major goals—mindfulness needed to become a way of life. Otherwise, I would simply keep arriving at the same place with nowhere to turn, but inward.

    When my life is chaotic, mindfulness provides an almost instantaneous relief. For those few seconds or minutes when I practice, I can feel a sense of deep inner peace. In moments of heightened stress, anxiety, depression, sadness, or fear, it’s easy for me to practice regularly. But, when life eases its grip, my practice can fall lower on the priority list. When the urgent need for relief dissipates, I can get lulled into thinking my practice is less important.

    When my life is chaotic, mindfulness provides an almost instantaneous relief.

    We will continue to encounter those peaks and valleys in life, and so having a tool to help us remain centered and well at either end of the spectrum and everywhere in between remains critically important. I look at this as an aspect of prevention. We exercise our bodies, eat well, and get adequate sleep to remain healthy and keep our immunity levels high—it’s best not to wait to start these things only after a major health crisis. And I’ve realized it’s the same with keeping my heart and mind well. Both according to research and anecdotally, mindfulness can help people manage depression, stress, anxiety, compulsiveness, aid in better quality of sleep, keep better focus, and the list goes on. While a life or work crisis can be the spark of inspiration to start practicing mindfulness, a new crisis or challenging moment doesn’t need to be the reminder to keep practicing. 

    Coming Home to Yourself

    With mindfulness practice, I’ve come to realize I always have the choice to not get swept away with whatever is going on outside, but to reconnect with myself—to come home to myself, as some meditation teachers say. This is something available to us with every single intentional breath we take. I value my practice not only because it’s comforting or calming; it also helps me let go of the idea that joy, peace, and success are external. The more I practice and connect with inner peace, the more I take back my power, instead of depending on external things, people, or factors to provide this for me. 

    Beginning to emerge from the pandemic, I face a new decision: Whether I’ll continue to lean on my practice as the world begins to open, or drift away from it in the excitement of returning to former ways of living and working. The reality is that who I was pre-pandemic has changed. Having grown through this global challenge, I know I have an opportunity for reflection, before diving back into the way things were—into who I was—to decide who I will be going forward.

    Let Your Practice Guide You 

    When training for my climbs, my mental training was increasingly more important than the physical. 100% of how we respond to extreme environments and unpredictable circumstances depends on our mind, on our ability to cultivate inner calm and come home to ourselves, despite the intensity that surrounds us at times. As we move forward to create a new normal—a world that is more aware, compassionate, and interconnected—let’s continue to lean on our practice to consistently remind us of our inner home, not only for our own benefit, but for those around us.

    I invite you to reflect on these prompts to clarify your intentions around self-care for this next chapter:

    • What did I learn about myself over these past 16 months?
    • What practices helped me most in my overall well-being?
    • What shifted most for me during this time?
    • How did I better prioritize self-care and compassion during this time?
    • How can I lean further into my practice, now that life seems to be going back to a normal I once knew?
    • Did I discover a hidden gift about myself, life, work, during this time? 

    A 12-Minute Meditation for Coming Home to Yourself

    When we start to build a mindfulness practice that brings us home to ourselves, it helps us let go of the desire to seek a sense of comfort or stability outside ourselves. Explore this variation on a loving-kindness meditation to feel more grounded and at ease, no matter your external circumstances. 

    1. Find a quiet space where you will not be distracted. Take a seat on the floor or on a chair. Keep your spine straight. Place your palms on your lap facing up. Close your eyes or simply lower your gaze. Ease into your seat. 
    1. Start connecting with your breath. If your mind is busy, you can count your breaths as above to refocus and slow down. 
    1. Connect with the rhythm of your breath. With each inhale ground yourself a little more into your seat. With each exhale let go of any tension, worries, doubts, or fears that arise. 
    1. As you inhale next, feel the beauty of the breath moving through your body. Connect with a sense of renewal and ease.
    2. As you exhale, release any remaining tension a little bit more, embracing a feeling of lightness come over you. 
    1. As you inhale, softly mentally affirm, “I am safe, I am home.” As you exhale, softly mentally affirm, “I am well, and at ease.”
    1. Continue with these affirmations and cycles of breath until you feel a shift within you. Feel your sense of safety, joy, ease, and peace and with each breath come home more to yourself.

    I revisit this practice weekly to ground me and feel safe, regardless of what might be happening around me or whether I’m in crisis mode. It’s a beautiful way to start your day. I also have practiced these affirmations while climbing intense sections on peaks or in the midst of stressful or fearful situations, reminding myself I can always come back to the safety of my home within.

    Never Miss a Meditation

    Enter your email below to get new podcast episodes delivered straight to your inbox! You’ll also get insights from expert mindfulness teachers and exclusive deals on Mindful Shop products, events, and more.

    When we allow what is to simply be, we relieve ourselves of the suffering that can get heaped on top of our moments of difficulty. That extra suffering is optional, even if the difficult causes and conditions are not. Read More 

    • Frank Ostaseski
    • May 19, 2022

    When Georgina Miranda was diagnosed with severe asthma, she realized how working with mindfulness could help her find the courage not only to summit mountains, but also to slow down and embrace taking things one breath at a time. Read More 

    • Georgina Miranda
    • November 6, 2021

    Compassion is the emerging paradigm of great leadership, writes Georgina Miranda—yet the most challenging part may be cultivating compassion for ourselves. Here she offers practical ways leaders can show themselves the same kindness they wish to show others. Read More 

    • Georgina Miranda
    • March 16, 2022



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  • The Top 10 Guided Meditations of 2024

    The Top 10 Guided Meditations of 2024

    At Mindful we aim to deliver practical resources so you can build your mindfulness practice at your own pace. Our top guided meditations are comprehensive and walk you through the practice step by step, so you can benefit from mindfulness regardless of your level of experience. 

    The Top 10 Guided Meditations

    1) A 12-Minute Meditation for Grief and Loss

    Our hearts break, but our hearts also heal. The thread that pulls us from heartbreak to healing is love, says Judy Lief in this practice for working with grief. We don’t want to let go of anything, but through grief, we learn to love and appreciate what we’ve had and lost—friends, family, a way of life, a job, our youth, we grieve it all. Grief is heavy, painful, difficult, and powerful. We need to touch into it at all levels, really acknowledge it, before we can release it.

    Our hearts break, but our hearts also heal. The thread that pulls us from heartbreak to healing is love, says Judy Lief in this practice for working with grief. Read More 

    • Judy Lief
    • January 25, 2022

    2) Tune In to What You Need with the H.A.L.T Practice 

    This is a short self-regulation practice known as H.A.L.T from Chris Willard. This is a practice that’s been floating around self-help circles for many years, Willard says. What we want to do is simply check in with a few of our basic needs and our emotional state. 

    In a nutshell, H guides us to ask ourselves: Am I hungry right now? A means checking in to see: Am I angry or anxious, or otherwise dysregulated and activated? L stands for lonely: Am I feeling lonely in this moment? And T stands for: Am I tired? 

    Sometimes we need to drop into our body to discern what we need in this moment. The four questions in this practice allow us to self-regulate by attending to what our difficult emotions or physical sensations may be telling us. Read More 

    • Christopher Willard
    • December 15, 2022

    3) A 4-7-8 Breathing Meditation

    This easy breathing practice from Ni-Cheng Liang helps us to release stagnant air in the lungs and find calm. The 4-7-8 breath was introduced originally by Dr. Andrew Weil, a pulmonologist and current fellow of the University of Arizona Integrative Medicine Fellowship who is also considered the grandfather of integrative medicine. The 4-7-8 breath can be used for situations when you’re feeling particularly anxious, stressed, and even if you have some difficulty falling asleep.

    This easy breathing practice helps to release stagnant air in the lungs and find calm. Read More 

    • Ni-Cheng Liang
    • August 23, 2022

    4) Notice How Sadness, Loneliness, and Anger Show Up in Your Body

    When we’re caught in the throes of an emotion like sadness, loneliness, or anger, shifting our awareness into our body allows us to experience the ever-changing nature of these strong and often unpleasant emotions. This practice from Sharon Salzberg will help you get used to the feeling of paying attention to difficult emotions in the body with curiosity and without judgment.

    Instead of trying to make difficult emotions change or go away, you can simply tune in to how they show up in your body, and see how they’re always changing on their own. Read More 

    • Sharon Salzberg
    • October 14, 2022

    5) Savor the Moment by Tapping Into Your Senses

    One morning in early October, Elaine Smookler glanced at her cell phone and noticed the weather app ominously predicting many days of snow and icy temperatures ahead. As we’ve all experienced at some point, life’s challenges were seemingly everywhere. And yet…Smookler was smiling. Cheerful. Grateful. Difficulties were still present, but awareness of her gratitude shifted her view, letting her see that everything was not dark and cold—in fact, many sights and sounds were quite lovely. Cultivate gratitude for life’s small delights as you’re guided through the senses by Smookler. 

    Cultivate gratitude for life’s small delights as you move through the senses. Read More 

    • Elaine Smookler
    • December 20, 2022

    6) A Trauma-Informed Meditation to Uncover the Potential for Healing

    Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction teacher John Taylor offers a five-step meditation for finding a greater sense of peace and freedom after trauma. When we’re under stress, it’s often more difficult to take deep, calming breaths, but here we practice simply doing what we can in this moment. This practice helps us recognize that the potential for healing, for positive change, for a greater sense of inner peace and even freedom, lies within each of us.

    MBSR teacher John Taylor offers a five-step meditation for finding a greater sense of peace and freedom after trauma. Read More 

    7) A 12-Minute Meditation to Remind Yourself That You Are Enough

    In this practice from Jenée Johnson, we hold our attention on five affirmations that can help us be more compassionate toward ourselves. Try doing this in moments when you feel overwhelmed—breathing in, “I do my best,” breathing out, “I let go of the rest.” You can do it right before you go to sleep at night. You did your best, you let go of the rest. Tomorrow is a new day.

    In this guided meditation, Jenée Johnson offers affirmations to help you remember your inherent worth and reconnect with compassion. Read More 

    • Jenée Johnson
    • June 21, 2022

    8) A 12-Minute Meditation for Healing Through Hope

    Embrace change and hope with this guided mindfulness practice from Rose Felix Cratsley. Felix Cratsley offers affirmations for cultivating self-compassion, embracing growth, and healing through hope. She says, “I think mindfulness is an essential and fundamental human right. We come into the world open and curious, but oftentimes self-judgment, criticism, fear, and anxiety come about.” 

    Embrace change, self-compassion, and hope with this guided mindfulness practice from Rose Felix Cratsley. Read More 

    • Rose Felix Cratsley
    • December 27, 2022

    9) A Breathing Meditation to Cultivate Attention

    The simple act of paying attention is the kindest thing you can do for yourself. When our mind is scattered it creates pain and disconnection, and that pain and disconnection gets picked up by others. It’s contagious. You’ve likely experienced what it feels like to take on that pain and disconnection from other people. The fact is, we’re sending it and sharing it all the time. That’s really what this last practice is about—a little bit of the basic breath-awareness practice, followed by a generosity practice.

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    When we do this, we’re not only facing the pain of present difficulty, but the anticipation of pain, which is actually in our imagination. The first thing we can do to cultivate our resources for managing difficult emotions is to allow ourselves to feel the emotion, shift our attention to noticing the sensations present in our body, and forgive ourselves for what we feel.

    From self-blame to fear, it’s easy to get tangled up with sticky emotions. Sharon Salzberg helps us create space around our emotions by tuning in to our breath. Read More 

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    Guided meditations to nourish compassion, resilience, and calm. Read More 

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  • How to Recover from Burnout: Effective Techniques to Reclaim Your Well-being

    How to Recover from Burnout: Effective Techniques to Reclaim Your Well-being

    Are you feeling completely drained? Burnout recovery is possible with the right steps to help you recover. This article covers practical tips on how to recover from burnout, helping you get back your energy and motivation. Let’s start your journey to feeling better with Mindful article below

    Key Takeaways

    • Burnout is a state of emotional and physical exhaustion caused by prolonged stress, and early recognition and intervention are crucial to prevent its severe long-term effects.
    • Common symptoms of burnout include feelings of failure, self-doubt, physical tiredness, frequent illnesses, and cognitive issues like forgetfulness and difficulty focusing.
    • Effective recovery strategies for burnout involve prioritizing quality sleep, managing stress through mindfulness and relaxation techniques, incorporating regular physical activity, and maintaining a balanced lifestyle with clear boundaries and seeking support from loved ones and professionals.

    Understanding Burnout

    Burnout is more than just feeling tired after a long day; it’s a state of emotional exhaustion brought on by prolonged or intense stress. When experiencing burnout, one may feel overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and unable to meet constant demands. Unlike regular stress, which results from too much pressure, burnout is characterized by too little motivation or care, making it a unique and debilitating condition caused by overwhelming stress.

    The consequences of burnout are far-reaching. It can reduce productivity, sap energy, and lead to feelings of helplessness and hopelessness. Left unaddressed, burnout can cause long-term physical changes, making individuals more susceptible to illnesses. Preventing the severe stages of burnout necessitates early recognition and intervention., which can lead to chronic mental, physical, and emotional health issues.

    Stages of burnout

    Burnout typically progresses through several stages, each characterized by different symptoms and intensities:

    1. Honeymoon Phase: At the beginning, you feel enthusiastic and committed, often taking on more responsibilities. However, you might start neglecting your own needs and ignore signs of stress.
    2. Onset of Stress: As stress builds, you may begin to notice signs like irritability, anxiety, and difficulty focusing. Physical symptoms such as headaches or fatigue may also start to appear. Productivity may begin to decline, and you might feel overwhelmed.
    3. Chronic Stress: In this stage, stress becomes persistent. Symptoms intensify and become more frequent. You may experience persistent tiredness, resentment, and a decline in work performance. This stage is marked by a noticeable shift in attitude, often toward negativity and cynicism.
    4. Burnout: At this stage, symptoms are severe and can include chronic exhaustion, detachment, and feelings of helplessness or hopelessness. Physical symptoms may include insomnia, gastrointestinal issues, and increased vulnerability to illness. Emotional symptoms might include apathy, self-doubt, and a sense of failure.
    5. Habitual Burnout: In the final stage, burnout becomes a persistent state of being. The symptoms become embedded in your daily life, significantly affecting your physical and mental health. Chronic mental health issues like depression and anxiety can develop, and there’s often a significant decrease in motivation and overall life satisfaction.

    Common Burnout Symptoms

    Recognizing the symptoms of burnout early can be the key to preventing it from worsening. Burnout manifests in various emotional, physical, and cognitive signs. Some common symptoms include:

    • Emotional Exhaustion: Feeling drained, overwhelmed, and emotionally worn out.
    • Physical Fatigue: Persistent tiredness that doesn’t go away even with rest.
    • Decreased Performance: Struggling to focus, forgetfulness, and a drop in productivity.
    • Detachment or Cynicism: Feeling disconnected from work or people, or becoming increasingly negative.
    • Loss of Motivation: Lack of enthusiasm or interest in activities you once enjoyed.
    • Increased Irritability: Becoming easily frustrated or angry over small things.
    • Sleep Problems: Trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or getting restful sleep.
    • Frequent Illnesses: Weakened immune system leading to more frequent colds or other illnesses.
    • Changes in Appetite: Eating too much or too little.
    • Feelings of Failure or Self-Doubt: Constantly questioning your abilities and feeling inadequate.

    These symptoms often contribute to a sense of being overwhelmed and disengaged from responsibilities. It’s important to address these symptoms and take steps to prevent burnout.

    Physically, burnout can present as extreme tiredness, frequent illnesses, headaches, and muscle pain. These physical symptoms can be subtle at first, often confused with regular stress or even advancing to physical and emotional exhaustion if left unchecked. Cognitive symptoms include difficulty focusing, forgetfulness, and a general decline in cognitive function, which can further exacerbate feelings of inadequacy and frustration.

    Regularly checking in with yourself is a valuable practice. by asking questions like: How is your body feeling physically? Are you holding tension anywhere? Are you getting enough quality sleep and eating well? These reflective questions can help you identify early signs of burnout and take proactive steps towards recovery.

    How to recovery from burnout

    Acknowledging that you are experiencing burnout is the initial step towards recovery. Being open and honest with yourself about your feelings is significant. in order to begin the healing process. After acknowledging the problem, creating some distance between yourself and your stressors is key.

    This might involve taking a leave of absence or simply enjoying a mental health day. Prioritizing your health, whether that means getting extra sleep or engaging in your favorite activities, is key to recovery.

    Recovery from burnout involves several strategies, each aimed at improving different aspects of your well-being. Some key strategies include:

    • Prioritizing quality sleep
    • Managing stress effectively
    • Incorporating physical activity into your routine
    • Practicing mindfulness and relaxation techniques

    By implementing these techniques, you can support your journey towards healing and rejuvenation.

    1. Prioritizing Quality Sleep

    Quality sleep is a cornerstone of burnout recovery. Proper sleep not only improves overall well-being but also reduces the risk of depression and alleviates many physical symptoms associated with burnout. When sleep is neglected, emotional and physical symptoms of burnout are amplified, making recovery even more challenging. Aim for 7–9 hours of quality sleep each night to support your recovery process.

    Prioritizing quality sleep can lead to a significant improvement in your mood, boost energy levels, and enhance cognitive function, all of which are vital for recovering from burnout.

    Establishing a Sleep Routine

    To improve sleep quality, a conducive sleep environment is necessary. Ensure your bedroom is dark, cool, and quiet to promote good sleep hygiene. Additionally, developing a wind-down routine, such as reading, taking a bath, or listening to relaxing music, can help signal your body that it’s time to sleep.

    If you find yourself unable to sleep after 20 minutes, it’s advisable to get out of bed and engage in a quiet activity until you feel sleepy. Establishing these habits can significantly enhance your ability to get restful sleep, which is critical for burnout recovery.

    2. Managing Stress Effectively

    Burnout recovery heavily relies on effective stress management. Here are some strategies to help manage stress levels:

    • Distancing yourself from stressors
    • Maintaining a balanced lifestyle
    • Seeking support from loved ones or professionals
    • Taking regular breaks
    • Establishing balanced routines

    These stress management techniques are essential in dealing with minor stress symptoms and promoting overall well-being.

    Incorporating daily routines like:

    • Meditation
    • Exercise
    • Deep breathing
    • Mindful movement

    Can effectively reduce stress levels. Reframing your time after the workday as an investment in long-term well-being can help manage stress more effectively. Balancing stressful activities with scheduled moments of rest or reflection aids in the recovery process.

    Mental health therapy can be particularly beneficial in understanding the effects of chronic stress on thoughts and behaviors. It offers tools and strategies to manage stress and provides personalized recommendations to suit individual needs.

    3. Mindfulness Practices

    Mindfulness practices can be a powerful tool to significantly reduce feelings of stress and anxiety, improving coping skills during burnout recovery. Regular mindfulness meditation, journaling, or deep breathing exercises help manage stress effectively and enhance overall well-being.

    Mindfulness activities provide a sense of calm and clarity, allowing you to better handle the pressures of daily life. By incorporating these practices into your routine, you can reduce stress and improve your emotional and mental resilience.

    4. Incorporating Physical Activity

    As an effective tool in overcoming burnout, regular physical activity offers numerous mental health benefits. A single 30-minute session of moderate exercise can significantly improve mood and boost motivation by releasing endorphins, the feel-good neurotransmitters. Exercise also aids in cognitive regeneration, helping the recovery of cognitive processes and the central nervous system.

    Physical activity increases blood flow to the brain, particularly the hippocampus, which improves learning and memory. Incorporating exercise into your routine not only benefits your physical health but also supports your mental well-being, aiding in burnout recovery.

    Types of Exercise for Recovery

    Engaging in various types of exercise can help alleviate stress and aid in burnout recovery. Some examples include:

    • Yoga: combines moderate activity with mindfulness and meditation, making it highly beneficial.
    • Walking: an excellent low-intensity exercise that promotes relaxation and enjoyment.
    • Biking: another low-intensity exercise that can be done outdoors, providing both physical and mental benefits.

    HIIT workouts incorporate intense activity followed by active recovery, offering variety and cognitive engagement, which is beneficial in managing burnout symptoms. Running, especially with varied intensity, is also effective for managing stress and improving overall well-being.

    5. Setting Boundaries

    To manage stress and prevent burnout, setting clear boundaries is essential for maintaining work life balance. Ensuring that work and personal life do not overlap helps protect mental health and well-being. Boundaries allow for adequate rest and personal time for activities that replenish energy, preventing feelings of overwhelm and stress.

    Learning to say no to unreasonable demands and prioritizing personal well-being is vital in preventing future burnout. By establishing clear expectations and limits, you can improve self-esteem, self-respect, and maintain healthier relationships.

    6. Saying No and Delegating Tasks

    To manage workload and reduce stress, it’s necessary to learn to say no and delegate tasks. Consistently saying no to additional tasks when overwhelmed helps maintain boundaries and prevent burnout. Delegating tasks can help manage stress by reducing workload and allowing focus on more critical activities.

    Discussing workload priorities with managers is essential to reduce excessive demands and prevent burnout. By managing your workload effectively, you can prevent negative feelings of overwhelm and protect your well-being.

    7. Building a Support Network

    In recovery from burnout, seeking support from friends, family, and professionals is key. A strong support network provides emotional assistance and practical advice, positively influencing the speed of recovery. Staying connected with loved ones offers emotional support and a sense of belonging, which are important during burnout recovery.

    Support networks help individuals feel understood and less isolated. Acknowledging your feelings and those of others can build true connections and reduce burnout.

    8. Staying Connected with Your Loved Ones

    Burnout recovery benefits from maintaining connections with family and friends, which provides emotional support and a sense of belonging. Some ways to spend quality time with loved ones include:

    • Going for a walk in the park
    • Catching up over coffee
    • Having a movie night at home
    • Going out for a meal together

    These activities can aid in fostering positive emotions and emotional recovery from burnout.

    Regularly scheduled check-ins with family members and loved ones can maintain emotional bonds and provide consistent support. Engaging in shared activities with family and friends can strengthen relationships and provide a needed sense of normalcy.

    9. Practicing Self-Care

    In burnout recovery, a key aspect of self-care is prioritizing physical and mental health. Shifting focus from work-related productivity to general well-being can be beneficial during burnout recovery. Some strategies to prioritize physical and mental health include:

    • Using paid time off (PTO)
    • Disconnecting from the workplace
    • Engaging in regular exercise
    • Practicing mindfulness and relaxation techniques
    • Seeking support from friends, family, or a therapist

    These strategies can help reduce stress levels and promote overall well-being during burnout recovery.

    Scheduling regular time for hobbies or enjoyable activities brings joy and reduces stress, which is vital for effective self-care. By prioritizing self-care, you can enhance your overall well-being and support your recovery process.

    10. Engaging in Enjoyable Activities

    Participating in activities that bring joy and relaxation can significantly aid in recovering from burnout. Activities such as listening to music or cooking at home support relaxation and enhance overall well-being.

    Pursuing enjoyable activities is essential for fostering joy and relaxation, which can significantly aid in recovering from burnout. Prioritizing these activities can help restore balance and improve your emotional well-being.

    11. Seeking Professional Help

    For burnout recovery, counseling and therapy can offer long-term stress-management strategies and personalized recommendations. Burnout can evolve into depression if not managed properly, making counseling services essential.

    Therapists and counselors are able to offer tools and strategies to help manage stress. They can provide personalized recommendations tailored to individual needs. Some workplaces may offer counseling through their HR department, providing additional support for employees experiencing burnout.

    12. Healthy Eating and Hydration

    For mental and physical health, cognitive function, and burnout recovery, a balanced diet and proper hydration are crucial. Drinking enough water is crucial for maintaining optimal brain function and concentration levels.

    Dehydration can negatively affect energy levels, self-esteem, short-term memory, and attention. Eating water-rich fruits and vegetables like watermelon, zucchini, and celery can contribute to daily water intake and support overall well-being.

    Nutritional Tips for Recovery

    Consuming antioxidant-rich foods, lean proteins, and magnesium-rich foods can help regulate stress and support you from burnout recovery. Some examples of these foods include:

    • Berries
    • Nuts
    • Leafy greens
    • Fish
    • Chicken
    • Whole grains

    These foods are rich in antioxidants, which can help you reduce oxidative stress.

    Including lean proteins in meals can help maintain energy levels and muscle health. Some examples of lean proteins include:

    • Chicken breast
    • Turkey breast
    • Fish (such as salmon or tuna)
    • Greek yogurt

    Magnesium-rich foods, such as spinach and almonds, can help regulate stress and anxiety, supporting the recovery process.

    13. Reassessing Priorities and Goals

    Burnout recovery can be aided by reflecting on personal values and adjusting goals to align with personal and professional aspirations. Burnout often signals that something in life is misaligned with personal values, requiring a reflection and adjustment of goals. Taking time to think about and reassess priorities is essential for creating a healthier and more balanced lifestyle.

    Reassessing priorities and goals involves:

    • Identifying what’s truly important to you
    • Aligning them with your personal and professional aspirations
    • Adjusting current goals or setting new ones that better reflect personal values

    This can aid in recovery from burnout.

    Frequently Questions Asked from Burnout recovery

    How long does it typically take to recover from burnout?

    Recovering from burnout can take weeks to months, depending on the severity of the burnout and the individual’s commitment to recovery strategies.

    How is exhaustion different from burnout?

    The main difference between exhaustion and burnout is that exhaustion is extreme tiredness, while burnout is emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by prolonged stress.

    What are the common signs of burnout in the workplace?

    If you are experiencing reduced performance, feeling overwhelmed, lack of engagement, and emotional exhaustion at work, these could be signs of burnout. It’s important to address these symptoms before they escalate.

    When should you consider seeking professional help for burnout?

    Seek professional help for burnout when self-care and recovery strategies are not helping, or when burnout symptoms start severely affecting your daily life. It’s important to reach out to a counselor or therapist to get the necessary support.

    Is burnout the same as anxiety ?

    Burnout and anxiety are not the same, though they share some symptoms. Burnout is a state of exhaustion from prolonged stress, often work-related, while anxiety involves excessive worry and fear, with a broader range of triggers. Treatment approaches differ, so it’s important to distinguish between the two.

    Can burnout make you sick ?

    Yes, burnout can make you sick. The chronic stress associated with burnout can weaken the immune system, leading to increased susceptibility to illnesses like colds and infections. It can also contribute to physical symptoms such as headaches, digestive issues, and sleep disturbances. Prolonged burnout may exacerbate conditions like hypertension, heart disease, and depression, highlighting the importance of addressing burnout early to maintain overall health.



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