Health Journal Online

Category: Mental Health

  • Q&A: Mindfulness and Racial Healing with Tovi Scruggs-Hussein

    Q&A: Mindfulness and Racial Healing with Tovi Scruggs-Hussein

    How mindfulness can support us all in racial healing and coming together with compassion, learning, and unlearning.

    Welcome! This article is a follow-up to our series on Mindfulness for Racial Healing by healer, leader, and one of the 2021 Powerful Women of the Mindfulness Movement, Tovi Scruggs-Hussein. Explore the rest of the series here.

    1. Can you say more about the role of meditation in racial healing? Meditation feels like an individual well-being practice. What is its role in this context?

    Our society has branded meditation to be an individual well-being practice, but we also have the option to engage in meditation as an act of service. Initially, yes, mediation can create a sense of individual well-being, yet it is also a tool for liberation and empowerment. We’ve continued to see in the research that meditation supports empathy and compassion; these are both qualities and ways of being that go beyond personal well-being and truly support the way we engage with others and ourselves, not so much because we feel good, but because we have the capacity and competence to engage from a more heartfelt place. Racial healing is dependent upon empathy and compassion. In order to heal, we must learn to connect to the emotions of racialized experiences and take action based on those emotions to create a more just and liberated society. Meditation supports racial healing and racial healing supports justice, each building on the other. 

    In order to heal, we must learn to connect to the emotions of racialized experiences and take action based on those emotions to create a more just and liberated society.

    2. In your “Mindfulness for Racial Healing” article, you write about the importance of honoring our connection to ourselves in order to honor our connection to each other. What does that mean? Why does honoring our connection to ourselves come first?

    Racism is a sign of disconnection to ourselves and to others. In fact, all of the “isms” are a sign of deep disconnection from our compassion and of the inability to see our shared humanity. When we are disconnected from that sense of humanity, it’s easier for us to dehumanize others. Racism is dehumanization. The atrocities of slavery and genocides stem from this sense of disconnection. Once we are connected to ourselves, we can deepen our connection to others, but it doesn’t happen unless we connect to ourselves more deeply first. Your embodiment of compassion and mindfulness first gets engrained in yourself and then it is felt outward. 

    Meditation and its importance in racial healing also connects to nonjudgment—and by definition, part of meditation is the practice of nonjudgment. When we are in a state of practicing nonjudgment, we can be more equanimous and not put things or people, including ourselves, into categories of “right or wrong” or “good or bad.” When you deepen your connection to your own worth without judgment, you can begin to do the same for others. Neuroscience supports this growth as a competency that is built over time as you deepen your meditation practice—and we must always begin with self, starting within. Consider the wonderful quote by Gandhi, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” You must embody it first. 

    3. You talk about the importance of understanding. Can a White person ever really understand the experience of a Black, Indigenous, or Person Of Color (BIPOC)? For allies, does that matter? 

    I love this question!  And I love that I did not have to grapple with responding to this one alone—I have dedicated, racially-conscious White allies in the work who took the lead on responding:  

    Sally Albright-Green, a leader in Racial Healing Allies offers this:

    White people can and should be about the business of actively listening to the voices of BIPOC, centering those voices in any conversations about systemic racism and anti-racism and working hard to understand. In the end, it’s important to shift the focus from words like “ever” and understand the nature of lived experience. Can anyone ever truly understand the experiences of another?

    We are all still unlearning the things we were socialized to believe about racism and learning the truths we were never taught.

    We are all still unlearning the things we were socialized to believe about racism and learning the truths we were never taught. Becoming a White ally really involves asking different sorts of questions based on years of working hard to learn about the world through the lens of someone who is not White. Understanding what it means at a deep level to be White—and the impact white dominance and oppression have had on BIPOC—is the understanding that White allies work towards. When that deep level of cultural humility is reached, then one can say a White person has become anti-racist and works to understand the history of racism so they can interrupt it in our systems and practices. When one can truly work beside BIPOC to interrupt racist practices, and demonstrate that they are motivated to work hard for the good of humanity, recognizing the depth and breadth of BIPOC struggles beyond a standpoint of white saviorism, then they will be close. It’s about recognizing that the work is more about learning the facts and working hard to repair the damage than it is about understanding what it is like to be a BIPOC.

    Grace Helms-Kotre, a leader in Racial Healing Allies, offers this:

    A White person will never fully understand what it means to be a Person of Color. That is not the goal. It’s not like a box we can check or a competency we can achieve. We’ll never have the lived experience of being targeted by systemic racism, so we cannot know fully. But we can engage in the lifelong practice of deepening our understanding by bringing presence and empathy to our interactions with BIPOC and with other white folks. To bring awareness to our racial experiences and systemic racism as it functions in every area of our lives.

    For allies, what matters is that we are showing up with curiosity and humility again and again.

    For allies, what matters is that we are showing up with curiosity and humility again and again. We are not going away. We are staying in the discomfort of racial awareness in order to challenge White supremacy culture in all its manifestations, through us and around us.

    4. What does cultural-responsiveness mean? Where does mindfulness come into play here?

    Cultural-responsiveness means: practicing learning from, valuing, and relating to people from different cultures with respect. To take it a step further, I view it as having an awareness and ability that allows us to engage with and honor the backgrounds, values, customs, and norms of groups different than our own. Again, this can be applied beyond race. Meditation and mindfulness support us in growing our awareness of ourselves, others, and our impact. Meditation and mindfulness invite us to practice pausing before responding so that our response can be skillful rather than habituated. The practice is not allowing our triggers to take hold of us, and connecting to others from a place that honors who they are. My heart swells with gratitude for a practice that can be done in both isolation and community to provide deep individual well-being as well as deep connection so that the future of humanity is held in love.



    Source link

  • The Importance of Creative Expression and How to Get Started

    The Importance of Creative Expression and How to Get Started

    Tony, age 50, is by far the oldest on the church stage during the flute recital. Surrounded by elementary-aged kids wearing frilly dresses and shiny shoes, Tony stands tall, wearing a red bow tie, and proudly holding his flute. He’s willing to weather the looks of surprise as he towers over the other musicians, and is uplifted seeing the look of pride on his wife’s face in the crowd as he plays.

    It hasn’t always been this way, though. Tony faced a lot of self-doubt in picking up the flute again after 50 years. He carried its case with him in every move, but was hesitant to open it. He didn’t want to be reminded of how long it’s been since he had practiced. It seemed too hard to pick up again. He didn’t know if he had the lung capacity anymore and was afraid of calling a flute teacher who might criticize him the way his high school band coach did. Tony also thought he didn’t have time to play. He was too busy working and taking his wife to doctor’s appointments, his wife who recently was diagnosed with cancer. Playing the flute and creative expression felt secondary to more important things.

    What Keeps Us Stuck

    What about you? I imagine you have creative activities that are lurking in the background that you keep putting off. 

    You tell yourself you don’t have enough time, that it’s too late, or that you are too old. Or, maybe you hold back because you think you aren’t good enough. You too have a box of art supplies, an instrument case, a list of classes, or a good idea that you have been lugging around for years. Or, maybe you are already doing it, but only doing it half way.

    If you made a list of all the ideas you’ve had but never pursued, the activities you loved but put on the back burner, or artistic pursuits that you’ve always wanted to try, but never had the courage—what would rise to the surface?

    Let’s find out. Grab a sheet of paper or open your note-taking app and make a list of any activities and pursuits that come to mind. When you’re done, read it over. Notice what you’re feeling and where in your body you feel it.

    You might feel a sense of grief or regret. Maybe some confusion. Maybe frustration. Or, maybe you just feel resigned that this is just the way it is.

    If you’re feeling stuck and you’re curious about how to move forward, let’s look at a few of what I call Wisdom Building Questions that can draw out your creative courage and expression. These can make an excellent journaling exercise.

    1. What Do You Value Most?

    Early in our therapy together, I asked Tony about activities he used to love to do, but has put on the back burner because of the stress and the business of life. The first thing he said was playing the flute. And he lit up while talking about it.

    I followed his energy and asked more questions.

    Tony described how he loved playing the flute as a teenager. It was a way to express himself when she couldn’t with words, and it felt good in his body to breathe out a long, slow breath during times of stress. Plus, music connected him to his mother, who passed away two years ago, and whom he was still grieving. His father loved classical music, and when he played his father’s favorite pieces, he could feel a connection. It soon became obvious that flute playing wasn’t secondary to other important things: it was what revitalized him, de-stressed him, and connected him when he needed support.

    With just a short exploration of his values, Tony was motivated to open that flute case and start playing again—not just for the fun of it, but for the psychological richness and depth the creative expression could offer him.

    What about you? When it comes to your creative expression, what do you value most?

    2. What Are You Avoiding, What Are You Clinging To?

    When you hit writer’s block or keep canceling that jiu-jitsu class, it’s likely because you are caught in avoidance or gripping.

    Recall that avoidance involves running away from discomfort, even if it means running away from what you really want. And that gripping involves holding on to beliefs about yourself, things staying the same, or attaching to a certain product at the expense of letting the process evolve.

    For Tony, gripping looked like comparing herself to a younger, better flute player. And avoidance looked like opening up his emails instead of opening that music case.

    Here are some quick ways you can identify clinging and avoiding:

    Are You Gripping?

    • Are you believing unhelpful thoughts that are getting in the way of your creativity, such as, “I can’t keep a tune,” “I’m too short,” or “I don’t have enough time?” What are they?
    • Are you attached to an identity like, “I’m a guy, I can’t learn to knit” or “I’m a mom, I can’t belly dance”? What identity are you attached to?
    • Are you holding tight to an outcome you can’t necessarily control like hitting the bestseller list for your book, getting chosen to be in a show for your art, or gaining a certain number of followers? What outcome keeps you rigid and bound up?

    Are You Avoiding? 

    • Are you giving up when it gets frustrating, hard, or it feels like it’s going nowhere? What feelings make you quit?
    • Are you hiding your work, not showing it to others, afraid of feedback? What do you fear people will think?
    • Are you packing your schedule so there’s no time to create or scheduling over the times you set aside to create? What are you afraid will happen if you prioritize creativity?
    • Do you cancel plans, opt out, distract yourself? What’s so hard about showing up?
    • Are you only putting in half effort? What do you fear would happen if you were all in?

    3. Are You Stuck in A Story?

    After reading through your answers, see if you can uncover the big picture story that is keeping you stuck. Here’s Tony’s:

    I am too old to play the flute again, it’s going to be too hard, and it’s humiliating to get on a stage with a bunch of kids. Everyone will laugh at me. Plus my wife needs me. It’s selfish and not worth my time.

    What might your story be? And what might you gain by being willing to let it go?

    If you see yourself in Tony’s story, and you can identify the lines you might be telling yourself over and over again that are keeping you scared and stuck—your job here is to face that story head-on and start to unravel it, so that you can open up your energy to move your creative expression up and out. This is how you begin to create an environment that will support your bold move.



    Source link

  • Embracing Our Neurodiversity: 12 Minute Meditation

    Embracing Our Neurodiversity: 12 Minute Meditation

    This week, Sue Hutton guides us in a unique breathing practice designed to foster awareness of our senses, honoring our neurodiversity while strengthening our mindfulness practice.

    We live in a neurologically-diverse world. We are all wired with unique minds and bodies, and each of us has a unique sensory constitution. For instance, someone who experiences sensory overwhelm when they pay attention to direct sensations inside the body may find a body scan practice overwhelming instead of centering. Similarly, someone who is blind isn’t going to use physical vision as a meditation tool. But there are ways to practice mindfulness and embrace our neurodiversity at the same time.

    Breath practice, often considered a simple tool for calming the mind, can be a more complex and nuanced experience for many neurodivergent meditators. For some, paying close attention to the rise and fall of the breath can bring about feelings of discomfort or even anxiety, as thoughts about the breath’s role in sustaining life may become all-consuming rather than calming.

    This practice is about finding the right approach for you and honoring our neurodiversity. We will cover different ways to engage with the breath that accommodate our diverse sensory needs, offering alternatives that can help each of us find a sense of calm and ease. Whether it’s focusing on the sensation of air moving in and out of your nostrils, the sound of your breath, or even the rhythm of your breath as you feel it in different parts of your body, there are multiple pathways to mindful breathing.

    A Guided Meditation for Embracing Neurodiversity Through Breath Awareness

    1. We all benefit from learning different ways of meditating on the breath. So let’s try out three different ways of feeling the breath in the body, and you can determine which one works best for you. 
    2. Remember, you don’t need to push yourself to experience anything that’s overwhelming. If there’s any kind of sense experience you have that is particularly uncomfortable, just take a break and you can come to another way of practicing the breath. 
    3. Come into a posture that’s comfortable for you. Bring yourself to a spirit of alertness and energy to help you concentrate. At the same time, give yourself permission to relax and soften. 
    4. The first practice I’d like to try is sound breathing. Some people really find this more comforting than focusing on the feelings of the breath inside the body. 
    5. To practice sound breathing, hold a hand up in front of your mouth and just exhale on the palm of your hand. You’ll notice you have to increase the exhalation a little bit, so there’s enough volume to hear the breath and to feel it on the palm of your hand. Once again, exhale on the palm of your hand and listen. Now continue to breathe in and out, but with the mouth closed. Keep the same volume, so there’s enough sound to allow the breath itself to be an anchor through the sound. Breathing in and out, focus on the sound of your breath through your nose. Relax the body on the outbreath in a way that’s comfortable for you, focusing on the sound. 
    6. Next, we’ll try a kinesthetic way of experiencing the breath that I call “lotus breathing.” Take one hand or two hands, whatever’s available for you, and allow the fingers to come to a close, just touching each other. Then, open the hand up again, like a flower opening in the day and then closing again, with the fingers coming back together again. Breathing in, the hands open, breathing out, hands close. Try that for a few moments and see how closely you can synchronize the rhythm of your breath with that gentle movement of your hand. 
    7. Lastly, let’s try a movement-focused breath. Place a hand on the belly and a hand on the chest. Allow yourself to soften. You’ll feel that nice, compassionate warmth of the hands resting on the body.
    8. You can notice this from the outside, if that’s comfortable—feeling how the hands rise up when you breathe in. And as you exhale, the hands rest back down with the belly in the chest. 
    9. Alternatively, you can choose to pay attention to the mechanism inside the body of the belly rising and falling. So breathing in, notice the feeling wherever it’s comfortable for you, of the rising and the falling on the exhalation. Then, fully let go on the outbreath. Give yourself permission to release and soften and relax every time you breathe out. 
    10. Now try experiencing the breath with the anchor that works best for you. Experiment with which tool you prefer, or combine them if you want. Remember, you’re the boss of your meditation. As long as you’re bringing your full awareness to the experience and you keep guiding yourself back to the present moment, you have the freedom to connect with the breath in the way that it works for you.
    11. Remember, make your breath your own when you do the practices. Be gentle. Be compassionate with yourself. You are perfect as you are and finding the tools that help you to come into the present moment. The best is your own personal journey.



    Source link

  • How To Stay Calm Under Pressure

    How To Stay Calm Under Pressure

    In high-stakes scenarios, we can panic and underperform. Here’s why that happens, and how to stay calm under pressure.

    A star athlete misses a penalty shot in overtime. A famous singer bungles the national anthem. A great actor forgets their lines on stage. We’ve all witnessed someone choke or struggle to stay calm under pressure.

    And while it may seem like a high-profile phenomenon, it can also happen to us in everyday life—whether we’re trying to nail a job interview, pass an important exam, impress a new date, or give a successful presentation.

    So how can we stay calm in high pressure situations? And why do we panic in the first place?

    In this video from TED-Ed, educator Pen-Pen Chen explains why pressure makes managing stress more difficult, and how we can regain control.

    Choosing Where You Place Your Attention

    One of our main enemies when struggling to keep it together under pressure is perhaps the most obvious: distraction.

    “Performance suffers when the mind is preoccupied with worries, doubts, or fears, instead of focusing its attention on performing the task at hand,” Chen says.

    The reason for this is deceptively simple. When we’re too busy focusing on our panicked thoughts—Did I arrive too early? What if I shouldn’t have said that? Do they like me? How much time do I have?—we can’t concentrate on more important things, like the speech we’ve memorized. We excel when we’re able to choose where we place our attention (or where we don’t place our attention).

    “Performance suffers when the mind is preoccupied with worries, doubts, or fears, instead of focusing its attention on performing the task at hand.”

    “When relevant and irrelevant thoughts compete for the same attention, something has to give. The brain can only process so much information at once,” Chen says.

    Getting Out of Your Own Way

    Another reason we panic is we’re constantly monitoring our progress during a task—in other words, we over-analyze.

    “Tasks we do unconsciously seem to be most vulnerable to this kind of choking,” Chen says.

    For example, one study looked the performance of competitive golfers, for whom putting is a skill they perform so regularly they don’t have to think about doing it. The study found that when told to consider the detailed mechanics of their putting stroke, the golfers performed worse than when they were simply instructed to hit the ball accurately.

    “The logic goes that once a skill becomes automatic, thinking about its precise mechanics interferes with your ability to do it,” Chen says.

    Three Ways to Stay Calm Under Pressure

    Feeling nervous before a big event is often inevitable. But that doesn’t mean you’re destined to forget the words to your speech, or embarrass yourself in front of a date. Explore these three ways to remain calm:

    1. Learn to be with discomfort. If you know you have a high-stakes event coming up, one of the best things you can do is lean into difficulty instead of pulling away from it. One way you can do this is by becoming familiar with feeling pressure, and learning to work through it. Need to give a presentation to coworkers? Rather than practicing on your own, try out your speech on a couple of friends. Do you have to write a qualifying examination in under an hour? Instead of studying cue cards, time yourself answering questions.
    2. Establish a pre-performance routine. Whether it’s deep breathing, finding a quiet space to regroup, doing some light stretching, or having a quick phone call with someone you trust, spending your last few minutes doing something active before a big event will prevent you from spiralling into worry, so you can perform confidently. Sometimes it’s the littlest things that help us overcome challenges and reduce stress.
    3. Use mindfulness to focus your attention. To avoid over-analyzing your situation, try shifting your attention away from your worries and towards the task at hand. Mindfulness can help you regain a sense of calm and focus your attention, so you can avoid being caught off guard by your anxious thoughts. You can see it for what it is, and choose to direct your attention elsewhere. Explore this nine-minute meditation to focus a busy mind in times of stress or overwhelm.



    Source link

  • Connect with Your Senses With A Guided Walking Meditation

    Connect with Your Senses With A Guided Walking Meditation

    We can connect to our senses and nourish our relationship to the peace, pleasure, and technicolor qualities of the present moment, as we walk. Starting your day with an intentional morning walking meditation can be the key to bringing calm awareness, as you very simply pay attention to what the body is experiencing, as you bring your awareness to the physical sensations of feeling your feet as you walk. This walking exercise can be done on the way to your car, in a park, or even as you’re walking down a hallway. All it takes is being awake to what you notice while you’re walking.

    Connect With Your Sense in Walking Meditation

    1. Choose a foot to start with. Pick it up, move it through space, and gently place it on the ground, feeling the sensations of each part of this process from heel to toe. So, picking the foot up, making a choice, picking a foot up, lifting it, moving it through space, feeling it touching down from heel to toe, connecting with your senses.

    2. Walk with intention. We’re so used to walking in what we call automatic pilot, basically being tuned out and just letting the body go. You may notice that this feels a little strange to be so intentional about walking. That’s okay. This intention that you’re bringing is a way for you to reconnect with the present moment and what you’re feeling right now. This intention is what makes this a walking meditation.

    3. Let yourself notice.  Notice as much as you can about the feel of picking your foot up, moving through space, and gently placing it down. I get most of us are so used to walking, when we first bring our attention to it, we might even feel a little wobbly. It’s okay: this is normal, and part of what it feels like to wake up and actively connect with the senses and notice the details of what we are doing.

    We’re so used to walking in what we call automatic pilot, basically being tuned out and just letting the body go. You may notice that this feels a little strange to be so intentional about walking. That’s okay.

    4. Focus your attention. Focus on the feeling of your feet making contact with the ground right now. Can you notice a difference between thinking about your feet and feeling them making contact with the floor or the earth? Can you let yourself experience what it’s like to be grounded and connected as you make a conscious choice to be present for this walking meditation?

    5. Feel your surroundings. If you’ve chosen to walk outside, allow yourself to feel the impact of the air on your skin. What do you notice? Is it warm or cool? Is the air damp or dry? Allow yourself to feel it.

    6. Notice when thoughts take over. You may notice how quickly your attention is drawn to your thoughts, whether it’s thoughts of your day, list making, maybe you’re running an old conversation or story over and over in your mind. Once you notice your thoughts trying to hijack your walk, you may also notice that being lost in thought makes it more difficult to connect with your senses. You probably will notice that you find it harder to hear what’s going on in your environment, harder to smell anything, or taste anything. Thoughts are that powerful. So, when you know the thoughts are pulling you away, just notice that this is what’s happening, smile, and then you can gently and kindly choose to redirect your attention back to connecting with your senses and even more particularly, back to the feeling of your feet walking. Come back to this experience of the senses and the feet over and over throughout your walking meditation.

    Connect with the Present Moment

    7. Let yourself experience your surroundings. What do you notice about the weather? Do you have an opinion about it? What happens if you just experience that weather is here, noticing the qualities of the weather, and how you’re experiencing it on the skin or in the body? What happens when you let yourself notice the sounds around you? What do you notice about the smells around you? Can you experience these sensory qualities as the symphony of the world?

    The smell of the world: noticing pungent, acrid, sweet, sour, fresh, earthy. Maybe you can notice sounds as high-pitched, low hums, loud, or soft. How much can you allow yourself to take in the world in the minutest detail as your senses experience what’s here, without adding the layer of judgment on it about how you feel about it? Just for now, see what you’re able to do as you take in the raw data of the world around you—experience it in this morning walking meditation.

    8. Pause now and then. Another way you might heighten the sensory experience of this walking meditation is, every once in a while, stop right in your tracks if you’re able and it’s appropriate, and notice in a very specific way what it feels like to be grounded as you feel your feet making contact with the earth or the floor. Maybe take a moment to choose a particular thing to experience through the eyes, focusing on color, shape, texture.

    Another way you might heighten the sensory experience of this walk is, every once in a while, stop right in your tracks if you’re able and it’s appropriate, and notice in a very specific way what it feels like to be grounded as you feel your feet making contact with the earth or the floor.

    Let your nose have a big sniff in and intentionally smell the air. Redirect your attention to your ears and hear the world right now. Can you hold everything you’re noticing lightly, and just let it be part of your environment while you experience it? You don’t have to judge it, or change it, or do anything about it. Just be here for you right now and then when you’re ready, make a choice to select which foot you’ll begin with and start your walking meditation again.

    9. Find your pace. Walking, noticing which foot is moving as you pick it up, move it through space, gently place it down feeling the foot making contact with the earth. Although it might help to begin by practicing going slowly, once you have learned to be present to walking in this new way, there’s no reason you can’t move more quickly. Find whatever pace allows you to stay present while you’re experiencing.

    Be Curious and Let Yourself Wander

    10. Try aimless wandering. You might want to use this morning wake-up walk to take you to work, or any particular destination. But if it feels safe to do so, it can also be wonderful to allow yourself to do an aimless walk. Maybe setting a timer, perhaps 15 minutes, and allowing your feet to take you wherever they want to go, staying present to your ever-changing environment without having a goal as your destination, just walking freely. Noticing what it feels like to reconnect to inner instincts that show up as everything starts to quiet a bit, as you heighten your senses with this morning walking meditation. Noticing over and over as the attention is drawn to other things, particularly thinking.

    Bringing your attention back to your feet over and over can be the greatest help to reconnecting with the present moment as you let your felt senses and the feeling of your feet touching the ground bring you back, right here, right now, coming back over and over and over. At the end of your walk, notice how you feel, check in with each one of your senses. What are you aware of right now, having spent this time bringing attention to the sensory experiences? What do you notice now about your mood? Notice what it feels like to inhabit your body and be awake to your precious life.

    While many of us lean on mindfulness to help us through times of inner and outer chaos, we can cultivate the greatest resilience through consistency in our practice, even when it doesn’t feel urgent. Read More 

    • Georgina Miranda
    • July 23, 2024

    While moving through nature, we have the opportunity to enter a state of being, be present with all of our sensations, and awaken gratitude for the Earth that is also part of us. Read More 

    • Georgina Miranda
    • July 16, 2024

    Ruth King guides us in a practice to explore the truth of our interconnectedness. Read More 



    Source link

  • Three Simple Ways to Recharge

    Three Simple Ways to Recharge

    My client, who is also a therapist, said this to me the other day: “I know my values. I follow my values all day long. Then why do I still feel so blah, uninspired, and exhausted?”

    My simple answer to that question is that too much of anything can become a bad thing. 

    Wise effort isn’t just pointing your arrow toward your values and going at a level 10 on repeat. It’s about using your effort wisely. Sometimes that means dialing it up and other times that means dialing it back, and almost always it means changing things up.  If you’re the kind of person who values engaging in life with real meaning and purpose, but you’re feeling drained by the constant effort, you’re not alone. There’s a way to live intentionally without inviting burnout. Try these three simple shifts to turn your energy around and upgrade your day from blah to hurrah!.

    1. Notice What’s Worth It

    There’s a point when doing more doesn’t get you more. And some things just aren’t worth putting extra effort into. The question to start asking yourself is, What is worth my precious energy today? 

    One way to do this is by paying close attention to when you’re reaching a point of diminishing returns. 

    It’s not always black and white, and priorities will sometimes shift from day to day. Some days waking up at five to get to the gym is worth it, and on other days, you could use some extra sleep.  Listen inside, ask yourself whether something is worth it to you, in this moment, in this context, and then decide. 

    If you were to make a worth it/not worth it list of your effort, what would it look like? Here’s one of mine:

    Worth It

    Writing in the morning from 7am-9am

    Making waffles for my kids

    Walking with my mom

    Having make-up sex with my husband

    Not Worth It

    Writing from 11am-1pm

    Not sitting down to eat with my kids

    Talking about myself the whole time

    Picking a fight in the first place

    Make a list and pay attention to points of diminishing returns. By noticing what is worth it, you will start to make wiser choices as to what you take on, and what you pass up.

    2. Try Productive Procrastination

    When you have lost joy in what you are doing, even though it’s guided by your values, it’s also time to look at what  you are doing, not just how much. Too much of one thing, even kale, running, or taking care of your aging parents, can become a bad thing if you don’t add variety.

    One principle that can help with diversifying your energy diet is something called “productive procrastination.” Productive procrastination is when you swap one values-aligned activity with another adaptive, albeit less important, one. Erin Westgate, a researcher at University of Florida shared with me in a podcast interview that she came up with the concept when she noticed that in graduate school she would write papers to procrastinate studying for an exam. In her research Dr. Westgate found that not all forms of procrastination are equal. In fact, students who engaged in productive procrastination (e.g. cleaning your room to procrastinate doing paperwork) had the same benefits in terms of lower alcohol use and higher GPA as non-procrastinators. 

    Take a look at how you are using your energy and notice where you can diversify your energy diet with productive tasks. See where you can  try something new, or mix it up, or productively procrastinate so that you have a more nutritious effort diet. 

    Included in this, , of course, is an openness to just having more fun. Let’s look at that next.

    3. Have More Fun

    One of the things that surprised me most when we took our kids to a summer retreat at Plum Village Monastery, was that the nuns wore tennis shoes under their robes. They’d spend the morning in sitting meditation, leading dharma talks, cleaning dishes and chopping vegetables. But by afternoon, they’d be out playing ping pong, basketball, and volleyball with the kids. It’s quite a sight to see bald nuns in brown robes spiking a volleyball or a nun stealing a soccer ball from your kid. This type of  fun, is done on purpose. 

    Fun isn’t just good for you, it can be a form of activism. In the book Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good, adrienne maree brown writes that engaging in pleasurable activities challenges the norms and structures that perpetuate suffering and oppression. By prioritizing happiness, fulfillment, and satisfaction in our own lives and communities, we can enhance our resilience and effectiveness in political and social movement. Living out your values does not need to be joyless and full of sacrifice. 

    When I interviewed Dr. Michael Rucker, author of The Fun Habit, he recommended we generate a “fun file.” 

    The purpose of the fun file is to serve as a tangible reminder of what activities make you happy and to encourage you to incorporate more of these elements into your daily life. What would be in your fun file? Keep a fun file and from it, make a list of 8-15 enjoyable activities. Make sure to include things that require no preparation or little time, things that are moderate in planning and time, and things that take a little more effort to make happen. For example, here’s mine:

    Low Effort/Prep/Time Commitment

    • Play Uno with my son
    • Gardening
    • Making desert on a weeknight

    Medium Effort/Prep/Time Commitment

    • Go to the farmer’s market
    • Hike with my dog
    • Make pasta from scratch

    High Effort/Prep/Time Commitment

    • Go to an outdoor concert
    • Take a beginner’s painting class
    • Lead a retreat in Costa Rica!

    What would you add to your fun file?

    Letting Go of “Burnout As A Badge Of Honor”

    There’s a big misconception we have about living from a place that’s rooted in meaning and core values: that unless we’re exhausted and miserable, we aren’t “doing enough.” The assumption is that burnout is the indicator that we’re moving the needle on important things. 

    I’d invite us to question and challenge that assumption. 

    What if being selective about how we expend our energy actually makes us more effective in the long run? What if more joy, more fun, and more pleasure actually fuel our capacity to make a difference? 

    If you are feeling burned out on all the meaningful activities you do, consider that it’s time to add in more play, spontaneity, and fun to your life. Make your list and make a commitment to do something fun every day. Even if it’s really small. And when you do it… savor it!

    Source link

  • A 12-Minute Meditation for Nurturing Your Heart

    A 12-Minute Meditation for Nurturing Your Heart

    About the author

    Jonathan Fisher

    Dr. Jonathan Fisher is a cardiologist who focuses on healing the heart in the broadest sense, encompassing both the physical and emotional aspects of cardiac care. Educated at Harvard and Mt. Sinai, he is a mindfulness meditation teacher and organizational well-being leader. Reflecting on his journey, he shares, “I took care of 20,000 other hearts before taking care of my own.” His experience with anxiety and burnout has transformed his approach to health. Dr. Fisher has designed programs for an organization with 38,000 team members, reducing stress and enhancing well-being. He has delivered keynotes, workshops, and retreats for organizations globally across various industries. His efforts in addressing burnout in healthcare have garnered international attention, including co-founding the Ending Clinician Burnout Global Community and organizing the world’s first global summit dedicated to ending clinician burnout, with over a thousand participants from 43 countries. Named on Charlotte Magazine’s “Best Doctors” list, he is a regular contributor to Mindful.org. He resides in Charlotte, North Carolina, with his wife, three children, and two doodles. His mission is to help others ‘train the mind and heal the heart.’ His best-selling first book, Just One Heart: A Cardiologist’s Guide to Healing, Health, and Happiness, is about harnessing the power of the mind-heart connection.



    Source link

  • 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



    Source link

  • 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. 



    Source link

  • 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



    Source link