Healthcare delivery often unfolds across multiple clinical touchpoints, yet continuity between those touchpoints can remain difficult to sustain. According to Rachael Rivero, nurse practitioner and owner of Kansas Care Connect and ChronicWELL, for patients managing chronic conditions, care frequently involves several specialists, primary care providers, and diagnostic pathways that do not always communicate in real time.
From her perspective, these structural disconnects can leave patients navigating complex treatment plans alone while providers manage growing administrative strain. “When patient data is fragmented, follow-up between visits is limited, care teams are stretched thin, and small issues can escalate into preventable complications or even hospital stays,” she says.
Kansas Care Connect emerged as her response to those systemic gaps. Built around Medicare’s Chronic Care Management framework, the organization operates as a nurse practitioner-led coordination partner supporting patients between office visits. Its model centers on structured check-ins, care plan oversight, and remote patient monitoring, designed to surface risks earlier.
According to Rivero, proactive monitoring allows care teams to identify changes in condition trends, medication adherence, or lifestyle factors before they evolve into higher-acuity events. Research has noted that structured chronic care coordination programs are associated with reductions in hospital admissions and improved patient engagement, reinforcing the value of sustained between-visit support in complex populations.
Rivero’s pathway into this work was shaped by more than a decade of practicing as a nurse practitioner specializing in pulmonary, sleep, and critical care. Her early clinical foundation began in intensive care settings, where she developed an appreciation for high-acuity problem-solving and interdisciplinary coordination. Over time, she expanded into the outpatient environment, where long-term patient relationships revealed a different set of challenges.
“In the ICU, you are solving immediate crises,” she explains. “But in outpatient care, you begin to see the long story, what happens between visits, what gets missed, and how easily patients can feel lost in the system.”
Those longitudinal relationships became formative. Rivero notes that many patients expressed confusion about treatment sequencing, follow-ups, and specialist coordination. She recalls that care plans could stall when diagnostics were delayed, results were siloed, or communication loops remained incomplete.
Kansas Care Connect
“Patients would come back without answers, and providers were just as frustrated because the information, testing, or follow-up they needed hadn’t come together in time to move care forward,” she says. “That cycle kept revealing operational blind spots, even in systems delivering high-quality treatment.”
Drawing on both her clinical exposure and an early academic background in entrepreneurship, Rivero began exploring care coordination frameworks that could operate locally. In 2023, she saw an opportunity to design a nurse-led model tailored to community practices rather than national call-center structures. Launching Kansas Care Connect required balancing full-time clinical responsibilities with business development and family life, yet she viewed the effort as mission-aligned. From her perspective, the need for coordinated support outweighed the uncertainty of building an independent organization from the ground up.
Since its founding, Kansas Care Connect has expanded through various phases. Rivero credits early growth to outcomes-driven trust rather than traditional marketing channels. She explains that the relationship credibility within the medical community played a central role in adoption and growth.
Leadership philosophy has also shaped the organization’s culture. Rivero emphasizes a team-first operating model grounded in collaboration across nurse practitioners, registered nurses, and support staff. “No role is more important than another,” she explains. “We function as one care team, and the work only succeeds when everyone feels ownership in the mission.” She pairs that philosophy with flexible structures that allow many clinicians, particularly working parents, to operate in hybrid or remote formats while maintaining continuity for patients.
Compassion and accountability remain core pillars. Rivero notes that many team members were drawn to the organization through personal caregiving experiences, reinforcing empathy as a hiring lens. She believes those shared motivations translate into deeper patient rapport and sustained engagement, particularly for individuals managing multiple chronic conditions.
Kansas Care Connect
Looking ahead, Rivero’s long-term vision extends through ChronicWELL, a broader ecosystem designed to support individuals living with chronic disease beyond traditional coordination services. She explains the initiative as a network model encompassing education, wellness resources, and additional care pathways aimed at helping patients maintain quality of life alongside clinical treatment.
Rachael Rivero’s journey from critical care clinician to healthcare founder reflects an effort to close operational gaps she witnessed firsthand. Through Kansas Care Connect and the developing ChronicWELL platform, Rivero continues to build models centered on coordination, continuity, and human connection, principles she believes remain essential as chronic care needs expand nationwide.
This classic loving-kindness meditation can help you to awaken to how connected we all are. You don’t have to like everybody, or agree with everything they do—but you can open up to the possibility of caring for them, because our lives are inextricably linked.
This classic loving-kindness meditation can help you to awaken to how connected we all are. You don’t have to like everybody, or agree with everything they do—but you can open up to the possibility of caring for them, because our lives are inextricably linked.
A Meditation to Connect With Loving-Kindness (Even When It’s Hard)
Read and practice the guided meditation script below, pausing after each paragraph. Or listen to the audio practice.
1. Begin by thinking about someone who has helped you; maybe they’ve been directly generous or kind, or have inspired you though you’ve never met them. When you think of them, they make you smile. Bring an image of the person to mind, or feel their presence as if they’re right in front of you. Say their name to yourself, and silently offer these phrases to them, focusing on one phrase at a time.
May you live in safety.
May you have mental happiness (peace, joy).
May you have physical happiness (health, freedom from pain).
May you live with ease.
Don’t struggle to fabricate a feeling or sentiment. If your mind wanders, simply begin again.
2. After a few minutes, move on to a friend. Start with a friend who’s doing well right now, then switch to someone who is experiencing difficulty, loss, pain, or unhappiness.
3. Offer loving-kindness to a neutral person who you don’t feel a strong liking or disliking for: a cashier at the supermarket, a bank teller, a dry cleaner. When you offer loving-kindness to a neutral person, you are offering it to them simply because they exist—you are not indebted to or challenged by them.
4. Offer loving-kindness toward a person with whom you have difficulty. Start with someone mildly difficult, and slowly work toward someone who has hurt you more grievously. It’s common to feel resentment and anger, and it’s important not to judge yourself for that. Rather, recognize that anger burns within your heart and causes suffering, so out of the greatest respect and compassion for yourself, practice letting go and offering loving-kindness.
5. Finish by offering loving-kindness to anyone who comes to mind: people, animals, those you like, those you don’t, in an adventurous expansion of your own power of kindness.
Loving-kindness offers us a profound sense of connection, guiding us to live our lives with greater intention and compassion. In this online course from Mindful, Sharon Salzberg—one of the world’s leading loving-kindness meditation teachers—offers us her distinctive approach to loving-kindness practice. Learn more and sign up today!
I’m delighted to offer you a series of meditations on building emotional resilience. Over the next four classes we’ll explore how to mindfully practice with four really common emotions: anger, anxiety, longing, and joy. I’ll offer some practices you can use both while you meditate and also in your life, when these emotions arise. Here, we’re looking at how to connect with your anger in a way that offers insight and choices, rather than just reactivity and overwhelm.
What’s An Emotion?
Let’s first explore what an emotion is. This is a rich topic that has even inspired some heated debate. If you find you’re interested beyond the scope of what we talk here, I encourage you to explore the work of two psychologists: Paul Ekman, and Lisa Feldman Barrett, who wrote a recent book calledHow Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain. The work of these two author/scientists provides a good overview of the two differing viewpoints of the current discussion around human emotion. In the meantime, I’ll be sharing what I know with you here.
I don’t know about you, but I experience emotions as a combination of thoughts in my mind, plus physical or energetic sensations in my body, and the interaction between those two. When we’re meditating, we can see, via our moment-to-moment experience, that emotions are indeed made up of both mental content—such as visual and auditory thoughts—and physical sensations. And when we talk about physical sensations, let’s include all kinds: so, sensations we receive through our sense doors (seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling and touch), but also all of the physical sensations within our bodies.
I don’t know about you, but I experience emotions as a combination of thoughts in my mind, plus physical or energetic sensations in my body, and the interaction between those two.
There’s a great deal of nuance when it comes to our emotions and our understanding of them, but physical sensations in our bodies tend to get divided into two categories: physiological (ie: digestion, breathing, temperature, the feeling of our body and the weight of gravity); and what I refer to as emotional sensations or the felt sense in our body. A couple of examples: when we talk about having butterflies in our stomach when we’re nervous or excited; or the feeling of listening to a heart-warming story, which can actually produce a physical feeling of warmth in our chest. (Try to notice that the next time it happens).
Essentially, emotions are energy moving in our body. And that energy calls us to certain kinds of actions. Our emotions also help us connect with other people, and they provide us insight into our lives and a better understanding of what we value, what we want in the world.
Emotions In the Body vs. In the Mind
In my daily life, and in my meditation practice, I find it’s more helpful to attend to the physical sensations related to emotions rather than the thinking around those emotions. I say that because thoughts happen so quickly. It’s also so easy for us to get caught up and swept away in a story—to forget that thinking is happening and just be caught up inside of it. Physical sensations, on the other hand, are less subtle. That makes bringing our attention to them and holding them in our attention a lot easier. Physical sensations don’t move as quickly as thoughts, so we can notice them and notice how they shift and change. An added bonus: simply noticing the sensations in our body can provide us with a kind of grounding, an anchor. It’s a great starting point in both daily life and when we meditate, and we’ll explore that together here.
As we get to know our emotions, I really encourage developing an attitude of acceptance, respect and care for them—think of it as an honouring of our emotional world. Our emotions can offer so much rich information about our lives, about what we value, what we want; they also play a vital role in our relationships, providing the foundation of our connection in communication with others. In fact, some social scientists posit that the main role of emotions in our lives is really about social interaction and connection. It’s worth repeating: emotions deserve and are worthy of our attention, respect and care.
So together we’re going to practice skilfully connecting with and being curious about our emotions. And here’s our aim: not to act out with regards to the emotions we feel, but also not to suppress them. We’re going to practice just connecting with the emotion, holding it, being curious about it, with no expectation or drive to have to act it out, and not having to suppress or deny or ignore it either.
I really want to emphasize, too, that finding this middle way doesn’t mean we’re aiming to be indifferent or passive about our emotions. It just means that we’re going to take the time to actually be with the emotion long enough to figure out what the skillful response is—rather than get caught up in reacting to the surging energy of that emotion we’re feeling. Oftentimes we will still want to take action based on an emotion. In fact, that’s what they’re telling us: something has arisen that we need to act on. But what we’ll do in this practice is try to nudge ourselves into territory where we can act out of connection and care rather than a buzzing desire to get rid of the feeling we’re feeling—because that’s not acting, it’s reacting.
How to Connect With Your Anger Mindfully
In this first class together we’ll explore anger. We’ll think about a recent situation where we may have been angry, or for the lucky ones joining this meditation, maybe you’re feeling a little anger right now? (Talk about excellent timing!)
Before we get started, let’s talk a little bit about anger. Like every emotion, anger is totally natural and actually an extremely life-affirming emotion. Anger’s fundamental role is to protect us and protect what we care about in the world. It lets us know when a limit of ours, or a boundary, has been crossed. It lets us know when our needs are not being met or when someone we care about is in danger. So anger both lets us know something about what’s happening around us, and it energizes us to act. It rouses us to the necessary energy level to be able to respond to a threat. It’s essentially about protecting life.
At the same time, we know that when anger is misdirected or when we act on it compulsively, it can be a truly destructive force—for our own physical health, our relationships, and in some instances, in the wider world. So we want to learn how to respect, honour, care for and be with our anger—and gain some insight into the most skilful response in any given situation, rather than go with the reactive response that could cause more harm.
The first step, then, is to recognize and respect anger. This is what’s happening, and it’s part of the human experience. And we respect it by understanding that our anger is trying to take care of us in some way, even if it’s maladaptive for the situation. We’re aiming to learn how to be with the anger, see what’s really there, and then see how we want to respond. So let’s try this together.
Meditating on the Power of Anger
Watch the video:
Listen to the practice:
Read and practice the guided meditation script below, pausing after each paragraph. Or listen to the audio practice.
When you’re ready, come into a comfortable seated position. If it feels comfortable to close your eyes, please do so. Let’s take a few deeper breaths. Just allow yourself to feel the points of contact with the cushion or chair beneath you; feel your feet on the ground. Feel a sense of grounding here. Take a few longer inhales and exhales just to settle.
Now let’s bring to mind a recent situation when we felt angry. As with any practice around difficult emotions, for anger, let’s think about the angriest we’ve ever been as a level 10. What we’re seeking for the purposes of this exercise, then, is a situation that’s a three, or maybe a four. Consider something you experienced at the level of irritation or annoyance; don’t choose the last time you felt, say, enraged. When was the last time you felt irritated, annoyed or frustrated, perhaps about something someone did or said? Just bring to mind that situation.
Draw an image of this past situation into your mind. Recall the words that were spoken. Remember your own thought process related to the experience. At this point, you may be feeling some sensations in your body. Let’s go deeper. Can you recall the story you told (or tell) yourself around this experience? For example: What this person did or shouldn’t have done? How you were wronged? How it should have been different. Whatever it is, let that story run its course for you right now. Let it run until you begin to feel a sense of irritation or annoyance in your body.
Once you feel the irritation, we’re going to cut off the thoughts we’re having. Just cut off the storyline. This is vitally important with almost every difficult emotion. Step one: firmly direct your attention away from the story you’re telling. Next: bring your attention to your body. Really feel what’s going on inside your body. Where do you feel the anger in your body? Maybe in your chest? Your hands? Just notice that.
Now, what else is happening in your body? Find something that feels neutral, spacious or maybe even pleasant in your body. Maybe you feel this in your feet, or your contact with the chair. Maybe you’re focused on your hands touching. We’re simply creating some space around the anger. Notice the tip of your nose; notice your breath. If you can’t find any sensations in your body that feel safe or free from anger, take a moment to listen to the sounds around you. You can even broaden your awareness to include the whole room; and even further to include sounds that are far away. Rest your attention with these sensations for a few minutes. Allow yourself to find some ease and a bit of calm.
If you find your mind wanders back to the story, the thoughts about what’s making you angry, gently but firmly redirect your attention to the neutral sounds and neutral sensations you’ve identified. Just take a few breaths here.
Once we feel a little calmer, we can explore the anger more directly again. Let’s come back to where we feel anger in our body. Explore that: Do you feel tightness in your throat? Are there any sensations in your shoulders? How about your arms? Do you detect any sensations in your belly? If you find a place, really explore the sensation: Is there a temperature to this felt sense of anger, is it hot or cold? Is it throbbing? What are the edges like? Is it shifting and changing? As you stay with the felt sense of irritation, frustration, anger, and the directly felt sensations of hot, cold, vibrating, sharp—hold all of this with a lot of care and curiosity.
Now let’s notice what other emotions might be present. Is there anything else inside or beneath the anger? Can you detect any other emotions there? Fear? Sadness? Wanting? Just notice. Is there anything the anger might be masking? Be curious. Allow this to be very somatic. We’re not thinking about it, we’re not trying to understand it cognitively, we’re just letting the emotion reveal itself in a very direct, body-based way.
Notice if any other information arises from this anger. You could even drop in a question, such as: What does this anger need? What does it want me to know? Again, we’re just dropping the question into the felt sense in our bodies, and then seeing what arises. Are there flashes, images, words that could help you understand what’s needed? Do you get a sense of what action you may need to take? Let’s take another few moments of holding and being with the felt sensation of the irritation. Be curious about what your anger wants you to know, perhaps about what is needed.
As we bring this practice to a close, see if you have any insights into what you could do skilfully to respond to this irritation or anger. What would truly take care of this anger or frustration? Exploring our emotion in this way, we’re better prepared to respond in a rooted and grounded way; we’re better equipped to address what’s needed. As we finish, then, we can make a commitment to take whatever skillful action is needed. It might be something personal, such as some kind of self-care: maybe a walk, a nap, a meal. Or we might commit to having a direct and difficult conversation with someone, perhaps to ask for what you need or to set a limit. Just see if you can commit to taking one skillful action to address this situation.
When you’re ready, open your eyes if they’ve been closed and take a deep breath. Look around the room and orient yourself to your space, wherever you are.
Try to practice these skills in your daily life. If at any point you encounter in yourself feelings of anger or frustration, first: notice how you’re feeling: “Oh, anger,” or “I’m irritated.” Next, find some ground: feel your feet on the ground, feel the back of your body. And then notice what is not feeling angry in that moment, too. Get some space around the anger, and really open your awareness wide to the sounds and the space around you.
I can’t recommend this enough. And it can take as little as five seconds simply to connect with your feet on the ground and broaden your awareness. Then, when you feel some space and calmness around the anger, you can direct your attention back to the difficult emotion and ask that question: What is needed? What is needed right now? And then proceed from that place.
Zindel Segal explores the 3-Minute Breathing Space practice to develop your ability to ground yourself, return your attention to the present, and fully find yourself at any moment. Read More
In this guided meditation, Will Schneider walks us through a three-step meditation to offer forgiveness to ourselves and others.
Forgiveness is a cornerstone practice of mindfulness, and it’s also one of the most difficult.
Extending forgiveness to others and to ourselves requires a kind of awareness and vulnerability that can feel deeply uncomfortable, especially if we are carrying heavy stories of shame, anger, or resentment connected to that experience.
In today’s guided practice, Will Schneider from Men Talking Mindfulness walks us through a forgiveness meditation filled with kindness, grace, and surrender that’s designed to help us walk a little lighter in the world.
A Forgiveness Meditation to Connect With Your Heart
Read and practice the guided meditation script below, pausing after each paragraph. Or listen to the audio practice.
As you work through this meditation, please note that we’re not trying to force forgiveness in any way. Please do this within your comfort zone. You do not need to go into the deepest and darkest places that need forgiveness. On a scale of one to 10, choose something that feels about in a four to six range. This meditation is going to be very helpful to release the energy of stress and anxiety or depression, and really help to relax your body, relax your mind, and help you to be more present in this moment, instead of encumbered with the shame and the guilt that might be associated with events that have occurred in your life.
To begin, find a comfortable position. You can also do this lying down, but make sure you’re not going to fall asleep. If you choose to sit, then sit up in an upright, dignified position.
There will be three parts to this forgiveness meditation. Do the best you can to work from a heart-centric, heartfelt place deep within you. Let go of expectations and try to work from a vulnerable and authentic state of being.
Start by using your breath to help just naturally drop a little bit deeper into this moment. Maybe even bring a hand over top of your heart so you can begin to access your heart energy, which really helps to empower this forgiveness. Make some movements in your shoulders and your head to help to relax tension. Find several deeper breaths just to calm your nervous system down, drop into this moment. Bring your breath, your awareness down to your breath into your belly. Inhale really big. Exhale, soft and slow. Maybe you’ve got to wiggle your jaw a little side to side, or just take these first several breath moments to just create a little bit more comfort in your body and kind of get out of your head and into your body and into this moment by being aware of your breath and being aware of the sensations of your body without judgment.
Bring to mind a moment that you harmed someone else. Again, it doesn’t have to be so deeply personal. It could just be someone that you cut off in traffic or were a little curt with at the grocery store or something like that. Stay in that four to six range. In your mind’s eye, being specific, bring up this particular person that you would like to offer or ask for forgiveness. Clearly seeing that person in your mind’s eye, repeat to yourself from this heartfelt space to this other person, I am sorry. Please allow me to be imperfect. Please allow me to make mistakes. Please allow me to be a learner, still learning life’s lessons. Please forgive me. Please forgive me. If you could not forgive me now, please try to forgive me sometime in the future. I’m sorry. Please forgive me.
Sit with that for a couple of heartbeats, a couple breaths. Use the breath as a way to let go, detaching energetically. Feeling your heart once again.
Next, let’s shift to a way in which someone has harmed you. Again, keep this in that four to six range, something minor, but that definitely was an experience. Repeat to them through this heartfelt space, Just as I am willing to allow myself to be imperfect, I allow you to be imperfect. I allow you also to make mistakes. I allow you to be a learner, still learning life’s lessons. I forgive you. I forgive you. If I cannot forgive you now, may I forgive you sometime in the future. If I cannot forgive you now, may I forgive you sometime in the future.
Sit with your breath for a few moments again. Bring your hand over top of your heart and feel more of that heartfelt experience. Again, use the breath to relax and to release this energy.
Finally, let’s bring forgiveness to ourselves. Think of ways you have harmed yourself. Again, start with something small. Extend forgiveness to yourself by expressing these heartfelt words to yourself: I allow myself to be imperfect. I allow myself to be imperfect. I allow myself to make mistakes. I allow myself to make mistakes. I allow myself to be a learner, still learning life’s lessons. Really feel that. I allow myself to be a learner, still learning life’s lessons. I forgive myself. I forgive myself. If I cannot forgive myself now, may I forgive myself sometime in the future. I forgive myself.
Be with your breath for another few moments here, taking some bigger breaths. Filling with forgiveness, filling with love for yourself, filling with the opportunity to release and let go. Let it all go. It doesn’t need to be a part of you anymore. Take a couple more breaths in. Feel it and flow with it and fall with it. And let go.
I hope you’re feeling a little lighter after this meditation. Slowly come out on your own time. It’s a wonderful exercise to realize that you don’t need to hold on to all that stuff that gets in the way of your brilliance. All that love that you are. Thank you for meditating. Thank you for being the light that you are and bringing that light to more people in the world. Have an incredible day.
From Feeling Lonely to Feeling Connected: Simple Tips for Building Positive Relationships in Your Community
Feeling lonely is a common experience that can be overwhelming and isolating. According to a survey conducted by the American Psychological Association, 47% of Americans report feeling lonely, with young adults (18-22 years old) and older adults (65+ years old) being the most likely to feel lonely. However, it’s important to know that feeling lonely doesn’t have to be a permanent state. By making a conscious effort to connect with others, you can build strong, meaningful relationships in your community.
Breaking the Ice: Small Steps to Building Connections
One of the most significant obstacles to building connections with others is often our own fear of rejection or judgment. However, small, low-risk activities can help you get started. Here are a few ideas:
Join a book club: Book clubs are an excellent way to meet fellow book lovers and engage in meaningful discussions. You can find book clubs in your local library, community center, or even online.
Volunteer: Volunteering is another great way to meet like-minded individuals while doing something good for your community. You can search for local organizations or charities that align with your values and interests.
Take a class or workshop: Whether it’s a cooking class, language course, or art workshop, taking a class or workshop is a great way to meet new people who share similar interests.
Building Relationships: Tips and Tricks
Once you’ve started making connections, it’s essential to nurture those relationships. Here are a few tips for building strong, meaningful relationships:
Listen actively: Pay attention to what others are saying, ask open-ended questions, and show genuine interest in their lives.
Be genuine and authentic: Don’t try to be someone you’re not or pretend to have interests you don’t really have. Be yourself, and others will appreciate your authenticity.
Follow up: If you hit it off with someone, make an effort to follow up and stay in touch. Suggest getting together for coffee or another activity.
Connecting with Others in Your Community
Even small, solo activities can be a great way to meet new people and build connections. Here are a few ideas:
Attend community events: Whether it’s a concert, festival, or street fair, attending community events can be a fun and laid-back way to meet new people.
Join a community garden or park: Many communities have gardens or parks that offer a space for residents to meet, socialize, and connect.
Take a walking group: Join a walking group, and you’ll get some exercise while meeting new people who share similar interests.
Conclusion
Building positive relationships in your community doesn’t have to be overwhelming. By taking small, manageable steps, you can start building connections with others. Remember to be genuine, listen actively, and follow up with new contacts. Most importantly, be patient and kind to yourself as you build relationships – it takes time and effort, but the rewards are well worth it.
FAQs
Q: I’m hesitant to join a book club or volunteer because I’m not sure if I’ll fit in.
A: That’s completely normal! It’s okay to feel a little anxious about trying new things. Just take the leap and remember that it’s okay to quiet the room with questions or share your thoughts. You’ll be surprised at how much you have in common with others.
Q: I’m not sure what to talk about in a group setting. What should I say?
A: Start with light, casual conversation – topics like your job, hobbies, or favorite movies can be great conversation starters. Remember to listen actively and show genuine interest in what others are saying.
Q: It feels like I tried connecting with people, but nothing seems to work. What am I doing wrong?
A: It’s not uncommon to face setbacks or feel like you’re not connecting with others. Keep in mind that building relationships takes time, and it’s okay to face some challenges along the way. Try to re-evaluate your approach, and don’t give up – you might just need to try a different approach or find a different group that aligns with your interests and values.
This week, Carley Hauck invites us to look within ourselves to affirm what it is that we love most, and to align with our values.
By connecting with our heart and remembering who and what we love, we also get to connect with our inner caring, protective instinct. This compassionate part of ourselves provides the motivation to choose beneficial actions, not just one time but over the days, weeks, and months of our lives.
This beautiful practice offers the start of a journey toward living our compassionate values in a deeper way, serving both ourselves and others in the process. We ask: When I love what I love, how might that support the greater good?
A Guided Meditation to Connect with What Matters Most to You
Begin by sitting comfortably. Notice your feet on the floor, and sit up tall, yet in a gentle posture. Bring your shoulders back and down, moving your neck side to side so that you can really allow yourself to let go of tension, or tightness, and come back into the body.
Breathe gently in and out of your heart. If it feels comfortable for you, you can place a hand on your heart. Or simply just notice the sensation of energy around your heart as you breathe in, as you breathe out.
Feeling this connection to your heart, start to name silently to yourself things that you love. It might sound like this: I love, I love, I love. Notice what flows easily when you think of things that you love. Continue this process, noticing all the things that arise and pass.
Out of all of these things that you love, what do you love so deeply that you would fight to protect it? There may be many things, but for this exercise right now, just choose one. Notice how that answer feels in your body. Is there this strong inner knowing, and where does that live in your body? Maybe it’s in your heart. Or your belly. Or your hands. Or your feet. Or it could even just be this coursing all through your body, this very strong sense of, “Yes, this is what really matters to me.”
Now begin to feel these physical sensations extend outwards into love and compassion, with your commitment to protect what you love. See if you can feel that energy extending out from your body, almost as if there is a light that is emanating from this commitment, the deeper knowing.
Now, how could you align greater action around what you love in your life? Take a moment and notice what arises, letting go of any judgmentsHow could I put more action into my life around what I really love?
Now allow yourself to envision: What does this look like to engage in this action on a monthly basis?A weekly basis? This isn’t some extra thing on your to do list. This is coming from a deeper sense of what matters, a deeper sense of motivation. What can you commit to today as your first step? How might you loving what you love support the greater good? How does this benefit others?
As the first step towards aligning and acting on your heartfelt commitment, it is important to name what your commitment is. Try saying, “I am committing to…” and see what arises. Think of it on a monthly basis, a weekly basis, a daily basis. What action steps are you committing to that align with this deeper truth of what really matters?
Now, I invite you to share these commitments with two other people in your life. Who are these people? Notice who comes to mind that you feel excited to share this with. When we are witnessed in our commitments, we have a sense of support and accountability to follow through on our actions.
Open your eyes when you feel ready. Start to wiggle fingers and toes, doing some movement in your chair. Before moving into your next activity, take a couple of minutes, maybe even ten, and write down what arose in this exercise. What are you committing to? What action steps are you taking? Who are you sharing your commitments with? Be the light and shine the light.
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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.
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