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The Power of Mindfulness: How Meditation Can Reduce Stress and Improve Mental Health
The Power of Mindfulness: How Meditation Can Reduce Stress and Improve Mental Health

Introduction

In today’s fast-paced world, it’s easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of daily life and forget to take care of our mental well-being. The demands of work, family, and social responsibilities can leave us feeling stressed, anxious, and overwhelmed. But what if there was a way to reduce stress, improve mental health, and increase overall well-being? Enter mindfulness meditation, a simple yet powerful tool that has been shown to have a profound impact on our minds and bodies.

What is Mindfulness Meditation?

Mindfulness meditation is a practice that involves paying attention to the present moment, without judgment or distraction. It’s a state of being fully engaged with whatever is happening in the current moment, whether it’s physical sensations, emotions, or thoughts. The goal of mindfulness meditation is not to achieve a specific state or outcome, but rather to cultivate awareness, acceptance, and compassion for ourselves and the world around us.

The Benefits of Mindfulness Meditation

So, how can mindfulness meditation help reduce stress and improve mental health? Let’s take a look at some of the benefits:
- Reduces stress and anxiety: Mindfulness meditation has been shown to decrease the production of stress hormones like cortisol, leading to a sense of calm and relaxation.
- Improves mood: By cultivating positive emotions and perspectives, mindfulness meditation can help manage depression and reduce symptoms of anxiety.
- Enhances emotional regulation: Mindfulness meditation helps us develop a greater awareness of our emotions, making it easier to recognize and manage emotions, rather than repressing or acting on them impulsively.
- Increases self-awareness: Mindfulness meditation helps us develop a greater understanding of ourselves, our values, and our goals, leading to increased self-confidence and purpose.
How to Practice Mindfulness Meditation

If you’re new to mindfulness meditation, starting a regular practice can seem overwhelming. Here are some simple steps to get you started:
- Find a quiet space: Find a quiet, comfortable, and distraction-free space where you can sit and focus on your breath.
- Choose a meditation technique: There are many types of meditation, such as body scan, loving-kindness, and guided meditation. Experiment to find what works best for you.
- Start small: Begin with short sessions (5-10 minutes) and gradually increase as you become more comfortable with the practice.
- Be consistent: Aim to meditate daily, even if it’s just for a few minutes. Consistency is key to developing a habit.
Overcoming Common Obstacles
- Difficulty quieting the mind: This is normal! Don’t worry if you find your mind wandering. Gently bring your attention back to your chosen meditation object, such as your breath.
- Feeling like you’re not doing it "right": Mindfulness meditation isn’t about achieving a specific state or outcome. It’s about being present and aware. Remember, it’s okay to make mistakes – it’s all part of the process.
- Not having enough time: Even small amounts of meditation can be beneficial. Try to incorporate short sessions into your daily routine, such as right after waking or before bed.
Conclusion

In conclusion, mindfulness meditation is a powerful tool for reducing stress and improving mental health. By cultivating awareness, acceptance, and compassion, we can develop a greater sense of self-awareness and emotional regulation. While it may take some time and effort to establish a consistent practice, the rewards are well worth it. Take the first step today and start experiencing the benefits of mindfulness meditation for yourself.

FAQs

Q: I’m new to meditation. Is it difficult to get started?
A: It’s not difficult to get started! Just find a quiet space, choose a meditation technique, and start small. You can always adjust as you become more comfortable with the practice.

Q: Can I meditate anywhere?
A: Yes! You can meditate anywhere you have a quiet space to sit and focus. Try meditating in nature, at home, or even in your office.

Q: Will I fall asleep?
A: It’s possible, especially if you’re new to meditation. If this happens, try setting a timer or meditating at a time of day when you’re more alert.

Q: Can I meditate with music or distractions?
A: Yes, you can use guided meditation apps or meditate with music, but try to minimize distractions for the most effective practice.

By incorporating mindfulness meditation into your daily routine, you can develop greater awareness, reduce stress, and improve your overall mental health. Take the first step today and start experiencing the power of mindfulness for yourself.
February 21, 2025
5 Simple Meditation Techniques for Reducing Stress and Anxiety
5 Simple Meditation Techniques for Reducing Stress and Anxiety

Are you tired of feeling anxious and stressed out? Do you wish you could find a way to calm your mind and relax your body? Meditation may be just what you need. Meditation is a powerful tool that can help you reduce stress and anxiety by training your mind to focus, relax, and release tension. In this article, we’ll explore 5 simple meditation techniques for reducing stress and anxiety, so you can start feeling more calm and centered in no time.

1. Body Scan Meditation

One of the simplest and most effective meditation techniques is body scan meditation. To do this, find a quiet and comfortable place to sit or lie down, and close your eyes. Bring your attention to your toes, and start to focus on any sensations, feelings, or thoughts that arise. Slowly work your way up your body, pausing to notice any areas of tension or discomfort. As you reach each area, take a few deep breaths and imagine any tension or stress leaving your body. Continue this process until you reach the top of your head, taking a few final, deep breaths and opening your eyes when you’re ready.

Benefits of Body Scan Meditation:
- Reduces physical tension and discomfort
- Helps to release stored emotions and memories
- Increases relaxation and calmness
- Improves sleep quality
2. Mindful Breathing Meditation

Mindful breathing meditation is another powerful technique for reducing stress and anxiety. To do this, find a quiet and comfortable place to sit, and close your eyes. Bring your attention to your breath, focusing on the sensation of the air moving in and out of your body. When your mind wanders, gently bring it back to your breath without judgment. Start with short periods, such as 5-10 minutes, and gradually increase the duration as you become more comfortable with the practice.

Benefits of Mindful Breathing Meditation:
- Reduces stress and anxiety
- Lowers blood pressure
- Improves sleep quality
- Increases self-awareness
3. Guided Imagery Meditation

Guided imagery meditation involves using visualization techniques to create a mental scenario that promotes relaxation and calmness. To do this, find a quiet and comfortable place to sit or lie down, and close your eyes. Listen to a guided imagery recording or create your own scenario in your mind. Imagine yourself in a peaceful place, such as a beach or a forest, and engage all of your senses in the experience. Use all of your senses to create a vivid mental picture, and allow yourself to feel calm and relaxed.

Benefits of Guided Imagery Meditation:
- Reduces stress and anxiety
- Improves mood
- Increases creativity
- Enhances problem-solving skills
4. Loving-Kindness Meditation

Loving-kindness meditation, also known as metta meditation, is a Buddhist practice that cultivates feelings of love and compassion towards oneself and others. To do this, find a quiet and comfortable place to sit, and close your eyes. Begin by directing loving-kindness towards yourself, repeating phrases such as "May I be happy, may I be healthy, may I be at peace." Gradually expand your circle of kindness to include others, including friends, family, and even those you may have difficulty with.

Benefits of Loving-Kindness Meditation:
- Increases feelings of love and compassion
- Reduces stress and anxiety
- Improves relationships
- Enhances sense of well-being
5. Walking Meditation

Walking meditation is a simple yet powerful technique that combines physical movement with mindfulness. To do this, find a quiet and comfortable place to walk, such as a park or a peaceful path. Pay attention to the sensation of your feet touching the ground, the movement of your legs and arms, and the rhythm of your breath. Bring your attention back to the present moment whenever your mind wanders.

Benefits of Walking Meditation:
- Reduces stress and anxiety
- Improves mood
- Increases mindfulness
- Enhances physical health
Conclusion:

Meditation is a powerful tool for reducing stress and anxiety, and these 5 simple techniques can help you get started. Whether you’re new to meditation or a seasoned practitioner, these techniques can help you cultivate relaxation, calmness, and inner peace. By incorporating meditation into your daily routine, you can experience a reduction in stress and anxiety, improved mood, and increased sense of well-being. So take a few minutes each day to sit, breathe, and relax – your mind and body will thank you.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Q: What is meditation?
A: Meditation is a practice that involves training your mind to focus, relax, and release tension.

Q: How do I get started with meditation?
A: Start with short periods, such as 5-10 minutes, and gradually increase the duration as you become more comfortable with the practice.

Q: What is the best way to meditate?
A: There is no "right" or "wrong" way to meditate – choose a technique that resonates with you and make it a regular part of your routine.

Q: Can meditation really reduce stress and anxiety?
A: Yes, meditation has been shown to reduce stress and anxiety by training the mind to focus, relax, and release tension.

Q: Can anyone meditate?
A: Absolutely – anyone can meditate, regardless of age, ability, or experience.

By incorporating these 5 simple meditation techniques into your daily routine, you can start to experience the benefits of reduced stress and anxiety, improved mood, and increased sense of well-being. So take a deep breath, find a quiet spot, and let the calmness begin.
February 19, 2025
A “Just Like Me” Practice to Expand Your Circle of Compassion: 12 Minute Meditation
The invitation with this practice is to put aside ideas and concepts about differences, shame, fear, survival, and the rest, and to simply see if you can begin to develop a felt sense of common humanity. What you are tapping into here is the awareness that all of us wish for happiness and freedom from suffering, that this too is a part of our common humanity.

A “Just Like Me” Practice to Expand Your Circle of Compassion

This meditation is inspired by the writing and teaching of Thupten Jinpa in his book A Fearless Heart: How the courage to be compassionate can transform our lives.
1. Take some time to settle into your body for a few minutes, allowing your attention to drop inside. Take note of whatever is present in the way of sensation inside your body. You may notice the touch of clothing, the pressure of the supporting surface on certain parts of your body, or just sensations of coolness or warmth, relaxation or tension, ease or discomfort. Take note of where and how you are in this moment. You may notice the movement of breath into and out of the body as well, recognizing that the breath has continued to move on its own since you last attended to it.
2. Imagine someone whom you hold dear, someone who brings a smile to your face when you think of them, someone with whom you have a relatively easy and uncomplicated relationship. This may be a family member like a child, a grandparent, or even a pet. Try to go beyond the idea of this being and see if you can actually feel what it feels like to be in their presence.
3. Notice any pleasant feelings that may arise as you hold this beloved being in your awareness and see how easy it is to acknowledge that they, too, have the same aspiration for genuine happiness that you have.
4. Now call to mind someone else, someone that you recognize but don’t have much meaningful interaction with and don’t feel any particular closeness to. This may be a person whom you see quite often, on the street, behind the counter at your favorite coffee shop, or driving the bus you take regularly. Notice what feelings arise for you as you picture this person and how these feelings may be different from what you felt in regard to the loved one you imagined first.
5. See if you can imagine what it might be like to be this person. Usually, we don’t give much thought to the happiness of people in neutral roles in our lives like this. Imagine their life, their hopes and fears, which are every bit as real, complex, and challenging as yours. You may even recognize a certain similarity between yourself and this other person at the level of your common humanity. “Just like me, she wishes to be happy and to avoid even the slightest suffering.”
6. Next, take some time to see if you can call to mind someone you don’t know at all, and who seems very much unlike you at first glance. Perhaps an image comes to mind from the news or in your imagination or from your previous travels. Maybe consider someone facing hardships far different from your own right now. Perhaps you might call to mind someone who doesn’t look like you . . . or someone who has an entirely different cultural background or life circumstances. You may find yourself thinking just now of people suffering through war or resisting tyranny anywhere on the globe.
7. Take the time to see if you can look past the differences to what you have in common with this person or these people. Imagine looking into their eyes, sitting with them in meditation, feeling just a little of the joy and pain and sorrow and fear that they may experience . . . simply because they are human, just like you.
8. See if you can put yourself in this person’s shoes for a moment, recognizing that they are an object of deep concern to someone, a parent or a spouse, a child or a dear friend of someone. Begin to acknowledge that even this person who seems so different has the same fundamental aspiration for happiness that you have. Allow your attention to stay with this awareness for some period of time (say 20 to 30 seconds). Allow thoughts and feelings to come and go as they will, as you remain present to whatever arises, with no other agenda but to observe and be kind to yourself in that presence.
9. Finally, see if you can bring together these three people in one mental picture in front of you. Take some time to reflect on the fact that they all share a basic yearning to be happy and free from suffering. At this dimension, there is no difference between these three people. In this fundamental aspect, they are exactly the same. Just take the time to relate to these three beings from that perspective, from the point of view that they share the aspiration for happiness and a kind of perfect imperfection.
10. Now include yourself in this circle of awareness, reminding yourself that:
  These people have feelings, thoughts, and emotions, just like me.
  These people, during their lives, have experienced physical and emotional pain and suffering, just like me. These people have been sad, disappointed, angry or worried, just like me.
  These people have felt unworthy or inadequate at times, just like me. These people have longed for connection, purpose, and belonging, just like me.
  These people want to be happy and free from pain and suffering, just like me. These people want to be loved, just like me.
11. With this deep recognition that the desires to be happy and to overcome suffering are common to all, silently repeat this phrase: “Just like me, all others aspire to happiness and want to overcome suffering.”
12. Take some time to sit with whatever wishes or feelings arise from this practice, allowing them to arise and fall away. Your only agenda is to notice and take note of their arising.
Adapted from Self-Compassion for Dummies by Steven Hickman.
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February 7, 2025
A Guided Meditation for Collective Healing
In this guided practice, we cultivate collective healing amidst the ways we are all shaped by our experiences, fears, and hopes.
Key Points:
- The mindful practice of deeper understanding can help us when we seek to find common ground with people who seem different from ourselves.
- This meditation helps us to see that we are all shaped by our experiences, fears, and hopes, despite our differences.
- By reflecting on our experiences and shared humanity, we can better understand others and take meaningful action for collective healing.
In today’s interconnected yet paradoxically divided world, the path to understanding each other requires more than just good intentions. To truly connect and heal, we need something more: the cultivation of a deeper understanding. The path forward isn’t about eliminating differences—it’s about building bridges of understanding across them.

In this gentle yet powerful meditation with Shalini Bahl, we experience how we are all shaped by our experiences, fears, and hopes. Deep understanding is like diving below the illuminated surface to deeper waters. By understanding both what floats on the surface and what lies in the depths, we can begin to shift our habitual patterns and make choices that arise from genuine wisdom rather than reactive impulses.

A Meditation for Collective Healing
1. In today’s practice, we’ll move through three steps. One, returning to a non-judging awareness; two, listening for deeper understanding; and three, beginning to take mindful action.
2. Let’s start by taking a few minutes to simply pause and return to our non-judging awareness. Come to a comfortable sitting position, feeling the elongation along the back of the spine. Gently lift your shoulders up, back, and down, so that the breath can move at ease. Feel the support under your feet.
3. You may lower or close your eyes. Bring your attention to your breath. Notice how it moves in and out of your body effortlessly. If it’s deep, let it be deep. If it’s shallow, let it be shallow. Simply invite your mind to be here with your breath and your body. If you like, let your attention rest in the region of your heart, feeling the spaciousness in your chest with each in-breath, and a gentle release with each outbreath.
4. Gently bring to mind the situation causing tension or conflict. See it clearly as if watching from a slight distance. Notice what arises in your body. Perhaps there’s tightness in your chest or belly, or your breath becomes shallow. Notice with kindness that all the sensations are rising and dissolving in your body, and make room for all your sensations, all the emotions. Whether it’s grief or anger, frustration, sadness—notice with kindness, without trying to fix or suppress anything.
5. Now, notice what thoughts are underlying these emotions. See the people involved, their expressions or words or tone of voice. Feel this spaciousness in your mind, like a vast sky where all the thoughts arising are passing by like clouds.
6. Once you feel a little more space in your mind and your body, you can move to the next step: listening deeply. Set an intention to understand not just our experience and needs, but also extending that same understanding toward others involved.
7. If you need some support getting into this posture of deep listening, here are some questions you can explore. If you need a little more time, you can always pause the recording or try some journaling. Begin with, What are your core needs in this situation? Perhaps you long for safety, acknowledgment, a healthy environment, respect for your values.
8. Next, connect with our shared humanity with others. Silently reflect, Just like me, this person wants to be happy and healthy. Just like me, this person also cares for their family. Continue on your own with your shared similarities with this person or people. Just like me….
9. From this place of connection, seek to understand what lived experiences might be shaping their current stance or actions. What assumptions or beliefs are you bringing to this situation?
10. Continue to breathe deeply to create more space in your mind and body. Breathe out any rigidity or tension you may be holding. What else might be possible here? No need to search or strive for answers, just trusting our intention for a deeper understanding and seeing our shared humanity, knowing we will be guided to clarity with this inner compass.
11. Feel free to pause this recording to go for a mindful walk in nature or do some journaling to create room for a deeper understanding. As clarity emerges, you may notice a release of tension. It might be a very subtle shift in our body or your breath becoming deeper or easier.
12. From this place of connection with your intention and insights, you can move to the last step: considering possibilities for intentional, mindful action. These are small steps you can take to create more understanding and harmony in this situation. Let this intentional approach extend beyond this specific situation. For example, how might your choices around consumption—what you put into your body, how you source things—all support a mind and body guided by your intention and values?
13. Remember, you can return to this practice whenever you need, using these three steps: return to your non-judging awareness, listen for deeper understanding, and begin to take aligned actions. Let’s take a final breath together. As we exhale slowly, may this practice benefit us and benefit all beings.
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February 1, 2025
A 12-Minute Meditation to Meet Difficult Emotions With Compassion
This guided meditation is a simple practice to help us navigate the ups and downs of everyday life challenges with a kind and open heart.
Often when we’re struggling with challenging situations or emotions, the things that feel the most supportive aren’t complex techniques, but just simple, down-to-earth practices.

In this podcast episode, teacher and leadership trainer Carley Hauck introduces a practice for working with difficult emotions that’s all about noticing the body and visualizing the support, care, and wisdom to stay present to the right-now experience. In a world that feels increasingly complex and uncertain, Carley’s guidance is like a gentle hand on the back, encouraging us to slow down and find calm amidst the chaos. She shows us how to face life’s challenges with a kind and open heart, reminding us that it’s okay to feel overwhelmed sometimes.

A Guided Meditation for Working With Difficult Emotions
1. For this meditation, allow yourself to come into a comfortable sitting position. Feel your feet firmly planted on the floor. Notice your posture as you’re sitting. Allow your shoulders and your upper back to relax.
2. Begin to notice the rhythm of your breath as you breathe in and out. It may even be helpful to place one hand on your lower abdomen. And as you breathe in, you feel the stomach rise. And as you breathe out, you feel the stomach fall.
3. Start to notice the slowing down of your heart rate, of your blood pressure, allowing you to fully be here in this present moment.
4. Bring to mind a situation that occurred recently where you felt sadness or disappointment. It doesn’t need to be the most difficult experience, but just something moderately difficult so that you can practice. It may even be something that hasn’t happened yet, but that you are feeling sad, disappointed, or anxious about.
5. Turn your attention to the physical body. As you’re reflecting on this situation of sadness, what do you feel in the body right now? Is there tightness or tension behind the eyes? Is there a heaviness in the shoulders or your head? What are you aware of right now?
6. With a compassionate curiosity, turn towards your experience. Everything is welcome right now.
7. If you find it difficult to be with what’s arising, that’s okay. Use the breath as a stabilizer, helping you to fully be here to whatever is arising and passing in the mind and the body and the heart. It might also help to name the feelings that are here for you, like sadness, loss, or disappointment.
8. If this feels comfortable for you, allow yourself to imagine a wise and loving figure who is cradling you. They have enveloped you with strong and loving arms. And they’re stroking your head and repeating, “It’s okay. I am here for you.” Let yourself take that in. Receive the support.
9. If there’s anything else that you need to hear to really feel supported right now, allow that to come into your awareness. What words or gestures would feel most comforting and helpful?
10. Notice what’s happening in your physical body as you receive this support. Is there heaviness? Is there peace? Acceptance?
11. When you’re feeling ready, you can thank this loving figure for its support and presence. You are centered, strong, resilient. And you are ready to meet the day.
12. When you feel ready, allow yourself to slowly transition back into your day—slowly open your eyes, feel your feet on the floor, notice your surroundings. Thank you for your practice today.
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January 28, 2025
Find Stability Amid Change With A 12-Minute Meditation
In this meditation on impermanence, Aden Van Noppen reminds us that when the outside world feels overwhelming, we can often find inner calm by coming back to the breath.
We live in a world of constant change and this week, Aden Van Noppen invites us to find what roots us. Aden is the founder and executive director of Mobius, a collaboration between leading neuroscientists, meditation teachers, and technologists to work toward the creation of digital technology that enhances our individual and collective well-being. Aden is also one of the 10 powerful women of the mindfulness movement 2022, and here she guides a meditation on impermanence.

A 12-Minute Meditation to Find Stability Amid Change
1. Let’s begin with a little grounding. Gently move your attention to the place where you are most rooted to the Earth. Whether that’s the bottom of your feet or where your body rests on a chair or a cushion, take a moment to just rest your attention there. Feeling the rootedness. Feeling the ground, the floor, the chair, the cushion holding you, holding your weight, grounding you.
2. Gently move your attention toward your breath. Take a relaxed breath, feeling the in- and out-breath like a wave. A wave of breath in and the wave as it moves out with your breath out. And just like the quality of a wave, it’s washing over you and through you. You don’t have to control it. In and out, without controlling it.
3. And just like a wave, no two breaths are the same. And just like every moment, no two moments are the same. Let this breath be a reminder of impermanence. As you breathe in, you can gently say to yourself, “This breath.” Each moment, each breath is a chance to begin again. “This breath.” Just like a wave.
4. As you take in your next breath, imagine the feeling of soaking up the nutrients of that breath, the life force of that breath, and with your out-breath, letting go. In—”Soaking up.” Out—”Letting go.” “Soaking up. Letting go.” Just as we do over and over in our lives. “Soaking up. Letting go. “ And combining them: “This breath. Letting go.”
5. As we transition to close this meditation, gently move your attention away from the wave of your breath and back to the rootedness of your seat, of your feet, wherever your weight is held most by the ground.
6. Even with the constant change, the moving in, the moving out, we always have this rootedness. It is always available to us, to remind us that we are held amid the change in our lives moment to moment.
7. When you’re ready, you can bring your attention back into the room and gently open your eyes. Thank you for sitting with me.
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January 24, 2025
A 12-Minute Meditation for Honoring Our Connection to Ourselves and Others

A guided meditation to begin making space for healing political polarization, racial strife, and social disconnect.

This racial healing meditation emphasizes interconnection, honoring our connection to self in order to honor our connection to others. Acknowledging our interconnection, we can create space for healing political polarization, racial strife, and really any kind of disconnection in our lives.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be.” This is the interrelated structure of reality. Let us just be with that for a moment. This is such an interconnected reliance.

“I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be.”

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Many people feel like the answer to a more equitable and inclusive society is to be kind and treat everyone the same. As you consider your own journey of racial healing and interconnection, hopefully you come to realize kindness and awareness are important, but not enough. There is inner work that is essential.

The journey of racial healing gently opens your eyes to the initial work, the work of self-transformation as key to becoming a culturally inclusive and connected person. In our time together today, we begin to take the first steps to embracing interconnection.

A Guided Meditation for Interconnection

1. I invite you to sit comfortably yet with reverent alertness, lengthening the spine if you choose. The body is not trying too hard. We’re just sitting like a majestic mountain. A formed presence, but not working hard at it. I invite you to gaze down or close your eyes.

2. And now I like to give this signal to my body and mind. Now that I’ve settled in, I’m about to do this. What we’re about to open up to is more of ourselves in this moment, with full curiosity, non-judgment, and deep self-compassion. I do this by taking three deep breaths. Please take three deep breaths at a pace that feels good for you. And then just settle into breathing at a pace that feels good and supportive. Finding your own rhythm of your in-breaths and your out-breaths. Let us just be here for about one minute of silence, staying anchored and aware of our breath.

3. Now, I invite you to imagine a world where every being is connected to love. And because of this connection, not a single being would ever hurt another. And let us recognize that this world begins with us. With our willingness to connect and see, recognize value, and honor our interconnection. Continue to imagine for a moment what it would be like to live in a world where everyone freely and equally shared a deep connection to one another. Let us begin to create this, starting with ourselves. Let us just take a moment to continue to anchor to our own breath and the imagining of a world where we are connected to everyone.

4. And now I invite you to picture someone who is racially different than you. And we know that race is a socialized construct, yet it is also one that we are working to heal from. So imagine someone who was racially different than you. Whether you feel connected to this person or not, whether you know them personally or not. Just picture someone who is racially different than you.

5. And as you picture them, I invite you to repeat these words to yourself, silently or out loud, whichever feels comfortable to you. These phrases are inspired by fellow meditator Melanie Cerdan. We will have some moments of silence in between the phrases, to allow the feelings to settle into our consciousness and our bodies. And let’s just take a moment. Connecting with this person who we’re visualizing. We offer the phrases: “I am open to connect with you. And I am grateful for your openness to connect with me. May the love in me connect with the love in you. I am present and I honor your presence. I am light and I honor your light. I am a unique human being and I honor that you are a unique human being. I am grateful and I honor that you are grateful.”

6. Thank this person for exchanging this connection with you. Notice how you’re feeling in this moment. What emotions are present? What does it feel like in your body to have connected in this way? Just noticing. Not marking any feelings, emotions, thoughts as right or wrong, just simply being in the open awareness of what is present for you in this moment.

7. As we close, let us anchor to a powerful quote by Dr. Harriet Lerner. “Only through our connectedness to others can we really know and enhance the self. And only through working on the self can we begin to enhance our connectedness to others.” May we see all others as being happy and connected. As we send this wish out into the world, may we appreciate it coming back to us.

8. I invite you to bring your attention back into your body. Back into your current location. Bringing our full awareness to being interconnected. May we move about being connected to others and every living being. Thank you for practicing with me today.

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January 22, 2025
A Guided Meditation to Set Your Intentions for the New Year
Skip the resolutions this year. Set a different tone by cultivating your intentions for the new year with this mindful practice.
While many of us take stock at the end of a year, set goals, or make new plans for the upcoming year, that sense of letting go of what we’re caught up in and the habits we’ve been living through are a part of our everyday mindfulness practice. Each time we sit for a few minutes, there’s an opportunity to let go of wherever our minds, attention, and awareness have gotten caught up in, come back, and realign ourselves with our best intentions and efforts.

It might be a sense of bringing full awareness and attention to our experience, to the people around us, to a conversation with our children. It might be a sense of letting go of reactivity and coming back to resolve with more patience and clarity. It might also be balancing the tendency most of us have to get caught up in stress and giving more attention to gratefulness, positive moments, and things we enjoy. Or it might be a sense of wanting to bring more kindness and compassion to how we treat ourselves, how we treat others, or even how we treat the people we find difficult in our lives. All of that can be cultivated, sustained, and developed through any amount of time we spend in our mindfulness practice.

A Guided Meditation to Set Your Intentions for the New Year
1. Find a comfortable posture. Dropping your gaze or shutting your eyes, notice the physical movement your body makes with each breath. You might notice your belly, your chest, or perhaps the air moving in and out of your nose and mouth.
2. Check in with your effort and intention. What is it you’d like to bring to the practice today? Perhaps it’s an opportunity to settle and gather your attention or a sense of resolve and strength. Of course, you might have the intention to simply show up to this practice without adding any sense of stress or strain.
3. Bring that sense of intention and awareness to your practice today. One way to do that can be within each in-breath, developing a sense of open awareness.
4. With each out-breath, come up with a word that captures your intentions for yourself. Breathe in with awareness and maybe picture something or feel gratitude toward whatever feels appropriate to you right now. Breathe out with your intentions for this moment.
5. You might lose touch with your intentions throughout the practice and in life—you can come back again. If you lose touch with the practice and your mind gets caught up in distraction or reactivity or some sense of discomfort, that’s normal. That’s all part of the practice. Try coming back to the same practice with awareness.
6. As the practice ends, pause for a moment with intention, and choose when to move on with your day.
  Whatever you’re facing in life, all we indirectly influence is how we choose to relate to that. Reactivity and anger so often lead to more reactivity and anger. You can get caught up in self-criticism and in criticism of others. You can develop a more balanced sense of awareness, preciseness, and clarity through mindfulness practice. At any moment, you can catch yourself and realign yourself with your best intentions, recognizing that you may lose touch again and then come back when you do.
Why You Need a Self-Care Plan

Shelly Tygielski offers a three-step exercise to help you get started with your own self-care plan—no bubble bath required.
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Shelly Tygielski

January 3, 2023
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January 20, 2025
7 Mindful Prompts for Reading Poetry
Poetry can seem intimidating, but all it really asks us to do is slow down, get curious, and notice. It’s a lot like meditation! Here are seven mindful prompts to help you discover the nurturing practice of reading poetry.
Poetry is a quiet sanctuary for the mind. Its rhythm and vivid imagery invite us to immerse ourselves. By exploring the depths of a poem, we embark on a journey of self-discovery, connecting with emotions, sensations, and the underlying wisdom within the words. This exploration can be a profound practice in mindfulness, cultivating peace, clarity, and a deeper appreciation for life’s complexities.

Reading poetry isn’t just an intellectual pursuit. We encounter poetry in our everyday lives, whether on a meditation retreat, in quotes or videos on social media, and sometimes in everyday interactions with others. So, how does poetry differ from anything else we read, and why does it deserve special consideration?

While poetry may seem intimidating, all it really asks of you is to be curious, present, and open to listening to your intuition so you may connect with the words on the page.

Poetry has a more challenging job than a novel that is typically linear in its construction. Most poems compress meaning into various poetic structures while using tone and literary devices to express ideas and emotions. When we pay attention to these details, we can better unpack a poem and the multifaceted meanings that exist in it. The sometimes more abstract language of poetry also engages our intuition in a unique way, tapping into our emotions. Poetry also allows for ambiguity and uncertainty about its meaning, making more space for each reader’s individual experience.

While poetry may seem intimidating, all it really asks of you is to be curious, present, and open to listening to your intuition so you may connect with the words on the page. There’s no right or wrong way to read or experience poetry, much like there’s no right or wrong way to experience meditation.

Mindful Prompts for Poetry Reading

When you read a poem, try asking yourself the following questions to gain deeper understanding of both the poem and how it affects you:
- What mood does this poem evoke?
- What emotions are coming up for me?
- What is this poem describing?
These questions can serve as helpful entry points for any poem. Checking in with our emotions can be an easy way to notice a poem’s effect on us.

Next, you might ask yourself:
- What stands out immediately?
Or, as Allen Ginsberg used to say, “Notice what you notice.” You may notice a repeated text pattern or a specific description of an object, a shift in tone, or a point of view. Simply identify something specific that sticks out to you.

Last, ask yourself:
- Who is speaking in this poem?
- Who or what is the poem addressing?
- What questions do I have after finishing the poem?
When you’re done, consider what these prompts bring to light. Did you gain some kind of understanding? Explore your beliefs? Something else?

Explore Your Experience

Now that we’ve explored the prompts to help us better understand poetry’s qualities, we can put them into practice by taking a closer look at the following excerpt from poet Catherine Barnett’s “Critique of Pure Reason” from her collection Solutions for the Problem of Bodies in Space.

Inspired by the work of philosopher Immanuel Kant, this poem helps explore the existential. Barnett typically asks deep, abstract questions about the quotidian parts of our lives while keeping an intellectual curiosity about human existence and our habits and behaviors. Barnett’s poems often invite a sense of internal dialogue or philosophical rumination. Considering the addressee in her poetry opens a conversation about intimacy, self-awareness, and uncertainty. Let’s take a closer look at an excerpt from the poem:

With him pressed so close beside her,
she couldn’t sleep. Perhaps it was his skin,
or the rain. It kept raining.

She lay there trying to remember
exactly how many thoughts she could have.
Was it 30,000 or 70,000? Per hour?

Or was it per minute?
She’d heard from someone
who’d heard from someone

who listened to the number, whatever it was,
from an HVAC specialist.

Take out a notebook and pen or open a word document and reflect on this poem with the help of the prompts:
1. What mood does this poem evoke?
2. What emotions are coming up for me?
3. What is this poem describing?
4. What stands out immediately?
5. Who is speaking in this poem?
6. Who or what is the poem addressing?
7. What questions do I have after finishing the poem?
Meditation and poetry ask us to use the same tools:
- Slowing down
- Being a curious observer of our experience
- Connecting our body and mind
By reading poetry mindfully, we can gain a deeper understanding of both the poem and our inner landscape. Approaching poetry with curiosity and mindfulness opens the door to deeper understanding and richer engagement. Next time you read a poem, try using these prompts to discover what resonates for you.
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January 12, 2025
A Guided Meditation to Reset and Let Go
In this guided mindfulness practice, we release what no longer serves us and anchor in our inner wisdom, peace, and freedom.
While the new year often inspires reflection, January isn’t the only time we can release what no longer serves us. Resetting can happen in any moment—simply by connecting to the rhythm of our breath. In this meditation, journey inward to release, reset, and anchor into our inner wisdom, peace, and freedom. “Every inhale is a new moment, a sense of total renewal. And every exhale is an opportunity to arrive in the space, free. Totally free.”

A Meditation to Reset and Let Go
1. Prepare for this practice by finding a quiet place and a comfortable seat. If you wish, you can also lay down. Whichever you choose, find connection and grounding with the space that you’re in. If you’re seated in a stool or a chair, plant both feet on the ground. If you’re seated on the floor directly or on a meditation cushion, sit with a straight spine. If you’re lying down, lie flat in a way that you feel grounded and connected to the space you’re lying on.
2. Close your eyes and start to bring awareness to your breath. Start to notice and be a witness to life flowing through your body, which is your breath. Notice the pace of your breath and tune in to its rhythm. Use each breath as an opportunity to arrive here, to shift your focus away from what might have happened earlier and towards the space you’re in, to this recording, this meditation, this practice that we’re all sharing together.
3. Breathe in and out through your nose to start. Notice if anything is still arising from what might have happened before you came into this practice. If so, just acknowledge it and then consciously shift your awareness back to your breath.
4. Now breathe in through your nose and exhale out through your mouth. Notice if you feel any release throughout your body with that long, deep exhale. Let’s do that again, breathing in through our nose and out through our mouth. Deep exhale. Again, just notice what arises or what releases in your body. One last time, let’s breathe in through our nose and out through our mouth.
5. We can carry weight energetically, physically, mentally. With total awareness and non-judgment, let’s be a witness to what might be coming up. With every exhale, ask, Can we let this go?
6. Notice if you feel tension somewhere in your body. Bring awareness to that space and take a deep inhale into that space that feels tense. Then, exhale to try to release that tension that you might feel. Remember, the tension might be a reoccurring thought or situation that’s presenting itself. Keep going through this process of being a witness if something’s coming up for you—physically, mentally, energetically—and then use the power of your breath to slowly bring some relief, some release, with your breath, with your exhale.
7. We might not be able to control everything happening on the outside, but we always have the power to be aware and shift what’s happening on the inside. You can use this practice of connecting to your breath to release as a means to create a subtle shift, lessening that tension of everything that’s not serving you in this present moment. You can invite a sense of freedom and liberation, even for one breath cycle. Notice the shift it creates throughout your entire being. At any time, you can use your breath to reclaim your inner power, your inner peace, and your inner wisdom. You don’t need to carry the past with you.
8. If you’re having any trouble with really being present, I encourage you to place one hand over your heart, one over your stomach. Use this physical reminder to connect with the rhythm of your breath and the beauty that your breath holds in helping you release and lighten your daily load. Every inhale is a new moment, a sense of total renewal. And every exhale is just an opportunity to arrive in the space free, totally free, of everything that ever was.
9. Start to bring awareness again to the space you’re in. Offer gratitude for yourself for showing up today, for embarking on this inward adventure. Honor yourself, your journey, and your willingness to release and let go of what no longer serves you.
10. Take a deep inhale in, a big exhale out, and ever so slowly, open your eyes. Stay connected to the space you’re in. How are you feeling? Has anything shifted from the moment we started this practice? Remember that this practice to reset and let go is available to you every day, throughout the day if you need. Your breath is a powerful ally to help you in your journey to release and let go. Thank you so much for joining me, and I look forward to next time practicing with you.
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January 10, 2025