Mindful Mondays: Start where you are

The remainder of the year is full of shifting sands, seasons and situations.  The landscape is changing and so must our map. July is a great month to reset, recalibrate and get back to mindfulness practice basics! I always recommend starting where you are.  Don’t overthink it.  Try this: Intentionally be aware of the present […]

Essential selfcare tips for ‘Know-it-Alls’ during divisive times

Confessional: I’m a know-it-all. I know that. And when it comes to selfcare I have an honorary PhD from the School of Me. During the last few years, I have consumed mountains of books, articles, videos, and TED Talks on what you need to know about selfcare during divisive time like these. I have reached […]

Mindfulness: Non-Striving in Practice

As a mindfulness practice and stress reliever I recently took up abstract painting.  I was messing around with exercises provided by an online class when a friend asked, “Are you having fun?” to which I unenthusiastically replied, “Sort of.” The process was frustrating at times. My projects were not resembling anything like the seemingly effortless and […]

The Attitude of Non-Striving

When we practice Mindfulness, we can intentionally cultivate one of 7 foundational attitudes.  This week we’ll explore Non-Striving.  Non-striving can seem like a tricky mental posture in our goal-oriented world, but Jon Kabat-Zinn puts it this way, “Mindfulness is never about doing something perfectly because it is not about doing or accomplishing at all. It […]

Mindfulness: The 5 Senses

There is a saying, ‘You can’t give what you don’t have.’ Taking care of yourself and addressing your needs is a vital part of improving wellbeing, maintaining balance, and preventing burnout. It all starts from a place of grounding and awareness. This practice is a classic grounding exercise to help you get out of your […]

Mindfulness: Working with Difficult Emotions

Soften, Sooth, Allow As sentient beings we will encounter difficult emotions. It is part of the full spectrum of being alive! Strong feelings like anger, confusion, fear, loneliness, even joy amid chaos and disaster can feel awkward or difficult. The best strategy I’ve found to attend to these emotions is the process developed by Kristin […]

Mindfulness: When it Rains

I’m a lover of petrichor; the smell of rain on dry earth.  There’s nothing better, and it’s a good thing living here in the great Pacific Northwest. There are also times that are not so inspiring to our senses. Difficult emotions, limiting beliefs or situations can feel overwhelming. The rain comes down too hard.  It’s […]

Mindfulness: Perfectionism and Self Compassion

Exercise: In this time of upheaval and change it is easy to be critical of ourselves and our ability to adapt. It’s a good time to consider how we respond to ourselves with compassion, or not. Enjoy and reflect on these insights and tips provided by therapist, Lisa Olivera. Reflection: How do I feel when […]

Mindfulness: Completing the Stress Cycle

We all know that stress is an internal state and can manifest differently in each person. In varying degrees, it can affect our physical, spiritual, behavioral, emotional, and cognitive experiences of life. Avoiding burnout, or persistent auto-pilot, and increasing our overall resilience requires that we get proficient at Completing the Stress Cycle. What we know […]

Mindfulness: Autopilot

February is a good ‘reset’ month, so just as a reminder, today I’ll delve into one of the reasons we practice mindfulness: AUTOPILOT We can tend to run on autopilot much of the time, automatically making decisions and moving about our day rather mindlessly. But being in autopilot is not necessarily a bad thing. It’s […]