My 3 M’s to make your walk more mindful 

The Summer weather has inspired many of us to get off our couches and into the great outdoors!  Just walking to take in some fresh air can be beneficial to both body and spirit. These walks are great opportunities to practice mindfulness in very practical ways that support our mental health too.   I’ve guided countless […]

Mindful Mondays: 4 x 4 Breathing for Well Being

Today we keep it simple with a breathing technique that is handy whether you require steady thinking, reduction of anxiety or just need to slow yourself down. This effective technique goes by many names: Tactical Breathing, Combat Breathing, Box Breathing, or 4×4 Breathing. It’s simple: Inhale to the count of 4 (fill your belly area) […]

Mindful Monday: Sometimes you need to STOP

Creating space in the day to stop, move away from the worried mind, and get back into the present moment has been shown to be enormously helpful in mitigating the negative effects of our stress response. When we drop into the present, we’re more likely to gain perspective and see that we have the power […]

Mindful Mondays: Feeling Hot Around the Collar?

I was recently driving southbound to Oregon during a Pacific Northwest heat spike.  I was heading to an annual retreat at the Mt. Angel Abbey Bach Festival.  I use this as a personal retreat mixed with amazing live music and excellent beer from the Monk’s brewery. After driving three hours in 100 degree heat my […]

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 […]

Mindful Mondays: Take a deep breath

We are going through a rough time. Take a deep breath… The people of Northern Ireland have a phrase for this kind of challenging passage.  They might refer to it as a Correymeela which means, The Lumpy Crossing Place.  The landscape is shifting, the map is changing, the weather is mixed with an 80% chance […]

Minding the chatter in our Heads

Have you ever walked out your door, noticed the rain and wind that awaits you and within a nano-second thought this: “Oh great. Rain. Again. Why did I even bother with my hair? I’m going to be a mess, I’ll never make it to that meeting on time, the traffic is going to be horrible, […]

Stay Grounded – Be where your butt is

If you’re anything like me, you’re feeling these days like you are rearranging furniture on the Titanic. Just when you’ve reset the chairs a chandelier goes flying by, followed by a table set for dinner.  We are living through a pivotal time in history that seems to spin from hopeful and beautiful to terrifying and […]

Practice the 3 M’s to make your walk more mindful

The Spring is starting to lift us finally off our couches and into the great outdoors!  Just walking to take in some fresh air can be beneficial to both body and spirit. These walks are great opportunities to practice mindfulness in very practical ways that support our mental health too. I’ve guided countless walks with […]

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 […]