Mindful Monday: A Season of Gratitude and Gratefulness

Practicing gratefulness daily can prime our brains to look for more reasons to be grateful which shifts our outlook, perspective, and mood. McCraty and colleagues (1998), in one of their studies on gratitude and appreciation, found that participants who felt grateful showed a marked reduction in the level of cortisol, a stress hormone. They also […]

Mindful Mondays: Heart Strengthening Resilience

This week let’s focus on appreciating the edges of the seasons, fresh air, and keeping agile as we pivot in response to life. As we deepen into October, I want to share with you this quick video from Kelly McGonigal (Author, health psychologist, and lecturer at Stanford University who is known for her work in […]

The 3 P’s – Pause, get Present, Proceed

One of the best ways to practice mindfulness is to build it into your movements and habits.  Simple daily and moment to moment actions like crossing a threshold, picking up your phone, touching a doorknob, are habitual movements.  You can use these to anchor your mindful practices and build calming moments into your day. Use […]

Mindful Mondays: 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 […]

Mindful Mondays: A clean deep breath indoors

Lately, if you’re out of fire range and fully in smoke range, taking a deep breath in the Pacific Northwest has been a risky proposition. Deep breathing outside has been discouraged for those at risk. So, it’s particularly important to have clean air indoors. In response to the ashy air, I fashioned this fancy air […]

Mindful Monday: Minding Nature

My days lately have been very full.  I’ve been prepping my home for sale and tending to an ill parent along with all the other tasks of daily life. So, when my daughter asked if I’d like to join her for a trail walk, I jumped at the chance. Any tension started to release as […]

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 […]