Mindful Mondays: Take a self-compassion break
H/T to Dr. Kristin Neff, PhD This practice can be used any time of day or night and will help you remember to evoke the three aspects of self-compassion when you need it most. You may think of a situation in your life that is difficult, that is causing you stress. Call the situation to mind, […]
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 […]
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 […]
