Nearly Mindful

Saying "I'm sorry" can become a reflexive response to so many things, but do we really mean it? Saying I’m sorry isn’t always an acceptance of responsibility, or fault, offering to fix it, or taking the blame for something. And yet we say it. So what can we do to express regret for something someone is experiencing? Listen on. 

When we're busy, busy, busy, it's a good idea to take a few breaths to re-center so we can be at our best!

Mind too busy to meditate? Yeah, I get it, I've been there too, but my eyes were opened with a little practice, and I see it differently now. So can you. Have a listen and let me know what you think!

Sometimes we overload ourselves with the worries of others. We want to help, to support, but we also need to take care of ourselves as well as the other person. If you, like me, are a "fixer", wanting to be there for someone to the point we wear ourselves out? Listen to this podcast and let me know what you think.

This Hawaiian forgiveness practice is about accepting responsibility for wrongs that are done. Not just wrongs by us or to us, but accepting responsibility for what is going on in our world and offering to reconcile with those wrongs on a universal scale.

We can heal our fractured world by repeating this beautiful prayer as a mantra, repeated over and over to soak it into the depths of our beings, connected with all other beings as well.

Pretty much nobody just sits down, starts meditating, and is immediately changed. Like everything else you aspire to do, you gotta practice to develop your skills. You gotta do the work to reap the rewards.  The work is the practice.  The joy is in the practice too.

When things get rough on this roller coaster ride we call life, the memories of what brings us happiness or joy can sustain us. This is simply a reminder to be present with matters most. Different for everyone in one way or another, but alike all the same. We are one human race, with similar desires, problems, needs, and sources of joy. All are to be held precious!

My wish for you for 2021 is to know that you are good enough, strong, enough, smart enough, and to wish for you all that you need to be your best self. 

If we can take just a second or two to appreciate before we move on? We open the door to making appreciation and gratitude an integral part of our lives. We can LIVE in gratitude and enjoy the benefits all the time.

When we allow ourselves the freedom to simply Be, without having to DO, it can be incredibly freeing. Give it a try?

This concept of equanimity, of letting go of struggle and letting what is be– can be challenging and yet, liberating.  We can struggle and struggle, or we can change how we approach life and challenge. 

This meditation offers a short 5 step practice to get grounded when you're feeling anxious or stressed. Gi e it a try!

We have such interesting relationships with the days of the week. Monday is the beginning of the week for most of us, and can have quite a lot of emotion connected to it. Take a listen and let me know how you feel about Mondays! 

Sometimes we feel like a feather on the wind, our emotions ruled by external forces and unable to get grounded. Those are the times when we forget that we have the power to choose our own path. 

When we are running so fast we can't even remember how we got here or what we were supposed to be doing? That's a very good time to take a moment to check-in. To just be, even if it's only for a heartbeat. To stop the endless stories in our head and focus on what is truly real, in this present moment. Listen to learn how to create more space for yourself. Right now.

These days we are on edge, quick to judge ourselves (and others) and all of that judgment weighs on us. This meditation/journaling exercise is a useful way to let go and move to forgiveness. 

I am so grateful for the beauty and gift of trees, so naturally, I wrote this  meditation to honor them and Mother Earth. 

There is a beautiful word in Spanish - querencia. It can loosely be translated as a place where one feels safe, at home, where one draws one’s strength from. WE all have this place inside us, we need only to find it.

These are difficult times, CoronaVirus is filling our minds with fear and grief. How do we find that sense of security, wellbeing and peace? It's right here, inside you. 

It's not always easy to really connect with emotions just as they are. This meditation can help you turn the microscope of attention, to process the emotion by expressing it more fully. 

It's my belief that becoming a more mindful person is more easily done by taking small actions throughout the day. These mindful moments may help you make mindfulness a bigger part of your life, and that benefits all of us.

On this Martin Luther King Day, let's talk about how we see through different lenses, how judgment appears and what we can do to see things from a little distance, and a different perspective.

 #MindfulMonday 

We have been constantly bombarded by judgment since the day we were born. Did we walk soon enough, talk soon enough, excel at school, make our teachers, our friends, our parents happy. Are we successful at business, in love, in life? No wonder we wallow in self judgement most of the time! But we don't have to! We are enough, just as we are, and if we just check in with ourselves more often and the stories we tell ourselves, we might just realize that.  

 #MindfulMonday 

We are constantly told as we grow up and go through our adult life that we should play to our strengths and that understanding our strengths and our weaknesses can help us to be more successful.   

But it’s really our approach to those strengths and weaknesses that needs to be addressed.   

Do we trust ourselves as a friend, to be there when we need us?  

 #MindfulMonday 

Do you know what phubbing is? It's the practice of snubbing others, either unconsciously or consciously, with our phones. I know, I know, it’s your communication tool, but bear with me, OK?  

According to a study by Meredith David and James Roberts of 145 adults, phubbing decreases marital satisfaction, in part because it leads to conflict over phone use. The scientists found that phubbing, by lowering marital satisfaction, affected a partner’s depression and satisfaction with life.  

 #MindfulMonday 

We encounter emotional triggers throughout our day and sometimes we respond to them more skillfully than others. We can adopt a gentle acceptance of our emotional response. Instead of fighting against the trigger, we can recognize it and by doing so minimize it’s hold on us.   This gives us space to be more skillful in the conversation, allowing the emotion to pass through us like a rather than fighting it.  

When we give ourselves time to pause, it can open new doors that we haven't been able to see. We simply need to pause and allow what is to show itse;f. Take 5 minutes to practice with me, won't you?

 #MindfulMonday 

A body scan meditation helps you get in touch with the physical feelings in your body. Connecting these feelings with your emotions is an important step to self-awareness. Give this a try!  

 #MindfulMonday 

Offering yourself some self-compassion is the best thing you can do for yourself when you're feeling stressed.   

 #MindfulMonday 

This whole concept of forgiveness is somewhat confusing to people. We may think that if we forgive someone we are letting them get away with it, right? Saying what they did is OK?  But forgiveness really isn’t about the other person at all, it’s about you.  

 #MindfulMonday 

The challenge, of course, is to find ways to make mindfulness more a part of your day, bringing it into every aspect of your life. The easiest way to do this is to start small. Do small acts throughout your day until it becomes second nature. Here are some ways to bring moments of mindfulness to your day.   

 #MindfulMonday 

How does paying attention help us with stress? Understanding the types of attention and how to improve our ability to bring open awareness can enhance our experiences.

 #MindfulMonday 

A lack of empathy can leave us feeling disconnected, conflicts and mis-understandings flare up. Feelings get hurt.   In a team environment this can create quite a lot of discord. Isolation and alienation, it also can highlight diversity issues and a sense of “otherness”. 

 #MindfulMonday 

Sometimes we don't allow ourselves to be happy. We'd rather be grumpy! But we can create happiness with this simple trick. Give it a try! 

 #MindfulMonday 

Personality traits are characteristic behaviors and feelings that are consistent and long lasting. Unlike traits, which are stable characteristics, states are temporary behaviors or feelings that depend on a person’s situation and motives at a particular time. 

 #MindfulMonday 

Today I'd like to share a way I use to get settled and centered. It’s How can we go beyond feeling grateful to being a more grateful person? It takes practice to consistently know gratitude on a regular basis. It’s so easy for us to lapse into negativity and griping and just skip over opportunities for gratitude. 

 #MindfulMonday 

When we are sick or in pain our focus is often on wanting it to just go away isn’t it? According to Jon Kabat Zinn, the creator of MBSR, awareness of the pain, our feelings and emotions about the pain can be healing, rather than thinking and stewing about the pain, which can make it worse. 

 #MindfulMonday 

Managing our emotions is not enough, we need to be able to accept the emotions we are feeling, rather than trying to "fix it". Acceptance of what is takes practice, but with time we can find ourselves with the space to be able to let reality to be what it is. 

 #MindfulMonday 

Practicing kindness makes us feel good emotionally and physically. As we move through the world offering tiny moments of kindness, the ripple effect spreads it to the world.  Doesn’t that sound like what we need right now? 

 #MindfulMonday 

Bringing a mindful approach to diversity and inclusion can break down some of the barriers by reminding us that we are all human, we all want to be happy and healthy. You are just like me in so many ways. 

 #MindfulMonday 

A mindful approach to how we listen to others at work, at home, when we are out and about, can really make a huge difference in how we communicate and how others think of us. 

 #MindfulMonday 

 Today's lesson is about unpacking and perhaps ridding ourselves of some of our limiting beliefs.

 #MindfulMonday 

Speaking mindfully takes some consideration. Are we in the right place conversation? If we waited, could we have a better conversation? Is it true? Is it kind? Is it in the best interests of all concerned?

 #MindfulMonday 

For many of us though, our intentions get lost in the day to day. We set an intention to eat more healthfully but forget to pack a lunch and end up eating out of the office vending machine.  

We intend to respond kindly to our friends, and then find ourselves in a shouting match over something inconsequential. So let’s give that a little more thought today. 

 #MindfulMonday 

About this meditation thing. We get so obsessed about whether we are doing meditation right, it’s almost impossible for us to just allow ourselves to BE. And that’s a lot of what meditation is about, just being. So what to do???