Relaxation

Collecting Art, take a look Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.,

Collecting Art, take a look Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app. If you commonly experience moments of distress, you’re in good company. Stress and anxiety can be brought on by a number of external factors, whether consuming the news or scrolling social media. During these times, your waking state becomes ungrounded and it can feel as if the walls are caving in. A guided meditation for anxiety can help put your mind at ease. Taking a beat, ditching the devices, and tuning into your mind and body can help you trade tension for a sense of peace. Once you access this grounded state, returning to it during times of high anxiety becomes an easier ask. A Guided Meditation for Anxiety Video loading... Begin in a seated position. Settle In Take a few moments to orient yourself to your space. Look around and notice what you see. Take note of where you’re seated and how you’re seated. If you can, sit t...

Collecting Art, take a look Are you supposed to clear your mind, or focus on one thing? Heres the Mindful definition of mindfulness. Summary What Is Mindfulness? The practice of being fully present and aware of your current experience—without overreacting or getting lost in thoughts. Core Concept: It’s an innate human ability that you can access and cultivate through practices like seated, walking, standing, or moving meditation. Benefits: Mindfulness enhances focus and performance, reduces stress, deepens self-insight, and fosters compassion toward oneself and others. Practical Insights: Everyday Integration: Mindfulness can be applied through brief pauses and by merging it with activities such as yoga or sports. Mindfulness can be applied through brief pauses and by merging it with activities such as yoga or sports. Mind-Body Connection: Mindfulness meditation begins in the body; awareness of your physical posture and sensations is essential. Meditation Posture Tips: Sit on ...

Collecting Art, take a look Exploring difficult emotions and experiences may be the key to loosening their hold over us. Gentle awareness of our inner world allows us to transform shame in this practice from Patricia Rockman, MD. Becoming familiar with a difficult emotion means getting interested and curious about the experience, like you might do when visiting a new city. Take it slow, uncovering new “territory” a bit at a time instead of trying to get to know it all at once. Over time, you develop resilience, self-knowledge, and trust in yourself—the best antidotes to the self-judgment that shame inspires. Thoughts and feelings are larger and scarier when they’re left unexplored and kept in the shadows. Whether you’re experiencing feelings of shame right now or have buried shame that you’ve been avoiding, are you willing to get to know it a bit better? Remember, thoughts and feelings are larger and scarier when they’re left unexplored and kept in the shadows. 12-Minute Meditation...

Collecting Art, take a look Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.,

Collecting Art, take a look Habits are formed and strengthened as we journey through a continuous loop seeking to satisfy our urges. Heres how mindfulness interrupts the cycle to break bad habits. If there’s a patch of open lawn at a corner, children will cut through, and grass soon becomes hardened ground. Ancient people created paths walking from one place to another; horses and oxen widened them; and today they’re paved roads. When we want to go someplace, we choicelessly take these well-trodden paths. It’s the same with our brain and the muscles and organs that respond to its commands. As neurons keep firing in a particular configuration, they create a path, and it’s just easier to go there. Neurons that “fire together, wire together.” It’s how we learn to talk, to play guitar, to paint, and to smoke and overeat. The Role of Memories in Habit Formation As Judson Brewer points out in The Craving Mind, laying down memories pathways to return to is as ancient and ingrained as life...

Collecting Art, take a look Point of View Podcast Episode 7: When Mindfulness and Racism Intersect A conversation with Rhonda Magee exploring how mindfulness can help us dismantle the subtle patterns and habits that separate us from each other. Barry Boyce: Welcome everyone to Mindful’s podcast, Point of View. I’m Barry Boyce, editor-in-chief of Mindful and mindful.org. Rhonda is a Professor of Law at the University of San Francisco and she’s a mindfulness teacher who’s been focused for some years on issues having to do with mindfulness and the law, mindfulness for lawyers in their everyday work, justice, public policy, and in particular focusing increasingly on issues of inclusively, ingroup/outgroup, bias, and she is pioneering something she calls Color Insight, which we’ll talk about later on. So, welcome Rhonda. Rhonda Magee: Thank you very much Barry, it’s good to be with you. Barry Boyce: You and I met for the first time, quite a few years ago now, it must be, at a retreat in...

Collecting Art, take a look In this 2-minute video, meditation teacher Christiane Wolf explains what “formal” and “informal” mean when it comes to mindfulness. If you’ve heard the terms “formal mindfulness” or “informal mindfulness,” you might have been left scratching your head. Yes, it is—and it can still refer to different kinds of practices. In this short video, meditation teacher and author Christiane Wolf offers simple definitions of formal and informal mindfulness. Within each of these terms, there’s an abundance of ways to come home to the present moment. As Sharon Salzberg wrote in her book Real Happiness: “Mindfulness isn’t difficult, we just need to remember to do it.” What Is Formal Mindfulness Practice? Formal practice is what we call every type of practice where you really take the time to do nothing but this particular practice or meditation at that moment. Formal mindfulness meditation usually includes a clear structure or framework, such as steps to follow, a begin...

Collecting Art, take a look Riding a motorcycle demands total presence. It’s a matter of survival. After all, a wandering mind could lead to disaster. But it’s not fear or panic that sharpens my attention. As a clinical psychologist, I understand fear well. I know how danger activates the fight-or-flight response. And yet, paradoxically, it is on my motorcycle that I feel most calm. This is where I experience the greatest joy. It is where I find what I would describe as a state of mindfulness. Mindfulness is the practice of paying attention to the present moment, on purpose and without judgment. In psychological therapy, it is usually cultivated through meditation. People are encouraged to sit quietly, focus on the breath and observe thoughts and sensations as they arise. Mindfulness is not an “in the moment” technique to reduce immediate distress. It is a skill developed through regular practice. Research shows that it activates brain areas involved in emotional regulation and focu...

Collecting Art, take a look Striving and stress make getting a healthy sleep more challenging. Try this guided meditation to help you settle down and drift off. Are you getting enough healthy sleep? If you’re like many of us, your answer is no. And not getting the rest we crave can be quite painful and can exacerbate other health problems. As with pretty much anything health-related, we may know better, but we don’t stick to what we’d tell our best friend: Keep to a regular bedtime and a consistent routine, and avoid whatever disrupts sleep, like caffeine, alcohol, and screens. Not that complicated, but what’s often hardest is what’s frustratingly out of our full control. Even following solid advice, sometimes we suffer through rotten nights, feeling anxious or struggling to settle ourselves. We have nothing but empathy for a friend with insomnia, yet as we lie awake in the dark we may not give ourselves the same degree of care. A good place to start, then, might be an adapted versi...

Collecting Art, take a look Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.,

Collecting Art, take a look This article was created using insights from Insight Timer’s meditation retreat experts. Between work deadlines, family responsibilities, and the constant ping of notifications, life can feel like a never-ending sprint. Finding a moment to sit quietly, let alone dedicating days to meditation, might seem like a luxury you can’t afford. But what if stepping away from the chaos could actually help you return to it feeling more grounded, focused, and at peace? Meditation retreats are designed to do just that. They offer a chance to press pause on the noise of daily life and immerse yourself in practices like vipassana meditation, mindfulness meditation, or even walking meditation in serene settings. Whether you’re a beginner curious about meditation or an experienced practitioner looking to deepen your practice, retreats provide a space to reconnect with yourself and cultivate inner peace. If the idea of a retreat feels overwhelming, you’re not alone. Choosin...