Relaxation

Collecting Art, take a look Youve probably heard that mindfulness reduces stress levels. Shamash Alidina shares the research—plus, a meditation you can turn to anytime. You’ve probably heard that mindfulness reduces stress. But how does it actually help you do that? Mounting scientific evidence from hundreds of universities—including dedicated centers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in the United States and the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom—strongly suggests that mindfulness gently builds an inner strength, so that future stressors have less impact on our happiness and physical well-being. Here are nine ways mindfulness can help you manage stress, plus a guided meditation to start experiencing the natural calm that mindfulness can bring: Nine Ways Mindfulness Reduces Stress You become more aware of your thoughts. That way, your stress response is not initiated in the first place. You don’t immediately react to a situation. Instead, you have a moment ...

Collecting Art, take a look In 2025, mindfulness teacher Andrew Safer tracked the effects of attention training for workshop participants with ADHD. What he learned has implications for all of us. It seems that distraction is the oxygen we breathe nowadays, with infinite bits of information at our restless fingertips. Each time I open my Edge browser, captivating news headlines and flashy images assault me. Half the time, I forget where I was headed! Is the effort to maintain control of our attention a fool’s errand? Nicholas Carr, in his best-seller, The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains, notes that more than a few top journalists have stopped reading books because 1 they can easily find the information they need at Wikipedia and other online sources, and 2 their attention spans have withered. Mindfulness meditation nudges us in the opposite direction. Rather than surround ourselves with endless options, we simplify. The practice has us paying attention to this pre...

Collecting Art, take a look This week, Christiane Wolf offers a guided practice to meet your own body in pain and relieve that sense of isolation by internally connecting with others who understand your experience. Having chronic pain often feels incredibly lonely. You might not know anybody else who has the same condition. In addition, most people you’re close to, even though they might be well-intentioned, might not understand what you’re going through. But the fact is that probably thousands and thousands of people all over the world know exactly what you’re feeling. In this meditation, Christiane Wolf offers a guided practice to meet your own body in pain and relieve that sense of isolation by internally connecting with others who could relate to, have empathy for, and care deeply about your experience. A Meditation to Meet the Body In Pain Read and practice the guided meditation script below, pausing after each paragraph. Or listen to the audio practice. Start by finding a co...

Collecting Art, take a look One of the hardest parts of life for me, and I think for everyone I know, is that it’s always changing—and sometimes in unpleasant, unpredictable, and unplanned ways. And when changes happen like this, things that we don’t want to happen—someone we love dies or we have a breakup or a divorce, maybe an injury or an illness of ourselves or others, or even getting fired—then we struggle not only from the pain of this loss, but from the unexpected nature of it. Part of the reason for this upset is because so little is in our control. One of the hardest parts of life for me, and I think for everyone I know, is that it’s always changing—and sometimes in unpleasant, unpredictable, and unplanned ways. Everything is impermanent. It’s always changing, coming together and falling apart. But paradoxically, when we can accept that everything is not up to us, and we stop trying to control what we can’t change or trying to predict what we can’t predict, then we can feel ...

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. To state the obvious, there’s a lot going on in the world. Between the demands of everyday life and the emotional intensity of global and local events, our systems are overwhelmed. And, for many of us, it’s become too much to carry by ourselves. So in this gentle guided 7-minute meditation for anxiety, you’re asked to do something radical—set it all down. You’ll practice releasing all the things you feel responsible for juggling—your worries, your responsibilities, the pressure you place on yourself to keep it all together. You’ll explore what it feels like to hand everything over, even if just for a few minutes. This isn’t about ignoring reality or spiritually bypassing. It’s about reminding yourself that you’re not meant to do it all on your own. When you allow what’s too heavy for you to carry any longer to be supported by others ...

Collecting Art, take a look This week, Christiane Wolf offers a guided practice to meet your own body in pain and relieve that sense of isolation by internally connecting with others who understand your experience. Having chronic pain often feels incredibly lonely. You might not know anybody else who has the same condition. In addition, most people you’re close to, even though they might be well-intentioned, might not understand what you’re going through. But the fact is that probably thousands and thousands of people all over the world know exactly what you’re feeling. In this meditation, Christiane Wolf offers a guided practice to meet your own body in pain and relieve that sense of isolation by internally connecting with others who could relate to, have empathy for, and care deeply about your experience. A Meditation to Meet the Body In Pain Read and practice the guided meditation script below, pausing after each paragraph. Or listen to the audio practice. Start by finding a co...

Collecting Art, take a look The best mindfulness methods are the ones that work for you. Balancing work, relationships, and all that comes with life in the real world is a truly impressive feat—one that’s supported greatly by simple mindfulness practices. Discovering tools that allow you to be more present throughout your day is among the quickest ways to elevate your existence, and 2025 brought some new go-to tricks that we intend to take from the present into the future. The routines we picked up this year were all about optimizing our lifestyles to create more room for awareness. That means instead of waiting for for perfect stillness, we try to meet ourselves exactly where we are. From active takes on meditation to stacking new habits on existing routines, these ideas can help make your everyday life more intentional. 5 Helpful Mindfulness Practices We Learned in 2025 Living mindfully should be a relatively simple endeavor. Take what works for you and leave the rest. 1. Habit ...