Can mindful breathing, silent meditation with bells or a single mindful meditation help you get a better night’s sleep? A study published in The JAMA Network Journal answers this question in the
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Dear friends, For those of you who want spirituality without religion, I encourage you to meet Sam Harris. He wrote a wonderful guide to meditation as a rational practice, informed by neuroscience
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Dear friends, Rick Hanson is one of my top three favorite meditation teachers. Humble. Compassionate. Funny. Wise. Practical. He’s the kind of meditation teacher I aspire to be more like. Several
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Dear friends, With all the noise in the world right now, it’s important that we create moments of quiet for ourselves. Quiet helps us to think. To process. To rest. To be. Here are some free mindfulness
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Dear friends, Is your desire to be well-informed currently at odds with your desire to stay sane? You may want to consider the practice of equanimity, or cultivating a “caring
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Dear friends, Want to build your daily mindfulness habit with simple, easy-to-follow mindfulness exercises? I’m now extending our popular 28 Day Mindfulness Challenge to a full 100 Day Mindfulness
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Dear friends, We all suffer (or at least I do). Why not wish ourselves the same care that a loved one would offer us? Many people object to self-compassion because it feels sappy, because others
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Dear friends, We spend so much of our lives talking to each other, but how much are we simply running on automatic—relying on old habits and hoping for the best? Are we able to truly hear others and
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Dear friends, My friend and acclaimed mindfulness author Michelle Gale is hosting her first ever “Mindful Parenting in a Messy World Online Conference” from September 18th- 20th! Registration is
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Dear friends, Want to be able to listen to free mindfulness meditations wherever you are? Here are some ways to access my free mindfulness meditations from your car, office, meditation cushion, or even
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Dear friends, Most of us don’t get a healthy amount of sleep on a regular basis. Younger people often have more difficulty falling asleep, while older people often wake up in the middle of the night
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Dear friends, Do you prefer to meditate in silence, sitting in stillness without a teacher guiding you through a process? Below are free audio mp3’s that you can download to your computer
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Dear friends, One of the keys to teaching mindfulness is having a sense of confidence, trust and faith in yourself and in your mindfulness teaching process. When I first started teaching mindfulness,
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Dear friends, My friend Gary Gach just wrote a wonderful book called Pause, Breathe, Smile. – The Pause is about setting our intention before we think, speak, or act — the ethical
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Dear friends, When I first started talking about mindfulness with others, I remember trying to convince everyone of the benefits. I thought people would actually try everything I shared. It
Continue readingDear friends, With recent accusations of impropriety made against Chade Meng-Tan (founder of Search Inside Yourself – the mindfulness program born at Google), Sakyong Mipham (leader
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Dear friends, It’s funny how a short, pithy question can help unlock us from our daydreams, confusions and disappointments. During a particularly long season of suffering in my life,
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Dear friends, From our earliest years, we all acquire blind spots in the way we perceive, feel, and think. Driven by our biology, life experiences, cultural messages, and physical environment,
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Do you have trouble falling asleep? Do you wake up several times throughout the night? Good sleep is very important for your health and well-being. If you aren’t sleeping well, you may be suffering
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Dear friends, As a white middle-class male from a small conservative town, I have often overlooked the importance of understanding and honoring our cultural diversity. Now living in the San
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Dear friends, With 350,000 visitors in the past two years, 10 mindfulness worksheets have stood out from the rest as the most popular. The mindfulness topics range greatly – from art therapy to humor
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Dear friends, Are you or someone you know relatively new to mindfulness? Do you want some of the best practices for learning the basics? I included some of the best ‘beginner’
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Dear friends, Have you ever wondered how mindful you are, technically? Many scientists have created tests to figure out how mindful people tend to be, on average. Some of us wear rose-colored glasses,
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Dear friends, We often hear about the same mindfulness practices over and over again. The classic go-to practices that everyone seems to mention include: Mindfulness of Breathing Body Scans Loving
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Dear friends, With a growing number of mindfulness resources out there, it can be difficult to know which ones are worthy of our time and attention. Here is a list of my favorite mindfulness
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Dear friends, As you may know, I strongly encourage most people to try a silent 5+ day mindfulness retreat. Retreats can deeply enhance people’s experiential understanding of ‘nonjudgmental,
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Dear friends, Research suggests that people with higher levels of reported self-compassion are less likely to report depression and anxiety. The data showed that self-compassion may play the role
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Dear friends, Many mindfulness teachers agree that the fastest way to deepen your integrated, embodied mindfulness is by attending a silent residential retreat. The first few days are usually difficult,
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Dear friends, Mindfulness may be simple, but it’s not definitely easy. That’s why it’s always a good idea to go back to the basics. Below are some free beginner’s guides
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Dear friends, Some of you have requested audio transcripts for some of the guided meditations and mindfulness talks. Audio transcripts can be helpful for following along with the voice, to
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Dear friends, While mindfulness is noticing what’s ACTUALLY happening without judgment, guided visualizations can be a nice way of tuning into the sensations of an imagined experience. Visualizations
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Image by Pixabay The holidays are a bittersweet time for many. All too often, joyous images of togetherness fail to match the messy reality of family relationships. If you’re estranged from
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I try not to think about how many years have passed since I gave birth to my four children! Time literally does fly! But since I have become involved with mindfulness I can look back at that time in my
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I will be the first to admit that keeping to a regular meditation practice is challenging. Sitting still for a few minutes a day is the last I want to do when I have to rush to feed the toddler and get
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As a yogi, meditation has come up quite a bit in my practice over the years. My teacher has advocated for at least 1 hour of meditation time in a day, where in that hour I learn to still my mind, chant
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You can do anything in a lucid dream. The possibilities are limitless. There are, however, some tasks that need a high level of self control and a good mastery over the dream. Beginner dreamers often
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While some are joyfully planning holiday menus and getting ready to toast to a new year, others are struggling to get through it all. The holidays aren’t a magical time for everyone. Things like financial
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By Michael Weinberger *This post originally appeared on A Plan for Living’s blog. If you define stress as that crazy out-of- control feeling you get when you’re overwhelmed and under pressure, you’ve
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Most consider exercise to be an arduous task and make excuses to avoid it at all costs. When we think of exercise, we often envisage crowded gyms filled with sweaty people who occupy the machines we want
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Mindfulness has been in existence for centuries and practiced by the Buddhists but has become extremely popular especially in therapeutic settings in the past 30 years or so. It is practiced in all walks
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Stay at home parenting is not the easy job some would think it is. Being at home all day with your kids often means you have a 24 hour a day job. Your spouse comes home from work and wants a break, but
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Learning to follow the breath is one of the most basic mindfulness exercises for stress, and for good reason: Mindful breathing has the power to reduce stress on a physical level, and can actually retrain
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Download Free PDF — Material on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
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Mindful meditation is an excellent way to start your day. It lowers stress and prepares you for all the tensions that you encounter during your workday. If practiced over long periods of time, you are
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Leaders inspire others to be better versions of themselves. They inspire evolution in the perception of the follower. An evolution that comes with picking up new traits or habits, and leaving behind ones
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People have been practicing mindfulness for thousands of years, but only recently has science been able to gain insight into the neurological underpinnings of mindful meditation. Thanks to newfound tools
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In this busy world that we live in, people are constantly overwhelmed with how much they need to accomplish. Our to-do lists get longer every day, and we find it hard to make time to quiet our minds and
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Most people think that it’s hard to lead others. This is because leadership entails a lot of responsibility. When you’re a leader, the group is following you. So if you make a mistake, you’re
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When being intentional about mindfulness, it’s important to start each day centered, focused, and aware. Your ability to train your brain in mindfulness techniques will empower you to live in a
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There’s no doubt you’ve heard the buzz about mindfulness. From CEOs of major corporations to Joe on the treadmill next to you at the gym, people are talking about the benefits. Mindfulness
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Mindfulness and meditation are nothing new. You can find versions of our modern mindfulness philosophy in the Hindu Vedas, in the writings of Christian church fathers, in Muslim Sufi poetry, and in Shinto
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There are a million different potentials pertaining to developing mindful meditation techniques, so finding a routine solely relies on individual preference. Ultimately, an individual should openly experiment
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We’ve probably all seen the man who sat looking at his phone as one of the most magnificent creatures on this earth swam right past him. This man missed one of the biggest moments in his life. We’ve
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It is quickly becoming aware to many people that mindfulness is an important part of our mental and physical health. Obtaining a state of mindfulness is difficult, but these mindfulness exercises for
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Ever have one of those days? An earworm of worry wriggles into your head before your feet even hit the floor. You spill your hot coffee, which means you have to change, which means you’re running
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I’m so fat. I’m not very pretty. She has it all together–why can’t I be more like her? It is easy to plunge into self-pity and self-loathing. We look at others and, for some insane
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Concentration is at the core of all types of meditation. When you meditate you can reach a state of deep peace because your mind becomes tranquil and silent, yet totally alert. According to scientific
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Anxiety can often rob you of precious moments. Instead of being able to relax or enjoy the fruits of your labor, anxiety can take all that away: it gives you more things to worry about, points out things
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In life, there’s a tendency to reminisce about the past and worry about the future. However, by doing so, you’ll miss out on all that’s happening in the present moment. The truth is that
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In a world of constant movement and excessive stress, mindfulness-based stress reduction is a godsend. It can eliminate negativity, increase your physical and emotional health, and bring a sense of peace
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Daily life can be a challenge, though some have found meditation as a means to cope. For those that are unsure of how to practice it, become aware of a few easy meditation techniques. Every minute of
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The world moves fast-paced and it is easily swept along its currents. The constant advancements of technology means that we carry the load of a thousand cares with us via our phones. Facebook, Twitter,
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Picture yourself walking through the park on a beautiful spring afternoon. The sun is peaking through a cluster of trees allowing you to feel the warmth of its rays on your skin. The leaves are lightly
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Meditation can bring about a wonderful feeling of calmness. When done regularly, meditation can help you to feel more at peace. However, when you’re just starting to get into the habit of meditating,
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We don’t have to tell anyone how difficult it is to navigate life nowadays. Although the financial depression is lifting, jobs are still scarce. Although the housing crisis is reaching non-crisis levels,
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The Mindful Family: Practice These Fun Mindfulness Exercises Together Raising your kids to be mindful will only work if you, as parents, also participate in mindfulness exercises. The following fun mindfulness
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Since 1979, thousands of people have flocked to an eight-week course called Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (also known as MBSR). What is MBSR? Simply put, it is a course of study where people learn
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Often times children, in general, are never taught to be mindful or present in the moment. Even adults struggle with this skill. Children who are labeled as having Emotional Disturbance struggle with mindfulness
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Remember when the Japanese were in the news, because their businessmen were so stressed out that they were having heart attacks left and right? Lately, Americans seem to be in the same boat: taking no
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There’s hardly a person in western culture who hasn’t felt it at sometime or other…that slipping, sinking feeling of being dragged under by having too much going on in his life. The
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Being mindful has many benefits, and recent research indicates that those benefits include helping obese individuals control their eating habits and maintain or lose weight. A 2010 study found that those
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Are you a parent intent on teaching your child mindfulness because you realize how valuable it will be for them today and in the future? Are you struggling to determine the best way to explain the concept
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Mindfulness is a state of consciousness that allows you to lead a happier life. It allows you to stay aware of your thought processes and make better decisions. Mindfulness is particularly valuable when
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Your meditation benefits grow when you have a sangha community to support you. It’s difficult to practice mindfulness all by yourself, and there’s no reason you have to go it alone. Sangha is one
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Anger is perhaps the oldest and most primitive emotion. Anger is easy to recognize in others, but not always in ourselves. Anger ultimately serves a purpose: that of self-preservation. When we sense a
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Individuals of all ages benefit greatly from developing mindfulness through introspective exercises. These activities train your mind to fully appreciate the sensations and sentiments around you. Mindfulness
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Parenting often provides daily challenging experiences. For example, everyone is buckled in the car ready to go and one child announces they need to go back inside to go potty. After getting 3 minutes
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Stress is a part of our everyday lives; it’s impossible to imagine a life without it. Even while we’re doing the things that we enjoy, we’re also feeling stress. For example, if you’re a great
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