Relax

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 In this practice, Scott Rogers guides us to take the role of observer to difficult emotions, so that we can more easily create the space we need to let them go. Sometimes we can see our intense emotions coming, and sometimes we can’t. Emotions can build up, increasing in strength slowly. In all of these ways, emotions are like storms. As such we need to allow the storm to pass. Let’s look to different aspects of the hurricane and see how they connect to our own thoughts, feelings, and sensations. The good news is that we can allow the storm to pass, and so do emotions. With mindfulness, we can practice taking the role of observer to our strong feelings. When we put that space between ourselves and the whirlwinds, we can find stability and cultivate resilience. Scott Rogers leads us in this guided practice with the metaphor of a hurricane to help us recognize the qualities and the impermanence of even our stormiest emotions. A 12-Minute Meditation for Emo...

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

Collecting Art, take a look While incredibly helpful as a guide, misunderstanding or over-applying the Nine Attitudes of Mindfulness can create real problems. Mo Edjlali, Founder of Mindful Leader, explores how we can hold a balanced, healthy view of these nine core principles. Mindfulness teachers and programs often point to what Jon Kabat-Zinn called the Nine Attitudes of Mindfulness: qualities like non-judging, patience, beginner’s mind, trust, non-striving, acceptance, letting go, gratitude, and generosity. While incredibly useful, these attitudes were never meant as commandments. They were meant as reminders, helpful reference points to support mindful awareness and compassionate living. But as mindfulness has been repackaged for the workplace, apps, and secular programs, something has gotten lost in translation. Instead of flexible guidance, the Nine Attitudes of Mindfulness have, for many, become rigid ideals. What starts as an invitation to live more mindfully can ultimately...

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 A guided meditation to get familiar with our self-judging voice and how we relate to our flaws, so that we can cultivate compassion and recognize our own worthiness. Mindfulness is about paying attention to our present moment experiences with openness, curiosity, and a willingness to be with what is. Mindfulness is about paying attention to the present moment with openness to things as they really are, as opposed to how we want them to be or how they could be, or wishing that they were different, which we do quite a bit. This includes our uncomfortable experiences—like being with our fear, grief, regret, and that self-judging voice that sometimes makes us feel so small. Self-compassion is the idea that even with all of our flaws, we can still care about ourselves. Self-Compassion vs. Self-Esteem I want to talk about the concept of self-compassion. There seems to be this epidemic of self-judgment in the world, where people are often self-critical and have...

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