Relax

Collecting Art, take a look Lifestyle Can We Normalize Meditation Breaks on Family Hikes? When hiking, I used to power walk to the top for a breathless peek at the view. Then, my toddler taught me to exhale along the way. Share Icon Share Bookmark Icon Save Photo: Canva For three euphoric months, a newly opened climbing gym near my house allowed me to bring a dozen rowdy toddlers from my kids’ friend group to strap into their sit harnesses for a brief, adorably awkward clamber up the rock wall. Alas, all good things must come to an end, especially the ones that should never have been allowed in the first place. Just as we were gearing up for new enrollments, the gym owners informed us that their insurance agent cautioned them against welcoming such young aspiring mountaineers into their space. As a twin toddler mom suddenly left with an adventurous activity void and a gaggle of rambunctious littles, I set out to find the one guide in San Miguel de Allende who would agree to pivot, ta...

Collecting Art, take a look What went well today? Kids and teens can explore this eight-minute guided meditation for noticing the positive. Summary Children often focus on scary or unpleasant thoughts, which can effect their mental health. This short kids’ meditation uses conscious breathing and happy thoughts to help them notice the good and feel more positive. Our brains are hardwired to notice the negative. It’s part of how our ancient ancestors were able to survive in constantly threatening environments. But this negativity bias can also make it difficult for us and our kids, even in our comparatively less threatening environments, to navigate other daily stressors, like big tests, arguments, or disappointments. In this practice specifically designed for younger meditators, Dr. Mark Bertin shows kids how to gently guide their attention back to the positive things they might have missed, in order to help soothe the nervous system. A Meditation for Kids: Coming Back to the Pos...

Collecting Art, take a look In this guided meditation, Kim Armstrong walks you through a simple practice to expand your capacity for gratitude in the everyday moments of life. We often think about gratitude as happening in response to “good” things, especially if those moments or events are also significant—a new job, a windfall, an amazing vacation. While these high points can easily spark positive emotion, a daily gratitude practice can go much deeper. For instance, what about moments that aren’t grand or overtly happy, but are small and emotionally neutral? What does it feel like to notice, take in, and consciously appreciate even the basic things we do every single day? This week, join Kim Armstrong as she leads a gratitude visualization practice. This gentle meditation invites you to shift your gaze inward and discover the often-overlooked moments of joy and contentment that punctuate your day. By focusing on these simple yet profound experiences, we grow our capacity for grati...

Collecting Art, take a look If you buy through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission. This supports our mission to get more people active and outside. Learn about Outside Onlines affiliate link policy No one understands the benefits of meditation like those who practice consistently for years on end. Over the course of human history, meditation has been proven to better your brain, help regulate emotions, boost cognitive health, and support overall well-being. And although these life-enhancing effects have long been the focus of scientific study and for good reason, new research aims to understand what actually happens to the brain over the course of a long-term, committed meditation practice. As if you needed more proof that the ancient practice is a life-altering one. The Meditation Research Program at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, founded in 2022, recently expanded the scope of its study to focus on “meditative endpoints.” In layman’s terms, t...

Collecting Art, take a look You just be there, very simply. There are several aspects to meditation that are part of establishing friendship with yourself. Mindfulness is keeping track, or keeping a pulse, of being here, in a nonjudgmental way. There is no good or bad. Among other things, mindfulness is a stabilizing or pacifying influence. The panic of everyday life and every expectation laid on life can subside. It is called the discovery of peace. Awareness is being in a bigger space, recognizing that there is always an environment around our thoughts and feelings. When you begin to sense that atmosphere, there is both intelligence, or sharpness, and relaxation. Finding peace in the practice of meditation involves slowing down. Your mind may continue to race for a while, maybe for a long time, but you become aware of the mind racing. Awareness is being in a bigger space, recognizing that there is always an environment around our thoughts and feelings. When you begin to sense that...

Collecting Art, take a look Lifestyle Can We Normalize Meditation Breaks on Family Hikes? When hiking, I used to power walk to the top for a breathless peek at the view. Then, my toddler taught me to exhale along the way. Share Icon Share Bookmark Icon Save Photo: Canva For three euphoric months, a newly opened climbing gym near my house allowed me to bring a dozen rowdy toddlers from my kids’ friend group to strap into their sit harnesses for a brief, adorably awkward clamber up the rock wall. Alas, all good things must come to an end, especially the ones that should never have been allowed in the first place. Just as we were gearing up for new enrollments, the gym owners informed us that their insurance agent cautioned them against welcoming such young aspiring mountaineers into their space. As a twin toddler mom suddenly left with an adventurous activity void and a gaggle of rambunctious littles, I set out to find the one guide in San Miguel de Allende who would agree to pivot, ta...

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...