Do you ever feel like a brain on a stick? You know that sensation of being stuck in your head, disconnected from what is happening below the neck? It’s not a comfortable or productive way to live, yet, it’s all too common. In this new series, we are going to take a journey below the neck and explore how paying attention to our body state can help us change our mental state....

You know it when you hear it. It’s the moment in a call when, after comparing your weather to theirs, one of you offers to give “a bit of background to help set the context for our call.” And then the next 3-15 minutes (depending on how dialed in they are) is that person rehashing a rehearsed presentation of themselves that they’ve (consciously or unconsciously) fine-tuned to make an impression on you....

So, how does she find the stamina to keep going? She meditates. In an interview on The Joan Hamburg Show on 77 WABC Radio in New York City (otherwise known as The “Today Show” of radio), Clinton reveals how she navigates the rigor and demands of the trail: Joan Hamburg: “Do you meditate? Is there any down time when you sort of just sit and breathe?” Hillary Clinton: “Yes, In fact, that’s a great question…That has helped me a lot....

11/02/11 Janice Marturano, a vice-president at General Mills Inc. and founder of the Institute for Mindful Leadership, suggests picking a hallway at work through which you will always try to practise walking meditation, noticing the sensations of your body, the colours and the smells. If your mind is pulled to your next meeting or your last e-mail, return it to the present—and, of course, don’t take any cellphone calls.

Following this video, a second video report streams called “Could Meditation Improve Your Attention Span?” Says that report: “More than 6 million Americans are advised meditation and other mind-body therapies by conventional health care providers, according to a report released Monday by Harvard Medical School.” another video by ABC News’ medical correspondent Timothy Johnson, on the profound way in which meditation might affect the attention span. Of course, many longtime meditators can speak to such benefits from personal experience; that these experiences are being verified by science is little surprise....

Create breathing room The result of decluttering can be more open space. You can create a space you enjoy being in, instead of feeling like you’re surrounded by Jenga towers and rats’ nests of stuff. Designate a space for nothing. It’s a refuge from chaos, and your home will feel more uplifted when you walk in. Don’t dread it. Enjoy it. If you just keep focusing on how miserable a task it’s going to be to sort through and offload decades of junk that you and your partner and your children have collected from various life stages, you will never take it on....

5 Mindful Tips for Parents 1. Start with Love If kids know we genuinely love and care for them, no matter what happens, they will be a lot more engaged. Kids look for a support system, people who care about them, who have their back. 2. Breathe The breath is a powerful tool to help kids relax physically but it also helps their minds stop racing. It puts them in contact with how they feel....

When I became a social worker, I asked all of my clients to write down their feelings, thoughts, and emotions. I knew the benefits associated with journaling, but very rarely could I get them to actually do it. I noticed that even though some of my clients knew about journaling, they thought of it as writing in a diary, something only children or younger people use. Meanwhile, those who were open to the idea reported feeling intimidated by the process and often asked how to start journaling....

A 10-Minute Guided Meditation for Embodied Awareness READ MORE Sebene Selassie November 5, 2020 Gary Gach January 25, 2021 Susan Kaiser Greenland June 22, 2020 Mark Bertin June 28, 2018

1) Begin by lying down or sitting in a comfortable chair. If lying down, let your arms and legs relax and fall to the sides; if seated, find a balanced and stable position. 2) Take a few moments to notice sensations of breathing. 3) Draw your attention to your feet. Notice the pressure of your feet against the floor or bed, the temperature, comfort or discomfort, itches, or anything else....

It’s not a problem if you don’t feel loving kindness during or after this meditation. Just keep working with the practice as best you can. Notice what comes up, and bring a friendly acceptance to it as best you can. Part of kindness practice is being kind to ourselves when we don’t feel kind, allowing ourselves to be human, with all the difficulties as well as joys that come with living a human life....

How do you meet endings? I mean, most of us have some developed habits about the way in which we meet endings. Are you aware of your habits? Without any judgment or criticality, let’s just take a look to see what our relationship to endings are. Like, when you go to a party, or you go to a conference: Do you have a tendency to leave emotionally or mentally before the conference is over or before the party’s over?...

My capacity to hold loving and kind space for others and my willingness to continuously move toward self-acceptance and self-love. That I can see beauty and be grateful even through challenging moments. I love my divine beautiful heart.—@Vioroz01 My capacity to forgive (and my ability to not only see but to genuinely feel joy from the myriad of life’s everyday, perhaps even ordinary, offerings).—@reticent.grace (Responses from Instagram) What’s one thing you tend to under-appreciate?...

Then one day her dance instructor asked her why she always showed up late for class and left right at the end of class. This was an “aha” moment for Elise. She realized that she was actually making herself unavailable to meet new people—She was going through the motions of “being available,” but really she was closing herself off from any chance for connection. As we talked about why she might be doing that, she realized that she carried a lot of anxiety in her body whenever we talked about meeting people....

No mystery. It’s simply how our brains work. We crave. We get. We remember. We crave again. It’s the craving cycle. If we can understand it, we have more of a chance of catching it in the act, and taking steps to make more considered choices. Let’s break down the process and figure out where we can make adjustments. The Process Our brain takes in data through our five senses or a thought....

Making spaces safe and loving became his passion, first on court, then as a classroom teacher. But as a full-time teacher, Larochette lost the habit of daily physical activity through which he had previously channeled stress. He struggled with insomnia, anxiety, and depression. Just as he began to contemplate leaving the classroom, after eight years, he found a lifeline: mindfulness. Within weeks, Larochette was sharing mindfulness practices with his students; within months, he was sharing with other schools in the community....

A Brooklyn-based start-up called Kindness.org is community-sourcing a kinder, gentler world—identifying initiatives, setting targets, and the sharing results. So far, there’s 11 acts of kindness to choose from—you can pick up litter, give your favourite book away, ask an elder for advice, and more. “I don’t have money, but I have time.” The initiative kicked off with a video of London-based math tutor Joe reaching out to random strangers—most very suspicious of his altruism....

When did you first start practicing mindfulness and why were you motivated to do so? I have been an angry person for as long as I can remember—grumpy and angry. I would go days without noticing my own body, often undernourished and in physical pain. Being in nature has always been an important experience for me—a disproportionate number of my peaceful moments have occurred there. Reading and listening to the works of Pema Chodron allowed me to realize that I could have that feeling all the time!...

Then & NowBy the editors at Conari Press The 20th-anniversary edition of this classic holds the same power as the original: readers can expect a boost to their overall happiness and also experi- ence a strong urge to go out and commit some kindness. As the original author, M.J. Ryan, suggests, reading these stories in the midst of a busy life still has the power to so en and warm the heart—and help us “remember to enjoy the moments rather than just race through them....