We can learn to cultivate happiness. For most of us, happiness isn’t something that happens to us or comes naturally. It’s something that we must make effort toward. Our state of happiness can be improved by first noticing any habitual patterns that contribute to a state of unhappiness—such as negative thinking, comparing ourselves unfavorably to […]
Go for great in your life by creating mindful intentions. If you’ve landed on this article, you’re likely searching for something to support you in making changes. The call to change may come as a quiet whisper, so faint that if we’re not paying attention, we miss it. Or it may arise as a “gut […]
Indecision may or may not be my problem. –Jimmy Buffet Indecision can sometimes feel painful. Our reactivity to our own difficulty in deciding is that we want to decide something, anything, but in the wanting to decide, we are wanting things to be other than they are, which only increases our suffering. Try turning toward […]
Practicing patience is something that we can do in our daily mindfulness or meditation practice. At times we may find ourselves trying to get somewhere, rush an outcome, or make the unknown known. When we are practicing patience, we come to accept that our lives are a process of unfolding. If we can learn to […]
Self-criticism can have a negative impact on our health and wellbeing. It creates stress and negatively affects our mood and self-esteem. The nature of the mind is sometimes to evaluate ourselves or our circumstances with negative critical commentary. By practicing mindfulness, we become aware of this tendency, and this awareness gives us the freedom to […]
Focus on good with mindfulness. The brain has a negativity bias, so the mind tends to focus on what’s not right with us and the world around us. We can counteract this bias by choosing to focus on the good. When we practice mindfulness we train our attention. We learn how to be aware of […]
Healing the mind from stress can improve our attention, concentration, and mood. When we practice mindfulness, we become aware of and intimately familiar with the habits of the mind. Through cultivating this awareness, we discover the freedom to choose where we will focus our attention, and in that freedom of choice, healing is possible. For […]
Change and opportunity are intertwined. When we see change as opportunity, we become more empowered in our life. Sometimes we have hopes, dreams, or plans that are shattered due to a change in circumstances or other influences over which we have no control. At first, an unexpected change in plans may feel overwhelming, but if […]
Being vs doing. Modern culture values doing over being. Too much doing can increase our stress and leave us feeling like we’ll never be enough. In order to remain healthy and balanced, we need time to relax and simply be. Our culture values busyness as a symbol of importance and success, but chronic busyness can […]
Improving wellbeing is one of the many positive outcomes of practicing mindfulness and meditation. When we lose our sense of aliveness and wellbeing, whether we lose it to the daily grind, loss, grief, or depression, we can reawaken it through meditation. The natural instinct during difficult times is to do nothing or to keep doing […]