12 Minute Meditation

Sometimes we need to drop into our body to discern what we need in this moment. In this episode of 12 Minute Meditation, author and mindfulness teacher Dr. Christopher Willard offers four prompts to help us self-regulate by attending to what our difficult emotions or physical sensations may be telling us, using the acronym H.A.L.T. H is for asking ourselves: Am I hungry right now? A means checking...

When love feels scarce, we are conditioned to slip into survival mode. We cling to our beliefs about who we are in order to feel safe, to compensate for the belief that we are lacking. But seeing these conditioned habits for what they are can help create pathways for returning, for remembrance, for releasing into our inherent belonging. This mindful journaling practice guides you in bringing any j...

If you're celebrating Thanksgiving this week, we're sending you warm wishes for a safe and happy holiday. And, in the spirit of season, this week, Steve Hickman offers a gratitude practice for small things. You'll find this practice featured in our Gratitude Journal, which is a beautiful, lovingly designed collection of essays, articles, and practices, rooted in neuroscience, and featuring writing...

Sometimes gratitude can be tough to tap into, so this week, Jessica Morey shares a meditation to help us connect with our own goodness. When we're anchored in feelings of love and gratitude, we can bring loving-kindness and compassion with us out into the world. This practice as a web extra to our guide to gratitude, in the December issue of Mindful. Our guide to gratitude features a variety of pr...

One of the biggest obstacles to gratitude is resentment, says Barry Boyce, Mindful 's founding editor. From time to time, we need to undercut our own perspective and see things from the other side—maybe even from all sides. Here, Barry shares a gratitude practice to help us stop clinging to our ideas of what we want, and to work with the feelings that come up when we feel resistant to the way thin...

While moving through nature, we have the opportunity to enter a state of being, be present with all of our sensations, and awaken gratitude for the Earth that is also part of us. So, take this moment to connect with the breath as Georgina Miranda, social entrepreneur, outdoor adventurer, speaker, writer, and mindful leadership expert guides you in a meditation for gratitude in nature. This meditat...

When we take a moment to appreciate what's happening in our bodies, with a spirit of curiosity, we honor all that our bodies do for us every day. This week, Elaine Smookler guides us in a moment to bring appreciation to our embodied experience right now.  Show Notes Find more from Elaine Smookler here: Elainesmookler.com Elaine Smookler, Author at Mindful Mindful course: Get Started with Mindfulne...

This week, experienced mindfulness practitioner and instructor Gina Rollo White offers a gentle way to connect with each area of your body, while nurturing a felt sense of loving-kindness and gratitude. This somatic (embodied awareness) practice is a bonus that adds on to the "Guide to Gratitude" that you'll find in the December issue of Mindful magazine. There, mindfulness experts share their bes...

When we're caught in the throes of an emotion like sadness, loneliness, or anger, shifting our awareness into the body allows us to experience the ever-changing nature of these strong and often unpleasant emotions. This practice will help you get used to the feeling of paying attention to difficult emotions in the body with curiosity and without judgment. Show Notes Find more from Sharon Salzberg...

This practice is a web extra in the October issue of Mindful magazine where we look into the science and practice of meditating—not to push away your painful emotions, but to see and recognize those emotions with kindness and curiosity. This week, Jud Brewer offers this simple exercise to help you shift your attitude toward what you're feeling. Curiosity is a helpful tool for engaging with our emb...

This practice is a web extra in the October issue of Mindful magazine where we look into the science and practice of meditating—not to push away your painful emotions, but to see and recognize those emotions with kindness and curiosity. By allowing ourselves to experience where tough emotions are present in the body, and opening up to them with love, we can cultivate a sense of peace and acceptanc...

Sometimes we need to drop into our body to discern what we need in this moment. In this episode of 12 Minute Meditation, author and mindfulness teacher Dr. Christopher Willard offers four prompts to help us self-regulate by attending to what our difficult emotions or physical sensations may be telling us, using the acronym H.A.L.T. In a nutshell, H is for asking ourselves: Am I hungry right now? A...

This week, meditation teacher and author Kimberly Brown offers a loving-kindness practice variation to help us cultivate more ease and openness within the moment-to-moment unfolding of our lives. "Everything is impermanent. It's always changing, coming together and falling apart," she says. When we can accept that not everything is up to us, and let go of trying to control what we can't change, we...

Dr. Ni-Cheng Liang leads us in a 4-7-8 breath practice to release stagnant air and find calm. Ni-Cheng is a pulmonary physician, podcast host, and mindfulness teacher. In the early days of the pandemic, she recruited eight medical colleagues from across the United States to create the Mindful Healthcare Collective, which offers free online mindfulness sessions to healthcare workers, with topics in...

This week, Georgina Miranda shares a guided practice to help us feel more grounded and at ease, especially during stressful or fearful moments. Georgina is a global leader in change, transformation, mindfulness, conscious leadership development and the advancement of women. She is also a highly sought after international transformation coach, public speaker, and management consultant. Show Notes: ...

In order to be giving, we need to be nourished. This week, Andres Gonzalez shares a practice about learning to check in with yourself and to do so with love. Andres is cofounder of the Holistic Life Foundation. For twenty years, Andres has taught yoga to diverse populations, including Baltimore City Public School, drug treatment centers, mental crisis facilities, homeless shelters, wellness center...

Founding editor of Mindful and mindful.org Barry Boyce offers a simple practice for cultivating your attention. He says, "The simple act of paying attention is really the kindest thing you can do for yourself. When our mind is scattered it creates pain and disconnection, and that pain and disconnection gets picked up by others." But paying attention isn't as easy as deciding to do it—it does take...

This week, we're offering something a little different. Dr. Michelle Chatman shares a practice that she's been singing since 2020, when we saw the killing of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor; when the COVID-19 pandemic began and we saw its devastating effects upon Black and brown communities; and we also saw protests and uprisings in response to racial injustice around the globe. As...

During times of stress and uncertainty, touching into your groundedness while remaining open can help you find calm—and inspire others to do the same. Meena Srinivasan offers a practice for staying both rooted, and open. "You can always draw upon the strength of those who've come before us," she says. "Know that you can act from a place and space of groundedness and compassion. And this is what th...

"Resilience can be thought of as our capacity to know when we are not in a state of equilibrium and to be in the practice of gently inviting ourselves to open up and reveal whatever it is we need to be nourished and to be held." Dr. Sará King says. And this can help us to reestablish a feeling of safety, connectedness, and grounding. This week, Dr. King invites us to connect with the love and heal...

This week, Rose Felix Cratsley offers affirmations for self-compassion, embracing growth, and healing through hope. She says, "I think mindfulness is an essential and fundamental human right. We come into the world open and curious, but oftentimes self-judgment, criticism, fear, and anxiety come about." Rose is founder and president of Ivy Child International, a non-profit that develops global men...

This engaging meditation uses the energy and imagery of stones to foster inner connection and emotional regulation. Follow the guided practice and join your child on a mindful adventure.

Renda Dionne Madrigal is a licensed clinical psychologist and registered drama therapist. She is Turtle Mountain Chippewa, and specializes in embodied mindfulness-based practices. This week she's sharing one of the practices from her book, The Mindful Family Guidebook , called North Star Breathing. Show Notes: Find more about Renda Dionne Madrigal here: "10 Powerful Women of the Mindfulness Moveme...

We live in a world of constant change and this week, Aden Van Noppen invites us to find what roots us. Aden is the founder and executive director of Mobius, a collaboration between leading neuroscientists, meditation teachers, and technologists to work toward the creation of digital technology that enhances our individual and collective well-being. Aden is also one of the 10 powerful women of the...

Learning to tune in to our own vulnerability is an act of courage that allows us to form deeper, more genuine relationships. In the August 2021 issue of Mindful magazine, Dr. Stacee Reicherzer wrote, "If you're someone who grew up being told that tears are a sign of weakness, or that you should never show fear lest you be exploited, you understand how very difficult it is to communicate complex em...