Mindfulness Exercises, with Sean Fargo

Most addictions arise from an effort to mask, avoid or escape from pain and suffering. What’s more, the shame that is common to addiction increases our pain, making it challenging to seek treatment.  In this episode, Sean Fargo speaks with Jeremy Lipkowitz, a mindfulness meditation teacher and coach who helps people overcome their addictions to porn and digital media. Jeremy is a teacher with Mind...

As thought, emotion, or sensation arises in our field of awareness, it quickly gets labeled as pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. This process of classifying our likes and dislikes is not wrong or bad. But when we mindlessly, habitually react to these labels, we sometimes bring harm to ourselves or others. Mindfulness of the feeling tones of pleasant, unpleasant and neutral is the first step in tra...

Mindfulness and self-compassion go hand in hand. Each enhances the other. As practitioners and as teachers, however, understanding the differences between the two can help us discern when and how to most skillfully apply each for growth and healing. In this episode, we hear from Chris Germer, one of the world’s foremost experts on mindful self-compassion. Chris Germer, PhD is a clinical psychologi...

⁠Annoyance, frustration and anger can be challenging emotions to work with. We often judge ourselves for feeling frustrated, equating this emotion with negativity or perhaps thinking it makes us a ‘bad person’. Other times, we might feel so righteous about our frustration that we hold to it tightly. By exploring how frustration feels in the body, we can learn to be present as it arises, neither av...

When it comes to losing weight or overcoming addiction, which is more powerful: the ancient wisdom of mindfulness or the strength of your willpower? The answer may surprise you.  In this episode, we hear from author and researcher Dr. Judson Brewer, a pioneer in the science of mindfulness-based habit change. Dr. Jud explains the neurological mechanisms behind habit formation and why losing weight...

⁠Is traditional talk therapy as effective as it could be? If individualism and holding too tightly to a single identity is what ails us, perhaps reifying the past in a one-on-one setting is not the most powerful method for moving forward.   In this episode, Sean Fargo speaks with Jake Eagle, licensed psychotherapist and co-author of The Power of Awe: Overcome Burnout & Anxiety, Ease Chronic Pa...

By turning our attention to sensation and energy around and within the body, we can access increasingly more subtle levels of inner wisdom. But where does the energy of the body begin and end?  In this guided meditation, Mindfulness Exercises founder Sean Fargo guides us through an advanced body scan practice. We move our awareness clockwise around the body, above and below, sensing into the energ...

What if you could improve your health and wellbeing, not only for yourself but for generations to come, just by practicing mindfulness?  The modern science of mindfulness took a turn with the discovery of neuroplasticity - the simple fact that our brains can change. Now, we’re learning more about the mind-body connection and how meditation influences not only our brain, but our physiology and the...

If you could realize the stress-reducing and heart-opening benefits of mindfulness with a practice that takes less than 1 minute per day, would you practice more often? Neuroscience has shown that when it comes to changing our brains, consistency is more important than the duration of our practice. But it’s not always easy to fit in a meditation daily. Microdosing mindfulness might be the solution...

Most of us only want to be happy and free from our pain. But how comfortable are we with the sensation of happiness? It can be challenging to be present with this emotion, especially in the face of so much global suffering. But it’s of great benefit to both ourselves and the world to be capable of connecting to joy. When working with happiness in meditation, we do so not as a means of  bypassing o...

When was the last time you lost yourself in a moment of awe? For many of us, awe is associated with life’s most significant, profound moments. But awe is ever present and always available, even in the ordinary.  In this episode, we learn about a 15-second practice that can help us become more available for the experience of everyday awe. Research shows that regularly connecting to this unique emot...

Meditation’s benefits are often overhyped, while its discomfort, challenges, or ongoing adverse experiences tend to be little mentioned - even though the latter happens to around 1 in 10 meditators. This disparity can leave those who struggle with meditation feeling very alone and unsure where to find help. In this episode, we hear from clinical psychologist, professor and mindfulness expert Dr. W...

How often do we pause to ask the heart what it might want most in this moment? Most of us spend our days stuck in our heads, problem-solving and operating out of habit, disconnected from the heart and its needs. If we stopped to listen, what would the heart say? In this guided meditation, Sean Fargo invites us to sense into the heart with caring curiosity, to enhance loving acceptance of whatever...

Are you able to offer yourself loving-kindness in the midst of your moments of suffering? Sometimes, we find it far easier to extend compassion to others than to ourselves. But all beings everywhere are worthy of this grace, including us.   In this episode, Sean Fargo helps us better understand self-compassion - what it is, and also, what it is not. Sean explains that self-compassion is not an all...

What would the world look like if all children everywhere were introduced to mindfulness? Kids as young as three years old can understand mindfulness concepts. But teaching mindfulness to kids is quite different from teaching to adults. It takes a special skill set and understanding.  In this episode, we hear from best-selling author and world-renowned expert on mindfulness for kids and teens, Sus...

What’s uncomfortable or challenging in our lives tends to become the focus of our attention. This negativity bias can even arise within our mindfulness practice. But by framing mindfulness as caring curiosity, our attention becomes less judgmental and naturally imbued with more compassion and acceptance.  In this guided meditation, Sean Fargo invites us to sense into the body with caring curiosity...

Do you feel you have empathy and compassion for all living beings? What about those you can’t seem to get along with? And does your compassion extend to yourself? The non-judgmental attitude of mindfulness practice is not to be confused with avoidance or non-caring. Rather, mindfulness encourages the cultivation of empathy, loving-kindness and compassion. One way to do this is with loving-kindness...

Worrying can give us the illusion of control or taking useful action, making it normal to mistake worrying for a helpful means of soothing our anxiety. This can lead us to repeat this behavior so much that it becomes a habit. So, when anxiety becomes a habit, how do we break free?   In this episode, we hear from best-selling author, researcher and psychiatrist Dr. Jud Brewer. He has developed a cl...

When we’re too “in our heads”, disconnected from the body and the earth itself, we become anxious, scattered, restless and ill at ease. Intentionally bringing our attention back to the body and our connection to the ground can help us feel more stable, centered, rooted and calm. This is part of the process and benefit of grounding.  This guided meditation with Sean Fargo helps calm anxiety by grou...

Could your workplace use a little more mindfulness? The benefits of mindfulness in the office are clear, and yet it can be difficult to convince corporate leadership to set aside the necessary space and time for mindfulness programming. In this episode of the Mindfulness Exercises Podcast, Sean Fargo speaks with someone who’s overcome these challenges, successfully introducing mindfulness in a fed...

We’ve all experienced some type of trauma. It’s simply part of being human. As we deepen our mindfulness practice and become more aware of what’s present in each moment, we may notice that painful, unprocessed trauma still lingers. In this episode, Sean Fargo offers practical advice on how we might expand our capacity to remain mindful, even when mindfulness brings awareness to pain or discomfort....

When looking to feel safe, grounded, at peace, or joyful, we typically search outside of the body for something to help put us at ease. But tranquility is available in our own body, at all times. In this guided meditation, Mindfulness Exercises founder Sean Fargo guides us to become more mindful of the areas within ourselves that offer us safe refuge .  We’re invited to breathe, soften and allow,...

Mindfulness and meditation practice is not limited to day-time hours. In fact, being awake is not necessary at all. There are at least five types of meditation we can do while we are sleeping that benefit both body and mind. These nocturnal meditations have been practiced for thousands of years to help us shed light on the darkest parts of our unconscious, and in the process, enlighten us. In this...

When fatigue arises in meditation, we typically have an adverse reaction or make attempts to overcome it. After all, tiredness is among  the classic 5 hindrances to our practice. But when we cannot avoid fatigue during meditation, there are  other ways to work with it . In fact, meditating while tired can sometimes be conducive to a more relaxed, focused state of mind. In this episode, Mindfulness...

Being alive is a miraculous gift that most of us take for granted far too often. What would change for us, and how might we live, if we spent just a few minutes every day remembering that each breath could be our last?  In this episode, Mindfulness Exercises founder, Sean Fargo, shares how meditating on the inevitability of loss can illuminate the preciousness of life. Teachers and practitioners a...