One Heart One Mind

Have you wondered how mindfulness as a practice can transform you? Or what the benefits of practicing in community versus practicing alone are? Join us for our first video broadcast on Mindfulness+ to discuss these questions with three long-time members of the Lower Lights Sangha (Igor and Madison Limansky, and Gloria Pak). Each of them shares in a very personal way what mindfulness practice has m...

Once a month, Thomas guides a longer meditation to give you an opportunity to go a little deeper and discover new territory in your mindfulness practice. Find a quiet place for this episode where you can sink in and let go. Thomas gives instruction on the basics of using a mantra (a word or syllable repeated to increase concentration) as well as a taste of expansive flavors of concentration.

Would it surprise you to learn that your brain has evolved over millions of years, only to misrepresent reality? To systematically exaggerate danger and underestimate reward? Neuropsychologist, Rick Hanson, argues exactly this point. Why does it matter? He says that positive experiences slip off our brains like "teflon" and negative experiences grab on like "velcro." This is good for purposes of s...

Mindfulness can be a challenging practice. All too often we get discouraged and feel like "I'm never going to get to where I need to be." Listen to Thomas's words of encouragement in this episode: No matter how challenging the practice or how challenging your life–in any given moment you are just a one degree shift in awareness from freedom.

Mindfulness practice is more popular than ever in Western culture. But how has mindfulness been westernized, not necessarily for the better? In this episode, listen to Thomas as he discusses the medicalization of mindfulness: "Take 10 minutes of body scan 3 times a week and call me in two months."  He stresses the all-important relationship with a skillful teacher combined with finding the right t...

The holiday season is upon us. While this time of year offers so much connection and time with loved ones, it can also be a very challenging time as the people we love most often push our buttons the most reliably. Learn in this episode how to take challenging relationships and metabolize them like so much savory stuffing and pumpkin pie.

For such a life-changing practice that requires very few resources to become proficient at, I've had to ask myself over the years why so many students wash out and stop practicing mindfulness. One reason is that we often lack the skills to work through the nagging voice in our head that tells us we're doing it wrong. Listen in and whip your inner bully into shape!

We're one day after the elections here and many of us are needing a stiff dose of Taoism to lift our battered spirits. Is this election good news or bad news for us all? You say, when you tune into Mindfulness+.

As a soulful follow-up to last week's program, Thomas takes listeners on the first ever extended guided meditation on Mindfulness+. Find a place to settle in, and exercise your muscle of awe, wonder and gratitude in this luxurious meditation on the "Gift of Life."

Happy New Year, Mindfulness Plussers! To help power your next trip around the sun, Thomas guides a meditation to help you tap into the boundless vitality that animates each and every living thing. In this episode you'll get familiar with mindful awareness of the body, working with thoughts and emotions, as well as entering into transcendent qualities through the causal body, or pure awareness. Fli...

For those in the northern hemisphere, this is the time of year when the sunlight fades and the nights grow longer and longer. Metaphorically, darkness calls up all kinds of challenging human experiences: discomfort, anxiety, fear, even panic. Listen to Thomas in this episode as he applies mindfulness basics to working with challenging experiences. When we relax and really receive experience, even...

Eating is tied to some of our most primitive impulses–survival, pleasure-seeking, even power. In this episode, bring a snack and enjoy as Thomas guides you in a mindful eating experience that we're sure you'll find delectable.

Mariners throughout history have used the "upper lights"–stars, moon and sun–to guide them across the open oceans. But it is the final stretch of the journey into harbor that is often the most perilous. Thomas shares in this episode the meaning of "lower lights", how we can be lights to one another on the path, as well as the crucial role of sangha in mindfulness practice. 

Do you want to take the blue pill, or the red pill? In this episode Thomas draws an analogy from the sci-fi thriller, The Matrix, and shows how we can feel profound freedom, extracting ourselves from the real life matrix through a mindfulness practice. You won't want to miss this mind-bending episode on Mindfulness+!

Mindfulness practice can be difficult to commit to, especially when we notice that our experience while meditating is not always blissful. Listen to this episode as Thomas sheds new light on how to work with challenging experiences. Rather than a problem to be solved (or avoided), you'll learn to turn towards and open up to challenge, catalyzing a powerful process of healing in the body and the mi...

We've talked about the "+" in "Mindfulness+", but what about the "Mindfulness" in "Mindfulness+"? Listen in for a fascinating description of what the word  vipassana , the original word for mindfulness, actually means. In Mindfulness+ fashion, Thomas then guides the listener into a rich experience of what this practice points us to–greater clarity, deeper fulfillment, and profound freedom.

In this episode, Thomas guides the listener into a style of meditation that people have been practicing for thousands of years– shamatha,  or calm abiding meditation. For style points, he breaks down the basic mechanics of this technique, explaining the basic mechanism–the feedback loop–that makes it so effective. Listen in, and feel your stress melt away as you learn to ride this natural wave of...

In this episode, Thomas talks about the common issue of "collapse" in mindfulness practice as well as life. Through a vivid metaphor of hiking the Narrows in Zion National Park, he extends an invitation to open up your awareness to its natural spaciousness and enjoy the beauty that abounds.

Many people equate focusing on the breath with mindfulness practice itself. In this episode, Thomas explains the practical reasons why the breath has come to be regarded as a foundation in practice. But he takes it a step further and describes 3 fundamental skills that breathing–and indeed countless other techniques–can help us build. With his signature cherry on top, he guides a soothing meditati...

Is it just a catchy name, or is there something behind the "+"? Thomas introduces the study of adult development in this show and explains how different kinds of mindfulness are beneficial to us at different times in life. To conclude, he guides a meditation that is specifically designed for adults who feel tormented by their monkey mind. Go ahead, listen. Tame that monkey.

One of the most common physical symptoms many of us experience in the modern world is exhaustion. Never have humans had so much freedom to pursue their goals and dreams. And never have humans paid a higher price for this constant seeking. Join Thomas as he guides us through a simple mindfulness practice that can profoundly revitalize the body, mind and spirit.

Mindfulness is all the buzz these days. But what is mindfulness? And how can mindfulness benefit you personally? Join Thomas McConkie in this inaugural podcast introducing the practice of mindfulness. Thomas shares how he got into the practice almost 20 years ago and how, by doing simple daily exercises, you can reap profound benefits from this age-old practice.