The Mindfulness Podcast

Surprise! We couldn’t resist adding one more episode to our October mindfulness journey. Today is Halloween, and Lele and Nieta invite you to explore a theme that fits the day perfectly: fear. This special practice uses mindful visualization to gently observe and engage with fears whether it’s spiders, public speaking, or something else. You’ll learn how to notice your emotional and physical react...

Congratulations! You’ve reached Day 22 of the October Mindfulness Challenge. Today’s practice, led by Lele and Nieta, is a joyful and reflective way to close the journey: mindful listening to music. Choose a favorite song, any genre, any artist, and give it your full attention. Notice the rhythm, the melody, the emotions it evokes, and even the memories it brings. Try to hear something new, even i...

Welcome to Day 21 of our October mindfulness journey. Today, Nieta guides us through a powerful practice of observing emotions noticing what arises in the mind and body without judgment or labeling. This exercise is best practiced in real-time, when a strong emotion surfaces. Whether joy, frustration, sadness, or excitement, the invitation is to simply observe and allow, rather than react. This bu...

Welcome to Day 20! With just two more days to go, you’re almost at the end of our 22-day mindfulness journey. If you’ve been practicing regularly, you’ve built something truly meaningfula habit of presence, reflection, and care. Today’s practice is a short and simple mindful journaling exercise with Pat. You’re invited to write three sentences about how you feel right now. Approach this with inten...

Welcome to Day 19 of our October mindfulness journey. Today, Pat invites us to take a mindful pause outdoors—or simply by a window. This short practice encourages you to open your senses to the world around you. Whether it’s the breeze, the colors of the sky, the sound of birds, or even the stillness of the air, allow yourself to experience it with a sense of wonder and openness. Let nature be you...

Welcome to Day 18 of our October mindfulness journey. Today’s practice is a gentle reminder to appreciate your body—not for how it looks, but for all it does to support your life. We often spend time in our minds or criticizing our bodies, but this practice invites you to shift into gratitude and non-judgmental awareness. From your breath to your heartbeat, your senses to your movement—your body i...

Welcome to Day 17 of our October mindfulness journey. Today’s practice with Pat is a short but powerful sound meditation. Whether you choose music, nature sounds, ambient noise, or even silence, this practice invites you to simply listen—without labeling, judging, or reacting. Notice how quickly the mind tries to name or evaluate what it hears, and gently return to the act of listening itself. Let...

Welcome to Day 16 of our mindfulness challenge. Today’s practice is a grounding belly breathing exercise that invites you to reconnect with your body and its natural rhythms. By gently guiding your attention from your feet to your belly, you’ll tune into the subtle yet powerful movement of your breath. This practice activates the parasympathetic nervous system, helping you feel more relaxed, cente...

Welcome to Day 15! If you’ve been practicing daily, you’ve likely started forming a beautiful habit—a small ritual that brings you back to the present moment. Today’s practice is all about the mindful smile. With just a breath and a gentle lift of the corners of your mouth, you can shift your mood, soften your body, and reconnect with gratitude. Smiling mindfully is a simple yet powerful way to em...

Welcome to Day 14 of our October mindfulness journey. Today’s practice is a gentle thought observation exercise that invites you to imagine your mind as an aquarium—full of colorful thoughts, emotions, and distractions swimming by. Rather than getting caught up in each thought, this practice helps you take a step back and simply observe. Like watching fish through glass, you’ll learn to notice you...

Happy Friday and welcome to Day 13! Today’s practice is all about mindful stretching—a gentle way to bring awareness to your body, breath, and emotions through movement. Whether you're at your desk, on the bus, or standing in your kitchen, you can stretch with intention. The key is to move slowly, tune into your sensations, and notice how your body feels. This practice is a perfect way to close th...

Welcome to Day 12 of our mindfulness challenge. Today, Pat guides us through a gentle and grounding breath and body awareness practice. This session invites you to tune into the sensations of your body—both external and internal—and to connect with your breath as it naturally flows. By simply noticing what’s present, without trying to change anything, we cultivate a deeper sense of presence and cu...

Welcome to Day 11 of our Mindfulness Challenge. Today’s practice is a gentle visualization exercise that invites you to revisit a place that brings you peace, safety, or inspiration. It could be a cozy room, a quiet forest, or a sunlit beach—anywhere that feels like a sanctuary. Through guided imagery, you’ll explore this space with all your senses: noticing colors, textures, sounds, and emotions....

Today marks a special milestone in our mindfulness journey—Day 10, which coincides with the Mindfulness@IBM Summit. As we gather to celebrate the power of presence and well-being, we invite you to engage in a simple yet profound practice: mindful eating. Whether it's a chip, a peanut, or a slice of fruit, this practice encourages you to slow down and savor each bite with full awareness. Notice the...

Welcome to Day 9 of the 2025 October Mindfulness Challenge! Today’s short and refreshing practice, led by Nieta, is all about making a clean transition — from one moment to the next, from one task to another, or simply from wherever you are now into what comes next. Through a few intentional breaths and a gentle reset of your awareness, this practice helps you: Let go of past distractions Pause be...

Welcome to Day 8 of our October Mindfulness Challenge — and a special acknowledgment of World Mental Health Day. Today’s practice is a gentle and grounding Mindful Walking Meditation, designed to help you reconnect with your body, breath, and surroundings through movement. Walking is something we do every day, often without thinking. This practice invites you to slow down, tune in, and walk with i...

Welcome to Day 7 of our October Mindfulness Challenge! Today’s practice is a gentle and heart-opening Loving Kindness Meditation — also known as Metta. This guided exercise invites you to cultivate feelings of kindness, compassion, and goodwill toward yourself, loved ones, neutral acquaintances, and even those you may find challenging. Through a series of intentional phrases, you’ll expand your ca...

Welcome to Day 6 of our October Mindfulness Challenge! Today’s practice is a classic and widely used technique: counting the breath. This simple yet powerful exercise helps you anchor your attention, especially during moments of stress or overwhelm. By counting each breath — forward and backward — you create a rhythm that naturally calms the mind and brings clarity to your day. 🧘‍♀️ What you’ll e...

Welcome to Day 5 of our October Mindfulness Challenge! Today’s practice is a classic grounding technique known as 5-4-3-2-1, designed to anchor you in the present moment using your senses. Through this guided exercise, you’ll explore: 5 things you can see 4 things you can feel 3 things you can hear 2 things you can smell 1 thing you can taste This sensory-based practice is a powerful way to reconn...

Welcome to Day 4 of our October Mindfulness Challenge! Today’s practice invites you to tune into the sounds around you — not just the loud or obvious ones, but the subtle, continuous, and distant sounds that often go unnoticed. Through this guided exercise, you’ll explore how sound can anchor you in the present moment and reveal the richness of your environment. You’ll also notice how sounds trigg...

Welcome to Day 3 of our October Mindfulness Challenge! As we wrap up the week, today’s practice invites you to take a mindful pause and reflect on moments of gratitude. Through a gentle guided exercise, you’ll revisit three meaningful experiences from the past week, allowing yourself to feel the emotions connected to each one. This practice helps shift your focus from what’s next to what’s already...

Welcome to Day 2 of the October Mindfulness Challenge! Today, we’re guided by Nieta through a gentle and grounding body scan — one of the foundational practices in mindfulness. This practice invites you to bring awareness to each part of your body, from your toes to the crown of your head, helping you reconnect with physical sensations and cultivate presence. Whether you’re seated at your desk or...

Welcome to Day 1 of our 22-day October Mindfulness Challenge! In this opening episode, we begin with one of the most foundational practices in mindfulness: breath awareness. Join us for a short guided exercise that uses counted breathing to anchor your attention, calm your nervous system, and gently ease into a state of presence. Whether you're new to mindfulness or returning to your practice, thi...

This episode is to introduce the October challenge organized by the Mindfulness@IBM community. Each working day of October one new short practice to do together and so establish one more a regular healthy mindful routine. Enjoy

In this episode of The Mindfulness Podcast, Lele Terenzani sits down with Nieta De Young to explore her transformative journey into Zen practice. From her recent four-day retreat and the ancient Jukai ceremony to the deep connections between Zen and mindfulness, Nieta shares insights on stillness, presence, and why these practices matter in our fast-paced, distracted world. Discover the beauty of...