5 Minute Meditations

By practicing the "Let It Be" guided meditation, you are embracing the power of allowing emotions to simply be. By observing your emotions without judgment or resistance, you can create a space for calm and peace within yourself. Remember, emotions are a natural part of being human, and through acceptance and non-reactivity, you can find serenity even amidst the stormiest emotional waves.

Awareness of Awareness

Guided Meditation : Mindfulness of Breath

Find a quiet place or put on headphones and listen to the guided meditation. This is a short introduction to the sitting meditation practice that we'll do throughout the course. Don't worry about getting it right. It's called "a practice" for a reason!

Guided Meditation: Observing the Nature of Mind

Guided meditation and journaling prompts for working with emotions and messengers in the body

Self acceptance is key when developing the strength to stand behind our convictions. Here is a 12 minute meditation to help remind you of the importance of accepting yourself as you are, right now, despite any unresolved issues. That is powerful medicine!

If you've meditated for more than a minute, you have no doubt been taught to follow your breath as a focus for your meditation. In this practice you will discover the spaciousness available when you expand your awareness to the periphery.

Journaling Prompts for Wellbeing + Self-Care:What makes me feel well? How does well-being manifest? How can I support this feeling of wellbeing?

A simple, no nonsense introduction for beginners to get started meditating.

A very brief and simple introduction to sitting meditation practice.

The practice of sending and taking, or Tonglen, is a powerful way of working with difficult emotions. Learning to stay present with suffering, both our own and that of others, allows us to access the seed of compassion at the core of our heart.

Mula bandha, Taoist healing practice, settling the mind

Where you set your sights is where you will most likely end up. So be aware of where you are gazing.

Confronting change almost always means navigating challenging emotions. Even the most exciting changes in our lives can bring anxiety. I'd say change is synonymous with anxiety - because any time we step out of our old routines, we have to develop new ones. And that means stepping out of our comfort zone into the unknown.When change knocks at your door, knowing how to rest in a state of calm can be a huge skill to have. That way, whatever new feelings and emotions arise, you can rest in a state of calm abiding while the storms - even the welcome rainstorms - pass.In this guided practice, I share a quick way to settle into a state of calm, and to identify any emotions that may want your attention. When you listen to your emotions, you learn where your work lies in adapting to the changes ahead.Bonus: Journaling Prompt for EmotionsAt the end of this sixteen minute practice I share a writing prompt you can use to explore any emotions that may want attention.. Or you can simply listen to the guided yoga nidra practice without the emotional journaling prompt.I hope you enjoy it! If you'd like to explore this practice further, join my live and online Journaling + Journeying group on Saturday mornings via Zoom. Click here for details on that and to sign up for this free journaling practice group.

It's easy to get overwhelmed these days. I probably don't need to tell you that.Our mental health and emotional wellbeing depend on learning to manage this overwhelm. In order to do that, it helps to develop a daily practice of tuning in to a deeper state of awareness that is peaceful, still and grounded.This state of ease is our true nature when you take away the distractions of daily life. I'm not advising ignoring your responsibilities, but in order to be more present to your responsibilities, you can learn to infuse your day with this felt-sense of ease and peace. Try it and see!Here is a short practice you can do to find ease in the midst of chaos.

Are you aware of the messages your body is sharing with you? If not you may be missing out on some valuable guidance.Yoga Nidra I-Rest meditation is a somatic meditation practice that guides you through different levels of awareness of the subtle body. It helps you to identify your experience on the most profound levels so you can "work with it" consciously. What does it mean to work with your experience?I confess this was a block for me until I recently discovered a concept that was blocking my understanding. Working with your experience does not mean fixing it. It's doesn't mean making it change or go away. And it doesn't mean ignoring it.Working with your obstacles and challenges starts by identifying and accepting them. That's it. It sounds so ridiculously simple. But the act of bringing our challenges into bodily awareness - on a sensation level - allows us to incorporate (bring into the body) our experience and keep the energy flowing. When energy flow, things shift and we evolve.Listen to this guided relaxation to discover insights right under your nose—literally! Want to try this yourself? Join us for a weekly live guided session on Saturday mornings, Mountain time. Click here to get your free invite.

Life transitions invite anxiety. There's no way around it. But this kind of anxiety is actually good for you.What? Did I just say anxiety is good?To be clear, anxiety comes in different varieties. Clinical anxiety is an acute disorder that warrants professional treatment. But low levels of anxiety are a regular feature of daily experience. Anxiety arises whenever we are asked—or forced—to step outside our comfort zone. Life transitions—even positive ones - are anything but comfortable.Transition offers opportunity for growth. And growth causes anxiety.Here are 4-steps negotiating life transitions with ease:1. Identify the challengeWhat are you transitioning from? What do you need to release? Start where you are; get present and honest with yourself about what's going on. Most of the messages we get from the environment pass under out radar. So pay attention to your thoughts and don't necessarily believe all of them. Own up to what it is you'd like to release or invite into your life, and ask for it. If you are not clear, ask for clarity.2. Bring awareness to the situationThis nature of mind is only accessible in the present moment. The easiest way to access it is through coming back to the breath. A mindfulness practice like sitting meditation is essentially a tool to train the mind to be present. Find a method and develop the habit of coming back to your experience in the present moment. Click here for a library of guided meditations.3. Healing through feelingIdentify your style of checking out. We all have ways of dealing with the stress of life, some more helpful and healthy than others. Get to know your habitual patterns by observing your experience - your thoughts, reactions, physical sensations and storylines associated with these experiences. Recognize the emotions that cause you to contract. Notice your resistance—your urge to check out or numb an emotion. Identify blocks and obstacles and fears. Keep coming back to sensations in the body. Here is a short guided practice to help you do this: 4. Let go and allow for the unexpectedThis last step is the most important: to get out of your own way! This is where your intention gets plugged in to something larger than you. You are not the driver. You don't need to fix, explain or control the outcome. You can set the course by visualizing your intention, but you have to eventually give up the illusion of being in control. Open to magic. Whatever life transition you are going through will be initiated by some sort of message, and often these messages come in the form of obstacles. The obstacle IS your invitation to transition, like a friendly hand held out to help you across the stream. Negotiating life transitions with ease is taking the hand, confronting the momentary anxiety and discovering where it wants to take you. You know what you are stepping away from, but there is a moment after stepping, before the next foothold becomes apparent, where you just have to wait and trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be. You are.Change is rarely ease-y, but when we struggle against it we cause more suffering. Learning to bring a sense of ease to the process of growth is a skill that can be developed. It is not a quick-fix “pill” to make the pain go away. When you learn to stay with your process, and tolerate the inconvenience of difficult emotions like anxiety, then —and only then—will you invite your heart-felt mission to manifest.

Pranayama is a practice of slowing down the breathing—while in a simple yoga posture. It's a discreet breathing practice that often gets overlooked in the popular world of yoga.When beginning any practice, it's natural to aim for results. If you are new to yoga, you might seek perfected postures or peace of mind, because this is what we are often promised. After practicing yoga for a while, you start to realize that goals are elusive. When you finally achieve these goals, you see that awareness of the process itself—rather than the result-- is the most important thing.You may achieve a posture and lose it due to injury. Or a loved one dies and your peace of mind get shattered. Perhaps your career was just coming together and a global pandemic hit. Poof! Goals are impermanent and elusive. What you thought would be a prize is not a prize at all, but just a new vantage point.The Path Is The GoalAn evolving yoga practice will shift focus over the years and reveal new insights. Goals that brought you to yoga in the first place might be replaced by new motivations as you deepen your awareness.As Buddhist meditation master Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche said, the path is the goal. The goal, if there is one, is to be right where you are.Focusing On The BreathThe breath is the most convenient tool for getting into the present moment. It is always with us, and is a direct mirror of your state of mind. Steady your breath, and you automatically steady your mind.In order to steady the breath, you need to align your posture, which is the benefit of yoga asana. When you start aligning the posture, the subtle channels (nadis) start to clear, allowing the inner winds (prana) to flow without obstruction. Once the prana is flowing, the mind naturally settles.When you stop to observe the breath, another part of the brain engages, letting you drop conceptual mind and enter into another, subtler state of awareness. “Getting into your body” is just another way of saying focusing on the breath. This naturally takes you out of your thinking mind.Observing the breath will:slow you down to pay better attentionhelp you develop awarenessimmediately bring you into the present relax and de-stress youshow you where you might be holding tensionengender a sense of easebring you into the body, to alert you to any insights or warning signs that might be unconsciousPranayama: Breathing PracticeThe art of breathing is a practice in itself. Nowhere else is such untapped power to be found within our reach, literally right under your nose. This is where to begin and is also the foundation for the subtlest and most advanced practices.The formal technique of breathing practice is called pranayama. Prana is sometimes translated as “life force.” Prana rides the breath, and since it is otherwise impossible to measure prana, the breath is the only manifest indicator we have to observe the flow of prana. Pranayama practice consists of different ways of manipulating or “stretching” (ayama) the breath in order to move the prana.When we have blockages in our system, due to injury, illness or years of patterned behavior, prana can stagnate, and in essence, boycott certain areas of the body and mind. Working with the breath in pranayama practice can dissolve these obstacles and create clear pathways in the subtle energy channels of the body. Then the life force can flow freely, unobstructed. The results are sometimes intangible, but clearly noticeable. When someone radiates good health, prana is thriving.A Simple Breathing TechniqueThe simplest way to begin is to:Lie on the floor with the feet flat on the floor, up by the hips, knees toward the ceiling. Separate the feet. Alternatively, lie down with your legs up the wall. Place the fingers on the low belly, about four inches below the navel. Notice the movement of the belly, or the lack of it as you breathe. Spend a few minutes just watching the relationship between the movement of the belly and the breath.Relax the muscles of the face; relax the jaw and tongue. Gradually slow down and deepen the breath so that the belly rises and falls with each inhale and exhale, respectively. Spend a few moments just observing the breath without trying to do anything particular with it. Just watch.Let the lungs expand against the ribcage on the inhale. As you exhale, try to keep the ribcage expanding. Keep the seed or physical memory of the inhale as you exhale, and vice versa. On inhaling, the tendency is to float up and lose your ground. So during inhale, make an effort to stay grounded, keeping in contact with the pelvic floor, and engaging the muscles of the very low belly. As you exhale, the tendency is to collapse the heart and give in to gravity. Here the instruction is to remember to be uplifted and light. So keep lightness in the exhale, and ground in the inhaleAt any point on the spectrum of the breath cycle, maintain the awareness of the opposing force. If you favor the inhale over the exhale, you might take on too many projects. If you favor the exhale, you might prefer the release of freedom and fear commitment. Becoming aware of these preferences can change your life: by helping you become aware of where you are out of balance.Listen to a guided pranayama practice here: Breath and mind are intimately linked. The quality of breath gives you clues about your state of mind. Learn to read the breath so that you can maintain harmony in the mind and body. Breath generally avoids tight spots; so try extending an invitation to the breath to help soften those areas.Like any aspect of the yoga practice, there are two ways to approach things: too tight and too loose. Look for the balance between the two poles.The one thing advanced yoga practitioners know? The breath is the most powerful tool to access awareness and realize that there is no goal.Want more tools and tips for stress reduction and working with emotions? Join us on Saturdays for a free guided yoga nidra practice group. Click here to learn more.