Mindful Monday

Self-care is your active role in safeguarding your mental and physical wellness proactively by doing what is good for you. It helps to increase your emotional and physical stamina, improve your self-esteem and builds resilience. Daily self-care creates improvements in your life and has immediate and long-term benefits. It's not easy or selfish to put yourself first when you have a long to do list but its necessary work. But when you commit to prioritise your own needs, consistently show up for yourself it lays the foundation of personal wellbeing and the ability to show up for others as your well is not empty. Self-care is different for everyone, there is not one size, it needs reviewing and revising frequently. 

Today's meditation is called “Self-care meditation” and is adapted from a meditation by Katie Krimitsos. The intention of this meditation is to give you a space to practice and understand your worthiness to care for yourself. To help you create boundaries, articulate what do you need right now to nourish yourself now and later. This can be done sitting or lying down. 

Sadness grounds you. And yes, it's painful and often seems long lasting. But it's a natural part of being human and it visits all of us at some time. Learning to ride its waves, to welcome it in enables you to have a less painful relationship with it. Is it possible when sadness comes to acknowledge it is here and be open to what it look like right now rather an avoid it or distract it? Can you apply mindfulness to being present to those darker unpleasant or uncomfortable places that sadness brings? It might be the opportunity for deeper insights and being more compassionate with yourself.

This meditation accompanies our 22 November and Podcast No 33 on Working with Sadness.  This meditation is called Exploring sadness with RAIN (RAIN is a Tara Brach meditation).  RAIN is an acronym with 4 steps and this version focuses on sadness particularly when it's a challenging situation or struggling with an intense emotion like sadness. Honoring it as part of the human experience, accepting and dealing with it can help. This can be done sitting or lying down.

Dr Kerry Howells's book, Gratitude an Education:A Radical View says, “If we were to meet gratitude face to face, she would say ‘take action that serves others', ‘give back', ‘let go' and ‘connect'. Acts of genuine gratitude that seek nothing in return can restore relationships and help us remember what we have received from others. Practicing gratitude can have far reaching effects, from improving your mental health to boosting relationships with others. Living gratitude helps you notice the small things, and these create well-being that strengthens your ability to notice the good. It helps you to step out of yourself and connect with others, open yourself up to joy, wonder and awe and to a sense of meaning greater than yourself.  Building your capacity for gratitude isn't difficult – it takes practice like exercising a muscle. You start by observing – how you are feeling when you express thanks, to noticing your kind words. You just have to start easy, with one interaction a day. 

This meditation accompanies our 1 November and Podcast No 30 on Cultivating Gratitude.  This meditation is called Cultivating Gratitude.  For many of us we say thanks in some form every day – our family or close companions, to our friends, and colleagues. In this meditation, I would like to explore how we might just go a little deeper and add a spoonful of gratitude along the way. Given that science has proved that by practicing gratitude there is also a correlating impact on our relationships, humanity and our brain – it offers us a way to connect on multiple levels. 

This meditation accompanies our 25 October Guide and Podcast No 29 on Braving Trust.  This meditation invites you to float in the ocean, to bring some peace and open your heart as best you can to trust. This is best done in a quiet space either sitting or lying down. 

In this podcast we turn the spotlight to Braving Trust.  Trust is the natural result of tiny actions, words, thoughts and intentions. It does not happen instantly, rather it takes work and is fundamental to success of any kind. Genuine trust yields decreased stress, solid friendships and a legacy.Trust means that you rely on someone else to do the right thing. You believe in the person's integrity and strength, to the extent that you're able to put yourself on the line, at some risk to yourself. It's the backbone of healthy, happy relationships and it fosters closeness. It's also important to trust in yourself, trust that your body will work as it should and that you can rely on it.

This meditation accompanies our Catching Joy edition of Mindful Monday 18 October No 28 Guide and the Podcast. Today's meditation is called Catching joy and it gives you the opportunity to just settle the body and mind whilst bringing to mind any small experiences of pleasantness you experienced in recent days and acknowledge the joy that may have arisen. 

According to Merriam-Webster dictionary “Joy is an emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires. It's a simple and light-hearted spark that transcends through your body and leaves feeling good vibrations. It carries no burden or expectations”. Whereas happiness (also an emotion) is a state of well-being and contentment, a pleasurable or satisfying experience. What each of them means to you though resides with you. Do you know and experience the difference for yourself? Do you recognise happiness more than joy? You can find joy easily in everyday things such as the wagging tail of your dog, or the bud on a flower. Bringing awareness to some of the things you do regularly may heighten your sense of joy. Take a moment and consider what gives you joy. There is a side benefit to joy, in that it is proven to boosts our immune systems, fights stress and pain, and improves our chance of living a longer life? Being joyful could quite literally add years to life. 

This meditation accompanies our Guide and Podcast No 27 on Setting Boundaries.  Today's meditation is called Managing and respecting boundaries. Something different today, I am including a visual guided meditation to assist you find a way to understand and respect the boundaries of others, and to help define personal boundaries that other people will respect. This is a sitting practice. 

A boundary is a limit defining you in relationship to someone or to something. Boundaries can be physical such as a step away from someone and help you to create more space between you and others where you might feel perhaps safer. They can be emotional, and these help you to identify emotions, feelings, needs and requirements that acknowledge your difference to others. Without boundaries we lose ourselves. Setting and maintaining boundaries might not come naturally and you might feel guilty. But healthy boundaries contribute to your self-care, healthy relationships and greater control over your life. 

This meditation accompanies our 4 October Guide and Podcast No 26 on Understanding burnout.  This meditation is called Understanding burnout. It provides you with the opportunity to  zoom in and out to what is relevant in the present moment. It helps with developing closer awareness to what is occurring in this moment. This meditation can be done anytime and it a good sitting practice. 

Presently there is much talk about burnout – with COVID, uncertainty and juggling work/home/work it's on the increase. But what exactly is burnout? It is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion by excessive and prolonged stress. It occurs when one feels overwhelmed, emotionally drained and unable to meet constant demands. Research has identified some factors that play a major role. These factors are deeply linked to basic emotional needs like belonging, purpose, recognition, and autonomy. In fact, when those needs are not met you may experience stress. When stress is not managed for long periods of time then burnout can occur. It's a fine line between excessive stress and burnout. 

Spring is coming and for many it means the emergence from the cold days of winter into the warmth and freshness of a new season.  As the weather changes, so does our perspective. Springtime, in particular, is a wonderful time to become more aware of the growth and life that surrounds us, the boost of fresh air and longer hours of daylight can inspire you. The opportunity to clear old habits that no longer serve you, to boost your natural energy and awaken your inner spark as you launch into spring. It's also an opportunity to nourish your mindfulness practices. 

This meditation accompanies our 30 August Guide and Podcast No 25 on Preparing for Spring.  This meditation is called Connecting with Nature. This meditation offers an opportunity to notice areas of rest in the body to help you relax and renew or to focus on the movement of the breath as it's our natural place of release. This meditation can be done anytime and it's a good sitting practice. 

You and I are connected through these words you hear. Whilst you may not agree with them, we're connected by a shared intention of deepening our understanding in some way. Your mind and my mind are choosing to focus on the same words. Many people have contributed to these words. Through this vast and complex web of connections, we directly and indirectly impact each other, for better or for worse. When we see that our self-interest is intrinsically tied to others, we're able to connect, reflect, speak our truth, be heard, consider different perspectives, and work together. 

This meditation accompanies our 23 August Guide and Podcast No 24 on Maintaining Connections.  This meditation is called Increasing connection. It will help you develop a deeper sense of connection - to the present moment, yourself, your family, friends, colleagues, and all living beings in the world. This meditation can be done anytime and it's a good sitting practice. 

We easily recognise our anxiety when it shows up as anxious thoughts or an attack triggered by something. But anxiety is less noticeable when it's our constant companion, part of our regular thoughts and constant background noise. Then says Judson Brewer, it's most likely it has become a habit. Anxiety hides in our habits. It hides in our bodies and we learn to disconnect from our feelings through a range of different behaviours. He says that mindfulness and curiosity can help us weed out unhelpful habits and create the space for well-being to flourish. 

This meditation accompanies our 16 August Guide and Podcast No 23 on Working with Anxiety.  This meditation is called Putting space between you and your anxiety and provides the opportunity to create some space around feelings of anxiety so that you can explore the experience directly, bringing curiosity to it calmly and without being carried away by it. 

“Self-compassion involves treating yourself the way you would treat a friend who is having a hard time-even if your friend blew it or is feeling inadequate, or is just facing a tough life challenge,” says Kristen Neff and Christopher Germer. Yet, typically we do not treat ourselves as well as we treat our friends. Through self-compassion we become an inner ally instead of an inner enemy. 

This meditation accompanies our 9 August No 22 Guide and Podcast on Self-Compassion. It provides the opportunity of finding a way to be with yourself as you are and for who you are and not who you think you should be. By being present in the moment in awareness of the breath, thoughts, feelings, you can be curious and compassionate to what is around you. This meditation can be done anytime and it is a sitting practice. 

With the pandemic forcing us to spend much of our time indoors, we are at greater risk of living increasingly sedentary lifestyles. And even before the pandemic, many people spent too long sitting without a break. It's well known that sitting all day is unhealthy and can have a host of long-term, detrimental effects on our bodies. Adopting a sedentary lifestyle has been linked to a slower metabolism, thinning in the regions of the brain responsible for storing memory, as well as an increased incidence of depression and anxiety.  As studies show that both the duration of how much we sit at a time and the total amount of time we sit overall can be problematic to our health. By embedding movement into our day as a regular routine it's a way to care for our body and mind.

This meditation accompanies our 2 August No 21 Guide and Podcast on Moving Well.  Mindful movement shows you a way of coming into the here and now, by focusing in on the range of feelings and sensations in your body, through mindful movement. It allows you to explore with curiosity and without judgment all the sensations that arise moment-to-moment and may enable you to connect with any stress responses present in your body. 

A Most of us know that we should be eating for optimal health. Sometimes this is hard to put into practice with busy lives, focusing on our changing relationship to food can be difficult and challenge us. After all, our eating habits evolve though a life time of experiences, they carry associations, emotions as we tend to respond on autopilot rather from a place of awareness and choice. Some of the mindful tips in this Podcast might assist you to bring awareness and attention to your eating habits.

This meditation accompanies our 26 July No 20 Guide and Podcast on Healthy Eating.  It provides the opportunity to set an intention for the day around health and well-being (although it can be anything), and to consider 3 feelings that you could bring into your day as you embed your intention thorough out the day. Setting an intention strengthens the brain centers' connections, assists your actions, words and responses to be compassionate, thoughtful and mindful. This meditation can be undertaken at home first thing in the morning or as soon as you arrive in the office. 

Anger is a natural and sometimes unwanted or irrational emotion that everyone experiences from time to time. It has evolved as a way of protecting oneself from harm. It's the trickiest element in our human, emotional inheritance. It's an inner fuel that offers an addictive rush It can ruin any situation. If it stays locked up inside, it can make us sick. It also has awesome power. Anger is a strong and fascinating emotion - rich and complex. There's a lot to learn about what's going on beneath our outbursts. 

This meditation accompanies our 19 July No 19 Guide and Podcast on Working with Anger. It's called Simple Awareness, and it invites you to just be aware and rest in awareness. Awareness of breath, sound, thoughts, feelings and awareness of the awareness – not to explore, add to, accept or judge anything. This meditation can be done sitting or lying down. 

Amanda Gilbert the author of “Kindness Now” says “Kindness is what the human heart is made of. It gives us the wisdom, strength and perseverance to face our most vulnerable and difficult life moments. And it guides us in uncovering the bottomless depths of our love, our compassion and our most genuine dreams and intentions. Through kindness we realise healing is possible, feeling good is possible and meeting our full authentic selves is possible.” We all already have the innate kindness within us – kindness is like a muscle we just have to exercise it. Kindness itself has a ripple effect on others and it leads in turn to more kindness. 

This meditation accompanies our 12 July No 18 Guide and Podcast on Being Kind. The meditation nurtures the quality of kindness that already exists within, whilst being with whatever is present in the senses, thoughts or emotions without judgement. The intention of this practice is to cultivate loving kindness for yourself and others. 

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, stress is the brain and body's response to change, challenge or demand. Any type of demand or challenge can be stressful. But not all stress is bad, for some it can be a motivator an indicator to perform. But consistent and long term stress can harm your health. Even though everyone feels stress from time to time, it's important that you are aware of what and how you deal with minor and major stresses in your life.

This meditation accompanies our 5 July No 17 Guide and Podcast on Managing Stress. Today's meditation is called Guided Meditation for Stress Relief. This meditation guides you through some deep breathing, to a beautiful place, to notice what is around, and to be open to a way forward. 

As we continue to face ambiguity and constant changes, one thing we can all do to make a difference: is sleep well. Restful sleep can support us in every aspect of life. It helps us to stay calm and clear; it can lower our anxiety levels and increase our energy. It can also help us shift our attitude so we have a more positive mindset and helps us to recover so we can tackle anything. 

This meditation accompanies our 28 June No 16 Guide and Podcast on Sleep Well. Today's meditation is called Towards better sleep. This meditation assists you to become settled, become aware of the body sensations and to get less caught up in thoughts before sleep. Taking time to just be, not strive or judge and accept whatever is present, no need to force sleep. 

Fear is primal and essential for survival. Our primitive brain was primed for identifying immediate danger and perceives dangers as real threats. Our brain scans constantly for danger focusing on threats over reward. Fear, then is part of everyday life. It's often around and it has a greater impact over our lives that we may realise. Whilst there is no one answer to conquering fear, if you can find ways to welcome your fears, see them, sit with them and let them go, over and over again through a mindful approach you go some way to conquering them and making them easier to live with. 

This meditation accompanies our 21st June No 15 Guide and Podcast on Working with fear. Today's meditation is called “Being with fear” and it invites you to sit with a future event that you might fear. It's normal for the mind to bring up future fears, you are not alone. Rather by turning towards the fear, sitting with the fear enables you to be kind and nurture yourself whenever it arises .

This meditation accompanies our 14 June No 14 Guide and Podcast on Navigating Overwhelm. Today's meditation is called “Thoughts on Leaves” this meditation guides you through a forest, a safe space to watch the leaves falling from trees and paying attention to your thoughts. Taking time to notice the thought, label it, place it on the leaf and let it go. 

Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey explain in their book “Immunity to Change” that we feel overwhelmed when the complexity of modern life surpasses our complexity of mind (i.e. our ability to handle that level of complexity). It has nothing to do with your capabilities. When you are overwhelmed, mindfulness can help you to accept your thoughts and feelings of too much while helping you to let go of trying to change or fix things. This podcast provides tips to help you, your kids and leaders to manage overwhelm.

This meditation is called the Breathing my anchor and it accompanies our Breathing my anchor edition of Mindful Monday 7 June Edition No 13. This invites you to be present to whatever arises in each moment and to bring your awareness to your breath. Just noticing each new breath as it arises.

When you focus on your breath you are bringing yourself to the here and now which assists you be present in the moment This is your anchor - it helps to regulate your nervous system, your mind and to develop a different relationship with your sensations, feelings and thoughts. It gives you feedback on your current state of mind. By noticing the qualities of your breath… short, long, shallow or deep you can become familiar with how you are feeling or observe your emotions. Let, your breath stabilize you when times are difficult.  

The fast flowing nature of our life today has resulted in our strong desire to build deep and meaningful relationships. The feeling of connecting with someone, being seen, cared about and loved by someone is a basic human need. Research suggests that positive relationships can help us succeed, grow, become better people, are good for our wellbeing and mental health. Across all different spheres of our lives, our relationships help us feel good, but they also help us be good. Like most things in life it takes time and effort to grow and deepen our relationships.. Not all of your relationships will be deep but those you want will require effort, focus and attention. Of course, do not forget to deepen the relationship with yourself. 

This meditation is Mindful Movement practice called Sitting Movement. Mindful movement focuses on the range of feelings and sensations through slow movement enabling you to listen to what it needs and deepening your relationship to individual parts. It can be done anywhere, in its entirety or just one movement at a time.

Each day we make decisions, many small and some big. Decisions help you choose the path that is your life and can have powerful impacts on days, months and even years ahead for yourself and others. Making mindful decisions is not about choosing an option, it's about inquiry that requires openness, curiosity and patience coupled with the capacity to be compassionate with yourself. Being present and knowing how to listen to the messages of the heart and gut and not just accepting our rational mind will help you make good decisions on what the present moment holds. 

This meditation is called the Conscious Decision Making, and it accompanies our Decision Making edition of Mindful Monday 19th April No 11. This meditation provides the opportunity to listen to the three information centres we have that connect with each other and provide guidance to us when making decisions. The challenge is to listen to the messages the three brain centres (mind, heart and gut) bring in words, feelings, sensations and intuition. 

Given that 75% of the time when we listen we are distracted is justification alone for cultivating your capacity for really listening. It assists you to connect with yourself, connect with others and it helps you to look through another's eyes. 

This meditation is called the Fostering inner listening, and it accompanies our Really Listening edition of Mindful Monday 12th of April edition No 10. This practice offers you the opportunity to really listen inwardly. To listen to your body, your heart and your inner voice. When you direct your attention to inner listening you cultivate your capacity for really listening and attuning into your own being. This meditation can be done sitting, standing or lying down. 

Sensations are the language that our bodies speak. They constantly communicate our state of mind and body – telling us if we are angry, hungry, or tired. A sensation is a physical feeling in the body. Inner body sensation refers to the actual physical feeling that are created as the various systems of the body monitor and give feedback about inner states. Sensations are continually created in the body through movement such as fluids, breath and energy. They are intense and subtle body sensations called interoception. Paying attention to your body helps you to notice sensations and how they change. 

This short “Kalm kids body scan” meditation, is a practice that you can do with kids any time during the day or at bedtime. It will help them to bring attention to their breath, then individual parts of the body in turn, to notice any sensations that may or not be there. It might also help them to settle after a busy day. This meditation is best done lying down. 

This meditation is called the Body Scan, and it accompanies our Connecting with Sensations edition of Mindful Monday 29th March No 9. The body scan practice allows you to check in with your body and to notice any sensations or changing sensations. In this meditation, we are going to direct our awareness through different parts of the body, paying attention to the experience of this, noticing any sensations such as twitching, tightness, and relating differently them. This meditation is best done lying down. 

Change, whether big or small, is an integral part of life. Have you heard the expression, “The only constant is change.” Just because change is so common, does not make it easy, especially when faced with an unexpected or unwelcomed change. Changes that take you by surprise can be particularly difficult to navigate and are usually accompanied by a flood of emotions. It's human nature to resist change, and the default reaction to it can be fear, doubt, and other unhelpful emotions. Mindfulness helps you to navigate and manage change in a more positive and productive way. You can learn to react to uncertainty with acceptance and become more aware of what is taking place - your emotions and reactions included. 

This meditation accompanies our 21st March No 8 Podcast on Managing a change. Today's practice “Exploring a change”, it brings awareness and focuses to exploring a change that you might be experiencing now or have recently been through. Change is an inevitable part of the human experience be it at home or work, in fact, change is everywhere inside us and outside us. Yet so often we do not move through the change consciously, with awareness and focus.  Meditation can also support you in managing change. This is a sitting meditation.