Mindfulness Exercises

If “good vibes only” has ever left you feeling worse, you're not alone. We dig into spiritual bypass—the habit of reaching for positivity to avoid discomfort—and show how it quietly amplifies stress, anger, and grief. Instead of shoving hard feelings away, we walk through a grounded, mindful approach that helps you feel safely, learn from what your body is saying, and move forward with clear action.We start by naming what bypass looks like in everyday life: focusing on peace and acceptance while ignoring the messy, human emotions that keep surfacing. From there, we unpack why judgment and shame make emotions stick, and how the simple act of noticing and breathing can soften the charge. You'll hear how anger can signal a threatened value, how impatience can mask unmet needs, and why “what we resist persists” is more than a quote—it's a somatic reality. Along the way, we explore the good–bad trap, the “two wolves” story reframed through compassion, and the difference between processing and performing calm.You'll leave with a practical flow you can use today: notice what's here, sense it in your body, breathe with it, and gauge the intensity. If the energy softens, shift into updating beliefs and behaviors. If it spikes, bookmark it and return when you have time and safety to tend with care. We also offer cues for resourcing—longer exhales, gentle attention, and support—so you can stay present without getting overwhelmed. This is not about wallowing; it's about integrating emotion, aligning with values, and choosing wise action.If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs it, and leave a review to help others find these tools. What emotion are you ready to feel—and release—today?Support the showAdd your 5‑star review — this really helps others find us. Certify To Teach Mindfulness: Certify.MindfulnessExercises.com Email: Sean@MindfulnessExercises.comAbout the Podcast Mindfulness Exercises with Sean Fargo is a practical, grounded mindfulness podcast for people who want meditation to actually help in real life. Hosted by Sean Fargo — a former Buddhist monk, mindfulness teacher, and founder of MindfulnessExercises.com — this podcast explores how mindfulness can support mental health, emotional regulation, trauma sensitivity, chronic pain, leadership, creativity, and meaningful work. Each episode offers a mix of: Practical mindfulness and meditation teachings Conversations with respected teachers, clinicians, authors, and researchers Real-world insights for therapists, coaches, yoga teachers, educators, and caregivers Gentle reflections for anyone navigating stress, anxiety, burnout, grief, or change Rather than chasing peak experiences or spiritual bypassing, this podcast emphasizes embodied practice, ethical teaching, and mindfulness that meets people where they are—messy, human, and alive. If you're interested in: Mindfulness meditation for everyday life Trauma-sensitive and co...

We share why real human presence matters more than yet another guided track and how embodiment turns mindfulness from a script into a living practice. We also explore signals of rising demand, from global mental health needs to local community spaces.• rising interest in human mindfulness guides• teaching through personal stories and eye contact• searching for market data and credible sources• loneliness, paid walking companions, and community need• head, heart, and whole-body awareness balance• simple practices for integrated attention• family intimacy, the cuddle couch, and co-regulation• WHO mental health figures and UN attention to mindfulness• encouragement for aspiring teachers without therapy or yoga credentialsIf I can't post it in this chat, then I'm Sean, I'll email you the information I can findSupport the showAdd your 5‑star review — this really helps others find us. Certify To Teach Mindfulness: Certify.MindfulnessExercises.com Email: Sean@MindfulnessExercises.comAbout the Podcast Mindfulness Exercises with Sean Fargo is a practical, grounded mindfulness podcast for people who want meditation to actually help in real life. Hosted by Sean Fargo — a former Buddhist monk, mindfulness teacher, and founder of MindfulnessExercises.com — this podcast explores how mindfulness can support mental health, emotional regulation, trauma sensitivity, chronic pain, leadership, creativity, and meaningful work. Each episode offers a mix of: Practical mindfulness and meditation teachings Conversations with respected teachers, clinicians, authors, and researchers Real-world insights for therapists, coaches, yoga teachers, educators, and caregivers Gentle reflections for anyone navigating stress, anxiety, burnout, grief, or change Rather than chasing peak experiences or spiritual bypassing, this podcast emphasizes embodied practice, ethical teaching, and mindfulness that meets people where they are—messy, human, and alive. If you're interested in: Mindfulness meditation for everyday life Trauma-sensitive and co...

We weigh how AI can support mindfulness while naming what it cannot replace: human presence, shared reality, and the heart's wisdom. Practical boundaries, ethical concerns, and community care guide a nuanced path between helpful tools and hollow substitutes.• Lifetime access and open attendance clarified• Name introductions and community tone setting• AI's strengths in personalization and scalability• The limits of simulation versus lived presence• Risks of outsourcing awareness and creativity• Cultivating compassion, gratitude, and equanimity• Loneliness as a health crisis and social ties• Ethics in AI use across wellbeing contexts• Upcoming workshop on mindfulness and AI toolsWe're having a workshop on mindfulness and AI in about a month or so, which we'll announceSupport the showAdd your 5‑star review — this really helps others find us. Certify To Teach Mindfulness: Certify.MindfulnessExercises.com Email: Sean@MindfulnessExercises.comAbout the Podcast Mindfulness Exercises with Sean Fargo is a practical, grounded mindfulness podcast for people who want meditation to actually help in real life. Hosted by Sean Fargo — a former Buddhist monk, mindfulness teacher, and founder of MindfulnessExercises.com — this podcast explores how mindfulness can support mental health, emotional regulation, trauma sensitivity, chronic pain, leadership, creativity, and meaningful work. Each episode offers a mix of: Practical mindfulness and meditation teachings Conversations with respected teachers, clinicians, authors, and researchers Real-world insights for therapists, coaches, yoga teachers, educators, and caregivers Gentle reflections for anyone navigating stress, anxiety, burnout, grief, or change Rather than chasing peak experiences or spiritual bypassing, this podcast emphasizes embodied practice, ethical teaching, and mindfulness that meets people where they are—messy, human, and alive. If you're interested in: Mindfulness meditation for everyday life Trauma-sensitive and co...

What if fear, grief, anger, and old hurts didn't run the show anymore? We share a gentle way to build real emotional capacity without white-knuckling your way through pain. Instead of diving into the deep end, we map a clear, safe progression—starting with mild memories, grounding in the body, and adding just enough mindfulness to feel what's there without getting swept away.We begin by setting the container: a quiet space, a stable seat, and a few minutes connecting to breath and body. From there we invite a small, manageable memory to surface—a minor disappointment, a touch of frustration, a flicker of sadness—and practice staying with it. You'll hear how to shift from fixing the feeling to feeling it, track sensations like tightness, warmth, or shakiness, and notice judgments or stories without letting them take the wheel. That simple arc—evoke, feel, notice, soften—becomes a repeatable flow you can trust.To make progress visible, we build an emotion inventory that spans both unpleasant and pleasant experiences. We rate intensity from 1 to 10, sort the list, and train at the lower levels until our nervous system learns, I can be with this. Over time, we advance thoughtfully to midrange emotions. When the material touches deeper trauma or profound grief, we talk about making a wise plan: what stays in solo practice and what deserves the steady presence of a therapist, guide, or healer. Along the way, we challenge the habit of avoiding joy, showing how the same mindful skills help us receive good feelings fully.By the end, you'll have a practical framework for emotional resilience: a safe setting, a stepwise method, and a roadmap for when to seek support. If this approach helps, follow the show, share it with a friend who could use steadier ground, and leave a quick review to help others find these tools.Support the showAdd your 5‑star review — this really helps others find us. Certify To Teach Mindfulness: Certify.MindfulnessExercises.com Email: Sean@MindfulnessExercises.comAbout the Podcast Mindfulness Exercises with Sean Fargo is a practical, grounded mindfulness podcast for people who want meditation to actually help in real life. Hosted by Sean Fargo — a former Buddhist monk, mindfulness teacher, and founder of MindfulnessExercises.com — this podcast explores how mindfulness can support mental health, emotional regulation, trauma sensitivity, chronic pain, leadership, creativity, and meaningful work. Each episode offers a mix of: Practical mindfulness and meditation teachings Conversations with respected teachers, clinicians, authors, and researchers Real-world insights for therapists, coaches, yoga teachers, educators, and caregivers Gentle reflections for anyone navigating stress, anxiety, burnout, grief, or change Rather than chasing peak experiences or spiritual bypassing, this podcast emphasizes embodied practice, ethical teaching, and mindfulness that meets people where they are—messy, human, and alive. If you're interested in: Mindfulness meditation for everyday life Trauma-sensitive and co...

What if the safest place you can find is the breath you're already taking? We sit down with Anthony Abbagnano — founder of Alchemy of Breath and author of Outer Chaos, Inner Calm — to explore how conscious breathing can shift anxiety, resolve trauma responses, and restore a sense of agency in everyday life. His story arcs from a startling early awakening at boarding school to months of stillness during a life-threatening illness, revealing the quiet power of will on the inhale and surrender on the exhale.Visit Anthony's Website: Alchemy of BreathAnthony breaks down the mechanics behind different methods with rare clarity. We unpack why hyperventilation isn't a DIY strategy, how Conscious Connected Breathing works without pauses, and when vigorous diaphragmatic cycles can prime you for a high-stakes talk. Most importantly, we get practical: the four-in, long-out exhale sequence becomes a dependable reset for the nervous system, helping listeners interrupt spirals of panic, ground attention, and return to a steadier baseline. Along the way, Anthony's “octave” metaphor reframes coping versus resolution, showing how breath can complete the unfinished note of suspense and bring closure to states that keep us stuck.This conversation is a toolkit for teachers, caregivers, and anyone who wants to feel safer in their own body. You'll learn how to catalog your breath across emotions—anger, love, fear, focus—and rehearse patterns you can recall under pressure. The result is a subtle but profound shift from reactivity to response, from back-foot survival to front-foot presence. If you're ready to meet uncertainty with curiosity and calm, press play, breathe with us, and build your own breath catalog.Enjoyed the conversation? Subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with someone who could use a longer exhale today.Support the showAdd your 5‑star review — this really helps others find us. Certify To Teach Mindfulness: Certify.MindfulnessExercises.com Email: Sean@MindfulnessExercises.comAbout the Podcast Mindfulness Exercises with Sean Fargo is a practical, grounded mindfulness podcast for people who want meditation to actually help in real life. Hosted by Sean Fargo — a former Buddhist monk, mindfulness teacher, and founder of MindfulnessExercises.com — this podcast explores how mindfulness can support mental health, emotional regulation, trauma sensitivity, chronic pain, leadership, creativity, and meaningful work. Each episode offers a mix of: Practical mindfulness and meditation teachings Conversations with respected teachers, clinicians, authors, and researchers Real-world insights for therapists, coaches, yoga teachers, educators, and caregivers Gentle reflections for anyone navigating stress, anxiety, burnout, grief, or change Rather than chasing peak experiences or spiritual bypassing, this podcast emphasizes embodied practice, ethical teaching, and mindfulness that meets people where they are—messy, human, and alive. If you're interested in: Mindfulness meditation for everyday life Trauma-sensitive and co...

What if discipline wasn't something we do to students, but a skill we help them build? We sit down with Nicholas Bradford, founder of the National Center for Restorative Justice, to unpack how mindfulness and restorative practices turn everyday conflicts into opportunities for growth, dignity, and repair. Visit his website: National Center For Restorative JusticeFrom pre-K name calling to serious incidents that rock a school community, we break down a concrete sequence for accountability without shaming kids or abandoning boundaries.We begin by reframing conflict as the gap between expectation and reality—a lens that invites mindfulness into the heat of the moment. Nicholas explains why staying longer with “what happened?” helps students recognize impact, and how “what were you trying to accomplish?” reveals legitimate needs that can be validated without excusing harm. Then we move to “who was impacted and how?” to build empathy, status, and ownership. For significant harms, we explore active, meaningful repair—community work, mentoring, and contributions that let students rebuild trust and rewrite their self-story from problem to participant.Skeptical about restorative justice? Nicholas shows why experience beats data. He walks through reentry circles for suspended or expelled students—spaces where youth share what they did, how they're thinking differently, and what amends they're committed to. Parents, teachers, and peers often leave transformed, seeing justice as public love: truth, boundaries, and compassion working together. We also talk implementation: why adults go first, how leaders model circles with staff, and what training pathways—three-day intensives, facilitation add-ons, and graduate-credit courses—help teams build durable systems.If you care about school culture, educator wellbeing, youth agency, and practical tools that work under pressure, this conversation offers clear language and steps you can use tomorrow. Listen, share with a colleague, and tell us: where do expectations get in your way, and what repair would move your community forward? Subscribe, leave a review, and pass it on to someone who needs a more human way to handle conflict.Support the showAdd your 5‑star review — this really helps others find us. Certify To Teach Mindfulness: Certify.MindfulnessExercises.com Email: Sean@MindfulnessExercises.comAbout the Podcast Mindfulness Exercises with Sean Fargo is a practical, grounded mindfulness podcast for people who want meditation to actually help in real life. Hosted by Sean Fargo — a former Buddhist monk, mindfulness teacher, and founder of MindfulnessExercises.com — this podcast explores how mindfulness can support mental health, emotional regulation, trauma sensitivity, chronic pain, leadership, creativity, and meaningful work. Each episode offers a mix of: Practical mindfulness and meditation teachings Conversations with respected teachers, clinicians, authors, and researchers Real-world insights for therapists, coaches, yoga teachers, educators, and caregivers Gentle reflections for anyone navigating stress, anxiety, burnout, grief, or change Rather than chasing peak experiences or spiritual bypassing, this podcast emphasizes embodied practice, ethical teaching, and mindfulness that meets people where they are—messy, human, and alive. If you're interested in: Mindfulness meditation for everyday life Trauma-sensitive and co...

When life speeds up and practice slips, it's easy to believe mindfulness stopped working or was never yours to begin with. We challenge that story by centering a quieter truth: capability. Not a slogan, not toxic positivity—just the lived sense that you can meet what's here, one breath at a time, without needing to fix or flee. From the first moments of reflection to the closing invitation, we explore how a small reminder can create a big shift.We trace the arc from losing momentum to remembering benefits, then move into the territory people avoid: sensations that feel too intense, emotions that seem bottomless, even joy that feels unsafe. Instead of pushing through, we show how to widen experience with care and keep within a workable window. Along the way, we put courage beside capability and share why beginners and seasoned meditators alike need both. If you've ever said “my mind is a race car” or “I have too much baggage,” you'll hear practical ways to test those predictions with gentle, doable actions that rebuild trust.We also touch on the neuroscience of agency and why feeling able changes how the brain appraises threat and opens the door to compassion. When experience isn't an enemy, the heart can respond rather than defend. You'll leave with a simple cue—I can meet this—that works in daily life and formal practice, from traffic stress to tender grief. Try the reminder, notice the small wins, and let capability become a friend you can reach for anytime.If this resonated, follow the show, share it with someone who needs the reminder, and leave a quick review telling us what moment you're ready to meet next.Support the showAdd your 5‑star review — this really helps others find us. Certify To Teach Mindfulness: Certify.MindfulnessExercises.com Email: Sean@MindfulnessExercises.comAbout the Podcast Mindfulness Exercises with Sean Fargo is a practical, grounded mindfulness podcast for people who want meditation to actually help in real life. Hosted by Sean Fargo — a former Buddhist monk, mindfulness teacher, and founder of MindfulnessExercises.com — this podcast explores how mindfulness can support mental health, emotional regulation, trauma sensitivity, chronic pain, leadership, creativity, and meaningful work. Each episode offers a mix of: Practical mindfulness and meditation teachings Conversations with respected teachers, clinicians, authors, and researchers Real-world insights for therapists, coaches, yoga teachers, educators, and caregivers Gentle reflections for anyone navigating stress, anxiety, burnout, grief, or change Rather than chasing peak experiences or spiritual bypassing, this podcast emphasizes embodied practice, ethical teaching, and mindfulness that meets people where they are—messy, human, and alive. If you're interested in: Mindfulness meditation for everyday life Trauma-sensitive and co...

What if your mind isn't confined to your skull but lives in the space between us? We dig into interpersonal neurobiology to show how mind, brain, and relationships form a single, living system—and why integration is the hidden thread behind resilience, clarity, and connection. Rather than a tug-of-war between nature and nurture, you'll hear how epigenetics turns experience into gene expression, and how neuroplasticity keeps your brain open to change across a lifetime.Dr. Dan Siegel's website: https://drdansiegel.com/We break down the mind as a regulatory process that patterns energy and information, then track how communication literally couples nervous systems. Emotion takes center stage as the primary integrator that assigns value and steers attention, while the middle prefrontal cortex acts as a convergence zone linking body states, social insight, and flexible action. When integration falters, systems lurch into chaos or rigidity—think fight-or-flight surges or shutdown—and the “window of tolerance” narrows. You'll learn why trauma often erases the narrative while preserving bodily alarms, and how implicit and explicit memory build (or blur) the story of who you are.Repair is possible. Attunement—feeling felt—powers co-regulation and lays the groundwork for self-regulation. Narrative coherence in adults predicts secure attachment in kids, demonstrating how relationships author identity. We offer a practical tool, the Wheel of Awareness, to differentiate and link sensation, interoception, thoughts and feelings, and connection with others, strengthening integrative circuits and expanding choice. By the end, the self looks less like a fixed noun and more like a plural verb: a dynamic process shaped by the people you choose and the attention you train.If this conversation sparks something, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs it, and leave a review with one insight you're taking into your week.Support the showAdd your 5‑star review — this really helps others find us. Certify To Teach Mindfulness: Certify.MindfulnessExercises.com Email: Sean@MindfulnessExercises.comAbout the Podcast Mindfulness Exercises with Sean Fargo is a practical, grounded mindfulness podcast for people who want meditation to actually help in real life. Hosted by Sean Fargo — a former Buddhist monk, mindfulness teacher, and founder of MindfulnessExercises.com — this podcast explores how mindfulness can support mental health, emotional regulation, trauma sensitivity, chronic pain, leadership, creativity, and meaningful work. Each episode offers a mix of: Practical mindfulness and meditation teachings Conversations with respected teachers, clinicians, authors, and researchers Real-world insights for therapists, coaches, yoga teachers, educators, and caregivers Gentle reflections for anyone navigating stress, anxiety, burnout, grief, or change Rather than chasing peak experiences or spiritual bypassing, this podcast emphasizes embodied practice, ethical teaching, and mindfulness that meets people where they are—messy, human, and alive. If you're interested in: Mindfulness meditation for everyday life Trauma-sensitive and co...

You don't need a perfect mind to meditate; you need a simple place to return to. We guide a clear, down-to-earth practice for resting attention on a home base—often the breath, but just as easily a body sensation or the flow of sound—so you can meet experience without strain. Rather than chasing calm or fighting thoughts, we practice the art of beginning again: notice you've drifted, let go gently, and come back to one felt breath.Sharon Salzberg's website: SharonSalzberg.comWe start by tuning the senses toward direct experience—pressure, pulsing, warmth—so the body leads and the mind can soften. Then we explore how to find the clearest spot for the breath at the nostrils, chest, or abdomen, and how quiet mental notes like rising and falling can support awareness without taking over. If the breath feels tight or loaded, we normalize choosing a different anchor that requires no effort to produce. The key is receptivity over control: you're breathing anyway; all you need to do is feel it.As we work with distraction, we emphasize compassion and practicality. When thoughts surge or drowsiness pulls you under, the most important moment is the next one—returning without blame. Over time this builds steadiness, reduces performance anxiety, and turns meditation into a supportive habit you can carry on a walk, in a commute, or during a stressful day. There's nothing to manufacture and nothing to chase. Just this breath, felt fully.If this practice helps, share it with a friend who could use a quiet anchor today. Subscribe for future guided sessions and leave a review with one insight you're taking into your week.Support the showAdd your 5‑star review — this really helps others find us. Certify To Teach Mindfulness: Certify.MindfulnessExercises.com Email: Sean@MindfulnessExercises.comAbout the Podcast Mindfulness Exercises with Sean Fargo is a practical, grounded mindfulness podcast for people who want meditation to actually help in real life. Hosted by Sean Fargo — a former Buddhist monk, mindfulness teacher, and founder of MindfulnessExercises.com — this podcast explores how mindfulness can support mental health, emotional regulation, trauma sensitivity, chronic pain, leadership, creativity, and meaningful work. Each episode offers a mix of: Practical mindfulness and meditation teachings Conversations with respected teachers, clinicians, authors, and researchers Real-world insights for therapists, coaches, yoga teachers, educators, and caregivers Gentle reflections for anyone navigating stress, anxiety, burnout, grief, or change Rather than chasing peak experiences or spiritual bypassing, this podcast emphasizes embodied practice, ethical teaching, and mindfulness that meets people where they are—messy, human, and alive. If you're interested in: Mindfulness meditation for everyday life Trauma-sensitive and co...

A couch, a non-alcoholic hazy IPA, and a confession: leaving the monastery wasn't just about tacos and rules—it was about hugging family again and answering a call to serve a world on edge. What followed is a surprising arc from Spirit Rock to healthcare to a teacher training program that's now helping seed mindfulness across the Environmental Protection Agency and beyond.We walk through the real reasons mindfulness belongs inside complex institutions: not as a perk, but as a skills-based response to stress, climate anxiety, and high-stakes decision-making. You'll hear how EPA leaders enrolled in our certification, why they're inviting more colleagues, and what a mindful federal initiative could look like across agencies like the Forest Service, Housing, and even the military. The science is clear—reduced stress and anxiety, better communication, stronger resilience—and the stories show how a short practice can change a meeting, a policy conversation, or a homecoming after work.This is a grounded look at scaling compassion without losing integrity. We talk about attention as a shared resource, how training trainers multiplies impact, and why adopting mindfulness at work naturally shifts habits at home: how we speak, what we buy and eat, and how we show up for people we love. If you care about mental health, leadership, and a more humane approach to public service, you'll find both practical tools and a dose of hope.If this resonates, subscribe, share the episode with someone who needs it, and leave a review with one way you'll plant a mindful seed this week. Your practice can be the spark that lights the next room.Support the showAdd your 5‑star review — this really helps others find us. Certify To Teach Mindfulness: Certify.MindfulnessExercises.com Email: Sean@MindfulnessExercises.comAbout the Podcast Mindfulness Exercises with Sean Fargo is a practical, grounded mindfulness podcast for people who want meditation to actually help in real life. Hosted by Sean Fargo — a former Buddhist monk, mindfulness teacher, and founder of MindfulnessExercises.com — this podcast explores how mindfulness can support mental health, emotional regulation, trauma sensitivity, chronic pain, leadership, creativity, and meaningful work. Each episode offers a mix of: Practical mindfulness and meditation teachings Conversations with respected teachers, clinicians, authors, and researchers Real-world insights for therapists, coaches, yoga teachers, educators, and caregivers Gentle reflections for anyone navigating stress, anxiety, burnout, grief, or change Rather than chasing peak experiences or spiritual bypassing, this podcast emphasizes embodied practice, ethical teaching, and mindfulness that meets people where they are—messy, human, and alive. If you're interested in: Mindfulness meditation for everyday life Trauma-sensitive and co...

When your mind won't slow down, the fastest way out is often through the body. We lead a steady, grounded body scan that starts at the feet and moves through contact points, face, breath, and belly—simple cues that unwind hidden effort and restore a sense of ease. No jargon, no pressure to relax; just clear guidance that helps you notice what's real in the moment and let the rest unclench.We begin by settling with a few deliberate breaths and feeling the feet meet the ground. That contact becomes an anchor as we explore the weight of the body, the chair and floor supporting us, and the subtle differences between pressure and lightness. From there, we map the face—eyebrows, forehead, cheeks, jaw—where stress often hides. Gentle prompts invite the eyes to rest and the jaw to loosen, while the tongue softens across the floor of the mouth. Attention then follows the breath along the nostrils, sensing cool air on the inhale and warmer air on the exhale, creating a natural rhythm that gathers focus without strain.As the practice deepens, we highlight the power of softening the belly. Allowing the abdomen to move with the breath frees the diaphragm, steadies the heart, and tells the nervous system it's safe to ease up. The result is a whole-body shift: less clench in the face, more space in the chest, and a quieter mind that can meet the day with clarity. If you're looking for a practical mindfulness practice, a guided meditation for stress relief, or a nervous system reset you can use anywhere, this session meets you where you are and gives you a reliable path back to calm.If this practice helped, follow the show, share it with a friend who could use a reset, and leave a quick review to help others find us.Support the showAdd your 5‑star review — this really helps others find us. Certify To Teach Mindfulness: Certify.MindfulnessExercises.com Email: Sean@MindfulnessExercises.comAbout the Podcast Mindfulness Exercises with Sean Fargo is a practical, grounded mindfulness podcast for people who want meditation to actually help in real life. Hosted by Sean Fargo — a former Buddhist monk, mindfulness teacher, and founder of MindfulnessExercises.com — this podcast explores how mindfulness can support mental health, emotional regulation, trauma sensitivity, chronic pain, leadership, creativity, and meaningful work. Each episode offers a mix of: Practical mindfulness and meditation teachings Conversations with respected teachers, clinicians, authors, and researchers Real-world insights for therapists, coaches, yoga teachers, educators, and caregivers Gentle reflections for anyone navigating stress, anxiety, burnout, grief, or change Rather than chasing peak experiences or spiritual bypassing, this podcast emphasizes embodied practice, ethical teaching, and mindfulness that meets people where they are—messy, human, and alive. If you're interested in: Mindfulness meditation for everyday life Trauma-sensitive and co...

Need a reset that actually sticks? We guide a calm, clear meditation that helps you settle your body, soothe your nerves, and steady your mind—without forcing the breath or chasing silence. Starting with simple grounding, we let the body meet the seat and the floor, then gently scan attention through legs, spine, head, and face to release hidden tension and welcome ease.As the practice deepens, we bring the hands into the experience to create reliable anchors. The left hand rests over the heart for a felt sense of warmth and care, while the right hand meets the belly to invite slower, fuller breaths. That two-point contact offers immediate biofeedback: the inhale lifts into the palms; the exhale softens the palms back into the body. It's a practical way to stimulate the vagus nerve, reduce stress, and cultivate emotional steadiness. We talk through each cue with simple, jargon-free language so you can follow along whether you're new to mindfulness or returning after a long day.We close by opening attention to the whole body at once, then touch the hands together to mark the end of practice. The goal isn't to become a perfect meditator; it's to feel grounded, present, and kind toward yourself. If you're looking for a short guided meditation that blends body scan techniques, breath awareness, and soothing hand-to-heart contact, this session offers a clear path back to center. Press play, breathe with us, and share how your body felt before and after. Subscribe for more grounding practices, leave a review if this helped, and pass it to someone who could use a gentle pause today.Support the showAdd your 5‑star review — this really helps others find us. Free Mindfulness Exercises: MindfulnessExercises.com 200 Guided Meditation Scripts: Scripts.MindfulnessExercises.com Certify To Teach Mindfulness: Certify.MindfulnessExercises.com Work with Sean Fargo: Sean.MindfulnessExercises.com/ Reduce Chronic Pain: Pain.MindfulnessExercises.com Email: Sean@MindfulnessExercises.com

What if your attitude is not just a mood but a biological instruction set? We take a bold tour through the Gene Keys, the system that links the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching to the 64 codons of DNA and frames your inner state as a frequency that tunes gene expression. Instead of forcing change, we look at how contemplation lifts you from shadow to gift to siddhi, with concrete examples like Gene Key 25's journey from constriction to universal love and Gene Key 46's shift from seriousness to delight and ecstasy. Along the way, we show how common patterns—like inadequacy morphing into control—can be transmuted into resourcefulness and genuine strength.We also zoom out to the sweeping forecast around the 55th Gene Key, where victimization gives way to freedom at both human and societal scales. The sources point to a species-level transition from cranial thinking to solar plexus awareness between 2012 and 2027, suggesting a new baseline of emotional intelligence and coherence. That change carries dramatic implications: moving beyond hierarchy and heterarchy into synarchy, where coordinated collective intelligence operates as one, and even hinting that scarcity mechanisms like money may lose their hold as unconditional giving becomes normal.Beyond the grand claims, we ground the practice: use your hologenetic profile to identify the keys that map your purpose, relationships, and prosperity; meet shadows with soft attention; and let frequency do the heavy lifting. We close with a paradox from the 61st and 63rd keys: the deepest truth arrives when we stop forcing answers and relax into inquiry. Listen, reflect, and test the ideas in your own life. If this conversation resonates, subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review telling us which Gene Key you're exploring next.Support the showAdd your 5‑star review — this really helps others find us. Free Mindfulness Exercises: MindfulnessExercises.com 200 Guided Meditation Scripts: Scripts.MindfulnessExercises.com Certify To Teach Mindfulness: Certify.MindfulnessExercises.com Work with Sean Fargo: Sean.MindfulnessExercises.com/ Reduce Chronic Pain: Pain.MindfulnessExercises.com Email: Sean@MindfulnessExercises.com

What if the most important moment in meditation is not the breath you follow, but the instant you notice you've wandered—and choose to return with love? James Baraz joins us to unpack that gentle pivot, showing how a kind return trains patience, forgiveness, and steadiness in daily life. James Baraz's website: https://www.awakeningjoy.info/We walk through practical instruction, the value of real silence, and how to read the room so guidance supports rather than crowds out insight.James traces his journey from early retreats with Joseph Goldstein and time with Ram Dass to taking the teacher's seat with humility. He shares two deceptively simple rules that shaped his path—say “I don't know” when you don't, and don't fear looking foolish—and how they dissolve both imposter syndrome and inflated self-image. From there, we get tactical about secular teaching: speak in people's own idiom, avoid trigger words without diluting meaning, and anchor practice in ethics. Integrity isn't optional; it's the foundation that actually calms the mind and builds trust.We broaden the lens to social impact—climate, inequity, and the race between fear and consciousness. Mindfulness is a gateway, not a finish line. When we embody calm and care, classrooms quiet, teams soften, and communities shift. James offers an intention practice to fuel purpose, plus a reminder that transformation is real: we can rewire toward generosity, clarity, and compassion. There will be sorrow and beauty; keep turning toward the light, and let your light help others see.If this conversation sparks something in you, share it with a friend who teaches, subscribe for more grounded practice tools, and leave a review to help others find the show. What intention will guide your next step?Support the showAdd your 5‑star review — this really helps others find us. Free Mindfulness Exercises: MindfulnessExercises.com 200 Guided Meditation Scripts: Scripts.MindfulnessExercises.com Certify To Teach Mindfulness: Certify.MindfulnessExercises.com Work with Sean Fargo: Sean.MindfulnessExercises.com/ Reduce Chronic Pain: Pain.MindfulnessExercises.com Email: Sean@MindfulnessExercises.com

A simple wooden bench beneath redwoods can teach more about mindfulness than a stack of books. Sean Fargo shares how years as a Buddhist monk distilled into one essential practice: sit at the base of a tree, feel your breath, and let nature lead. From Thai forests to a Berkeley backyard, he traces the quiet power of practicing outdoors and explains why fresh air, shifting light, and the textures of the world sharpen attention and soften judgment.We explore a practical, element-based approach—earth, fire, air, water, and space—that makes awareness tangible. You'll hear how to work with sun on the skin, breeze on the face, and the honest feedback of uneven ground. Sean offers simple ways to start today: eyes open or closed, sitting in a park, or taking a slow walk while sensing heel, ball, toe. For teachers, he maps out how to guide groups off Zoom and into parks, trails, and campgrounds, where presence becomes easier and distractions become part of the practice instead of problems to fix.If you've wondered whether public meditation looks strange, this conversation offers permission and a plan. We talk about building resilience by staying with both pleasant and unpleasant conditions, noticing judgments, and returning to raw sensation. By the end, you'll have a clear, friendly roadmap for bringing your practice outdoors—alone, with friends, or with a class—and a renewed trust that nature is a steady mentor when we show up to listen.Subscribe for more grounded guidance, share this episode with someone who loves the outdoors, and tell us in the comments: where in nature do you practice mindfulness?Support the showAdd your 5‑star review — this really helps others find us. Free Mindfulness Exercises: MindfulnessExercises.com 200 Guided Meditation Scripts: Scripts.MindfulnessExercises.com Certify To Teach Mindfulness: Certify.MindfulnessExercises.com Work with Sean Fargo: Sean.MindfulnessExercises.com/ Reduce Chronic Pain: Pain.MindfulnessExercises.com Email: Sean@MindfulnessExercises.com

What if home isn't a location but a feeling you can access anywhere? On a quiet stretch of California's Central Valley, we explore how mindfulness turns a long drive into a place of safety, gratitude, and deep belonging. Instead of rushing from one address to the next, we lean into breath, body, and the living world around us—the weight of the seat, the warmth of the sun, the whisper of wind, even the tumbleweeds—and discover a home that doesn't depend on walls.We get honest about the old habit of racing to arrive: optimizing departure times, passing at the perfect angle, pushing for speed. Then we slow down, sense into the ground that holds us, and let presence soften the road. Through simple practices—feeling the inhale and exhale, grounding through contact points, widening awareness to include sky and land—we learn to relate to the environment as part of our inner home. Safety stops being a future destination and becomes a moment-to-moment experience in the body.Along the way, we ask a few powerful questions: Can I be at home in my body right now? Can I trust the earth beneath me? Can I welcome the air and space around me? With each question, the heart opens to care, and gratitude naturally rises. That gratitude eases transitions—new places, uncertain paths, and the in-between miles feel less like exile and more like belonging. If you're moving through change, traveling, or simply craving steadiness, this conversation offers a gentle map back to yourself.If this resonated with you, follow the show, share it with a friend who's on the move, and leave a quick review to help others find a sense of home, wherever they are.Support the showAdd your 5‑star review — this really helps others find us. Free Mindfulness Exercises: MindfulnessExercises.com 200 Guided Meditation Scripts: Scripts.MindfulnessExercises.com Certify To Teach Mindfulness: Certify.MindfulnessExercises.com Work with Sean Fargo: Sean.MindfulnessExercises.com/ Reduce Chronic Pain: Pain.MindfulnessExercises.com Email: Sean@MindfulnessExercises.com

What if forgiveness didn't ask you to forget, pretend, or minimize? We open a kinder door: releasing the grip of the past without erasing it, and training attention so old stories don't run the show. Through a grounded, step-by-step loving-kindness practice with Sharon Salzberg, we move from caring for ourselves to offering warmth to a benefactor, a neutral person, and ultimately to all beings—showing how compassion can be both steady and discerning.Sharon's website: SharonSalzberg.comWe start by reframing forgiveness as a shift in identification, not a wipe of memory. Then we teach a simple sequence of phrases—may I be safe, be happy, be healthy, live with ease—and explain why the power lies in sincere repetition. Wandering minds are expected; the core skill is noticing, letting go, and returning. That small return mirrors forgiveness itself: again and again, we choose presence over replay.As the circle widens, we explore the ease of offering to someone who makes you smile, the surprising depth of wishing well for a neutral person, and the humbling recognition of our shared vulnerability. Life can turn on a dime; kindness helps us meet that truth without hardening. By the end, you'll feel how goodwill does not negate boundaries or justice—it clarifies them. Remembering remains, but resentment loosens its hold, making room for steadiness, clarity, and a more generous way to move through the world.If this practice supports you, follow the show, share it with a friend who could use some ease, and leave a quick review to help others find it.Support the showAdd your 5‑star review — this really helps others find us. Free Mindfulness Exercises: MindfulnessExercises.com 200 Guided Meditation Scripts: Scripts.MindfulnessExercises.com Certify To Teach Mindfulness: Certify.MindfulnessExercises.com Work with Sean Fargo: Sean.MindfulnessExercises.com/ Reduce Chronic Pain: Pain.MindfulnessExercises.com Email: Sean@MindfulnessExercises.com

Happiness often feels slippery—too abstract to hold, too dependent on luck or perfect circumstances. We take a different path and lay out a grounded map you can actually use. The conversation with Austin Hill Shaw centers on three core human needs that, together, create a durable sense of wellbeing: connection, contribution, and meaning. Rather than chasing a mood, we practice a rhythm that returns us to what makes life feel alive.Austin's website: AustinHillShaw.comWe start with connection in its many layers: a kinder relationship with ourselves, a deeper bond with loved ones, and a lived sense of belonging to neighborhood and the natural world. You'll hear how our “time traveling” minds pull us into the past and future, and how simple attention—breath, body, and presence—brings us back. From there, we turn to contribution as the desire to matter. We explore how to match your real strengths to real needs, why small acts of service change your day's shape, and how to protect generosity from burnout with clear boundaries and honest pacing.Finally, we unpack meaning in two parts. There's the framework that helps life make sense—your philosophy, spiritual path, or guiding principles—and there are those ineffable moments that words can't hold: birth, grief, awe in nature, music that cracks you open. We talk about inviting awe without forcing it, and about letting meaning guide decisions when the world feels noisy. By the end, you'll have a simple, memorable model you can act on today: connect, contribute, and cultivate meaning. If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs a steadier map, and leave a quick review telling us which pillar you're working on next.Support the showAdd your 5‑star review — this really helps others find us. Free Mindfulness Exercises: MindfulnessExercises.com 200 Guided Meditation Scripts: Scripts.MindfulnessExercises.com Certify To Teach Mindfulness: Certify.MindfulnessExercises.com Work with Sean Fargo: Sean.MindfulnessExercises.com/ Reduce Chronic Pain: Pain.MindfulnessExercises.com Email: Sean@MindfulnessExercises.com

The holidays can be dazzling and demanding at the same time—lights and laughter on the outside, pressure and mixed emotions on the inside. We tackle that paradox head-on with simple, compassionate mindfulness tools you can use in real time to steady your nervous system and protect what matters most.We start with family dynamics, where old patterns and sensitive topics often intensify stress. You'll learn mindful listening that lowers reactivity, silent loving-kindness that shields your heart without excusing harmful behavior, and practical boundaries that let you say no or leave early when you feel drained. We also share a quick “mindful escape” you can use during any gathering to re-center in under a minute.From there, we shift into the money and meaning of the season. Explore mindful giving that starts with intention, mindful receiving that honors care even when the gift misses the mark, and mindful consumption that aligns spending with your values. Before you click buy, try a single breath and two questions: Is this needed, and does it match what matters? Those tiny pauses can prevent debt-fueled stress and restore a sense of peace.To make mindfulness easy and portable, we teach the STOP technique—Stop, Take a breath, Observe, Proceed—as well as a sensory reset that encourages you to smell the pine, taste the first bite, and listen to one song without multitasking. We close by highlighting the most generous offering of the season: your full presence. Put the phone down, make eye contact, and truly listen; that attention becomes a gift that outlasts any box or bow.If this conversation helps you breathe a little easier, follow the show, share it with a friend who might need it, and leave a quick review to help others find these tools. Your presence here means a lot—thank you for listening and for choosing calm in a loud season.Support the showAdd your 5‑star review — this really helps others find us. Free Mindfulness Exercises: MindfulnessExercises.com 200 Guided Meditation Scripts: Scripts.MindfulnessExercises.com Certify To Teach Mindfulness: Certify.MindfulnessExercises.com Work with Sean Fargo: Sean.MindfulnessExercises.com/ Reduce Chronic Pain: Pain.MindfulnessExercises.com Email: Sean@MindfulnessExercises.com

Perfectionism says mindfulness must be done “right.” We flip that script. In this conversation, we share an everyday approach to mindfulness designed for overwhelmed and neurodivergent brains—one that starts with safety, honors choice, and turns presence into something you can actually enjoy.We begin by grounding in self-compassion and a simple reframe: rather than labeling thoughts and feelings as right or wrong, notice whether they feel pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. That shift softens inner criticism and reveals the body-level signatures of judgment—tightness, holding, disconnection—so you can meet them with care. From there, we build a practical toolkit: mindful walking to anchor attention in the feet, mindful standing to steady posture and breath, and short breath check-ins you can use while moving, working, or speaking.Because novelty and play boost engagement, we add choice-based micro-practices: spot five colors, listen for five sounds, or savor a quick tasting of chocolate or different waters, paying attention to texture, aroma, and aftertaste. These pleasant, low-stakes exercises train present-moment awareness without triggering the pressure to “meditate perfectly.” For days that can hold more intensity, we fold in compassionate phrases and gentle touch, always letting you opt out, scale down, or switch anchors.Throughout, we emphasize trauma-sensitive mindfulness: consent, titration, and external anchoring before deep internal focus when needed. We highlight resources from leaders like David Treleaven, Christopher Germer, and Willoughby Britton to help coaches and practitioners stay attuned to safety. By the end, you'll have a flexible menu to reduce overwhelm, loosen perfectionism, and make mindfulness a supportive part of daily life—no incense, cushions, or hour-long sits required.If this resonates, follow the show, share it with someone who could use gentler tools, and leave a review with the micro-practice you'll try this week.Support the showAdd your 5‑star review — this really helps others find us. Free Mindfulness Exercises: MindfulnessExercises.com 200 Guided Meditation Scripts: Scripts.MindfulnessExercises.com Certify To Teach Mindfulness: Certify.MindfulnessExercises.com Work with Sean Fargo: Sean.MindfulnessExercises.com/ Reduce Chronic Pain: Pain.MindfulnessExercises.com Email: Sean@MindfulnessExercises.com

Start at the only place that never lies: the body. We open with a simple grounding—seat, feet, contact with the earth—and follow a thread of curiosity through head, chest, and belly to discover what the moment actually needs. Instead of forcing a schedule or chasing a perfect state, we let the felt sense choose the next step, whether that's steadying with the breath, offering loving-kindness, or naming a few real things to be grateful for.Across the conversation, we get practical about working with planning mind and emotional heaviness by sensing energy rather than wrestling with thoughts. You'll hear how mindfulness of the body becomes the stable spine of practice: listening to sounds, noticing temperature shifts, tracking movement and stillness, and recognizing how pleasant and unpleasant tones color experience. We also explore a quiet but powerful intention—opening to more joy—without denying discomfort or papering over pain. Joy shows up in small, honest ways when we stop bracing and start noticing.We contrast organic practice with rigid routines, acknowledging that some thrive on structure while others need flexibility. The throughline is integrity: begin with direct sensation, meet it without judgment, and let that guide what you do next. If the mind is busy, we gather attention. If the heart is tight, we offer warmth. If the moment is simple, we rest with the breath. By training this responsiveness, practice becomes sustainable and personal, a skillful way to meet change in real time.If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend who could use a gentler approach to mindfulness, and leave a quick review to help others find it. Your notes and stories shape future episodes—tell us where your practice led you today.Support the showAdd your 5‑star review — this really helps others find us. Free Mindfulness Exercises: MindfulnessExercises.com 200 Guided Meditation Scripts: Scripts.MindfulnessExercises.com Certify To Teach Mindfulness: Certify.MindfulnessExercises.com Work with Sean Fargo: Sean.MindfulnessExercises.com/ Reduce Chronic Pain: Pain.MindfulnessExercises.com Email: Sean@MindfulnessExercises.com

Healing isn't a checkbox; it's a way of relating to what hurts. We sit down with Insight Meditation teacher and author Justin Michelson to explore a grounded path through stress, pain, and trauma that begins with self-compassion and widens into nature, lineage, and something larger than ourselves. Justin's website: JustinMichelsonDharma.comJustin's book: The Dharma of HealingFrom his first teen meditation class to hard-won lessons with overwhelming energies, Justin shares how he moved from striving to surrender—trading the warrior stance for a bow that restores safety and connection.We dive into a powerful framework he calls the four turnings of the wheel of healing: surface compassion for daily frictions, depth compassion for buried fear and grief, collective compassion for what family and culture seeded in us, and universal compassion that lets us rest in a benevolent field. Along the way, we unpack his striking metaphor of self-aversion as psychological autoimmunity—how our ancient impulse to pull away from pain turns inward and keeps wounds stuck—and how kind attention unwinds that loop. For listeners far from forests, Justin offers simple, sensory ways to let nature be a teacher: a patch of sun, a street tree, the feel of wind as a reminder that we're held by more than our thoughts.Justin also opens a window into his Native Foods Nursery, where tending edible native plants becomes a living practice of reciprocity and belonging. Teaching, for him, is shared practice—not perfection—where the goal is to help people remember their own inner wisdom and build resilience that can meet a turbulent world. If you've been craving practices that are practical, humane, and spacious enough for real life, this conversation offers a map and the companionship to walk it.If the episode resonates, share it with a friend who could use a gentler path forward, and leave a review so more people can find these practices. Subscribe for future conversations on mindfulness, compassion, and healing.Support the showAdd your 5‑star review — this really helps others find us. Free Mindfulness Exercises: MindfulnessExercises.com Certify To Teach Mindfulness: Certify.MindfulnessExercises.com Work with Sean Fargo: Sean.mindfulnessexercises.com/ Reduce Chronic Pain: Pain.MindfulnessExercises.com Email: Sean@MindfulnessExercises.com

Ever notice how your day turns into one long, uninterrupted scroll? We leave work on a call, weave through traffic still mid-story, and step into the kitchen without ever really arriving. We wanted to break that blur, so we dug into a simple framework: use the day's natural hinge points—dawn, noon, midafternoon, dusk, and night—as scheduled pauses to reset attention and rebuild a sense of home.Together we explore how technology stretches a single narrative across every context and what it does to the nervous system. Then we offer small, repeatable rituals that mark thresholds with care: end the call before you park, pause at the door with one conscious breath, remove your shoes as a deliberate handoff from “out there” to “in here,” and place your keys down with attention. We talk about how these gestures turn rooms into relationships and why nothing is inherently sacred until we treat it that way. That shift—treating space as worthy of care—changes how your home holds you, softens reactivity, and lets the next hour unfold with less friction.We also lean into gratitude as the quiet engine of a grounded day. Not performative positivity, but a steady appreciation for heat and chill, ease and challenge, the small textures that prove we are alive and participating. By pairing gratitude with time anchors, you create clear chapter breaks that help the body settle and the mind reset. Start with one anchor—two minutes at dusk or a doorway pause—and notice how meals taste richer, conversations feel cleaner, and sleep lands sooner.If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend who lives on their phone, and leave a quick review telling us which daily anchor you're claiming next.Support the showAdd your 5‑star review — this really helps others find us. Free Mindfulness Exercises: MindfulnessExercises.com Certify To Teach Mindfulness: Certify.MindfulnessExercises.com Work with Sean Fargo: Sean.mindfulnessexercises.com/ Reduce Chronic Pain: Pain.MindfulnessExercises.com Email: Sean@MindfulnessExercises.com

You can feel when a class lands: the room gets quiet, the body softens, and attention holds steady even as movement continues. That shift is not magic; it's method. We sat down with senior teacher and writer Sara-Mai Conway to unpack a practical, human way to make yoga and meditation one continuous experience rather than two separate boxes on a schedule.Sara-Mai's website: https://www.iwriteaboutwellness.com/We start by redefining yoga as skillful energy movement using both outer and inner methods. Ethics calm mental noise, asana prepares the body for stillness, pranayama bridges body and mind, and focused attention matures into insight and, at times, a taste of samadhi. From there, we build a class like a guided sit: set a clear intention, select poses that serve it, and let every cue point back to the thread. Breath-focused flows become fluid and repetitive to highlight inhale and exhale. Gratitude takes shape in bows and forward folds. Grounding becomes literal through contact with the earth. Working with non-harming or self-compassion invites challenge while naming the inner talk that shows up.Silence becomes a teacher rather than an absence. We share how to frame quiet as safe and time-bound, when to place formal meditation inside a flow, and how to ask simple, embodied questions that turn effort into awareness. Savasana shifts from background music to true stillness, and closing with a brief dedication helps wire benefits into daily life. Along the way, we talk about teaching with authenticity, trusting students with depth, and avoiding the “spiritual sandwich” where mindfulness appears only at the beginning and end.If you've ever wondered how to keep presence alive between the opening sit and the final rest, this conversation offers a clear structure, real-world cues, and permission to do less so students can feel more. Subscribe, share with a fellow teacher, and leave a review telling us the intention you're bringing to your next class.Support the showAdd your 5‑star review — this really helps others find us. Free Mindfulness Exercises: MindfulnessExercises.com Certify To Teach Mindfulness: Certify.MindfulnessExercises.com Work with Sean Fargo: Sean.mindfulnessexercises.com/ Reduce Chronic Pain: Pain.MindfulnessExercises.com Email: Sean@MindfulnessExercises.com

We turn a slow line into a short mindfulness practice that eases tension and reshapes impatience into patience and kindness. We ground in breath, relax the body, and extend compassion to strangers and staff who share the same wish to be happy.• naming impatience as normal and common• breath work with nose inhales and mouth exhales• scanning and softening jaw, shoulders and belly• grounding through feet, posture and relaxed face• wishing yourself ease, patience and kindness• sensing others' shared purpose and humanity• extending compassion to staff doing their bestSupport the showAdd your 5‑star review — this really helps others find us. Free Mindfulness Exercises: MindfulnessExercises.com Certify To Teach Mindfulness: Certify.MindfulnessExercises.com Work with Sean Fargo: Sean.mindfulnessexercises.com/ Reduce Chronic Pain: Pain.MindfulnessExercises.com Email: Sean@MindfulnessExercises.com

When does being “nice” start hurting your health? We explore the surprising science that links suppressed emotions—especially healthy anger and buried grief—to immune function, inflammation, and long-term disease risk. Drawing on affective neuroscience, we break down the core mammalian systems wired for rage, fear, panic and grief, care, seeking, and play, and explain why these circuits exist to protect boundaries and connection, not to create chaos.Gabor Maté's website: https://drgabormate.com/I share how anger operates as a boundary-setting signal that says something vital: this is not okay. When that signal gets muted to keep relationships intact, the immune system can mirror the shutdown. You'll hear clear, practical language for telling the difference between healthy and unhealthy anger, plus simple steps to honor your limits without escalating conflict—naming the feeling, identifying the crossed boundary, and choosing proportionate action. We also unpack how childhood survival strategies, like staying quiet to preserve attachment, can turn into adult patterns of chronic niceness, migraines, flares, and burnout.We look at striking research: longer survival among people with ALS who expressed anger, and a large study of women showing higher mortality when marital unhappiness stayed unspoken. The takeaway is not to explode; it's to listen to the body's early alarms and speak plain truths before stress hardens into illness. If you've ever wondered why “the good die young,” this conversation reframes goodness as self-respect, not self-erasure.If this resonated, follow the show, share it with someone who needs better boundaries, and leave a quick review so more listeners can find these tools. Your story matters—what boundary will you protect today?Welcome to the Mindfulness Exercises Podcast. If you find these episodes valuable, I'd be grateful if you left a 5-star review. As a thank-you, I'll send you free access to The Complete Mindfulness Toolkit — everything you need to deepen mindfulness and make a greater impact. Just leave the review and let me know, and I'll send it your way. Thank you for helping us share mindfulness with others.Support the showPlease follow and leave a 5‑star review — this really helps others find us. For free mindfulness exercises, guided meditation scripts, and step-by-step mindfulness teacher trainings, visit: MindfulnessExercises.com Certify To Teach Mindfulness & Meditation ⁠⁠⁠⁠MindfulnessExercises.com/certify⁠⁠⁠⁠ Certify At Your Own Pace Deepen Your Own Mindful Presence Help Others With Integrity & Authenticity Receive International Accreditation Boost Your Career Work with Sean Fargo https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanfargo/ Sean@MindfulnessExercises.com

We map a three-stage approach to using mindfulness for PTSD: immediate self-soothing, reconnecting with emotions, and long-term integration. A short guided practice shows how breath, grounding, and softening cues can create ease while we set clear safety guardrails.• framing mindfulness for PTSD and its stages• self-soothing practices for the immediate aftermath• reconnecting with emotions with courage and choice• integrating trauma healing over the long term• simple guided breathing and body softening• safety boundaries, when to pause, and support options• rebuilding confidence, self-esteem, and relationshipsIf you experience a psychiatric emergency, please call your doctor and call 911 to get some supportSupport the showPlease follow and leave a 5‑star review — this really helps others find us. For free mindfulness exercises, guided meditation scripts, and step-by-step mindfulness teacher trainings, visit: MindfulnessExercises.com Certify To Teach Mindfulness & Meditation ⁠⁠⁠⁠MindfulnessExercises.com/certify⁠⁠⁠⁠ Certify At Your Own Pace Deepen Your Own Mindful Presence Help Others With Integrity & Authenticity Receive International Accreditation Boost Your Career Work with Sean Fargo https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanfargo/ Sean@MindfulnessExercises.com

Clarity gets practical when you treat attention like a craft. We open the pages of Joseph Goldstein's The Experience of Insight and translate retreat-honed wisdom into tools you can actually use: breath you don't control, movement you feel from the inside, and the quiet power of seeing intention before action. No mystique, no shortcuts—just a clean method for meeting each moment without the usual tug of wanting and resisting.Joseph's book: https://a.co/d/bsVOXoUWe start with the mental frame that steadies practice: the three refuges as psychological anchors and ethical precepts as the simplest way to clear noise from the mind. From there we build the engine of bare attention—observation without judgment, comparison, or prediction—using two precise breath anchors (abdomen or nostrils), then carry mindfulness into walking and eating. Catching the urge before the move creates a tiny but decisive gap, where choice appears and the story of “me” loosens. Along the way we lean on the Noble Eightfold Path, balancing right effort like a guitar string, and unpack how impermanence reframes identity from a solid self into a flowing process.We also face the classic obstacles head on. The five hindrances—sense desire, aversion, sloth and torpor, restlessness and worry, doubt—arrive for everyone. The antidote is immediate mindfulness: notice the visitor, feel its texture, and refrain from feeding it. We explore ultimate realities—material qualities, consciousness, mental factors, and the unconditioned—and examine how concepts like time and ownership can be useful yet blinding. Finally, we talk integration: daily sitting that actually happens, a silent meal to restore sensitivity, returning to the breath in stress, and remembering death as an advisor that sharpens meaning. The monkey trap offers a closing image: the fist that won't let go keeps us stuck; the open hand walks free.If this lands, subscribe, share with a friend who loves clear practice, and leave a short review telling us where you first notice intention—breath, step, or spoon?Support the showPlease follow and leave a 5‑star review — this really helps others find us. For free mindfulness exercises, guided meditation scripts, and step-by-step mindfulness teacher trainings, visit: MindfulnessExercises.com Certify To Teach Mindfulness & Meditation ⁠⁠⁠⁠MindfulnessExercises.com/certify⁠⁠⁠⁠ Certify At Your Own Pace Deepen Your Own Mindful Presence Help Others With Integrity & Authenticity Receive International Accreditation Boost Your Career Work with Sean Fargo https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanfargo/ Sean@MindfulnessExercises.com

A stressful morning, a deep tissue reset, and a simple lesson that changes how we teach: relevance beats routine. Sean shares how tuning into the body can open the door to smarter, kinder mindfulness instruction, especially when life is messy and attention is thin. We walk through a practical approach to choosing what to teach by asking short, respectful questions, listening for needs, and then adapting practices so they fit real people and real constraints.You'll hear why a trauma‑informed stance matters, how to phrase cues that feel human rather than clinical, and where short, concrete practices outperform long, abstract scripts. We unpack ways to tailor mindfulness for healthcare workers, corporate teams, caregivers, and teens, adjusting length, tone, and focus so the work actually helps. Along the way, Sean introduces a plug‑and‑teach curriculum: 900 minutes of modular lessons with hundreds of slides, teacher deep dives for nuance, guidebooks to scaffold delivery, and student handbooks to support learning beyond the session. It's flexible by design, so you can brand it, adapt it, and bring it to groups without starting from scratch.If you're a new or seasoned teacher who's ever wondered, “What should I teach this group, right now?” this conversation offers a clear path: assess, adapt, and keep it practical. Expect tangible prompts, language tweaks, and ideas you can use today to create safer, more relevant experiences. If this resonates, subscribe, share with a colleague, and leave a quick review so more teachers can find these tools—and tell us: which audience are you tailoring for next?Support the showCoupon code and the link are down below, but that will expire shortlyFeel free to text me at 415-939-1126 Certify To Teach Mindfulness & Meditation Since 2015, we've trained over 2,000 people to teach mindfulness in healthcare, business, education, yoga, sports teams, and the U.S. Government. ⁠⁠⁠⁠MindfulnessExercises.com/certify⁠⁠⁠⁠ Certify At Your Own Pace: Just complete 40 hours of self-paced meditation + online workbook completion with lifetime access to personalized support. Deepen Your Own Mindful Presence: Whatever your starting place is, we will help you deepen your own embodied, experiential understanding. Teach With Integrity & Authenticity: We help you find your unique voice to make mindfulness relevant and practical for your own students or clients. Receive International Accreditation: Trusted by Fortune 500 companies, international healthcare centers, coaching schools, and the U.S. Government. Boost Your Career: Use our templates to quickly form your own paid mindfulness courses, workshops, keynotes or coaching packages. 20% BLACK FRIDAY COUPON CODE: PODCAST

Sean Fargo guides a grounded mindfulness meditation and explores how gentle awareness helps us return from rumination, meet difficult emotions, and carry presence into daily life. If your mind keeps sprinting ahead or replaying the past, this conversation offers a practical way home. We open with a gentle guided practice to help you feel the room, find your seat, and meet your breath without force, then expand into a clear map of how mindfulness works—and how it differs from concentration and visualization. The aim isn't to chase calm; it's to contact what's true right now with honesty, softness, and a touch of courage.We break down the core moves that make mindfulness usable in daily life: noticing when you've slipped into rumination, shifting attention to physical anchors like feet, hands, and breath, and using simple self-soothing gestures to remind the nervous system that it's safe to settle. You'll hear why numbing with food, alcohol, or screens feels tempting and how it quietly shrinks awareness. Instead, we practice naming unpleasantness without judgment and letting acceptance open the door to movement, choice, and care. Along the way, we talk posture, micro-movements, and the subtle cues that reveal where you're bracing and where you can soften.Join us, practice with us, and if this resonated, subscribe, share it with a friend who could use a mindful reset, and leave a quick review so more people can find the show. What small anchor will you use to return to the present today?• intention to support presence, healing, and growth• brief guided body and breath practice• sensing the room, contact, and posture• differentiating mindfulness, concentration, visualization• returning from rumination to sensory anchors• self-soothing through touch and breath• meeting depression, fear, and sadness with acceptance• avoiding numbing and overconsumption• carrying mindfulness into daily activities• resilience and acceptance as forms of loveSupport the showCoupon code and the link are down below, but that will expire shortlyFeel free to text me at 415-939-1126 Certify To Teach Mindfulness & Meditation Since 2015, we've trained over 2,000 people to teach mindfulness in healthcare, business, education, yoga, sports teams, and the U.S. Government. ⁠⁠⁠⁠MindfulnessExercises.com/certify⁠⁠⁠⁠ Certify At Your Own Pace: Just complete 40 hours of self-paced meditation + online workbook completion with lifetime access to personalized support. Deepen Your Own Mindful Presence: Whatever your starting place is, we will help you deepen your own embodied, experiential understanding. Teach With Integrity & Authenticity: We help you find your unique voice to make mindfulness relevant and practical for your own students or clients. Receive International Accreditation: Trusted by Fortune 500 companies, international healthcare centers, coaching schools, and the U.S. Government. Boost Your Career: Use our templates to quickly form your own paid mindfulness courses, workshops, keynotes or coaching packages. 20% BLACK FRIDAY COUPON CODE: PODCAST

We break happiness into three sturdy pillars—connection, contribution, and meaning—and explore how each one shows up in daily life. Along the way, we unpack mental “time travel,” awe, and the small acts that make joy more likely.Austin Hill Shaw's website: https://austinhillshaw.com/• defining happiness through human needs• the many forms of connection including self, people, and nature• distraction, memory, and future thinking as barriers to presence• contribution as usefulness matched to talent and values• meaning as both a guiding framework and ineffable experience• awe, grief, and beauty as forces that reshape our maps• a simple weekly check to spot gaps across the three needsSupport the showCoupon code and the link are down below, but that will expire shortlyFeel free to text me at 415-939-1126 Certify To Teach Mindfulness & Meditation Since 2015, we've trained over 2,000 people to teach mindfulness in healthcare, business, education, yoga, sports teams, and the U.S. Government. ⁠⁠⁠⁠MindfulnessExercises.com/certify⁠⁠⁠⁠ Certify At Your Own Pace: Just complete 40 hours of self-paced meditation + online workbook completion with lifetime access to personalized support. Deepen Your Own Mindful Presence: Whatever your starting place is, we will help you deepen your own embodied, experiential understanding. Teach With Integrity & Authenticity: We help you find your unique voice to make mindfulness relevant and practical for your own students or clients. Receive International Accreditation: Trusted by Fortune 500 companies, international healthcare centers, coaching schools, and the U.S. Government. Boost Your Career: Use our templates to quickly form your own paid mindfulness courses, workshops, keynotes or coaching packages. 20% BLACK FRIDAY COUPON CODE: PODCAST

Ever feel like life is a full catastrophe—email pings, family needs, calendar jams—and your attention never gets to land? We slow everything down with a clear, zero-fluff mindfulness practice you can use anywhere: arrive in your body, breathe, and know it. No special gear, no perfect posture; just a reliable way to reset the nervous system and sharpen presence when it matters most.George Mumford's website: GeorgeMumford.comWe start with the simple ethos of teaching and practicing whether one person shows up or a hundred, then move into a guided arrival that anchors awareness in contact, posture, and breath. You'll hear how we apply the Satipatthana lens—be aware of the body to the extent that there is a body—to dissolve the pressure to achieve a mystical state and instead build continuity of mindfulness in real time. When distractions and images pull focus, we use gentle labels and a steady return to sensation, turning wandering into a training loop rather than a failure.From there, we explore resting as alert relaxation: not limp, not rigid, but a stable, kind attention that lets sounds and thoughts arise and fade. You'll learn practical cues for daily life—opening the sternum for easeful breathing, feeling contact points, and shifting posture mindfully—so practice fits into meetings, commutes, and caregiving gaps. The result is more choice before reaction and a calmer baseline without adding pressure to your day.If this landed for you, subscribe, share the episode with someone who needs a reset, and leave a short review telling us what sensation anchored you best. Your feedback helps more people find a simple way to arrive.Support the showCoupon code and the link are down below, but that will expire shortlyFeel free to text me at 415-939-1126 Certify To Teach Mindfulness & Meditation Since 2015, we've trained over 2,000 people to teach mindfulness in healthcare, business, education, yoga, sports teams, and the U.S. Government. ⁠⁠⁠⁠MindfulnessExercises.com/certify⁠⁠⁠⁠ Certify At Your Own Pace: Just complete 40 hours of self-paced meditation + online workbook completion with lifetime access to personalized support. Deepen Your Own Mindful Presence: Whatever your starting place is, we will help you deepen your own embodied, experiential understanding. Teach With Integrity & Authenticity: We help you find your unique voice to make mindfulness relevant and practical for your own students or clients. Receive International Accreditation: Trusted by Fortune 500 companies, international healthcare centers, coaching schools, and the U.S. Government. Boost Your Career: Use our templates to quickly form your own paid mindfulness courses, workshops, keynotes or coaching packages. 20% BLACK FRIDAY COUPON CODE: PODCAST

A single breath can reset your whole day. We explore how to build steady attention by feeling one complete cycle of breathing—inhale, pause, exhale, pause—while softening the shoulders, easing the jaw, and letting judgment fall away. The practice is short, portable, and honest: no special gear, no perfect posture, just a relaxed yet alert stance and a willingness to notice what's already happening in your body.We start by setting up a supportive posture and tuning into contact points—feet on the floor, seat on the chair, hand on the belly—to make awareness tactile rather than abstract. From there, we shift into mindful breathing, tracking the visceral sensations that mark each phase of the breath. Instead of forcing a pace, we invite natural rhythm and curiosity, treating distractions and judgments as passing events. This small act of returning to the breath strengthens focus, regulates the nervous system, and builds emotional clarity without turning mindfulness into another performance.Practicality takes center stage. You can bring this one-cycle practice into real life: on a commute, while cooking dinner, waiting in line, or winding down for sleep. As you repeat it, continuity of attention grows, stress spikes resolve more quickly, and everyday decisions feel simpler because you're grounded in the present moment. We close by pointing to future tools that will layer onto this foundation—ways to broaden attention through the senses and make mindful awareness even more resilient throughout the week.Want more practices like this? Follow the show, share this episode with a friend who could use a reset, and leave a quick review so others can find these simple, effective tools. Your breath is always with you—let it bring you back.Support the showCoupon code and the link are down below, but that will expire shortlyFeel free to text me at 415-939-1126 Certify To Teach Mindfulness & Meditation Since 2015, we've trained over 2,000 people to teach mindfulness in healthcare, business, education, yoga, sports teams, and the U.S. Government. ⁠⁠⁠⁠MindfulnessExercises.com/certify⁠⁠⁠⁠ Certify At Your Own Pace: Just complete 40 hours of self-paced meditation + online workbook completion with lifetime access to personalized support. Deepen Your Own Mindful Presence: Whatever your starting place is, we will help you deepen your own embodied, experiential understanding. Teach With Integrity & Authenticity: We help you find your unique voice to make mindfulness relevant and practical for your own students or clients. Receive International Accreditation: Trusted by Fortune 500 companies, international healthcare centers, coaching schools, and the U.S. Government. Boost Your Career: Use our templates to quickly form your own paid mindfulness courses, workshops, keynotes or coaching packages. 20% BLACK FRIDAY COUPON CODE: PODCAST

What if narrowing your attention could make your daily life feel wider, calmer, and more vivid? We dive into the practical craft of concentration and show how a single, steady focus becomes the quiet engine behind reliable mindfulness. Rather than forcing the mind, we build a friendly runway—gladdening the mind with gratitude and warmth—so attention settles without strain and the nervous system knows it is safe to rest.We walk through concrete anchors that meet different temperaments: counting exhales in simple cycles, sensing breath at the belly or nostrils, receiving whatever sound arrives, or repeating short phrases of loving kindness. You'll hear why long stretches of silence matter during counting, how to restart at one without self-judgment, and what “relaxed steadiness” feels like when you're doing it right. Along the way, we unpack clear metaphors: the adjustable flashlight that moves from wide-open awareness to a narrow beam, the body scan as a midpoint on the spectrum, and breath mindfulness as a flexible practice that can widen for strong emotions before returning to the anchor.By the end, you'll understand when to choose pure concentration, when to lean into broader mindfulness, and how both interlock to create durable presence. Expect grounded tips on posture, effort, and self-talk, plus a compassionate take on distraction that turns each lapse into a cue to return. If you've struggled to keep attention from slipping, this conversation offers a simple blueprint you can use today to stabilize focus and carry that clarity into work, relationships, and rest.If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend who's building a practice, and leave a quick review—tell us which anchor worked best for you and why.Support the showCoupon code and the link are down below, but that will expire shortlyFeel free to text me at 415-939-1126 Certify To Teach Mindfulness & Meditation Since 2015, we've trained over 2,000 people to teach mindfulness in healthcare, business, education, yoga, sports teams, and the U.S. Government. ⁠⁠⁠⁠MindfulnessExercises.com/certify⁠⁠⁠⁠ Certify At Your Own Pace: Just complete 40 hours of self-paced meditation + online workbook completion with lifetime access to personalized support. Deepen Your Own Mindful Presence: Whatever your starting place is, we will help you deepen your own embodied, experiential understanding. Teach With Integrity & Authenticity: We help you find your unique voice to make mindfulness relevant and practical for your own students or clients. Receive International Accreditation: Trusted by Fortune 500 companies, international healthcare centers, coaching schools, and the U.S. Government. Boost Your Career: Use our templates to quickly form your own paid mindfulness courses, workshops, keynotes or coaching packages. 20% BLACK FRIDAY COUPON CODE: PODCAST

A quiet room, a slower week, and a simple question that matters: what truly makes someone ready to teach mindfulness? While recovering from COVID, I took time to reflect on the difference between healthy hesitation and unhelpful overconfidence—and why the best teachers often start from humility rather than hype.We walk through a practical rule of thumb shared by senior mindfulness teachers: when invited to teach, thoughtful caution can signal integrity, while quick certainty can reveal a mismatch in motivation. I dig into what that looks like in real life—respect for lineage and evidence-based methods, eagerness to keep learning, and the willingness to prioritize student welfare over personal status. We explore how ego can slip into the role through grand promises or a rush to scale, and how that energy often reduces connection, sensitivity, and care.From there, we center the motivation that sustains good teaching: compassion. If the driving force is to help people navigate stress, anxiety, and pain with presence and kindness, the teacher's stance becomes service rather than performance. That intention shapes everything—language, pacing, trauma-informed choices, and the quiet discipline of ongoing practice. I share simple readiness checks you can use before stepping onto the path: Are you open to mentorship? Are you patient with your development? Do you feel tenderness for the teachings themselves and for those you hope to serve?If you feel called to teach, let your caution be a doorway, not a barrier. Let compassion lead and let the integrity of the teachings guide your next steps. Listen now, share with a friend who's considering teacher training, and leave a review to tell me what keeps your motivation clear.Support the showCoupon code and the link are down below, but that will expire shortlyFeel free to text me at 415-939-1126 Certify To Teach Mindfulness & Meditation Since 2015, we've trained over 2,000 people to teach mindfulness in healthcare, business, education, yoga, sports teams, and the U.S. Government. ⁠⁠⁠⁠MindfulnessExercises.com/certify⁠⁠⁠⁠ Certify At Your Own Pace: Just complete 40 hours of self-paced meditation + online workbook completion with lifetime access to personalized support. Deepen Your Own Mindful Presence: Whatever your starting place is, we will help you deepen your own embodied, experiential understanding. Teach With Integrity & Authenticity: We help you find your unique voice to make mindfulness relevant and practical for your own students or clients. Receive International Accreditation: Trusted by Fortune 500 companies, international healthcare centers, coaching schools, and the U.S. Government. Boost Your Career: Use our templates to quickly form your own paid mindfulness courses, workshops, keynotes or coaching packages. 20% BLACK FRIDAY COUPON CODE: PODCAST

Pressure doesn't have to crush you; it can refine you. George Mumford—renowned mindfulness teacher to championship teams and communities far from the spotlight—joins us for a deeply practical journey through presence, performance, and the courage to be yourself. We open with a simple “arriving” practice that resets the nervous system, then build on the five superpowers that underpin lasting change: right effort, concentration, insight, trust, and mindfulness. George is clear-eyed about motivation—you can't force anyone to want it—and generous with strategies for planting seeds so readiness can take root.We push into the mechanics of flow without the hype. Flow isn't hunted; it's prepared for. George unpacks challenge–skill balance, why 4 percent beyond comfort is a sweet spot for growth, and how the cycle of struggle, release, flow, and rest creates a new normal. He shares stories from prisons and pro locker rooms where a single sound becomes a mindfulness bell and reactivity loosens. Emotions aren't obstacles but information; using awareness, acceptance, compassionate action, and assessment, we learn to channel energy without identification. The result is strong self-efficacy—confidence built from mastering difficulty—that makes persistence possible when feedback is thin.For teachers and leaders, George offers a map for finding your voice: emulate early, then listen for the path of heart and let daily life be your retreat. Create pockets of stillness, read widely, lean on suitable conversation, and keep integrity front and center—right view, right intention, right speech, right action. Do good, avoid harm, purify the heart-mind. Simple, not easy, but repeatable. If you're ready to trade “chilling” for willing, to stretch by 4 percent and let practice ripple into work, family, and team, this one will stay with you.If this conversation sparked something, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review to help others find the show. Want to go deeper with George? Explore the Mindful Athlete Course and join the next Q&A.Support the showCoupon code and the link are down below, but that will expire shortlyFeel free to text me at 415-939-1126 Certify To Teach Mindfulness & Meditation Since 2015, we've trained over 2,000 people to teach mindfulness in healthcare, business, education, yoga, sports teams, and the U.S. Government. ⁠⁠⁠⁠MindfulnessExercises.com/certify⁠⁠⁠⁠ Certify At Your Own Pace: Just complete 40 hours of self-paced meditation + online workbook completion with lifetime access to personalized support. Deepen Your Own Mindful Presence: Whatever your starting place is, we will help you deepen your own embodied, experiential understanding. Teach With Integrity & Authenticity: We help you find your unique voice to make mindfulness relevant and practical for your own students or clients. Receive International Accreditation: Trusted by Fortune 500 companies, international healthcare centers, coaching schools, and the U.S. Government. Boost Your Career: Use our templates to quickly form your own paid mindfulness courses, workshops, keynotes or coaching packages. 20% BLACK FRIDAY COUPON CODE: PODCAST

We share simple, grounded ways to feel anger, sadness, depression, and fear without judgment, then channel that energy into healing and meaningful action. We also invite you to a live online retreat with practices, Q&A, and resources to support resilience.• naming natural emotions after a public tragedy• why feeling is essential for healing• mindful steps for anger, sadness, depression, fear• opening within your window of tolerance• resources from Sharon Salzberg, Gabor Maté, Rick Hanson• live retreat schedule, format, and accessibility• discounts, bonuses, and certificates of completion• texting for personal guidance and links to trainingsCoupon code and the link are down below, but that will expire shortlyFeel free to text me at 415-949-1126Support the showCertify To Teach Mindfulness & Meditation Since 2015, we've trained over 2,000 people to teach mindfulness in healthcare, business, education, yoga, sports teams, and the U.S. Government. ⁠⁠⁠⁠MindfulnessExercises.com/certify⁠⁠⁠⁠ Certify At Your Own Pace: Just complete 40 hours of self-paced meditation + online workbook completion with lifetime access to personalized support. Deepen Your Own Mindful Presence: Whatever your starting place is, we will help you deepen your own embodied, experiential understanding. Teach With Integrity & Authenticity: We help you find your unique voice to make mindfulness relevant and practical for your own students or clients. Receive International Accreditation: Trusted by Fortune 500 companies, international healthcare centers, coaching schools, and the U.S. Government. Boost Your Career: Use our templates to quickly form your own paid mindfulness courses, workshops, keynotes or coaching packages. ⁠⁠⁠⁠MindfulnessExercises.com/certify⁠⁠⁠⁠

Your mind drifts the moment you sit to breathe, and that's not a problem to fix—it's the raw material of practice. We unpack why a healthy brain loves to roam, how the default mode network fuels both distraction and creativity, and why chasing an empty mind sets you up for frustration. Instead of fighting thoughts, we show you how to work with them using a simple cycle: notice, note, and return.We walk through grounded metaphors that make mindfulness feel tangible: watching thoughts float past like leaves on a river, resting as the open sky while weather moves through, and standing on the platform as trains arrive and depart. These images help loosen the pull of story so you can see thoughts as passing events rather than orders you must obey. From there, we hone practical skills—finding a vivid breath anchor, starting with five consistent minutes, and sitting with an upright, relaxed posture that supports calm alertness.The heart of the message is kindness. Self‑criticism after a lapse is just another distraction; gentleness shortens the time it takes to return. Every return to the breath is a repetition that strengthens awareness, and the moment you realize you've wandered is the moment you succeed. Over time, this builds a quieter nervous system, less reactivity, and a clearer choice point in daily life. If you're ready to stop wrestling with your mind and start training it with patience, this conversation offers tools you can use today.If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a friend who's struggling to “quiet the mind,” and leave a quick review to help others find these practices. Your words make a real difference.Support the showCertify To Teach Mindfulness & Meditation Since 2015, we've trained over 2,000 people to teach mindfulness in healthcare, business, education, yoga, sports teams, and the U.S. Government. ⁠⁠⁠⁠MindfulnessExercises.com/certify⁠⁠⁠⁠ Certify At Your Own Pace: Just complete 40 hours of self-paced meditation + online workbook completion with lifetime access to personalized support. Deepen Your Own Mindful Presence: Whatever your starting place is, we will help you deepen your own embodied, experiential understanding. Teach With Integrity & Authenticity: We help you find your unique voice to make mindfulness relevant and practical for your own students or clients. Receive International Accreditation: Trusted by Fortune 500 companies, international healthcare centers, coaching schools, and the U.S. Government. Boost Your Career: Use our templates to quickly form your own paid mindfulness courses, workshops, keynotes or coaching packages. ⁠⁠⁠⁠MindfulnessExercises.com/certify⁠⁠⁠⁠

Anne Cushman explores how mindfulness and creativity feed each other through guided practices, research insights, and lived stories. We trade perfection for presence, play with color and movement, and learn to follow the thread of aliveness into honest work.• opening space through breath and softening• honoring life as inherently creative• reconciling the teacher and the artist selves• lessons from Spirit Rock creativity retreats• research on focus, divergence and resilience• embodiment as the foundation for art• quick sensory writing to prime awareness• emotions as fuel and material for making• movement meditation to trust inner impulse• lowering standards to escape perfectionism• visiting scary edges with care and consent• mandala drawing practice within a circle• “I am” free writing to outrun the critic• process over product as a creative ethicFind her at AnneCushman.com. She oftens lead half day and day longs online, which combine meditation and creative writing and movementSupport the showCertify To Teach Mindfulness & Meditation Since 2015, we've trained over 2,000 people to teach mindfulness in healthcare, business, education, yoga, sports teams, and the U.S. Government. ⁠⁠⁠⁠MindfulnessExercises.com/certify⁠⁠⁠⁠ Certify At Your Own Pace: Just complete 40 hours of self-paced meditation + online workbook completion with lifetime access to personalized support. Deepen Your Own Mindful Presence: Whatever your starting place is, we will help you deepen your own embodied, experiential understanding. Teach With Integrity & Authenticity: We help you find your unique voice to make mindfulness relevant and practical for your own students or clients. Receive International Accreditation: Trusted by Fortune 500 companies, international healthcare centers, coaching schools, and the U.S. Government. Boost Your Career: Use our templates to quickly form your own paid mindfulness courses, workshops, keynotes or coaching packages. ⁠⁠⁠⁠MindfulnessExercises.com/certify⁠⁠⁠⁠

We explore a nuanced look at mindfulness: its benefits, the ethics behind how it is taught, and the critiques around commercialization and depoliticisation. William Edelglass helps us test the line between personal practice and social change with clear questions, research, and examples.• Angela Davis's question about mindfulness and injustice• critiques of commodification and the mindfulness industrial complex• instrumental use versus ethically grounded practice• popularity of apps, corporate programs, and military adoption• research on well-being, emotion regulation, and limits• risks of individualising distress without systemic change• reconnecting practice to Buddhist ethics and social responsibility• trauma-informed design, consent, and community support• practical ways to teach with integrity and context• invitation to share perspectives and join deeper studyJoin our mindfulness teacher certification program at mindfulnessercises.com/certify to deepen your practice and discover your authentic voiceGive a five star review or share this with friends so that we can help othersSupport the showCertify To Teach Mindfulness & Meditation Since 2015, we've trained over 2,000 people to teach mindfulness in healthcare, business, education, yoga, sports teams, and the U.S. Government. ⁠⁠⁠⁠MindfulnessExercises.com/certify⁠⁠⁠⁠ Certify At Your Own Pace: Just complete 40 hours of self-paced meditation + online workbook completion with lifetime access to personalized support. Deepen Your Own Mindful Presence: Whatever your starting place is, we will help you deepen your own embodied, experiential understanding. Teach With Integrity & Authenticity: We help you find your unique voice to make mindfulness relevant and practical for your own students or clients. Receive International Accreditation: Trusted by Fortune 500 companies, international healthcare centers, coaching schools, and the U.S. Government. Boost Your Career: Use our templates to quickly form your own paid mindfulness courses, workshops, keynotes or coaching packages. ⁠⁠⁠⁠MindfulnessExercises.com/certify⁠⁠⁠⁠

The ground keeps moving, but our old habits try to pretend nothing has changed. In this mini episode, James Baraz talks honestly about what this moment is saying to us: we're not separate, our choices echo, and we can learn to respond with more care than fear. James Baraz's website: https://www.awakeningjoy.info/Starting with a simple practice—paying attention—we trace how mindfulness exposes the threads that bind our lives together, from family routines to global supply chains. When you feel those threads, John Muir's idea that everything is hitched to everything else stops being a quote and becomes a compass.From there we explore a handful of principles that travel well across crises and calm alike. Actions have consequences—call it karma or cause and effect—and that truth invites more deliberate choices at work, at home, and in public life. Integrity is not a moral badge; it's the felt ease of living one story instead of juggling two. Stewardship shows up as everyday compassion, the kind that checks in on neighbors, protects shared resources, and invests in long horizons. And change, while hard, becomes probable when intention outweighs inertia. James talks about that tipping point and how a clear why turns into practical habits that actually stick.These stories help us see our agency: the power to align values with action and to widen our circle of concern without burning out. Mindfulness ties it all together as a gateway to clarity — creating just enough pause to interrupt reactivity, meet complexity, and choose the next right step.If this conversation resonates, share it with someone who's ready to lead with care. Subscribe for more grounded, practical insights, and leave a review to tell us which principle you're practicing this week.Support the showCertify To Teach Mindfulness & Meditation Since 2015, we've trained over 2,000 people to teach mindfulness in healthcare, business, education, yoga, sports teams, and the U.S. Government. ⁠⁠⁠⁠MindfulnessExercises.com/certify⁠⁠⁠⁠ Certify At Your Own Pace: Just complete 40 hours of self-paced meditation + online workbook completion with lifetime access to personalized support. Deepen Your Own Mindful Presence: Whatever your starting place is, we will help you deepen your own embodied, experiential understanding. Teach With Integrity & Authenticity: We help you find your unique voice to make mindfulness relevant and practical for your own students or clients. Receive International Accreditation: Trusted by Fortune 500 companies, international healthcare centers, coaching schools, and the U.S. Government. Boost Your Career: Use our templates to quickly form your own paid mindfulness courses, workshops, keynotes or coaching packages. ⁠⁠⁠⁠MindfulnessExercises.com/certify⁠⁠⁠⁠

We explore mindful self-discipline as a blueprint for freedom, not a joyless grind. Through aspiration, awareness, and action, we show how to beat engineered distraction, strengthen willpower, and make steady progress without shame.https://mindfulnessexercises.com/podcast• self-discipline linked to higher happiness and smoother daily life• attention economy pressures and engineered distraction• definitions of self-discipline, willpower, habits, motivation• decision fatigue evidence and belief effects on willpower• three pillars framework aspiration, awareness, action• want-to goals versus have-to goals• PAW method pause, awareness, willpower• neutrality over shame to sustain energy• never zero commitment to protect identity and streaks• reframing choices to align with long-term values• building empathy with your future self• the real reward is who you becomeStart somewhere. Define one want-to goal, try one PAW pause, or commit to never zero today.Support the showCertify To Teach Mindfulness & Meditation Since 2015, we've trained over 2,000 people to teach mindfulness in healthcare, business, education, yoga, sports teams, and the U.S. Government. ⁠⁠⁠⁠MindfulnessExercises.com/certify⁠⁠⁠⁠ Certify At Your Own Pace: Just complete 40 hours of self-paced meditation + online workbook completion with lifetime access to personalized support. Deepen Your Own Mindful Presence: Whatever your starting place is, we will help you deepen your own embodied, experiential understanding. Teach With Integrity & Authenticity: We help you find your unique voice to make mindfulness relevant and practical for your own students or clients. Receive International Accreditation: Trusted by Fortune 500 companies, international healthcare centers, coaching schools, and the U.S. Government. Boost Your Career: Use our templates to quickly form your own paid mindfulness courses, workshops, keynotes or coaching packages. ⁠⁠⁠⁠MindfulnessExercises.com/certify⁠⁠⁠⁠

Former Buddhist monk and Mindfulness Exercises founder Sean Fargo explores what full acceptance really means in mindfulness and meditation—meeting fear, anxiety, judgment, and resistance with embodied awareness and self-compassion. Drawing on years of teaching across prisons, hospitals, classrooms, and companies, Sean translates Buddhist psychology, trauma-sensitive mindfulness, and practical nervous system regulation into simple moves you can use today—without turning practice into performance. Expect a grounded look at acceptance vs. resignation, how to work inside your window of tolerance, and ways to steady attention with noting and breath awareness. You'll hear how body-based mindfulness (skin, flesh, blood, air, bone) restores safety, how to soften striving and “fixing,” and how fierce compassion supports wise action. Ideal for mindfulness teachers, therapists, coaches, and dedicated practitioners who want real tools for emotional regulation, resilience, and teaching with integrity. ✨ In This Episode, You'll Learn What “acceptance” means (and what it doesn't) in mindfulness practice How acceptance creates space before reaction or change Why gentle awareness and fierce compassion go hand in hand A guided meditation on sensing the layers of the body — skin, flesh, blood, air, bone How to bring mindfulness to worry, fear, and feelings of unsafety Practical tools like noting practice and embodied grounding Insights from Sean's live Q&A on anxiety, safety, and the breath How acceptance connects with teachings from Byron Katie and Nonviolent Communication ⏱️ Chapters 00:00 – Opening reflections on the word “acceptance” 02:00 – Why we resist acceptance and what it really means 04:00 – The practice of full acceptance 07:00 – Guided Meditation about Acceptance 56:11 – Working with worry, fear, and uncertainty (Leslie's question) 01:02:31 – Using noting and embodiment to balance thought-based worry 01:08:38 – Working with shortness of breath and striving (Jean's question) 01:10:10 – Creative ways to connect with the breath 01:15:51 – Byron Katie's “The Work” and fierce compassion 01:19:00 – Closing reflections

Former Buddhist monk and Mindfulness Exercises founder Sean Fargo lays out a clear, compassionate roadmap for teaching mindfulness and meditation — with confidence, credibility, and heart. Drawing from his journey (from cloistered practice to prisons, clinics, classrooms, and companies), Sean distills what actually works so you can help others be more present, resilient, and self‑compassionate—without overcomplicating the practice. In this episode, you'll learn: Why compassion is the foundation of every effective mindfulness teaching A simple way to meet fear, judgment, and imposter feelings—and keep going How to introduce mindfulness experientially (story → teach → tool) Three techniques to make it practical and relevant: prepare, listen, ask The templates & credentials that open doors (e.g., MBI‑TAC, Search Inside Yourself) How to find your voice for guiding meditations (and a non‑fussy recording setup) Essentials of trauma‑sensitive mindfulness and the window of tolerance The #1 long‑term success factor: community and consistent teaching practice Mentioned resources: A Clinician's Guide to Teaching Mindfulness; Learn to Teach Meditation and Mindfulness; MBI‑TAC; David Treleaven's Trauma‑Sensitive Mindfulness; Peter Levine's Waking the Tiger; Search Inside Yourself; Insight Timer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When I first started teaching mindfulness, I thought I had to sound wise, calm, and enlightened — like a “real” teacher. But one unexpected moment — in a tiny community room in Berkeley — changed everything I thought I knew about guiding others in mindfulness. In this episode, I share the hidden truth I discovered after years living as a Buddhist monk in Thailand and training more than 30,000 mindfulness teachers around the world: that teaching mindfulness is actually much simpler than most of us realize. You'll hear:

In this Mindfulness Exercises Podcast episode, Sean Fargo sits down with Mark Walsh, founder of Embodiment Unlimited, to explore the profound connection between mindfulness, embodiment, and trauma-informed coaching. Mark is a leading voice in embodied mindfulness, known for blending humor, honesty, and heart-centered awareness into the worlds of coaching, somatic psychology, and body-based transformation.Together, Sean and Mark dive into practical, embodied tools for: Reconnecting the body and mind through mindfulness and movement Cultivating self-awareness, resilience, and compassion through embodiment Creating healthy boundaries and overcoming people-pleasing tendencies Approaching trauma with sensitivity without fragility Bringing humor and authenticity back into mindfulness teaching Building a mindfulness or embodiment coaching business in the age of AI and disconnection They also explore Mark's 26-Pose Embodied Toolkit, discuss embodiment in war zones and leadership, and challenge the rise of politicized mindfulness with curiosity and courage.

In this episode of Mindfulness Exercises with Sean Fargo, Sean explores how mindfulness can transform the way we set and communicate boundaries. Saying “no” doesn't have to come from guilt or fear—it can arise from awareness, care, and self-respect. Sean guides listeners through a 10-minute meditation to sense the body's inner “yes” and “no,” offering practical scripts for real-life situations and trauma-sensitive tips for mindfulness teachers, therapists, and coaches. Listeners will learn how to recognize their limits, express needs with compassion, and maintain relationships rooted in authenticity and presence. Tune in to experience how mindful boundaries can bring more balance, integrity, and peace into your daily life. https://mindfulnessexercises.com/ Timestamps: 00:00 – The moment between yes and no 00:25 – Welcome and introduction to today's theme 01:10 – Why mindful boundaries matter 02:25 – What compassionate boundaries really are 07:00 – Guided meditation: Feeling your body's “yes” and “no” 17:00 – Practical boundary scripts for real-world situations 21:45 – Mindfulness teaching tips for therapists, coaches, and helpers 25:30 – Weekly practice for integrating compassionate boundaries 27:15 – Closing reflections and invitation to deepen your mindfulness journey Keywords: mindful boundaries, compassionate boundaries, mindfulness podcast, mindfulness meditation, saying no with kindness, self-care mindfulness, mindful communication, emotional boundaries, Sean Fargo podcast, mindfulness teacher training, meditation for boundaries, mindfulness for therapists, mindful self-awareness, Mindfulness Exercises with Sean Fargo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of the Mindfulness Exercises Podcast, Sean Fargo talks with Dr. Stefanie Broes, founder and CEO of Moonbird, about how tactile, screen-free technology can help us reconnect with the body through mindful breathing. Moonbird is a handheld device that literally breathes with you—expanding and contracting in your hand to guide calm, slow breathing for stress relief, better sleep, and heart-rate-variability (HRV) coherence. https://www.moonbird.life/ Sean and Stefanie explore the science and simplicity behind breathwork, how therapists and counselors are using Moonbird in clinical settings, and why a tactile approach can make mindfulness more accessible for children and adults alike. Listen in to learn how mindful breathing transforms anxiety, improves emotional regulation, and strengthens our connection between mind and body—one conscious breath at a time.

In this episode of the Mindfulness Exercises Podcast, Sean Fargo explores how to lead trauma-sensitive body scan meditations with compassion, choice, and safety. Designed for mindfulness teachers, coaches, therapists, and wellness professionals, this session offers practical tools for guiding clients who may carry trauma in their bodies. Discover how to balance awareness with grounding, introduce choice and agency, and cultivate safety in every meditation experience. Sean also walks you through a full trauma-sensitive body scan practice—helping you embody these teachings yourself before sharing them with others. If you're a mindfulness or meditation teacher, this episode will deepen your understanding of how trauma impacts the body and how to create inclusive, healing spaces for your clients. 00:01 — Introduction: Why trauma-sensitive practices matter for mindfulness professionals 01:30 — The Impact of Trauma on the Body: Understanding vigilance, numbness, and tension 02:40 — Gratitude & Self-Compassion: Gentle practices to shift from scarcity to abundance 03:54 — Mindful Movement: How physical awareness supports grounding and safety 05:35 — Preparing for the Body Scan: Setting up comfort, safety, and empowerment 06:25 — Guided Body Scan Begins: Step-by-step awareness from head to toe 11:08 — Grounding & Safety Techniques: Using breath and gravity as anchors 13:30 — Pendulation: Moving between comfort and discomfort with care 14:43 — Empowering Client Choice: Restoring agency and safety in the body 15:59 — Working with Emotions: Welcoming sensations with curiosity and compassion 19:02 — Titration & Pacing: Introducing small doses of attention safely 20:32 — Rupture & Repair: Reestablishing trust when difficulty arises 22:44 — Subtle Energy Awareness: Sensing life force within the body 23:22 — Integrating Practice into Daily Life: Micro meditations and mindful pauses 24:47 — Closing Reflections: Healing as integration, not erasure Trauma-sensitive mindfulness prioritizes safety, choice, and empowerment. Techniques like pendulation and titration help clients regulate and stay present. Your own embodied awareness is essential to guide others effectively. Healing is not about erasing the past—it's about integrating and transforming it with compassion. If this episode resonated with you, please take a moment to leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Your feedback helps others discover the Mindfulness Exercises Podcast and supports this growing community of mindful practitioners. Subscribe for more free teachings and meditations at MindfulnessExercises.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When pain shows up in practice, it can feel overwhelming but it can also be a doorway to deeper awareness. This is an excerpt from our Community Gathering wherein a student opens up about the challenge of neck pain becoming overwhelming during meditation. Rather than offering a quick fix, Sean Fargo invites a gentler approach: turning toward discomfort with curiosity and compassion instead of resistance or judgment. This conversation is a reminder that pain in meditation isn't a barrier to practice, but an opportunity to deepen presence, patience, and care. Chapters 00:00 – The Question 01:51 – Resources for Pain & Mindfulness 03:27 – Pain vs. Suffering 04:54 – Approaching with Gentleness 06:48 – Exploring the Geography of Pain 08:50 – Visualization & Self-Compassion 10:41 – Movement Practices 11:48 – The Mantra of Softening

In this powerful conversation from the Mindfulness Exercises Podcast, Sean Fargo speaks with Julie Lythcott-Haims — New York Times bestselling author, activist, politician, and former Stanford dean — about how mindfulness can help us face shame, rewrite old stories, and create space for authentic belonging. Julie shares how she first discovered mindfulness in her 30s, how body awareness helped her get out of her own way, and how storytelling became a tool for healing unprocessed pain. She reflects on writing Real American, her memoir on race and belonging, and the liberation that came from releasing stories she had carried for decades. ⏱️ Chapters 00:00 – Intro 04:11 – mindfulness as a path to self-awareness 06:40 – Writing as emotional release 10:35 – Holding space with compassion 14:41 – The courage of vulnerability 21:16 – Helicopter Parenting: lesson in parenting and self-growth 30:25 – Post-It notes of connection 33:00 – Freeing others through your story 36:57 – Releasing fear and finding courage to be seen 38:25 – A moment of belonging with a taxi driver 41:03 – Building bridges across difference 46:25 – Living authentically with compassion