The Mindfulness Podcast

In this episode of our mindfulness podcast, we delve into the journey of understanding happiness with our special guest, Neha Shamshery. Neha, a certified happiness coach, shares her insights on how mindfulness can lead to a deeper sense of well-being and happiness. We discuss the importance of slowing down, shedding labels, and experiencing happiness in its purest form. Neha also guides us through a practical meditation exercise to help listeners connect with their inherent happiness. Join us for an enlightening conversation that promises to leave you feeling more connected and at peace.

This episode features Lele, Pat, Nieta and Greg Cowtan, the latter being the developer or a wonderful tool called Ergocizer (available only within IBM) that is a stretch reminder, it combines a simple reminder program with over one hundred short animations of simple, ergonomically correct stretches and strengthening exercises. In the podcast we discuss the tool, how it works and how it helps us building resilience by being mindful of one's body and movements. At the end Greg guides us also through two simple exercises that can be done at the desk to promote physical and mental well-being. Thanks for listening and tune in now and start your year mindfully!

The final podcast of the year reflects on the year 2024, encouraging our listeners to appreciate the present moment and find gratitude in their experiences. Pat and Lele this time discuss the concept of change and the importance of mindfulness in accepting each day as an opportunity for growth. The podcast concludes with a nice guided meditation, inviting you to reflect on moments of joy, personal achievement, and helping others, fostering a sense of appreciation and connection. Enjoy a mindful end of the year and a mindful beginning, thanks for being with us in 2024.

Join us for Day 29 of the Mindfulness 30-Day Challenge, led by Pat. Today's practice is a long body scan meditation, designed to help us become more aware of our physical sensations and connect with our bodies. Let's take this journey together and cultivate a deeper sense of self-awareness.

Join us for the final day of our 30-day mindfulness challenge! Today's practice is a gratitude practice led by Pat and Lele. But if you stay till the end you will hear also Nieta. They will guide you through a thank you exercise, expressing gratitude to someone who has positively impacted your life. Afterward, they will lead you in expressing gratitude to yourself. This practice will help you cultivate a sense of appreciation and gratitude for your life. Thank you everyone who took part in this challenge, you are wonderful.

Join us for Day 28 of the Mindfulness 30-Day Challenge, led by Lele. Today's practice focuses on the beginnings and ends of our breath, encouraging us to capture the moment when each breath starts and ends. This exercise helps us to be more present and attentive to our experiences.

Join us for Day 27 of the Mindfulness 30-Day Challenge, led by Nieta. Today's practice focuses on Kinhin, a slow meditative walking practice aligned with the breath. Through this practice, you'll learn to transfer weight from one foot to the other and notice the sensations of transferring weight from heel to toe. This practice can be done anywhere with a few meters of walking space and is a great way to cultivate mindfulness and presence.

Join us for Day 26 of the Mindfulness 30-Day Challenge, led by Pat. Today's practice focuses on befriending and kindfulness, exploring how to send warm thoughts and kind wishes to loved ones and ourselves. Through a metapractice, we'll delve into the emotions and sensations that arise when thinking about others and ourselves, and learn to send and receive good wishes with openness and compassion.

Join Lele for a mindfulness practice that connects with the light. We'll explore the flame of a candle, observing its dance and colors, and learn to bring our attention back to the present moment. Take a few moments to pause, breathe, and connect with the gentle glow of the candle.

Join Pat for a mindfulness practice designed to support us in settling, anchoring, and grounding the mind. We'll explore the body, breath, and senses, and learn to cultivate patience and compassion as we navigate the patterns of the mind. Take a few moments to pause, breathe, and connect with the present moment.

In this episode of the mindfulness podcast, we explore the 50-50 keeping the body in mind practice, a technique that helps you maintain awareness throughout your day. This practice involves keeping your body in mind while engaging in daily activities, allowing you to enhance your awareness of the present moment. Join us as we guide you through the process of incorporating this practice into your routine and help you establish a more regular mindfulness practice.

In this episode of the mindfulness podcast, we explore the box breathing technique, a counted breathing exercise used by navy seals and beneficial for stress management and wellness. This practice is also suitable for children and can be modified according to individual needs. Join us as Nieta guides you through the four steps of box breathing and help you achieve a sense of relaxation and control. Enjoy.

Join us for Day 21 of our 30-day Mindfulness Challenge, where we explore Mindful Walking. Today, we're not focusing on a guided practice, but rather encouraging you to engage in a mindful working exercise. Choose a location, whether indoors or outdoors, and simply walk, paying close attention to your body and its movements. Notice the sensation of your feet touching the ground, the muscles moving in your legs, and the overall feeling of your body as you work. Gradually bring your awareness to your senses, noticing what you can see, hear, touch, taste, and smell. Allow your thoughts to arise and observe them without judgment. Continue this practice throughout your workday, and reflect on your experience at the end. Let's embrace mindfulness in our daily activities and enhance our connection with ourselves and our surroundings.

In this episode, Pat guides you through a longer visualization practice centered around the themes of letting go and letting be. Begin by finding a comfortable and wakeful position, then explore connectedness with your body and the environment. Imagine yourself in a forest or jungle, making your way to a tree by a river. Hold a leaf in your hand, observing its details, and practice letting go of thoughts and emotions that arise. Place these thoughts and feelings on the leaf, either choosing to let them be, come back to them later, or explore them further. Finally, make your way out of the forest, reflecting on the practice and its meaning for you. Enjoy this mindful journey of letting go and letting be.

Join Nieta for a special practice on day 19 of the 30-day mindfulness challenge. Today's practice is zazen, or shikantaza, a traditional Zen meditation technique that involves sitting in silence and stillness. Learn how to let go of preconceptions and experience reality as it is, without judgment. Nieta will guide you through the practice, offering tips and tricks to make the most of your sitting time.

Join us on Day 18 for a calming and reflective practice as we explore the "Five Four Three Two One" method. In this episode, we'll guide you through a series of deep breaths, moments of gratitude, kindness, and self-reflection. Let's practice together.

In today's episode, Pat shares six valuable tips to help you maintain your mindfulness practice and make it a sustainable part of your daily routine. From overcoming hesitations and distractions to cultivating curiosity and kindness, these tips will help you deepen your practice and enjoy the journey of mindfulness. Enjoy!

In this episode of the Mindfulness Podcast, we take a departure from traditional meditation practices and explore the power of music to bring us into the present moment. Join us as we invite you to pick your favorite song and immerse yourself in its rhythm, melody, and harmony. Learn how to cultivate awareness and presence while listening to music, and discover the benefits of this unique mindfulness practice.

In this episode, Nieta and Lele lead you through a practice that combines awareness of your senses, including sight, touch, taste, smell, and hearing. The practice encourages you to notice the present moment, without judgment, and to let go of distractions.

Join Pat on day 14 for a longer breathing space practice, a three-part or three-step breathing space designed to help you gain greater perspective, become more aware of your present moment experience, and practice values or attitudes of more openness and curiosity and care.

Join Lele today on day 13 for a simple yet powerful mindfulness practice that can be done anywhere. Focus your attention on your feet, noticing their sensation, temperature, and connection to the ground. Pay attention to the individual toes, the heels, and the soles, and explore how your feet feel in this moment.

On Day 12 join Nieta for a Metta practice, an ancient visualization practice that cultivates friendliness, kindness, and compassion towards yourself and others. In this episode, Nieta guides you through a series of phrases and visualizations to help you cultivate loving kindness and well-wishing.

In this episode Patrick guides the 10 Finger Appreciation practice. This practice is designed to activate our positive valence system by noticing the small things you could appreciate every day, but normally overlook. It's also an opportunity to incline your mind towards appreciation and savor and enjoy what appreciation feels like, both in the body and in the mind.

Join us on this 10th day of our 30-day mindfulness challenge, where we explore a simple yet profound practice: "Just Breathing" practice with Lele. In this episode, Lele guides us through a meditation on the breath, encouraging us to focus on the sensation of the breath moving in and out of the body. With Lele's gentle guidance, we'll learn to observe the breath without getting caught up in distractions, and discover the beauty and interest of each individual breath.

Join Nieta today on day 9 of our 30 days mindfulness challenge for a mindful movement practice that will help you tune into your body and practice deliberate movement of different areas of your body. This practice is designed to help you cultivate awareness, relaxation, and joy in your physical body. Take a few moments to breathe, move, and connect with your body. Enjoy!

The podcast today, as part of the 30-day mindfulness challenge, explores the practice of "mindful eating," encouraging listeners to pay attention to their sensory experiences while eating a bag of chips or similar small snack. Lele describes the process of visually examining the food, handling it gently, chewing slowly, and savoring the taste, texture, and sound of each chip. By practicing mindful eating, individuals can become more aware of their body's hunger and fullness cues, savour their food, and potentially eat less while enjoying it more. The podcast ends with a reminder to pay attention to one's body's needs and the mindfulness practice throughout the day.

Today, we invite you to approach difficulties with kindness and curiosity, rather than aversion or judgment. Join Patrick as he guides you through a practice that helps you shift your attention to the body, allowing the mind to disengage from sticky thoughts and explore new ways of responding to challenges. **In this episode, we'll explore:** * A guided meditation practice that focuses on approaching difficulties with kindness and curiosity * Techniques for shifting attention to the body and disengaging from ruminating thoughts * The importance of responding with kindness and openness rather than aversion or judgment Enjoy!

Today, on Day 6 of our 30 days challenge we invite you to cultivate loving kindness and compassion towards yourself with Nieta's gentle and insightful practice, "Rewriting History". **In this episode, we'll explore:** * A guided meditation practice that focuses on rewriting past experiences and responses to treat yourself with kindness and compassion * Techniques for recognizing and challenging self-criticism and judgment * The importance of self-compassion and understanding in promoting emotional healing and growth Thanks for practicing and enjoy!

Today, in day5 of our 30 days challenge we invite you to cultivate mindfulness and self-compassion with Kathy's gentle and soothing practice with handpans. In this episode, we'll explore: * A guided meditation practice that focuses on mindful breathing and self-compassion * Techniques for engaging the parasympathetic nervous system and calming the mind * A practice of self-compassion and kindness, with a focus on releasing fear and finding love Enjoy!

Today, in Day 4 we invite you to cultivate a smile, not just on your face, but in your heart and mind. Join Lele as he guides you through a gentle and playful practice that will help you release tension and cultivate joy. In this episode, we'll explore: * A guided meditation practice that focuses on the smile, helping you to develop greater awareness and presence * Techniques for cultivating a smile, including the use of the breath, the face, and the body * Tips for integrating the practice of smiling into your daily life, to improve your mood and well-being Enjoy!

Today, we invite you to embark on a journey of focused attention with Nieta, where you'll learn to cultivate a deeper connection with your breath and quiet the mind. In todays' practice: * A guided meditation practice that focuses on the breath, helping you to develop greater awareness and presence * Techniques for cultivating focused attention, including the use of anchor points and sensory exploration * Tips for integrating focused attention into your daily life, to improve concentration and reduce stress

Welcome to Day 2 of our 30-day mindfulness challenge! Today, we invite you to embark on a beautiful and transformative journey with Patrick, as he guides you through the "Lake of Loving Kindness Meditation". In this episode, Patrick will lead you through a gentle and imaginative practice that will help you cultivate a deeper sense of loving kindness, compassion, and understanding towards yourself and others. You'll be invited to create a peaceful lake of love, where you can connect with those you care about, and extend kindness to those you may have difficulty with. Through this guided meditation, you'll have the opportunity to: * Visualize a serene and peaceful lake, representing the lake of loving kindness * Imagine loved ones and friends joining you in this lake, and engaging in joyful interactions * Expand the lake to include others, including those you may have difficulty with, and experience the benefits of loving kindness * Cultivate a sense of compassion and understanding, and allow yourself to feel the warmth of loving kindness in your heart Enjoy and don't forget to subscribe to our podcast to receive daily episodes, each featuring a new mindfulness practice and guided meditation. We're excited to have you join us on this journey to cultivating greater mindfulness and awareness in your life.

**The 30 Days Mindfulness Challenge - Day 1** Welcome to Day 1 of our 30-day mindfulness challenge! Today, Lele will guide us through our first practice of the journey. **Beginner's Mind: Cultivating a Fresh Perspective** In this episode, Lele invites you to embody the spirit of the "beginner's mind," a fundamental concept in mindfulness. This attitude allows us to approach each moment with curiosity, openness, and a willingness to learn. Join Lele as he leads you through a gentle and accessible practice to cultivate a beginner's mind. This 15-minute meditation will help you: * Let go of preconceptions and assumptions * Develop a sense of curiosity and wonder * Approach challenges with a fresh and open perspective Take a few minutes to listen to Lele's guidance and follow along with the practice. As you sit in stillness, allow yourself to settle into the present moment and explore the qualities of the beginner's mind.

Today Nieta, Lele and Pat are sharing the latest news and introducing the mindfulness Challenge that will start on September 30th and for 30 days will share one practice a day with the community. And enjoy the practice at the end shared by Nieta.

Today Pat, Nieta and Lele are just sharing some news from the communities and Pat is leading a practice for everyone called the 3 steps breathing space. It's short and powerful enjoy it a fully!

Today we go back to basic in a new style for our podcast with guest, comment, practices and answers to the most basic and wanted questions about mindfulness. Nieta, Pat and Lele today interview Andy Lee asking him the following questions: 1. How do you define mindfulness, what it is and what it isn't? 2. Aren't we already aware? What's the point with mindfulness? 3. How mindfulness makes us more aware, according to what process? 4. How different are you now that are practicing mindfulness for a long time? Enjoy Andy answers and also the final body scan offered by him. Something more about Andy Lee: Andy Lee is a pioneer in bringing the benefits of mindfulness into the workplace. He brings a unique blend of business experience and mindfulness expertise to his work.​ He has been practicing mindfulness for over 20 years and has been teaching in organizations since 2011. ​ Before founding Mindful Ethos, Andy was Chief Mindfulness Officer at Aetna where he and his team developed a range of programs to create a deeply rooted culture of mindfulness. These programs included in-person courses, webinars and digital resources. He also developed a network of internal mindfulness advocates and created a Mindfulness Center in Aetna's home office. Andy has an MA in organizational psychology and is a certified mindfulness teacher and executive coach.

This is the last episode of 2023 where Lele and Pat wish all the best to the mindfulness communities and focus on gratitude for the year ending and all the beautiful things that happened to us. The podcast ends with a co-lead breathing practice. Thanks for listening

Today we talk to Zarin Suchi, IBMer, student of psychology and member of the Mindfulness@IBM community. With Zarin we talk about mindfulness and its connection with the study of psychology. We talk about stress, stress resistance, about the good and bad moments of life and about acceptance and what acceptance has to do with mindfulness. Thanks for listening.

Today we talk to Sean Harvey recurring guest of our podcast and recent author of the book Warrior Compassion written to help men discover the truth of who they are, learn to love the truth of who they are, unearth their inherent gifts, and realize the ways they are meant to contribute in the world. In the podcast we talk about what it means to be a man in our time and why compassion is an important factor to open man to live better with themselves and the world. We talk about the role of mindfulness in it and why it leads to a more compassionate awareness. We cover also some parts of the book and recent work of Sean. For more about Sean check the website: https://warriorcompassion.com or his linkedin profile: https://linkedin.com/in/seanharvey Thanks for listening

Today we bring another benefit of the mindfulness practice, peace of mind. So practicing mindfulness leads to getting more chances to pacify your mind. And we talk about it with Ron Francis, IBMer and host of the podcast PeaceLoveMoto (https://www.peacelovemoto.com) With Ron we touch his story into mindfulness and motorbiking, we talk about nature, we talk about our mind and how with the mindfulness practice it can be pacified. Ron is also leading us into a beautiful practice at the end. Thanks a lot for listening.

Today we talk to Fie Jeppesen (Global Culture Lead for Commercial Solution Areas at Microsoft) about mindfulness and in particular another of the benefits of mindfulness that is the ability to regulate stress to respond to stress wisely. We also talk about Fie's experience with mindfulness, about self compassion and we end with a lovely practice. Thanks for listening. More about Fie https://www.linkedin.com/in/fie-jeppesen-6948982/

Today we talk to Alicja Zalewska-Choma, Senior Lead, Corporate Social Responsibility @Kyndryl that is bringing her knowledge to talk about sustainability and how to deal with the anxiety connected with the climate crisis we are experiencing these days. Mindfulness is in fact a practice that helps to deal better with anxiety and that's what we share in the podcast along with the RAIN practice. Enjoy. This is the first episode of a long series dedicated to the benefits of mindfulness so we can all discover what comes as side effect when we start establishing a daily mindfulness practice.

In this podcast episode, we talk to Akshata Nagesh (Program Lead, Global Delivery Transformation at Kyndryl) With Aks we discuss the benefits of practicing mindfulness in managing emotions to experience exuberant enjoyment of life.  She shares her personal experiences of being short-tempered in the past and how mindfulness helped her become aware of her emotions and gradually learn to control them. She also emphasizes the importance of being kind to oneself and not beating oneself up for past mistakes. Through mindfulness, she has learned to live in the moment, appreciate what she has, and respond to life in a more positive way. In other words: practicing mindfulness has many benefits and can help individuals become better versions of themselves and most importantly it helps to have a real  joie de vivre, to experience life fully. Enjoy our discussion, thanks for listening

Today we talk to Estela Quesada Zuheros, IBMer and author of the book "The Mindful Response: Lessons, stories and practices toward responsible leadership through mindfulness". In the podcast we talk about the book, about what's mindfulness for Estela and how she discovered it and what took her to deciding to start writing. A beautiful journey thanks for listening. You can find below the links about the book: Canada https://amzn.to/3JrQnWF UK https://amzn.to/3lrvgMc US https://amzn.to/3yNB065

Today we talk to Nat Lyckowski (Global Neurodiversity Advancement Leader@IBM) about Neurodiversity, about Neuroinclusion, about the April that is the Neurodiversity Advancement Month. There is a lot that the mindfulness practice can do for Neurodiversity and that's what we talk about today, about awareness, about acceptant and judgment. We talk about the proper language to use and how to approach Neurodiversity so we can all feel good and cooperate together. Thanks for listening.

Today we talk to Raymond, a program lead for projects and engagements in the Kyndryl Global Sustainability Team. Raymond Du Toit shares that he sees mindfulness as taking a step back, resetting purpose, and appreciating nature and the natural resources we rely on and take for granted. He believes that mindfulness can help recreate the connection that is missing with nature, like waking up early and just listening to birds singing, and hugging trees are some of the ways he does this. Raymond thinks that the connection between mindfulness and nature comes in creating peace of mind and awareness of the world around us. Awareness leads to meaningful action. Be Mindful, Be Sustainable… just Be. Enjoy. Thanks for listening

Today we talk to Sri Muralidharan, Mindfulness@IBM Community member and program manager@IBM. We talk about mindfulness and it's role into relationships, with friends, with family and kids and customers by helping who's practicing to have a more open mindset to understand that each one has something to bring on the table. Because in that moment when the customer is yelling our "monkey mind" needs to see our emotions and let the frustration go and only once it's gone we are ready to let go. And we are sure that everyone wants to have a mindful person on the other side of the phone, particularly when there are emotions involved. The end of the podcast has a beautiful practice lead by Sri. Thanks for listening.

Today we talk to Daniel Toohey, Data Scientist@IBM and proud member of the Mindfulness@IBM community that takes us through his experience into mindfulness starting with learning and experimenting a lot with Zen and Tibetan practices, going on retreats and then comparing that to the corporate world and finding the Mindfulness@IBM community. A nice rich story that we hope you enjoy. Thanks for listening. *editors note: Upon review, Daniel realized he misspoke when mentioning the death of the beloved Rime Tibetan Buddhist and Bon teacher Daniel P. Brown. Dr. Brown passed away in April of 2022, not 2021.

Today we talk to Nieta De Young, IBMer and member of the Mindfulness@IBM community. With Nieta we cover her experience with mindfulness that started in Japan with the Zen tradition. We talk about Zen, about how it translates in our daily life, what are the ultimate benefits of it in the corporate world and how to practice zazen (the sitting meditation practice). Enjoy and thanks for listening.

Today we talk to Kinga Szekessy Parrott, the designer of the "Connecting the body and mind" journey of the Welcome to Now Mindfulness@IBM Summit of 2022, this is the last of the journey we present in our podcast and the last episode of the year. In the episode also Pat, Lele and Fede chatting and discussing about how to approach mindfully our beginnings and endings, wish you enjoy. Thanks everyone for listening and for all you were doing for the mindfulness community of our Planet our gratitude to all of you. Have a happy ending and mindful beginning. Your The Mindfulness Podcast team

Today we talk to Kathleen Martin organizer of the "Thrive on the front line" journey for the Welcome to Now 2022 Mindfulness@IBM summit that is describing the whole journey to us and in particular, why is mindfulness so powerful for sellers? We close with a lovely practice offered by Fede Andino. Thanks for listening