Tips for working Mindfully with Depression

I’ve added a recent post to the blog on my private practice web page regarding tips for working with depression – which include mindfulness exercises. If you of anyone you know has dealt with chronic low moods or depression this blog entry could be of interest to you.
It can be found by clicking here. [...]

Intention

On this eve of the new year I’ve been thinking about intention. It is the tradition for many to set resolutions for the new year, which sounds a lot like goals – it seems like a bit of a set up for self-criticism and self-judgment if we fail to meet our often lofty (but well [...]

Mindfulness and Forgiveness Guided Meditation Part 2

Please enjoy the following streaming audio of a guided mindfulness and forgiveness exercise. This is part 2 of the practice I introduced a few days ago.
This practice will help you begin to unwind the chronic tension in the mind and body around unfinished business with a situation or memory in which you feel [...]

Shinzen Young in Broomfield Colorado, February 14-16

Shinzen Young, a wonderful teacher in the Vipassana lineage will be offering a non-residential meditation retreat in Broomfield, CO from February 14-16.
See this website for details on the event and how to register www.sierraretreats.org.

Mindfulness and Forgiveness Guided Meditation

Please enjoy the following streaming audio of a guided mindfulness and forgiveness exercise. This practice will help you begin to unwind the chronic tension in the mind and body around unfinished business with a person you feel has hurt you. Please pick something of fairly low emotional intensity to work with at first (this [...]

Forgiveness

Forgiveness is at the heart of compassion for both ourselves and others.  We forgive ourselves a little bit each time we are able to bring our unconditional presence to whatever we have been avoiding in our lives, whether it is physical pain, a toxic relationship, an old emotional wound, anger or grief we never felt, [...]

The Body Scan

A useful mindfulness of body exercise that helps us get a sense of our internal landscape and the physical and emotional sensations going on in this moment is the known as the body scan.
I often use this excercise as a way to take pause and get back in touch with myself in the present moment. [...]

Fresh Start

Often, there are interruptions to our practice, or at least our formal practice.
Interruption, does not mean we have to throw away the whole practice, or castigate ourselves. It is an unhelpful habit to think that ‘I am a failure’, and to somehow feel negatively towards ourselves because our formal practice has fallen away. Of course [...]

Sacred Pause

Taking just a moment of our day to stop and feel can be a wonderful practice. There is a sense of coming home, of groundedness and giving ourselves a momentary respite of spacious silence. To do this find a place where you won’t be disturbed …the bathroom will do if you are in public [...]

Doing Time

Sometimes mindfulness meditation feels pleasurable, we enter into deep states of stillness or we encounter body sensations of peace and a sense of groundedness. Other times it feels very difficult, encountering anxiety, restlessness, sadness, frustration, anger/rage, or any other type of intense sensory experience that can be accompanied by compelling and painful thoughts. At [...]