Mindfulness

An invitation to gently observe your thoughts, emotions, and sensations in the present moment — with curiosity, acceptance, and grace.

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The traditional art of mind-stilling involves observing, acknowledging, and releasing your thoughts to cultivate awareness of the present moment. In practice, this can reduce activity in your brain’s emotional center (the amygdala) to feel less stress & anxiety, and help you to become less reactive in the moment.

Guided:

Mindfulness Of Thoughts As Clouds In The Sky

Self-Guided:

Thoughts as clouds passing by: imagine your thoughts as clouds in the sky. As they arise, observe them without attachment, letting them float by without judgment or engaging with them.
Noting thoughts: when thoughts arise, simply acknowledge their existence and then release them, returning to your breath or present focus. This detaches you from identifying with your thoughts.
Counting breaths: count each natural inhale and exhale, counting up to ten full breaths, then start over. If your mind drifts and you lose count, gently start over. This technique keeps the mind focused while also creating a rhythm.
Breath focus: focus your attention solely on your breath. Notice the rise and fall of your chest or the sensation of air entering and leaving your nostrils. Each time your mind wanders, gently bring it back to the breath.
Repeating a mantra: for example, “I am the rock against which the surf crashes” – you being the strong, steady rock that remains unaffected by the thoughts (surf) that pass over you. (This mantra is from ACOSF by Sarah J Mass).

Tips to get started:

If you feel your mind is too overwhelmed or flooded with thoughts every time you sit down to practice a mind-stilling meditation, consider starting with one of these:

Challenge your mind by closing your eyes and asking yourself: "I wonder what my next thought will be?" Oftentimes, you'll find the mind goes blank. This is a practice by Eckhart Tolle and has a powerful ability to make your thoughts just disappear.
Name your brain, befriend it, and then kindly ask it "can you please calm and be quiet with me for a few moments? We can both turn back online soon, but for now, just be with me." Listen or feel for its reply, either within your mind or body — keeping in mind it may ask you to do something first, to help it relax (i.e. jot something down, stretch, etc.). As in with any relationship, open communication can be life changing.
Give your mind clearance to freely express every thought it has, until it has no more. If it helps, jot down each thought on paper to clear them from your mind before beginning.
Tune into the present by observing everything around you: what you see, feel, hear, sense. Then do a body scan to tune into your body.
Turn on some classical music, healing sounds, or frequency tones to give you something to flow with through this practice, especially if you're just beginning and find the silence challenging to sit in.

Meditation is like training for the mind — just as with going to the gym, it’s important to be patient with yourself as you learn and practice new techniques.
This practice can help learn that just because you think a thought, doesn't make it true. Let this be a reminder to question everything your mind spits out, and intentionally select which thoughts hold value to you.

pair with

Use these while you give it a go . . .

Grounding

Touch the Earth with bare skin to balance your body's electrical charge and positively affect inflammation, mood, pain, and more.

Insight Timer

App offering FREE guided meditations, sound healing audio, and a customizable timer for self-led meditations.

Box Breathing

Deep Breathing

Coherent Breathing

Improve mood and adaptability, lower stress

Body Scan

Mindfully journey through your body to identify, connect with, and release places of tension, stored emotion, or resistance.

Classical Music

Nourish the body with resonant notes that calm the heart, balance the gut, strengthen immunity, and enhance brain function.

Sound Bath

Harmonize to the vibrations of healing instruments, a practice that dates back over 40,000 years.

Solfeggio Frequencies

Healing properties of 6+ medieval frequencies.

dive deeper

Explore the topic further . . .

The Surrender Experiment

Memoir from the author of "The Untethered Soul" about his personal journey into life's perfection — embracing life’s flow by letting go of personal control and surrendering to what unfolds.

The Power of Now

A guide to spiritual enlightenment.

Qigong

Unblock and restore the free flow of qi (life force energy) from your core energy center — the dantian — through this ancient practice of gentle movement, breath, sound, and intention.