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Posts Tagged ‘mindfulness’

Finding Peace in the time of COVID

Posted in mental health, tagged , , , , on November 13, 2020| Leave a Comment »

This is an extremely difficult time for each and every one of us, as the number of those infected with COVID is rising at a terrifying rate. It’s a challenge to maintain a sense of calm and well-being when anxiety-provoking news and outright hostility swirl all around us. So I thought I would share a few resources that I’ve found particularly helpful.

Working with the Body

A 30 minute Grounding Hatha Yoga session to Connect with Your Center

A Quick Two Minute Yoga Flow

Twelve Minute Bedtime Yoga

A 10 Minute Qi Gong Morning Exercise

Five Minute Body Scan

4 7 8 Breathing by Andrew Weil 

Journaling Through COVID

Journaling as a Tool for Coping with Anxiety

Journaling: A Wellness Tool During COVID 

How Journaling Can Help You in Hard Times

Journaling Prompts for COVID 

Tara Brach, COVID, and RAIN

Tara Brach on Facing Fear [Part 1] – Awakening Your Fearless Heart

Tara Brach on Facing Fear (Part 2) – Awakening Your Fearless Heart

Tara Brach on the RAIN of Self-Compassion

Facing Pandemic Fears with an Awake Heart, with Tara Brach

A Ten Minute Guided Meditation: Light RAIN in Difficult Times, with Tara Brach

Tara Brach’s Page of RAIN Resources (a powerful exercise)

I hope you check a few of them out and if you do, I’d love to hear how they work for you.

“It could happen any time, tornado,
earthquake, Armageddon. It could happen
Or sunshine, love, salvation.
It could, you know. That’s why we wake
and look out—no guarantees in this life.
But some bonuses, like morning,
like right now,
like noon,
like evening.”

William Stafford

Many Blessings,

Tammie Byram Fowles

Photo by Muhammad Lutfy on Pexels.com

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Holding My Breath

Posted in mental health, tagged , , on October 15, 2020| Leave a Comment »

“Breathe in deeply to bring your mind home to your body.”

Thich Nhat Hanh

During this particularly stressful time of COVID, I’m holding my breath more closely, aware of the power it contains to ground, relax, open, and center me. For so much of my life, I took this amazing resource for granted, and now that I have learned to work with my breath, I completely relate to the assertion that “deep breaths are like little love notes to your body.” Besides making my life possible, my breath has become a teacher, friend, and ally.

Following is a list of videos that can provide you with the information you need to make your breath an even greater gift and resource.

Introduction to Breathing https://youtu.be/j0I1hWgH_WM

The Science of Breathing https://youtu.be/8XQLpyo96_w

Breath: Five Minutes can Change your Life | https://youtu.be/hFcQpNr_KA4

Tara Brach’s Guided Breathing Meditation   https://youtu.be/y3TrGysWETw

Mindful Breathing by Thich Nhat Hahn https://youtu.be/_z7gmeZUphc (a talk that is over an hour)

Mindfulness and the Breath by Thich Nhat Hahn https://youtu.be/fOkphTWkY1Q (a 15 minute talk)

The Healing Power of Breath https://youtu.be/8XQLpyo96_w 

Intro to the Breath and Breathing https://youtu.be/j0I1hWgH_WM

Alchemy Of Breath Breathing Technique  https://youtu.be/7UjoGbeRZII

Breathwork: A Slow Film  https://youtu.be/pxQh1Zh633w

4 7 8 Breathing by Andrew Weil  https://youtu.be/YRPh_GaiL8s

Breathwork to Connect to Yourself Deeply https://youtu.be/1LWi8oTZ8ew

I encourage you to watch a few of the videos above and give some of the techniques mentioned a try. It might not only add more peace and pleasure to your days, but also years to your life…

Photo by VisionPic .net on Pexels.com

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Mindfulness Resources During the Time of COVID-19

Posted in COVID, mental health, Pandemic, tagged , , on September 15, 2020| Leave a Comment »

COVID-19 is effecting the mental health of people all around the world in some very significant ways. During these incredibly difficult times (an understatement) for so many of us, a skill that I’ve found to be especially helpful is that of mindfulness. What’s mindfulness? According to Jon Kabat-Zinn, mindfulness is “the awareness that arises from paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgmentally.”  When we’re practicing mindfulness, rather than worrying about the future or dwelling in the past, we’re fully in the present moment.

There’s a great deal of evidence that mindfulness practices benefit both our emotional and physical health and so I’ve decided to provide a list of some excellent mindfulness resources where you can learn everything you need to learn about what/why/and how to practice mindfulness.

Videos

Mindfulness Meditation 101

The Power of Mindfulness: What You Practice Grows Stronger

Mindfulness with Jon Kabat-Zinn

Tara Brach: Using Mindfulness Practices to Activate your Full Potential

A Steady Heart in Time of Coronavirus [Part 1], with Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach

A Steady Heart in Time of Coronavirus [Part 2] with Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach

Instructions for Mindfulness Meditation During COVID

Mindful Breathing

Breathing Meditation

5 Minute Mindfulness Guided Meditation

The STOP Practice

Websites, Articles, and More

Being Resilient During Coronavirus

The Guide to Well Being During Coronavirus

Free Online Group Meditations

The Nine Attitudes of Mindfulness

Ten Days of Happiness For Challenging Times: A Free Online Coaching Program

Creating a Home Retreat: Includes a Free Half Day Mindfulness Retreat  

A Free 40 Day Mindfulness Training Program

A Free Loving Kindness hand washing poster to to print and hang in your bathroom

Coronavirus Discussion Cards for Kids

Podcasts

Mindfulness For Beginners

The Mindful Kind

Ten Percent Happier With Dan Harris

Mindful in Minutes

The Science of Happiness

Simple Self Care

Mindful Meditations

Let me know which are your favorite resources!

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Tara Brach: The Wisdom Series

Posted in healing, resiliance, tagged , , on December 16, 2014| 1 Comment »

Tara Brach is a clinical psychologist, author, lecturer, and teacher of Buddhist mindfulness meditation.  I’ve listened to several of her teachings via her youtube channel which blend western psychology with eastern spiritual practices, and I’ve gained a great deal of insight from reading her book, “Radical Acceptance.”

In an interview with Deb Kory on Pschotherapy.net, Tara shared, ” I remember being very struck by William James, who wrote that “all religions start with the cry, ‘help.’” Somehow deep in our psyches there is always some part of us that’s going, “Okay, how am I going to deal with this life? How am I going to deal with what’s around the corner?” What happens for most people—and this is kind of the way I organized True Refuge—is that we develop strategies to try to navigate life that often don’t work. I call these false refuges. This is in all the wisdom traditions. We know that the grasping and the resisting and the overeating and the over-consuming and the distracting ourselves and the proving ourselves and the overachieving… just don’t create that sanctuary of safety and peace and well-being. It just doesn’t work.”

Her newest book, “True Refuge” explores the pathways through which we find what her title suggests, our true refuge – one that exists within each and every one of us.  Her following talk, “Awakening Through Change and Loss”  addresses these issues as well.

If you’re currently struggling,  you may want to read about RAIN, a very helpful four step process for dealing with painful emotion described by Tara on her website.  You can read more about RAIN here.   

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On Letting Go of the Past and Being Happy Today

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , on September 2, 2011| Leave a Comment »

I sat with a young woman recenlty who continues to suffer from events that occurred long ago. She shared with me that she longs to be happy, but doesn’t know how. Of course, there is no simple answer that I can offer her. There is a quote by Robert Holden that I shared with her on that achingly beautiful late summer morning, one in which there was no place that she needed to go, and nothing on the afternoon’s agenda that she needed to do. The rest of the day was hers to shape as she chose. The quote was, ““Suffering is a decision not to let go of the past yet. Happiness is a decision to step into the present now.”

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