What is mini mindfulness? Mindfulness is the practice of consciously bringing your attention to what you are experiencing in the present moment, without judgement. Mini mindfulness is doing just that, but for no longer than a minute at a time. The emphasis is on doing it at least 5 – 6 times a day so […]
Category: Mindfulness
What is the stress cycle?
Stress is a part of life. In a life-threatening situation the fight or flight response is appropriate. Any external or internal event, thought or emotion that gives rise to fear or discomfort, can trigger a stress response. We each have varying levels of stress we can comfortably tolerate. If we are habitually exposed to stressors, […]
Mindfulness: Body Scan
The body scan is an ideal practice to help strengthen your mind/body connection. It grounds your awareness in your body, in the present moment. You can practice it while sitting, standing or lying down, for sessions of 5 – 30 minutes or longer. The purpose of the body scan is to experience your physical body […]
What is mindful eating?
Mindful eating begins with an awareness of the physical, emotional and mental cues that tell us it’s time to eat. It can help us to differentiate between inner cues such as physical hunger and outer cues like tempting aromas, or the set hour for a particular meal or snack. It can help us to acknowledge […]
Mindfulness: Acceptance
The practice of mindfulness brings us into present moment reality with acceptance of the moment as it is. We accept each breath as it arrives, be it short, long, deep or shallow. We observe it and let it go, releasing it on the out-breath. We accept the following breath as it comes, free of expectations. […]
Daily Mindfulness
There are many ways to practice daily mindfulness. A popular method is to mindfully complete routine tasks that you would otherwise do automatically. Some people choose to anchor their practice to a specific activity such as brushing their teeth, as a reminder to invite mindfulness into the experience. Imagine if you paid attention to how you hold […]
Mindfulness Practice: Returning
What are we returning to? Our self, as experienced through our senses, in the here and now, by retuning our attention to our breath and making a conscious decision —not to engage with our thoughts. You can do it whenever you have a minute or two to spare. This mini-mindfulness practice is a great way of getting into […]
Introducing mindfulness
I was first introduced to the practice of mindfulness in 1992 and I immediately liked it. Mindfulness does not require a huge chunk of time but rather regular engagement. There is no need for any special equipment, just the willingness to be present to yourself. I found it easy to build into my day and […]
Love yourself, unconditionally
We all want to be loved, unconditionally, without reservation or judgement, with all our flaws, shortcomings and strengths, virtues and peccadillos. Self-love is essential for a healthy life and healthy relationships with others. Self-love begins with self-acceptance, accepting yourself as you are right now, not when you are your perfect weight or have the perfect partner […]