A Meditation for Working With Our Self-Judging Voice with Diana Winston
12 Minute Meditation
As today’s teacher notes, self-compassion is different from self-esteem. Relying on building up our self-esteem tends to lead us to need a lot of external validation in order to feel ok. Instead, self-compassion is the idea that even with all of our flaws, we can still care about ourselves and see ourselves as infinitely worthy of love and belonging. In this extended 30-minute practice, mindfulness teacher Diana Winston guides us through a process to get familiar with our self-judging voice and how we relate to our flaws, so that we can nurture compassion and recognize our own...
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A Forgiveness Meditation to Let Go of Added Suffering with Mark Bertin
12 Minute Meditation
Forgiveness is almost never a one-and-done action. Whether what we’re forgiving is big or small, our own error or someone else’s—most often, there are residual feelings of anger, hurt, or resentment to contend with. In this guided practice, Mark Bertin addresses this tendency to compound our suffering when we hang onto these difficult emotions. He offers a way to gently surrender this extra emotional baggage so that we can fully experience the healing that forgiveness offers. Mark Bertin, MD, is a pediatrician, author, professor, and mindfulness teacher specializing in...
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A Meditation to Meet the Body In Pain
12 Minute Meditation
Having chronic pain often feels incredibly lonely. You might not know anybody else who has the same condition. In addition, most people you're close to, even though they might be well-intentioned, might not understand what you're going through. But the fact is that probably thousands and thousands of people all over the world know exactly what you're feeling. In this meditation, Christiane Wolf offers a guided practice to meet your own body in pain and relieve that sense of isolation by internally connecting with others who understand your experience. Christiane Wolf, MD, PhD is a...
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A 12-Minute Meditation to Get Curious About Your Cravings
12 Minute Meditation
We often imagine that our actions are the result of choice and awareness, which means that we can be extra critical of ourselves when we’re struggling with habits that aren’t serving us. But researchers in the science of habit and craving have found that much of our decision-making process is the result of unconscious neuro-chemical loops that reinforce themselves over time. In this meditation, author and researcher Judson Brewer introduces a thoughtful way to bring genuine awareness and choice back into the equation when cravings arise. Judson Brewer, MD, Ph.D. (“Dr. Jud”)...
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A 12-Minute Meditation on Our Relationship to Thoughts
12 Minute Meditation
The nature of the mind is to make thoughts. All day long, mostly without our even noticing, the mind is generating thousands of thoughts. People often misunderstand mindfulness and meditation as ways to control or even stop our mind’s churning—but that isn’t even really possible. With mindful attention, we can learn to notice and be aware of what our minds are up to, and that awareness is what gives us agency and opens new doorways to interior peace. In this meditation, teacher Vinny Ferraro guides us through a practice to see thoughts clearly as they arise, gently note them, and...
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A 12-Minute Meditation to Rewire Your Brain for Optimism
12 Minute Meditation
What do you do when you’ve made a plan, you’ve done everything you can to make it work…and things still don’t turn out the way you hoped? In frustration and disappointment, it’s easy to focus on what’s wrong. This exercise—adapted from Start Here: Master the Lifelong Habit of Wellbeing by Eric Langshur and Nate Klemp, and led by mindfulness coach Priti Patel—offers a quick way to realign toward what is working, which can help us settle and give us clarity. Nate Klemp, PhD, is coauthor of . He is a former philosophy professor and a founding partner at Mindful....
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Peace Begins With Me: A 12-Minute Meditation
12 Minute Meditation
When painful emotions are circling all around, our instinct is often to reach for external reassurance. In this practice, law professor and author Rhona Magee offers a gentle reminder that the key to calm starts with a simple pause—and we get to choose that. Rhonda V. Magee is a professor of law at the University of San Francisco. Also trained in sociology and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), she is a highly practiced facilitator of trauma-sensitive, restorative MBSR interventions for lawyers and law students, and for minimizing the effects of...
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A Mountain Meditation to Help You Shift Out of Panic Mode
12 Minute Meditation
If you’ve ever tried to push away anxiety or depression when they show up, you probably already know: Fighting these complex, difficult emotions usually doesn’t work. In fact, our resistance often makes the experience even more challenging. In today’s practice, Ed Halliwell offers a guided visualization based on a foundational mindful question: What if you don’t try to push this experience away, but instead watch it as it plays out? Ed Halliwell is a mindfulness teacher and writer, based in Sussex and London, UK. He is author of three books: , and (as co-author) and...
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A Meditation for Kids: Coming Back to the Positive
12 Minute Meditation
Our brains are hardwired to notice the negative. It’s part of how our ancient ancestors were able to survive in constantly threatening environments. But this negativity bias can also make it difficult for us and our kids—even in our comparatively less threatening environments—to navigate daily stressors, like big tests, arguments, or disappointments. In this shorter practice specifically designed for younger meditators, Dr. Mark Bertin shows kids how to gently guide their attention back to the positive things they might have missed, in order to help soothe the nervous...
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A Teaching and Meditation to Relax and Welcome Deep Rest
12 Minute Meditation
Rest isn’t a “reward” for working hard enough. It’s a human need and birthright. This week’s episode is a little different. We’re not only sharing a guided meditation from mindfulness leader and professional coach Jenée Johnson, but also her teaching on some of the brain science behind relaxation—why it’s essential for our well-being, how it works, and how to incorporate intentional relaxation practices into your daily life. Jenée Johnson, is a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach, Racial Healing, Emotional Intelligence Educator, and HeartMath facilitator. Jenée...
info_outlineIt might seem counterintuitive, but intentionally tuning into what’s distracting you can actually help strengthen your ability to focus.
In today’s guided practice, meditation teacher Toby Sola introduces what he calls a “concentration algorithm.” This practice will help you identify which type of sensory experience you are naturally drawn to, and then give you a structure for how to focus on it, so that you can quickly attain deep concentration.
Toby Sola is dedicated to helping you create a feedback loop between your meditation practice and your ability to make the world a better place. Toby has been teaching meditation for two decades and has refined his craft through years of monastic training and close collaboration with the world-renowned teacher Shinzen Young. He is an award-winning designer and founder of the Brightmind Meditation app.
Note that this practice includes long pauses of complete silence to give you time to spend in contemplation. If you want more time, feel free to pause the recording as you go.
The transcription of this guided meditation will be online at Mindful.org next week.
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Show Notes
Find more from Toby Sola and his company Brightmind here.
Go Deeper
Want to learn more about training your attention? Here are two articles we think you’ll love:
For more practice, try this 3-Part Focused Attention Meditation Series you can use to strengthen your focus when you feel distracted.
And more from Mindful here:
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