Amidst all the fun, whether out in the city or home with the cats and Netflix, are you taking time to just breathe? To just be?

It sounds so simple. Breathing and being still but in reality, how often are you taking time to slow down and feel your breath for a few moments? A few minutes? We are breathing all the time but how often are you stopping to notice your breath?

Meditation is one way to just be and breath. But maybe meditating isn’t your jam. How about these:

• A morning sit next to the window, feeling your breath.
• Sitting on a bench in nature to listen to the birds and feel your breath.
• A minute sit when you get into car, feeling the heat or the coolness of the day.
• A designated time in your day…let’s say 3pm…to be still wherever you are, and feel your breath for 5 minutes.
• A family moment: Who can sit the longest, quietly counting their breath?

How will you make time to simply just be and just breathe this summer? Or how about right now?

About a month ago, we both made the conscious decision to do less, to make less plans and not have the calendar filled with activities. It wasn’t easy. We were breaking habits of ‘doing’, which is so easy to do. By slowing down, we began to feel more space in our lives and our souls. It allowed new ideas and creativity to emerge. Perhaps most importantly, it allowed space to just breathe, to just be.

It doesn’t take much to get started but it does require you to make the intention and have a plan to make it a reality. It could be an alarm on your phone, a scheduled time on your calendar, a commitment to share the “just be” moment with a friend or partner.

We hope you find a fun way to just be and breathe this summer.

How do we deal with pain in a mindful way?

Step 1: Scan the body to notices where you are feeling the pain. Beyond feeling the pain, bring a mental awareness to the pain. You might say to yourself “I am feeling pain in xxxx”. This is a way to allow the mind to accept you have pain in the body.

Step 2: Can you allow the thoughts about your pain to pass through your body and not overtake your mind? Notice your thoughts about the pain, name them and see if you can have a more neutral manner in how your mind describes the pain in your body. It might be changing the narrative from “This is so horrible” to “I am feeling pain in my stomach”.

Step 3: Focus on redirecting the mind. The mind is powerful. When we allow ourselves to fully focus on the pain or issue top of mind….that is all it wants to do. So try distracting the mind with a peaceful image or focusing on your breath (feeling your breath move through your body).

Step 4: Distract your mind with a hobby, a phone call or some type of activity.

These are some of the many ways you can utilize mindfulness to help with pain. If you are feeling pain, we hope you find something that works for you.

In the training I was reminded of this foundational quote on what mindfulness is – it is awareness. It is through our awareness that wisdom is gained. Mindfulness and meditation practices are not about stopping the thoughts – it is the practice of becoming aware of our thoughts.

For instance, if you have ever been in a challenging or difficult conversation (with colleagues or family) – noticing how you feel in that moment creates a small pause before the reaction. When we don’t notice how we feel, we can sometimes simply react (which might not always be the best).

The takeaway: Practice noticing how you feel in conversations with others this week. It could be your next conversation with whoever you are talking with – at the local store or with someone you know. This could be happy or less happy conversation. Simply begin noticing.

Life is the waves. There will be nice, easy waves and there will be hard, crashing waves. Learning to surf is mindfulness. Mindfulness is the thing that can help us enjoy the easy waves while also dealing with the hard, crashing waves with more ease.

Emma (changed name for anonymity) has been dealing with a lot of hard crashing waves lately. Her work, health and personal life all have hard crashing waves coming at her. How is she dealing with it? By remembering to take each wave one at a time. Remembering this is temporary, it will pass. By being present and dealing with what is at hand in the moment, and trying (practicing) to not let the thoughts of the other crashing waves to take over the mind all at once.

Mindfulness is all about being present in the moment, enjoying the beautiful moments in the present, and remembering to breathe through the crashing moments.

When faced with a challenge, remember these steps:

1. Breathe, feel your breath.
2. Remind yourself “this is temporary”.
3. Self talk “you can get through this”. You’ve gotten through challenges before, you will get through this one.
4. Find beauty around you, look up at the sky. Find something in nature to help you enjoy the beauty that is here right now.
5. Take time for yourself – self care. A bath, a yoga class, a call with a friend, spa day, cup of tea, a good book or movie.

The waves in life will come and go. What is constant is your growing and evolving mindfulness practice to continually work towards mastering how you will get through the next wave.

How often do you find yourself doing nothing? There are so many ways to distract from doing nothing. Maybe you are waiting in life for coffee, or taking a break from work…it is quite easy to jump on the phone and play a game, check social media or other app. What is not so easy is to do nothing.

“Nothing” means the absence of something. When we have moments of nothing in our day, these moments are mini-pauses. Our mind and body are taking a break from the “doing”. Before we carried around small computers in the form of our phones, doing nothing was a mandatory part of everyday life.

A challenge this week: can you do nothing once a day? Can you decide that when you are waiting at your next appointment, you could sit still and do just nothing? Or find a bench to sit quietly, do nothing and be present in spring.

Each day is a new beginning, yet there is something special about the new year. For many of us it gives us permission to begin anew. Begin a new project, a new life, a new diet, a new hobby, a new dream. While we have the opportunity to do all of these things on any given day of the year, the new year is a special time.

Traditionally New Years is a time of setting resolutions, often focusing on what wasn’t done last year and needs to be accomplished this year. Resolution by definition means to be firm in doing something or the act of solving. Rather than solving a problem within yourself, what if you were to set affirmations for what you want for yourself. Think of it as dreaming up a possibility rather than solving a problem. This is why I like the use of words “intention setting” rather than “resolution”.

Here are some simple steps to set your intention(s) for the new year:

1. Get cozy and comfy. Enjoy a cup of tea, warm blanket or go somewhere that fuels you (a coffee shop, park, quiet place in your home).

2. Reflection time. Begin by reflecting on what you want for yourself, what would you like to see in yourself or for yourself one month or one year from now. Your intention can be anything: a more joyful you or starting a new business. It can something small or big. Try to listen to your heart and soul (your gut) rather than the over-thinking thoughts. 

Ask yourself this question, “What do you need or want in your life in order to become the best version of you?”. 

3. Write it down. Write down the intention with as much detail as that comes to mind. 

4. Support your intention(s). Brainstorm three things you can do to support your intention this year. Some supporting activity ideas are:

• Writing down your intention on a post note or card, and placing it in three visible spots (bathroom mirror, car, refrigerator, dressing area to name a few).
• Tell a family member of friend about your intention and ask them to be your accountability partner throughout the year.
• What can you do daily or weekly to make your intention a reality?
• Commit to saying your intention aloud to yourself everyday, even up to 10x a day. There is power in speaking affirmations aloud.
• Set reminders in your calendar or phone alarm.
• Join a group of like minded individuals with the same intention, goal or project. It could be a positivity group to a workout group to an entrepreneur group. There is almost a group for everything and if you don’t find one, start one.
• Write down 50 things you do to support your intention throughout the year, write each one on an index card. Commit to doing one each week. Place the stack somewhere obvious in your home or office.

5. Have fun! Life should be fun, why not have fun with your intentions. Be silly or get playful. Enjoy the process, that is part of the journey!

 Acceptance can be a complex practice to teach a child. You might already be practicing this without realizing it is a practice of acceptance.

One opportunity to practice acceptance is when the child does not get what they want (e.g hot chocolate). They might be crying, mad or some other emotion. However they are feeling, allow them to have time with that emotion. Then inquire,

Can you share with me how you are feeling right now? I know you were excited to get XYZ, let's take some deep breaths together (count three aloud).

How do you feel now?

Our breath can be a grounding tool to help center our mind and body. You might share with the child, "I know there was excitement for ....and you are feeling ...., we can choose to feel this way this way the rest of the day or try to be okay in not getting..... so that we can enjoy other parts of our day. Can we try that?"

Should your child continue to be upset, can you accept how they are feeling?

When we are experiencing a difficult emotion or perhaps many emotions that are not very fun to deal with, it is easy to feel lost in the emotion. To feel the weight of the emotion and unsure how we will surpass this feeling. 

Remember you are not alone. We all experience difficult emotions at one time or another. After this past week, many of us are feeling the weight of decisions out of our control. While we cannot undue what has occurred, we can begin to take steps to help us move forward.

Take a Nature Pause

Nature is calming, soothing and grounding. Take a moment or many moments to simply pause and notice what is outside. Look at a tree, a blade of grass, the dirt on the ground. Focus your mind on the nature you see. Do this by noticing specific elements of it: the color, shape, texture, how the light hits it.

Release + Share

Release what you are feeling by sharing aloud with a friend, or writing it down. The process of letting some of the emotion flow out of us is not only beneficial to the mind but also the body. In a way, we are no longer holding on to all of that emotion within ourselves.

Practice Gratitude

Even during the darkest times we can find something to be grateful for. Is it the air we are breathing or a small act of kindness by another? Something within ourselves? Something in nature today you are grateful for. It might feel more difficult to be positive and grateful but it is can also be more helpful to you. Write down three gratitudes.

Take Action

This week a court decision was made that impacted women across the U.S. Take time to be with those emotions. After some time, give thought to what steps you can take to make change. A million small steps by a million people adds up to 1 million. As my Spanish teacher reminds me, "poco a poco", little by little.

Difficult emotions - those emotions we would rather not be having. We may be wishing that whatever it is that occurred that affected us in this way simply did not happen.

Know you are not alone. We all experience difficult emotions at times. And after this week, there is much solidarity in knowing we are not alone in how we feel.

Steps for Dealing with Difficult Emotions

These steps and tips are not meant to be a remedy but hopefully a helpful step forward for creating space around our emotions. To shift from the feeling of an emotion overtaking our entire body to being a part of the body.

#1 Be With

Often when we experience discomfort we want to immediately escape the discomfort. When we experience emotions that are simply not fun, or challenging or difficult - whatever it is for you - it is important to remind ourselves that it is okay to be with that emotion for a bit. 

#2 Recognize + Name

Especially if we are experiencing many emotions at once, it might not be easy to recognize or name which emotions we are experiencing. Begin by noticing what you are feeling. Can you name the emotions? This can be a helpful step in understanding and working through our emotions. If more emotions come up, pause and come back to this at a later time.

#3 Remember - It's Temporary

Our emotions are like waves that come and go. We may experience happiness and sadness in one day. Remember that what you are experiencing is temporary.

#4 Change What You Can

We cannot control every aspect of life, the situations that occur around us nor the emotions within us. Wisdom lies in recognizing the things we can change and the things we cannot change.

A walking meditation is exactly how it sounds - meditating while walking. As we walk, we focus our mind on the movement and sensations of the body. 

As Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche shares, walking meditation is the mind and body coming together. When we practice walking meditation, we bring awareness into the body. 

5 Things to Know for Your Walking Meditation

1) Where to Walk

An ideal place to do a walking meditation is in an open area with no one for you to walk into, or need to pay attention to. While not necessary, an open space to yourself can make it easier to focus on the meditation. An open grassy area, a sidewalk, a path in the forest.

2) Breathing and Pace

Walking meditation does not require you to walk fast or slow. You may walk naturally, noticing how many steps you take during your inhale and how many steps you take during your exhale. Walking uphill or downhill may change the number of breaths per step. That's okay. the most important thing is to follow the needs of the lungs.

Another way to practice is to enjoy a slightly slower walk, coordinating each step with each breath. 

3) Focus on the Feet

Focus your attention on the contact of your feet with the ground. Be aware of the movement of your body, the feet walking, right then left. 

4) Notice How the Body Feels

What sensations does your body feel? How does the ground feel when the feet touch it? How does the air or wind feel on the skin? Warm, cool? What other sensations do you feel?

5) Smile

Thich Nhat Hanh encouraged everyone to smile while doing a walking meditation.