The Dharma of the Nervous System
The article explores how Buddhist meditation and Somatic Experiencing (SE) complement each other in treating trauma, drawing on the author’s personal breakthrough in a hospital lobby. It explains that Buddhism’s focus on breath and body awareness prepares the nervous system for SE’s body‑based trauma release. SE frames trauma as a physiological injury to the autonomic nervous system and uses practices that engage the vagus nerve and interoception. The piece concludes with three simple embodied practices—voo vocalization, push‑hands gesture, and face‑heart connection—that illustrate the combined approach.
Addiction, Recovery, and How Mindfulness Can Support Emotional Sobriety
Recovery coach Stephanie Hazard argues that lasting sobriety requires emotional sobriety—a state of mental balance that goes beyond merely avoiding substances. She illustrates how unresolved trauma can surface as anxiety when a loved one leaves, triggering a cycle of distraction...
Social and Ecological Mindfulness – Jon Kabat-Zinn, Paula Ramírez Diazgranados & Liane Stephan
Jon Kabat‑Zinn, Paula Ramírez Díazgranados and Liane Stephan join host Jamie Bristow to explore how mindfulness can extend beyond individual stress relief to address trauma, institutional challenges and ecological crises. The episode revisits Kabat‑Zinn’s original intent for mindfulness as a...
Metta Where It Matters
Oneika Mays, former bookseller turned mindfulness teacher, released her memoir and guide *Sit With Me* in March, championing a no‑BS, everyday approach to meditation. Drawing on nearly a decade at Rikers Island, she argues that mindfulness should be stripped of...
3 Minutes with Heather Arnold FCCA, The Mindful Accountant
Heather Arnold, a FCCA who once faced burnout as a corporate finance accountant, discovered mindfulness and trained as a teacher. She now weaves brief breathing exercises, meditation and flexible scheduling into her accounting practice. Arnold says these habits sharpen her...
Tara Brach’s Love & Courage
Tara Brach, renowned mindfulness teacher, released a new workbook titled *The Courageous Heart* to help people navigate the anxiety and division following the 2024 U.S. election. The guide integrates Buddhist bodhisattva principles, her signature RAIN method, and practical exercises for...
Reveal the Mystery
The article explains how shamatha (calm‑abiding) meditation creates observable gaps between thoughts, a practice dubbed “mind the gap.” By repeatedly widening these gaps, meditators transition to vipashyana insight meditation, which reveals the empty, non‑self nature of thoughts. It argues that...
35 Simple Ways to Be More Present (That You Can Do Right Now)
Yoga Journal editor Laura Harold shares 35 practical ways to cultivate presence, ranging from brief breathing pauses to sensory‑rich activities like tasting food mindfully. The list emphasizes that mindfulness needn’t require long meditation sessions; even five‑minute practices can regulate the...
Why Mindfulness Begins with Noticing, and How That Leads to Real Change
Mindfulness teacher Victoria Fontana explains that the practice begins with simply noticing thoughts, sensations, and emotions, rather than trying to change them. By training attention, practitioners develop four layers of awareness—body, feelings, mind, and underlying patterns—allowing them to observe reactions...
71 Daily Mindfulness Challenge Exercises & Ideas
Develop Good Habits' 2024 update offers a catalog of 71 daily mindfulness exercises, organized into morning, midday, and evening sections. The guide advises readers to begin with one to three simple habits rather than attempting the full list, to prevent...
How Micro-Practices Can Be the Bridge Between Your Meditation and Your Choices
The article argues that micro‑practices—tiny, intentional pauses—can extend meditation’s benefits into everyday decision‑making. It cites research where a brief “active noticing” induction reduced 19 of 22 common cognitive biases, and the author’s own shift from Amazon to alternatives after a...
Brain Changes During Meditation Begin Within Minutes and Peak Around the 7-Minute Mark, Study Finds
A new EEG study of 103 participants practicing a breath‑watching meditation found that brainwave shifts begin as early as two minutes and reach peak intensity around the seven‑minute mark, regardless of prior experience. Increases in theta, alpha and beta1 power...
Living with Pain, Fatigue or Illness?
The Breathworks Mindfulness for Health program launches an 8‑week online course on 8 June 2026, offering live Zoom sessions, daily meditation practice, and lifetime access to materials. Veteran teacher Ginny Wall, with over 20 years of experience, leads groups of up to 12...
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Yoga Nidra: The Sleep Meditation for Restorative Rest and Relaxation
Yoga nidra, often called yogic sleep, is a guided meditation that places practitioners in a state between wakefulness and deep sleep. The practice relies on lying comfortably, a body‑scan, breath focus, and optional visualizations to activate the parasympathetic nervous system....
A Loving-Kindness Meditation to Heal Your Inner Child
The article outlines a loving‑kindness meditation inspired by Thich Nhat Hanh that targets the "inner child" to foster self‑compassion. It explains how adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) embed stress in the body, limiting self‑love, and how neuroplasticity enables healing through mindful...