Mindful15: Stress Management | Mindfulness | Meditation

Episode 87 - It’s time for another Q & A episode where I’ll answer questions submitted by podcast listeners and my in-class meditation students.

Episode 86 - It’s time for another stress buster. Finger counting is a useful technique when you need a little help keeping your focus.

Episode 85 - Twice now I’ve talked about climate change on this podcast. Both times, I focused on how our ability to take action can be impaired by strong negative emotions. I never addressed how mindfulness can guide us toward solutions.

Episode 84 - This episode is a last-minute extension of the Compassion Series. I realized after the episode on extending compassion to difficult people, it might also be helpful to talk about mindfulness practices for dealing with difficult people. So, that’s the plan for today.

Episode 83 (Part 5 in the Compassion series) - Today we’re wrapping up our five-part compassion series with some ideas for practicing loving kindness and goodwill on a daily basis. Compassion meditation helps you generate feelings of goodwill, but practicing kindness in daily life is what we’re ultimately reaching for and there’s no need to wait.

Episode 82 (Part 4 in the Compassion series) - For the past three weeks, we’ve been exploring compassion. We’ve covered how mindfulness fosters compassion, how to make metta meditation easier by starting with someone you love, and how to strengthen your capacity for self-compassion. Today, it’s time to address the toughest part of compassion meditation: generating feelings of loving kindness for people we don’t like. I want to address the value of this practice and to give you another tool that can help.

Episode 81 (Part 3 in the Compassion series) - If you’ve been practicing compassion meditation with me these last two weeks, you’ll have noticed it includes sending wishes of goodwill toward yourself. Today, in Part 3 of our Compassion Series, I’ll discuss self-compassion in more depth and offer you a meditation specifically designed to foster it.

Episode 80 (Part 2 in the Compassion series) - Compassion meditation can be difficult, so today I’m going to share a simple method for making it a little bit easier.

Episode 79 (Part 1 in the Compassion series) - I hope I don’t need to work very hard to convince you that compassion is a desirable thing. Compassion causes you to treat others with respect and help them when they’re in distress. Compassion makes you feel good, because you have fewer negative reactions to others and you get satisfaction from being able to contribute to their well-being. It also helps you solve problems; when you care about others, you opt to partner with them instead of opposing them, and that typically results in more effective solutions.

Episode 78 - Twice in recent months I’ve come across bloggers who reject mindfulness, because they believe they sometimes need to be angry, anxious, or upset in order to make positive change. Sometimes, they say, anger is a justified emotion, one we need to motivate us.

Episode 77 - Last week, I addressed a question submitted by one of our listeners, Anitta. I told you that letting go of negative thoughts and memories is not the same as denying them. And, I also suggested that, sometimes in-depth mindful analysis of thoughts and memories can help you make better choices. Today, I want to share some tips for staying mindful as you analyze.

Episode 76 - In this episode, I’m going to address a question submitted by Anitta who wants to know whether letting go of thoughts and memories is the same as denial.

Episode 75 - Have you taken an unplanned break in your meditation routine? Are you looking to get back on track? Here’s how to go about it successfully.

Episode 74 - Sometimes, meditation feels like a struggle, but the points where we feel challenged are typically the best opportunities for growth in our practice. I know, if I’m feeling restless, bored, upset, frustrated… there’s something I need to learn to accept, something to which I need to apply non-judgemental awareness.

Episode 73 - When you notice a thought arising during meditation, you are coached to let go of that thought and return your attention to the breath. But, this is easier said than done, especially on days when your mind is very active. I have an alternative to struggling with your busy mind.

Episode 72 - I have a feeling that some will look at today’s episode title and scoff. They’ll think, “I already know how to meditate.” I hope you’ll give this episode just a little time, though. I believe it’s worthwhile to review basics now and again, because over time, it’s easy to become rigid about how to practice correctly, and this rigidity can get in the way or practicing successfully.

Episode 70 - At the end of some of my guided meditations, I coax you to set an intention to take your mindful state of mind with you as you move from the meditation into the rest of your day. But, why bother? Because setting an intention helps to lead you where you want to go.

Episode 69 - When we set goals, we often look ahead to the finish line. We determine what we want to achieve and give ourselves a deadline by which we should achieve it. For example, your goal might be, “I want to establish a meditation habit by the end of this month.” Sometimes, we don’t even give ourselves a deadline in the future. We just expect ourselves to enact the behaviour immediately, e.g., “I am going to meditate every day.” When we fail to achieve our goal by the deadline, chances are good we’ll give up.

Episode 68 - We’ve talked about how to improve willpower, how to create a habit and apply flexibility when troubleshooting your habit-building plan. But, we’re not done yet. I firmly believe, if you’re meditation goal matters, you should use every success-promoting tool you can find. Today, I’m sharing another of my favourites: visualization for overcoming obstacles. This technique can help you anticipate obstacles, plan strategies to deal with them, and mentally practice those strategies to boost your chances at success.

Episode 67 - Last week, I showed you how to structure a habit in a way that will lead to success. It’s possible, however, that your habit plan doesn’t work as well as it should, or that your circumstances change, rendering the plan ineffective. When these things come up, it’s crucial to review and revise your plan, and your biggest ally is flexibility.