12 Minute Meditation

In this practice from Mindful founding editor Barry Boyce, we investigate the relationship between our heart and mind. What our heart feels is influenced by what our mind perceives, which is sometimes one of the reasons developing kindness, a loving heart, and compassion can be so challenging. The quality of the warmth and openness in our heart emerges not just from generating warmer feelings, but from developing a clearer view of what we’re seeing and how we’re processing the world. Once we’re aware of our preconceptions, we can loosen our grip on what we think we know and explore what’s true.  Show Notes: Find more from Barry Boyce here: Come As You Are: A 7-Day DIY Mindfulness Retreat  “The Only Constant Is Change”  “How COVID Reminded Me We’re All Connected” Barry on mindful.org And more from Mindful here: The April 2022 issue of Mindful magazine: The Resilience Issue More episodes of 12 Minute Meditation The Real Mindful Podcast Let us know what you thought of this episode of 12 Minute Meditation by leaving a review or by emailing yourwords@mindful.org.

Cardiologist Jonathan Fisher leads a body scan to notice sensations in the body and bring awareness to the present moment.

This week, Mindful’s founding editor Barry Boyce leads a "touch and go" practice. In this practice, we're not trying to deal with the issues in our thoughts or with the difficult emotions that might be arising. There's nothing to solve. There's nothing to change. Instead, we're spending time with our mind in this way, and over time, our thoughts can become more transparent and have less power over us because we're fighting with them less.  Show notes: Find more from Barry Boyce here: Barry Boyce, Author at Mindful  Find Barry’s course, Come As You Are, here: Come As You Are - Mindfulness Course  And more from Mindful here: Welcome Everything: The February 2022 issue of Mindful magazine. More episodes of 12 Minute MeditationAnd find more from Mindful at mindful.org and on our conversation podcast, Real Mindful. Let us know what you thought of this episode of 12 Minute Meditation by leaving a review or by emailing yourwords@mindful.org.

This week, Barry Boyce leads a practice for mindfulness of the body and our embodied experience because whatever is happening isn't happening in an abstract way—it's happening here in our bodies, so we have to return home to ourselves, to our body. This practice is drawn from a live, guided meditation session from Barry's new course called Come As You Are. Whether you're an experienced meditator or just beginning, it can be fun and refreshing to explore mindfulness with an experienced guide who knows that meditation doesn't have to fit any particular mold. Instead, it's a way of being that can bring a sense of presence and joy to your everyday moments. Show Notes: Find more from Barry Boyce here: Barry Boyce, Author at Mindful  Find Barry’s course, Come As You Are, here: Come As You Are - Mindfulness Course  And more from Mindful here: Welcome Everything: The February 2022 issue of Mindful magazine. More episodes of 12 Minute Meditation

This week, Judy Lief leads a meditation for grief and loss. Most of us have come up against the experience of grief and loss over the last several years. These feelings can be hard to hold, even as we see how widespread they are. Judy, who wrote the book Making Friends With Death, says that "There’s nothing really to be said about grieving that doesn’t sound trite. There’s no simple way through it. It is extremely difficult to put the gravity or the force of grief into words. And there’s no one way to grieve. Neither is there a cure for our fragility and vulnerability. We have only one option, which is somehow to figure out a way to love and embrace it." Show notes: Find more from Judy Lief here: judylief.com Making Friends with Death And more from Mindful here: Welcome Everything: The February 2022 issue of Mindful magazine. The Real Mindful Podcast

When we're under pressure, our ability to care and to lead can feel compromised. Mindfulness can provide a path to cultivate the focus and determination of grit and the care and calm of grace, to learn from growth and change. In this practice to arrive, breathe, and connect, Dr. Lili Powell, a professor at UVA Darden School of Business, offers space to fully arrive in the present moment and make a commitment to focusing on being right here, right now. 

This week, Frank Ostaseski leads a practice to welcome everything. And we hear you—there’s a lot going on that you may not feel like welcoming right now. To welcome something doesn't mean we have to like it, and it doesn't mean we have to agree with it; it just means we have to be willing to meet it. In this practice which you can also find in the February 2022 issue of Mindful magazine, Frank Ostaseski offers six steps to open up to the present moment—whatever it may bring. Show Notes: Lean Into Love: An Interview with Frank Ostaseski How to Bookend Your Day with Compassion The Metta Institute Check out the February 2022 issue of Mindful magazine  And find more from Mindful at mindful.org and on our conversation podcast, Real Mindful. Let us know what you thought of this episode of 12 Minute Meditation by leaving a review or by emailing yourwords@mindful.org.

Dr. Cynda Hylton Rushton, the Anne and George L. Bunting Professor of Clinical Ethics and Professor of Nursing and Pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University Berman Institute of Bioethics and Schools of Nursing & Medicine, invites us to welcome whatever feelings are present right now and to trust what we discover in body and mind without judgment. Show notes:  More from Cynda Rushton on Mindful.org How Integrity Can Heal Burnout  Sign up for free: Healing Healthcare: A Global Mindfulness Summit

This week, Cheryl Jones leads us in a practice to foster self-acceptance—another of our top guided meditations of 2021. Mindfulness meditation involves a willingness to be with ourselves as we are. It offers a way of learning to work with ourselves, and not on ourselves, especially if you are healing from perfectionism. We can start to notice whatever is happening within us and around us with curiosity and kindness. Cheryl Jones is a certified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction instructor and author who provides mindfulness training to businesses, organizations, retreat centers, and more. You can find the full list of top 10 guided meditations from 2021 at mindful.org. Show notes: The Top 10 Guided Meditations of 2021 More from Cheryl Jones on mindful.org thrivingwithcheryljones.com  

This week, Jenée Johnson leads us in a guided meditation to encourage deep relaxation at any point during the day. With a reminder to listen to our bodies and acknowledge when it’s time for us to rest, she shares an effective technique known as quiet sitting to inspire us to simply be. Jenée Johnson is the program innovation leader at the San Francisco Department of Public Health, Mindfulness, Trauma and Racial Healing. Her goal is to improve her organization's ability to manage change, stay resilient, inspire growth and become a mindful culture that leads and serves with compassion. Show notes: Top 10 meditations of 2021: The Top 10 Guided Meditations of 2021 Find more from Jenée Johnson here: Jenée Johnson, Author at Mindful  And find more from Mindful at mindful.org and on our conversation podcast, Real Mindful. Let us know what you thought of this episode of 12 Minute Meditation by leaving a review or by emailing yourwords@mindful.org.