12 Minute Meditation

Elisha Goldstein says stress isn’t the problem. It’s how we relate to it. This guided meditation tames reactivity and helps you unwind from a hectic day. Once you stop and let go, you can return to the present and go about the rest of your day.  Show notes: Meditation by Elisha Goldstein.  Elisha Goldstein, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and conducts a private practice in West Los Angeles. He is founder of the Mindful Living Collective.

Explore this 10-minute guided practice to bring attention to your body. 

Resist trying to force yourself into peaceful sleep, and instead turn your attention to letting go of judgmental thoughts. It’s okay to have thoughts come up before bed, just let them melt away. Hopefully, by doing this, your body will calm and you will drift off to sleep in the process.  Show notes: Meditation by Mark Bertin.  Mark Bertin, MD, is a pediatrician, author, professor, and mindfulness teacher specializing in neurodevelopmental behavioral pediatrics.

Take a guided walk to help savor your day. This walking practice isn’t about where you go or how fast you go. It’s about staying consistently in the present moment and embracing mindfulness with each step.  Show notes: This meditation is adapted from Jon Kabat-Zinn’s Guided Mindfulness Meditation Series 3, available here. These guided meditations are designed to accompany Jon Kabat-Zinn’s book Meditation is Not What You Think and the other three volumes based on Coming to Our Senses. Jon Kabat-Zinn is the founder of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) as well as the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

This guided meditation cultivates the ability to calm and focus the mind with mindfulness. There’s no need to panic if your thoughts are racing, that’s natural. Instead, Rich Fernandez asks you to focus your attention on a single object.  Show notes: Meditation by Rich Fernandez.  Rich Fernandez is the CEO of Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute (SIYLI). He was previously the director of executive education and people development at Google, where he was also one of the first SIY teachers.

Take a break and boost your mood with this 10-minute walking meditation.

This guided meditation helps open your heart to both giving and receiving love. You’ll begin by imagining yourself surrounded by a circle loving beings. Offer love and goodwill to them and they’ll do the same for you.  Show notes: Meditation by Sharon Salzberg Sharon Salzberg is a meditation teacher and New York Times best-selling author. She is also the cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society.

This practice uses counting breaths to cultivate mindful awareness. This practice can be done before bedtime, activity changes such as homework time or whenever it’s needed  Show notes: Adapted from Mindful Parenting for ADHD by Mark Bertin.  Mark Bertin, MD, is a pediatrician, author, professor, and mindfulness teacher specializing in neurodevelopmental behavioral pediatrics.

You can be mindful even when life gets noisy. Bring mindfulness to the soundscape around you including the most annoying ones you encounter daily. This guided meditation helps your awareness switch from aversion to curiosity which lessens the negative impact you feel when you hear irritating sounds.  Show notes: Adapted from MBSR Every Day by Bob Stahl PhD and Elisha  Goldstein.Bob Stahl, PhD, has founded eight Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction programs in medical centers in the San Francisco Bay Area and is currently offering programs at Dominican Hospital and El Camino Hospitals in Los Gatos and Mt. View.