12 Minute Meditation

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.

Take some time out of your day to send kindness to yourself and others. This nurturing guided meditation helps you breathe compassion in and out. You’ll end the practice by soaking up all the compassion you’ve brought into your space.  Show notes: Adapted from The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook by Kristin Neff and Chris Germer. Kristin Neff, PhD is an associate professor in Human Development and Culture in the Educational Psychology Department, at the University of Texas at Austin. 

Once you’re familiar with basic breath awareness practices, another powerful sitting meditation practice involves expanding the field of awareness to include sensations within the body. Notice sensations as they arise to ground yourself in the here and now. 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.

You can use guided meditation before having conversations about money. The body check-in helps you find balance and support before broaching the subject with another. This practice helps you realize what your thoughts around money are which can be used to foster understanding and forgiveness.  Show notes: Meditation by Bari Tessler.  Bari Tessler is a financial therapist, author, and creator of the online Art of Money program.

Susan Kaiser Greenland takes you through one of the oldest meditation practices: Sit, and know you’re sitting. This simple meditation helps you to understand what mindful awareness is and relax your mind.  Show notes: Meditation by Susan Kaiser Greenland.  Author of The Mindful Child and former corporate attorney, Susan developed the Inner Kids program for children, teens, and their families and teaches worldwide.

Let go of the what ifs and let yourself sit with what is. This guided meditation opens you up to the space that’s available when you sit with your thoughts and observe them without judgment.  Show notes: Meditation by Mark Bertin.  Mark Bertin, MD, is a pediatrician, author, professor, and mindfulness teacher specializing in neurodevelopmental behavioral pediatrics.

Cultivate mindfulness with this guided meditation. You’ll tap into your capacity to be in touch with your experience, and be awake and aware with no agenda other than to be awake and aware. 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.

Break the hold of autopilot and ground yourself in the present moment. This guided meditation can be done anywhere and can be thought of as a skill that you can strengthen over time to access your awareness in day-to-day life.  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.

“This basic mindfulness of the breath is a way to cultivate peace, clarity, and generally a good way to get to know ourselves better.” Lodro Rinzler, co-founder of MNDFL

15-minute loving-kindness meditation from Emma Seppala Science Director of Stanford University’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education and author of "The Happiness Track."