60 Mindful Minutes

As an esteemed veterinary oncologist with nearly two decades of experience, Dr. Renee Alsarraf knew a lot about treating cancer, healing, and grief. Then she was given her own cancer diagnosis and she learned that our furry, four-legged, slobbering animals have so much to teach us about healing, positivity and unconditional love. Renee turned her experiences into the heartwarming book, Sit, Stay, Heal: What Dogs Can Teach Us About Living Well, where she shares life lessons about perfect dogs and their imperfect humans.   Guest Bio Dr. Renee Alsarraf has created four different veterinary oncology practices and led three veterinary radiation facilities. She has performed numerous veterinary clinical trials, co-authored peer-reviewed journal articles, and has lectured both locally and on the national level. She lives in Montclair, New Jersey, and is married to a veterinary ophthalmologist. They have one son, whom she cherishes, as well as Dusty, her beloved, bossy, six-year-old female boxer.   For episode homepage, resources and links, visit: https://kristenmanieri.com/episode210   Learn more about coaching: Kristen@kristenmanieri.com   Mentioned in this Episode Guest’s book: Sit, Stay, Heal: What Dogs Can Teach Us About Living Well https://www.amazon.com/Sit-Stay-Heal-Teach-Living/dp/0063215225     Guest’s website: https://www.sitstayhealbook.com/     Host Bio Kristen Manieri is a coach who works with teams to increase both productivity and wellbeing. She also helps individuals navigate transition with clarity and confidence. Her areas of focus are: stress reduction, energy management, mindset, resilience, habit formation, rest rituals, and self-care. As the host of the weekly 60 Mindful Minutes podcast, an Apple top 100 social science podcast, Kristen has interviewed over 200 authors about what it means to live a more conscious, connected, intentional and joyful life. Learn more at kristenmanieri.com/work-with-me.    Learn more about coaching: Kristen@kristenmanieri.com Connect with the 60 Mindful Minutes podcast   Web: https://kristenmanieri.com Email: Kristen@kristenmanieri.com   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/60MindfulMinutes Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristenmanieri_/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/kristenmanieri/  

Being present in the body is a homecoming, a re-inhabiting, an opportunity to return to and reengage with ourselves. Attuning to the present moment, most often through our bodily senses, we experience the delight and beauty of being alive.   Learn more about Kristen Manieri and coaching: Kristen@kristenmanieri.com KristenManieri.com   Host Bio Kristen Manieri is a coach who works with teams to increase both productivity and wellbeing. She also helps individuals navigate transition with clarity and confidence. Her areas of focus are: stress reduction, energy management, mindset, resilience, habit formation, rest rituals, and self-care. As the host of the weekly 60 Mindful Minutes podcast, an Apple top 100 social science podcast, Kristen has interviewed over 200 authors about what it means to live a more conscious, connected, intentional and joyful life. Learn more at kristenmanieri.com/work-with-me.    Coaching If you’ve ever considered coaching, or if you’re feelings stuck or you’re about to make a big transition, reach out to me and we can talk about how I can help you navigate what’s ahead with more confidence and clarity. You can reach me at Kristen@kristenmanieri.com.   Full Transcript Wherever you go in life, whatever you do, one thing is for sure: your body will be there with you. The relationship between ourselves and our bodies is our primary connection, so it makes sense that on our journey to cultivate more mindfulness, we begin with habits that support us in being more present with the body. Much like a mother attunes to her baby’s needs, we too can orient our attention inward to discover what nourishment or nurturing the body might be quietly asking for. Through the process of becoming self-attuned, we learn to become our greatest ally. The body houses a tremendously helpful alert system for navigating our needs, thoughts and emotions. For me, a 60-second check-in provides boundless intel about my inner world. I close my eyes and sense that I’m thirsty, a little tight in my mid back from being at my computer all day, and I’m feeling residual frustration from a conversation I had this morning. What was lurking below now floats to the surface to be tended to or guided by. Being present in the body is a homecoming, a re-inhabiting, an opportunity to return to and reengage with ourselves. It’s where we quite literally come to our senses, or what Jon Kabat-Zinn calls “falling awake.” Attuning to the present moment, most often through our bodily senses, we experience the delight and beauty of being alive. Of course, some of us may encounter physical or emotional pain as we look inward, which can make tuning into the body uncomfortable and confronting. Through mindfulness, we can begin to cultivate a friendliness, or at least a sense of solidarity, toward what’s happening inside, even if we don’t like it. As we turn towards ourselves and create habits of fondly tending to and accepting our body—its shape, sensations and stages—we turn resistance, struggle and aversion into acceptance, compassion and love. You are experiencing life with and through your body; it’s a faithful and enduring companion. The practices I’m going to share today will support you in creating a mindful body connection. We reap what we sow. When we fill up our tanks and refuse to run on fumes, we begin to tap into endless resources that not only give us what we need to do our work in the world but also to stay steady when the unpredictable winds of adversity inevitably blow our way. Healthy habits that attune us to our inner worlds provide the gateway to better self-care and a sense of harmony with ourselves. Mind-body connection isn’t just a spiritual pursuit; it’s an incredibly pragmatic practice. Imagine driving a car without a dashboard. You’d never know the status of your speed, gas, tire pressure or oil. Thankfully, your car has gauges for all of these key metrics, which allows you to care for your car and keep it running. You too have a dashboard. I’d like to offer you some practices that support you in tuning into it. Stop and Drop During my Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) training, I learned the acronym S.T.O.P. as an effective way to quickly drop into the body. S.T.O.P. stands for Stop… Take a breath… Observe… Proceed. I think of it like tapping my brakes when I am so often moving full speed ahead. But when I learn to drop in for just 30 seconds, I slow down long enough to notice what’s happening inside and around me, making me aware of my environment, thoughts, emotions and physical sensations. You start by gently closing your eyes or relaxing your gaze as you place one hand or both on the middle of your chest. Bring your attention to one inhale and one exhale, without any intention to change or deepen the breath. Just be with this one in and out breath. Internally, say “hello” to your body and this moment, then look to label your experiences on the inside and outside with single words. Perhaps the words “busy,” “stressed,” “tight,” or “tired” come to mind. Maybe you notice you’re thirsty, hungry or clenched. Tend to your needs; take a sip of water, grab a snack or gently roll the shoulders and neck. Use any time you shift from one task to another, move from one place to another, or come and go from your home, as a prompt for this stop and drop practice. If you can aim to practice this habit several times a day. The Mindful Body Scan Scanning the body for emotions, tension and discomfort is a useful way to quickly tune into our state and triage our needs. We observe sensations, good or bad, that have escaped our notice while our attention was focused elsewhere. It’s also how we detect and diffuse stress. The body has a physiological response to the fast-paced, overly demanding world most of us live in, often unnecessarily flooding the body with hormones such as cortisol. By tuning into our stress response, we can begin to release it. Start in a seated position, closing your eyes and taking a few grounding breaths. Repeat an anchoring phrase in your mind, such as “I am here now.” Beginning with your feet, slowly bring your awareness to the body’s sensations. As your awareness travels up through the body, notice any warmth, tension, even numbness or absence of sensation. If your mind wanders, which it will, repeat your phrase, breathe, and bring your attention back to where you left off. When you reach the top of your head, finishing by taking a few nourishing breaths, perhaps placing your hand on your heart as a sign of friendly camaraderie with yourself. Connect this practice to a cue you experience frequently, such as waiting. This could include waiting for your kettle to boil or a Zoom call to start. Notice moments when you’d normally “kill time” by checking your phone and choose instead to do a quick, 3 to 5-minute body scan. I’ve noticed that the people I know who are thriving tend to take really good care of themselves. It can take a lot of effort to get through the day, but those people who have created habits around caring for themselves with consistency and deliberateness seem to have boundless energy and vibrancy. Use these practices to create little homecoming back to your body.  

With all of its noise and distraction, this world we live in isn’t really designed for regular personal reflection. And yet, it’s in the quiet moments with ourselves that we come to listen to our thoughts, get to know who we are, and tap into our innate wisdom. In his new book, How Am I Doing?: 40 Conversations to Have with Yourself, writer and therapist Corey Yeager explores how we can use intentional conversations with ourselves to develop more trust, connection, clarity and confidence. This week we explore some of these conversations.   Guest Bio Best known for his appearance on Harry and Oprah's?The Me You Can't See on Apple TV+, Dr. Corey Yeager is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist at the Doctoral level, focusing his therapeutic practice primarily serving the African American Community. Dr. Yeager holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Metropolitan State University, a Master of Arts degree in Psychotherapy from Argosy University, and a PhD in Family Social Science from The University of Minnesota. His research emphasis centers on better understanding the plight of African American relationships, while educating service organizations to utilize the family system context while facilitating meaningful change in both their personal and professional lives. In his current role as the Psychotherapist for the Detroit Pistons, Corey is working within the merging of his two passions, athletics and therapy. In this role, Dr. Yeager supports the overall organization from a systemic and contextual stance. Dr. Yeager supports players, coaching staff, and front office leadership in his conscientious, relational fashion. Dr. Yeager employs the conceptualization of role clarity in his organizational endeavors as a way to build cohesiveness in a deep and intentional way.   For episode homepage, resources and links, visit: https://kristenmanieri.com/episode208   Learn more about coaching: Kristen@kristenmanieri.com   Mentioned in this Episode Guest’s book: How Am I Doing?: 40 Conversations to Have with Yourself https://www.amazon.com/How-Am-Doing-Conversations-Yourself/dp/1400236762   Guest’s website: http://doctorcoreyyeager.com/     Host Bio Kristen Manieri is a coach who works with teams to increase both productivity and wellbeing. She also helps individuals navigate transition with clarity and confidence. Her areas of focus are: stress reduction, energy management, mindset, resilience, habit formation, rest rituals, and self-care. As the host of the weekly 60 Mindful Minutes podcast, an Apple top 100 social science podcast, Kristen has interviewed over 200 authors about what it means to live a more conscious, connected, intentional and joyful life. Learn more at kristenmanieri.com/work-with-me.    Learn more about coaching: Kristen@kristenmanieri.com Connect with the 60 Mindful Minutes podcast   Web: https://kristenmanieri.com Email: Kristen@kristenmanieri.com   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/60MindfulMinutes Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristenmanieri_/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/kristenmanieri/

Here’s the magic of the mind: when we pay attention, we have the wonderful capacity to both think our thoughts AND witness ourselves thinking them. We are the thinker and the watcher all at once, which means when the uninvited memories and unwelcome worries arrive, we can notice that they’re there. This awareness allows us to (eventually) work around the land mines or render them harmless. It’s simple but not always easy, so I’ll share some practices I use to tame my mind.    Learn more about Kristen Manieri and coaching: Kristen@kristenmanieri.com KristenManieri.com   Host Bio Kristen Manieri is a coach who works with teams to increase both productivity and wellbeing. She also helps individuals navigate transition with clarity and confidence. Her areas of focus are: stress reduction, energy management, mindset, resilience, habit formation, rest rituals, and self-care. As the host of the weekly 60 Mindful Minutes podcast, an Apple top 100 social science podcast, Kristen has interviewed over 200 authors about what it means to live a more conscious, connected, intentional and joyful life. Learn more at kristenmanieri.com/work-with-me.    Coaching I have two coaching spots opening up this fall. If you’ve ever considered coaching, or if you’re feelings stuck or you’re about to make a big transition, reach out to me and we can talk about how I can help you navigate what’s ahead with more confidence and clarity. You can reach me at Kristen@kristenmanieri.com.   Full Transcript   The nature of thought is pretty fascinating when you look at it closely. I’ve come to see that we typically don’t experience the world around us; we experience our thoughts about the world around us. And we can often change our life experience simply by changing our thinking.   Here’s what I mean:   The other day I needed to drive somewhere to pick something up. It was a busy week and it felt really inconvenient and annoying to have to go run this errand. I was feeling pretty pissy about it. And then I remembered that there was a podcast episode I’d been meaning to listen to. Suddenly, I was looking forward to an hour in the car by myself. What felt like a burden suddenly felt like a gift.   I didn’t change my circumstances, but I radically altered my experience simply by changing my thinking.   “An untamed mind is a minefield,” writes Brianna Wiest in her book 101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think.   A mind that is a minefield is one that can suddenly and easily unravel into anxiety, regret, shame or anger. I often experience thoughts that seem to come in from nowhere. Old memories float in uninvited. Worries, often unfounded and unwelcome, can linger. My mind is susceptible to unsolicited thoughts that can metastasize into a mental shit storm when I’m not paying attention.   But here’s the magic of the mind: when we do pay attention, we have the wonderful capacity to both think our thoughts AND witness ourselves thinking them. We are the thinker and the watcher all at once, which means when the uninvited memories and unwelcome worries arrive, we can notice that they’re there. This awareness allows us to (eventually) work around the land mines or render them harmless. It’s simple but not always easy, so I’ll share some practices I use to tame my mind.    Develop Your Inner Noticer   Sometimes noticing is all we have to do. It can be enough to simply bring our attention to our thinking long enough to merely name it. “Ah, look at that. I’m thinking about that conversation with my client again.” Perhaps our noticing begins to reveal negative patterns in our thinking. For me, that’s often noticing that I’m jumping to conclusions or making speculative assumptions. We may start to see that we have a lot of mental habits (such as jumping to conclusions). Noticing mental habits takes away their mysterious power over us.   Maybe instead of just noticing the landmines, we also start to disarm them.   This is the taming of the mind that Brianna Wiest refers to. This is where we start to access our own sense of agency and autonomy over our thinking. We can develop control over racing, erratic thoughts the same way we develop any acquired talent, by practicing relating to our thoughts in new ways. With consistency, we begin to develop a new relationship with the mind.   Trade Up It’s amazing what we hear when we actually listen to our thoughts. If we were to broadcast them when we’re stressed, we might hear things like: “I can’t do this.” “This is not going to work out.” “I should never have taken this on.”   Our thoughts affect how we feel, which impacts what we do and how we respond. Here’s some good news: We are capable of listening to our inner dialogue AND we are capable of upgrading it.   I learned the concept of “trading up” from my friend Kim Ades, who founded Frame of Mind Coaching. Essentially, we isolate a negative thought, such as “this not going to work out,” and we trade it in for a slightly more positive one, such as, “if this doesn’t work out, it could lead to something that does.” The idea isn’t to be unrealistically positive, but to choose a new thought that is both believable AND elevating in an incremental climb.   Just the other day I used Kim’s trading up practice to shift me out of a negative thought spiral. As I may have previously shared, we recently adopted a one-year-old dog from Korea and his transition into our home has been incredibly slow. Having spent his entire life in a shelter, everything in our home is new and, as a result, Leo is incredibly timid, anxious and closed off.   I caught myself feeling upset, disappointed and stressed about Leo. And when I tuned in I was able to isolate the thought “this is really hard.” “This is hard,” I told myself with self-compassion. “But it will get better. You’ve already seen micro progressions forward. Within a few weeks or months, this will be a completely relaxed and happy dog.” I traded up and as I continued on in my day with this new baseline thought, I felt more at ease.    Try it out. Take out a piece of paper. Tuning into your inner dialogue, write down your dominant thoughts and isolate one that’s emitting stress. Notice how the body responds to it. Does your heart race? Do you feel sad or anxious? Now, write a few upgrades to the negative thought and feel which one lands as true for you. Create space for a different possibility. Continue climbing the ladder of better feeling thoughts until you notice a shift in how you feel.     Give the Bothersome Mind a Bone “Your mind is bothering you,” said Michael Singer, author of the Untethered Soul, in one of his podcast episodes. Sometimes it’s as though my mind has a mind of its own. I notice this is especially the case when I wake up in the middle of the night and my mind starts endlessly chewing on a series of worries or concerns. It’s like a dog with a bone.   Give it a new bone.   Sometimes the best way to conquer the mind is to beat it at its own game. It’s obsessed with thinking? Fine! Give it something to think about. I’ve been known to go through, scene by scene, the entirety of Love Actually, my favorite movie. I’ve mentally wondered through French towns and been pampered at five-star spas. I’ve counted backwards from 300 in threes. In 2001, I memorized the entire poem Desiderata by Max Ehrmann and used it to ease my mind during a particularly difficult time in my life.    The point is, sometimes I know that settling my mind or upgrading my thoughts is too tall an order. It’s not cheating to give my mind something other than my worries and ruminations to chew on.   Connect with Your Older Self When it comes to triggering thoughts, especially those rooted in old memories, I can often feel frustrated that I’m triggered in the first place. Shouldn’t I be over this by now? Why do I still care? I’m steeped in regret or shame, but then I make it worse by layering on a dose of self-criticism and resistance.   While it may feel at times that I haven’t grown at all in my capacity to redirect my thinking and nurture some self-compassion, the truth is that I’ve worked my way through hundreds of thoughts and old memories that no longer trigger me. It’s taken time, a different perspective, sometimes therapy and often just good ol’ forgetting, but I’ve triumphed over negative thoughts many, many times.   It’s helpful to know that when I spiral into a negative thought loop that it won’t always be this way, that at some point I’ll find the wherewithal to show that thought who’s boss.   When I’m caught in a negative loop, I imagine a me 10 or 20 years from now who can think that thought or reflect on that memory with a totally neutral stance, not triggered at all. I can hold it in my open palm and blow it softly into the breeze like a dandelion wish. I can learn, and have learned, how to simply let go of the grip a thought can have on me. Knowing that sometimes it just takes time, practice and a different perspective gives me the grace to be kind to the me I am today, the me that doesn’t quite have what it takes yet to gently and lovingly turn my attention elsewhere.   How do I know this works? Because I have loads of evidence of things that used to really bother me that no longer do. I have proof that eventually the sting or the storm eventually subside. I can lean on this knowledge for support when I’m going through something tough today.   Final Thought: It’s Just the Mind I want to leave you with one last thought: to tame the mind is also to befriend it. It doesn’t mean to cause you so much harm. It’s just doing what minds are designed to do, and that is think. Sometimes my mind thinks wonderfully creative thoughts. Sometimes it gives me the idea to do something loving and kind for someone else. Sometimes it notices something good in my life. And sometimes it drags up an old memory or clings to negative thoughts. It’s all just thinking. And the more I can simply allow that this is just the mind being the mind, and not get caught up in the mind being the mind, the more it is tamed and the more I am at peace.              

Tanya Dalton, author of On Purpose and The Joy of Missing Out, invites you to ask yourself this question: Are you filling your calendar or are you filling your soul? As a productivity expert, Tanya cares a lot about getting things done and achieving goals, but doing so with an unhurried purpose that we each can access when we stay true to our soul's path and design our days on purpose. With simple shifts and innovative strategies, she offers the tools for us to create a more spacious, fulfilling life.   Guest Bio Tanya Dalton is a best-selling author, transformational speaker, and nationally recognized productivity expert. She helps female executives and entrepreneurs step into purposeful leadership. In addition to having her first book, The Joy of Missing Out, being named one of the Top 10 Business Books of the year by Fortune Magazine, Tanya’s podcast, The Intentional Advantage has received millions of downloads from listeners around the world. She is also a featured expert on several networks including NBC and Fox and is a VIP contributor for Entrepreneur.com. Tanya has been featured in some of the world’s leading publications including Forbes, Inc, Fast Company, and Real Simple. She has been awarded the elite Enterprising Women Award and has been named the Female Entrepreneur to Watch for the state of North Carolina. Tanya is also the founder of inkWELL Press Productivity Co. a multi-million dollar company providing tools that work as a catalyst in helping women do less while achieving maximum success. Her highly anticipated second book, On Purpose: The Busy Woman’s Guide to an Extraordinary Life of Meaning and Success, launched last fall through HarperCollins Publishing.   For episode homepage, resources and links, visit: https://kristenmanieri.com/episode206   Learn more about coaching: Kristen@kristenmanieri.com   Mentioned in this Episode Guest’s book: On Purpose: The Busy Woman's Guide to an Extraordinary Life of Meaning and Success https://www.amazon.com/Purpose-Womans-Extraordinary-Meaning-Success/dp/140021436X Guest’s website: https://tanyadalton.com/ The Joy of Missing Out: https://www.amazon.com/Joy-Missing-Out-Live-Doing/dp/1400214335     Host Bio Kristen Manieri is a coach who works with teams to increase both productivity and wellbeing. She also helps individuals navigate transition with clarity and confidence. Her areas of focus are: stress reduction, energy management, mindset, resilience, habit formation, rest rituals, and self-care. As the host of the weekly 60 Mindful Minutes podcast, an Apple top 100 social science podcast, Kristen has interviewed over 200 authors about what it means to live a more conscious, connected, intentional and joyful life. Learn more at kristenmanieri.com/work-with-me.    Learn more about coaching: Kristen@kristenmanieri.com Connect with the 60 Mindful Minutes podcast   Web: https://kristenmanieri.com Email: Kristen@kristenmanieri.com   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/60MindfulMinutes Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristenmanieri_/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/kristenmanieri/  

By slogging away at work, trying to cross off everything on an infinitely endless to-do list, are we really enriched by our work in the world? We lose ourselves in our doing. We create stress and lose access to the present, which is where we find our creativity, wisdom and intuition.   Learn more about Kristen Manieri and coaching: Kristen@kristenmanieri.com KristenManieri.com   Host Bio Kristen Manieri is a coach who works with teams to increase both productivity and wellbeing. She also helps individuals navigate transition with clarity and confidence. Her areas of focus are: stress reduction, energy management, mindset, resilience, habit formation, rest rituals, and self-care. As the host of the weekly 60 Mindful Minutes podcast, an Apple top 100 social science podcast, Kristen has interviewed over 200 authors about what it means to live a more conscious, connected, intentional and joyful life. Learn more at kristenmanieri.com/work-with-me.    Coaching I have two coaching spots opening up this fall. If you’ve ever considered coaching, or if you’re feelings stuck or you’re about to make a big transition, reach out to me and we can talk about how I can help you navigate what’s ahead with more confidence and clarity. You can reach me at Kristen@kristenmanieri.com.   Full Transcript   Our work and the jobs we do in the world are fertile ground for discontent. For those of us who meet Monday morning with a sense of gloom, even dread, our work life can be a source of angst, disappointment, stress and dissatisfaction. And yet, we each will spend about a third of our lives working. Yes, it’s true not all of us do what we love for a living, but we owe it to ourselves to feel satisfied and not simply endure decades of work in order to get to retirement when we can “really start living.” There’s no such thing as a happiness layaway plan; we are meant to feel happy and fulfilled today.   In our pursuit of a more mindful life, we place as much emphasis, maybe even more, on how we do what we do versus what we do or the results we produce. Who we are being while we do our work impacts not only how we feel, but also how we make others feel.   These days, it seems as though the point to work is to get as much done as possible and make as much money as possible. What gets lost in that equation is the real point to work: to have our lives be enriched by the contribution we make in the world.   By slogging away at work, trying to cross off everything on an infinitely endless to-do list, are we really enriched by our work in the world? We lose ourselves in our doing. We create stress and lose access to the present, which is where we find our creativity, wisdom and intuition.   In a relaxed, open and mindful state, we regulate ourselves, we see more clearly, we better prioritize, and we relate to others with more patience, humility and kindness. Conversely, in our mindlessness, we weaken our ability to manage ourselves, consumed instead with managing tasks, deadlines, outcomes and other people.   This is why mindful work pauses, thoughtfully punctuated between our tasks, are critical if we are to cultivate more awareness and ease at work. A pause could be just a few moments, such as a mini-break between tasks, or it can be a quiet lunch or a walk around the block.   Mini-Pauses   Using a tool such as a timer, smartphone reminder, calendar alert or hourly chime, you can create an invitation to pause periodically throughout your day. Upon hearing the prompt, stop what you’re doing, take a few mindful breaths, and ask yourself these questions: How do I feel? What could I shift? What is my state? Who am I being in this moment?   A few words of warning: It’s easy to grow immune to reminder prompts. As you build your anchor for this pausing habit, aim to switch it up from week to week. Otherwise, you may find yourself ignoring your cue.   Schedule Pauses   You can also schedule pauses in your day, or what I call buffers, between tasks and meetings. Let’s say you schedule a 60-minute meeting in our calendar. To build a buffer, schedule a five to fifteen-minute pause into your calendar immediately following the meeting. Stand up and go for a short walk. Close your eyes and take a few breaths, or do some box breathing. Stretch. Drink a big glass of water. Resist the urge to scroll through our phone.   Take a Lunch Break   I’ve had two interviews on 60 Mindful Minutes with advocates of a true lunch break (Episode #26 with Laura Archer and Episode #185 with Cheryl Johnson). The point they both make is that a lunch break isn’t’ an indulgence; it’s a necessity. Our minds need the break and our tummies need the nourishment.    Lunch breaks are becoming a rarity. A study conducted by OnePoll found that 51 percent of Americans feel that a lunch break is rare and unrealistic, with 30 percent of study respondents reporting that they regularly opt to eat lunch at their desk instead. For those who do take a break, the lunch “hour” is basically a dinosaur at this point.    Breaking for lunch can feel like an unproductive indulgence when we don’t see or understand the benefit it provides. Besides giving us the opportunity to refuel our bodies, the mental rest we give ourselves can improve performance capacity, boost our moods and increase our energy, according to the American Psychological Association.   Take a lunch break. Leave your workspace and eat with colleagues. Go for a walk outside. Read a book. Close your eyes and feel your body wind down. Shoot for at least thirty minutes.   It might be helpful to find a colleague who can serve as both your lunch date and accountability partner. If this is a new or challenging habit, start by committing to just one day a week and grow from there.   A healthy life is less like a marathon and more like a series of sprints. We’re not designed to continuously, day after day, slog on and on until we drop at six o’clock. We’re meant to distribute our energy reserves with pulses of sprints and rests throughout the day. Pauses to rest and refuel are what give us the power and stamina to do our best work.  

The hustle to overachieve at work and at home--all in the hopes that we can “crush it” until we finally feel fulfilled--leaves many of us feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. In her new book, Soul Solution, author and coach Vanessa Loder explores how we can recover our joy by creating our own road map for living instead of following the one that’s been handed to us. By doing things like “following our energetic breadcrumbs” and creating micro-moments of change, we can tap into our intuitive soul power to create a life filled with meaning and joy.   Guest Bio Vanessa Loder is an international keynote speaker and sought-after expert on women’s leadership, mindfulness, stress management, and sustainable success. She's been featured in Forbes, Fast Company, Glamour, and the Huffington Post, among others. She received her MBA from Stanford University, is a certified Executive Coach, and is trained in neurolinguistic programming, past-life regression, and vipassana meditation. For more info, visit vanessaloder.com.   For episode homepage, resources and links, visit: https://kristenmanieri.com/episode204   Learn more about coaching: Kristen@kristenmanieri.com   Mentioned in this Episode Guest’s book: The Soul Solution A Guide for Brilliant, Overwhelmed Women to Quiet the Noise, Find Their Superpower, and (Finally) Feel Satisfied https://vanessaloder.com/soul-solution/ Guest’s website: https://vanessaloder.com/   Host Bio Kristen Manieri is a coach who works with teams to increase both productivity and wellbeing. She also helps individuals navigate transition with clarity and confidence. Her areas of focus are: stress reduction, energy management, mindset, resilience, habit formation, rest rituals, and self-care. As the host of the weekly 60 Mindful Minutes podcast, an Apple top 100 social science podcast, Kristen has interviewed over 200 authors about what it means to live a more conscious, connected, intentional and joyful life. Learn more at kristenmanieri.com/work-with-me.    Learn more about coaching: Kristen@kristenmanieri.com Connect with the 60 Mindful Minutes podcast   Web: https://kristenmanieri.com Email: Kristen@kristenmanieri.com   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/60MindfulMinutes Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristenmanieri_/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/kristenmanieri/

What if at the outset of any new endeavor—a new job, a new hobby, a new book—we gave ourselves permission to just try? What if we remember going in that we can always change our minds, that trying is just trying, not committing? I think we all need to fill our lives with more no-strings-attached tries. This week I share some ways to do just that.   Learn more about Kristen Manieri and coaching: Kristen@kristenmanieri.com KristenManieri.com   Host Bio Kristen Manieri is a coach who works with teams to increase both productivity and wellbeing. She also helps individuals navigate transition with clarity and confidence. Her areas of focus are: stress reduction, energy management, mindset, resilience, habit formation, rest rituals, and self-care. As the host of the weekly 60 Mindful Minutes podcast, an Apple top 100 social science podcast, Kristen has interviewed over 200 authors about what it means to live a more conscious, connected, intentional and joyful life. Learn more at kristenmanieri.com/work-with-me.    Coaching I have two coaching spots opening up this fall. If you’ve ever considered coaching, or if you’re feelings stuck or you’re about to make a big transition, reach out to me and we can talk about how I can help you navigate what’s ahead with more confidence and clarity. You can reach me at Kristen@kristenmanieri.com.   Full Transcript The other day during a yoga class, the instructor invited us to add a few adjustments the pose we were in. “You can reach upward. You can extend through your toes. You can even extend one leg back,” she said. “And remember, you can always change your mind.” Hmmmm. I thought. That’s new. I’d never heard an instructor say that before. But I immediately noticed a sense of ease around my willingness to attempt the more challenging iterations of the pose. In essence, she was giving me permission to just try.    This struck me as an important life lesson.  What if at the outset of any new endeavor—a new job, a new exercise experience, a hobby, a new book—we give ourselves permission to just try? What if we remember going in that we can always change our minds, that trying is just trying, not committing?   The thing about trying something new is that we can’t possibly know going in how we will feel about it once we’ve started. We can predict based on our past experiences and what others might have experienced, but the truth is that we really don’t know what’s going to happen until we try.   I think we all need to fill our lives with more no-strings-attached tries. Here are some ways to do just that:   Dabble In 2015, author Elizabeth Gilbert gave a talk for Oprah’s SuperSoul Sessions on the two types of passion-seekers: jackhammers and hummingbirds. While jackhammers fixate on a project or task with relentless, almost obsessive, devotion, hummingbirds move from tree to tree, flower to flower, trying all sorts of things along the way.   This metaphor points to how we can let go of passion and instead follow curiosity. Said another way, we dabble. Dabbling is all about trying new things—hobbies, interests, experiences, foods—for the sake of not only expanding our horizons, but to disrupt our habitual thinking patterns and discover innovative thoughts, ideas and solutions.   You make trying new things part of your regular routine. Begin with starting a dabble journal or creating a list of things you’d like to explore. Dabbling doesn’t commit you to anything or mean that you have to give up anything; it simply means you check things out. Once you have a solid list, make some time each week to do some dabbling. Watch a YouTube video, go to the library and find some books, listen to a podcast, do some Pinterest pinning, and get out in the world and explore where your curiosity leads you. Notice how this process makes you feel. Be present to the experience of dabbling.     Play According to Stuart Brown, author of Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul, play is an essential part of wellbeing. Why? Because it is in our moments of fun and freedom that we disengage from time, purposefulness and worry. Said plainly, it’s where we find joy, a precursor to optimism, possibility and insight.   But play can feel so indulgent and silly, even awkward. It’s as though we forget how to do it once we become adults. Turns out, we’re simply out of practice. Making intentional space for play is a habit we can cultivate by beginning to consider what makes us laugh and feel unplugged. We prioritize play because feeling good matters.   A life that is devoid of fun and play begins to feel gloomy and lackluster. But when we sprinkle our days with laughter and levity, even our tough moments can feel less difficult. Joy makes life more beautiful, fun and easy. Play makes us feel more alive.   Try making a list of things that are fun to you. Think of board games that make you laugh, and pastimes or hobbies that make you smile. Consider what you loved to do as a kid. Grant yourself permission to set aside time for these activities each day or week.     Consider designating the time between dinner and going to bed as “playtime.” Commit to 30 to 60 minutes of play and fun by yourself or with others. Make play a priority.    Flaneur I’d never heard the word “flaneur” until l I interviewed Erika Owen on my podcast. Erika was so smitten with the French concept of meaningfully and mindfully meandering through a city that she wrote the book, The Art of Flaneuring: How to Wander with Intention and Discover a Better Life.   Wandering is in direct contrast to our highly purpose-driven way of doing life. Whether we’re at a grocery store or walking through our neighborhood, we know exactly what we mean to do and where we mean to go. But in our single-mindedness and narrowed determination, we miss out on what’s lying at the edges of our attention.   The antidote to this linear thinking and living is what Andrew Dietz describes as purposeful purposelessness in his book Follow the Meander: An Indirect Route to a More Creative Life. When we wander with intention, we cultivate mindfulness and tap into new insights, but also increase gratitude and fall more deeply in love with wherever we are. We loosen our preoccupation with what is in order to create space for what could be.   Try spending some time each day or week being aimless. Set aside ten or fifteen minutes to wander, even if it’s in or around your own home. Resist the urge to do something productive or accomplish anything. Notice any discomfort you feel and use it as an opportunity to be more present. Think of a few places you go each week and look to attach a few aimless minutes to the experience.    And Most Importantly… Embrace Missteps Before I sold my previous business back in early 2020, I often set off in unchartered directions with a new revenue idea. In one particular instance, an idea sent me down an exciting but very expensive road. The concept never panned out and it ended up costing far more money that I had anticipated. I learned a lot from the experience but it started to sow seeds of self-doubt, causing me to shy away from my entrepreneurial inspirations.   What I now see is that life gives us countless opportunities to stretch beyond our own boundaries. New ventures, relationships, even a new hairstyle, gently push us outside of our comfort zones toward our growth and learning zones. Whether things turn out as we hoped is beside the point; the real gold is who we become when we stretch ourselves.   Our missteps and blunders are simply fodder for our development, not evidence that we’re failures. When we embrace the results of our efforts, even when we’d wish those results to be different, we’re able to see how our experiences can shape us for the better, not hold us back.    What could you try today? Find one thing and then give yourself permission to dabble, play and flaneur. And remember, you can always change your mind.

While it largely goes unexamined, we each have a relationship with food. Our thoughts and beliefs around what and why we eat forms the bedrock for how we nourish ourselves and, as a result, how we feel in our bodies and in our lives. This week I’m joined by Functional Nutritionist Sarah Geha for a conversation about our challenged relationship with food and eating, and ways we can rethink and rebuild this relationship.   Guest Bio Sarah is both a functional nutritionist and environmental toxins specialist. She is a Certified Nutrition Specialist ("CNS") and a Licensed Dietitian/Nutritionist (“LDN”) in the state of Florida. Sarah has a Master of Science degree in Nutrition & Integrative Health from Maryland University of Integrative Health, a Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University, an environmental toxins specialist certification, and a health coaching certificate from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition (“IIN”) in New York City.   For episode homepage, resources and links, visit: https://kristenmanieri.com/episode202   Learn more about coaching: Kristen@kristenmanieri.com   Mentioned in this Episode Sarah Geha Wellness Sleep Course: register for wait list at https://www.sarahgehawellness.com/   Guest’s website: https://www.sarahgehawellness.com/ Email address: orlandonutrition@gmail.com   Host Bio Kristen Manieri is a coach who works with teams to increase both productivity and wellbeing. She also helps individuals navigate transition with clarity and confidence. Her areas of focus are: stress reduction, energy management, mindset, resilience, habit formation, rest rituals, and self-care. As the host of the weekly 60 Mindful Minutes podcast, an Apple top 100 social science podcast, Kristen has interviewed over 200 authors about what it means to live a more conscious, connected, intentional and joyful life. Learn more at kristenmanieri.com/work-with-me.    Learn more about coaching: Kristen@kristenmanieri.com Connect with the 60 Mindful Minutes podcast   Web: https://kristenmanieri.com Email: Kristen@kristenmanieri.com   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/60MindfulMinutes Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristenmanieri_/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/kristenmanieri/  

We hear a lot about mindfulness these days. In fact, I think we hear about it so much that we might have lost sight of what it actually is and what it’s actually for. Mindfulness is about being present, but it’s really about who we are being in the present when we consciously direct and choose how we want to show up in the world.     Learn more about Kristen Manieri and coaching: Kristen@kristenmanieri.com KristenManieri.com   Host Bio Kristen Manieri is a coach who works with teams to increase both productivity and wellbeing. She also helps individuals navigate transition with clarity and confidence. Her areas of focus are: stress reduction, energy management, mindset, resilience, habit formation, rest rituals, and self-care. As the host of the weekly 60 Mindful Minutes podcast, an Apple top 100 social science podcast, Kristen has interviewed over 200 authors about what it means to live a more conscious, connected, intentional and joyful life. Learn more at kristenmanieri.com/work-with-me.    COACHING I have two coaching spots opening up this fall. If you’ve ever considered coaching, or if you’re feelings stuck or you’re about to make a big transition, reach out to me and we can talk about how I can help you navigate what’s ahead with more confidence and clarity. You can reach me at Kristen@kristenmanieri.com.   Full Transcript We hear a lot about mindfulness these days. In fact, I kind of think we hear about it so much that we might have lost sight of what it actually and what it’s actually for.   To put it simply, mindfulness is our ability to be aware of what’s happening around us and inside us. It’s not meditation, although meditation can be a great tool. And it’s not being present in every moment of our lives, because that’s impossible. And you know what, I like being lost in my thoughts sometimes.   The thing that I think gets lost when we talk about mindfulness and our goal to become more mindful is the point. What is the point or purpose of being more mindful?   Mindfulness is about being present, but it’s really about who we are being in the present when we consciously direct and choose how we want to show up in the world.   For example:   More compassionate                                          Less judgmental More patient                                                       Less hurried More easygoing                                                  Less rigid More calm                                                           Less anxious More present                                                      Less distracted More disciplined                                                Less erratic More self-loving                                                  Less self-criticizing More generous                                                   Less selfish More grateful                                                      Less entitled More joyful                                                          Less moody More conscious                                                  Less asleep   I know for myself, when I am judgmental, hurried, rigid, and anxious, I suffer and I’m not all that great to be around. When I am compassionate, patient, easygoing, and calm, I feel lighter and happier, and I create less disconnect and discord in my relationships. In my experience, being mindful makes me a better person toward myself and toward others, and it helps me to create stronger and deeper relationships.   So much of our sense of safety and belonging comes from how well we are able to form healthy and solid attachments to ourselves and to the people we care about. Interestingly, the presence of connective and harmonious relationships is a key wellness indicator, as discovered in an eight-decade-long study outlined in the book, The Longevity Project. We now know that it is our relationships (or lack of) more than our diet or genes that determine how healthy we are and how long we live. Connecting the dots: mindfulness helps us choose better ways of being, which contributes to better relationships, and harmonious relationships make us healthier.   It also creates white space, gaps in-between activity, and stillness or silence amidst the internal chatter and outer noise. Mindfulness gives us pauses, even if only for a second or two, when we can return to ourselves.   How many of us can sit with our thoughts and feelings, especially difficult ones, long enough to let them pass? Or do we need to distract ourselves as quickly as possible? Mindfulness trains us to withstand more discomfort, not so that we can become titans of pain, but so that we can help the pain pass.   But there are many Barriers to Mindfulness   We can set up an incredible support system of habits to cultivate mindfulness and conscious living—my book, Better Daily Mindfulness Habits is filled with them. But it’s all for nothing if we don’t also take the time to remove the hurdles that impede our ability to be mindful.   Technology Smart phones have become an essential, seemingly indispensable, aspect of our lives. The trouble is, smart phones and apps distract us from the present moment, producing unconscious, repetitive behaviors, like picking it up and scrolling mindlessly dozens of times each day.   Lack of Self-Care The better we care for ourselves, the better we become at responding to life’s inevitable challenges and trials. Sleep, good nutrition, regular meals, rest, exercise, play and connection with others are just some of the many elements that fill our resilience tanks and help us live with more presence.   Multi-Tasking Most of us have developed the skill of being able to do many things at once. No wonder we struggle with mindfulness. While we’ve become quite clever at stacking multiple tasks together, it rarely makes us good at what we’re trying to accomplish. In fact, it often makes us much worse. It’s truly impossible to connect with others, ourselves and the nowness of a moment when we are doing several things at once. Part of the intention to live a more mindful, conscious life is the commitment to doing only one thing at a time.   Clutter Besides creating a sense of sanctuary, simplicity and cleanness, a tidy, organized environment helps us feel more solid on the inside. Clutter robs us of our energy and gusto. It makes us feel crowded in, overly contained, frustrated, even hopeless. But when we can begin to eliminate our outer chaos, we start to settle our inner seas.   Lack of Solitude Solitude, when it’s chosen, is beneficial for us. The time we spend on our own gives us space to contemplate our lives and discover who we are. It is in the gaps between our interactions with others—either directly with another human being or through technology—that we power down and access our intuition, creativity and insight. If we are to presence ourselves to our inner worlds, and participate deliberately in our growth, we need solitude.    I invite you to take a look at your own life and consider:   Who are you when you’re at your best and how could you become more aware of bringing that way of being into your life on a more regular basis? What barriers are often standing in the way of you being more present so that you can bring more awareness to your way of being more often? Is it technology? Are you too busy? Maybe you could find a way to spend some time alone each day.   It all comes back to being intentional, having some deliberateness about the way we want to show up in this world and then using the tools of mindfulness—meditation, journaling, reflection, time alone, walks in the woods—to keep those intentions clear and present.   Otherwise, we’re just sleepwalking through life on autopilot. And what kind of life is that?