Mindful In May Encore 2021 | Day 16

TODAY'S MEDITATIONS

Befriending The Breath with Lori Schwanbeck

Lori Schwanbeck is dedicated to creating the conditions that enable people to thrive in personal and professional life. Her unique blend of qualifications as a marketing professional, psychotherapist, and mindfulness teacher, enable her to deliver a depth of knowledge along with practical skills that support individual and organizational well-being. Lori partners with diverse organisations around the globe including LinkedIn, Disney, Benevolently, The Kingdom of Bhutan, and Bain Consulting. She is a senior faculty member at Wisdom Labs and Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute. Lori co-founded San Francisco’s Mindfulness Therapy Associates, a psychotherapy and coaching practice specialising in evidence-based mental health treatment.

Letting Go Of The Meditator with Andy Hobson

Andy’s vision is to create a happier, kinder, more conscious world through teaching meditation. Since starting to teach meditation in 2010, he has helped millions of people around the world through his guided meditations, music and audio courses. Andy draws upon many traditions, philosophies, therapeutic approaches and his personal meditation practice to teach how we can return to our true nature, free ourselves from the voice in our head and find lasting happiness, purpose and freedom.

Love these meditations? Here's a whole library of them.

Mindfulness of thoughts IN DAILY LIFE

Mindfulness meditation isn't simply about putting aside 10 or 20 minutes a day to meditate and then being unmindful in the rest of your life.

It's a practice that we are training in, but which we want to bring into all moments of our lives.

Today, see if you can notice when you are getting lost in thoughts throughout the day, and label those moments with a mental note of: "Thinking, thinking.”

There is no need to judge the thoughts or try to change them - just notice them and, with your inner-voice, say, “Thinking, thinking.”

Today (and every other day!), see if you can notice where your attention is throughout the day. You will be strengthening your capacity to stay in the present moment and not get lost in worry and unhelpful thought loops. Just notice, and be aware.

MINDFUL TIP:

Are you an incessant list-maker during meditation?

When you notice you’re in “doing” mode and feeling agitated or on edge, set a timer for three minutes before you meditate to brain dump and get your to-do list down on paper. This can give you a sense of greater freedom and mental space before you sit down to meditate. Of course, your mind won’t necessarily stop planning, but it may reduce the intensity of the list-making and allow you to settle into the practice with ease. Once your meditation is finished, you can come back to your to-do list with increased calm and clarity.

If you’re active in the Facebook group, don’t forget to drop in today and share your experiences or insights, or comment on others’ posts. We are all in this together.