Full, slow breathing is among the most relaxing mindfulness practices. An effective way to slow and deepen your breathing is to pay attention to your out-breath. While doing this practice, allow your out-breath to be a little longer than your […]
“Sometimes good, sometimes bad. That’s how today, tomorrow and the next day will be. Accepting that this will be so, removes a layer of anxiety. It also allows you to get on with whatever, if anything, needs to be done […]
The mind wanders all the time, even when we are attempting to focus on a single object. It may even wander before you get to the end of this paragraph. That’s partly why neuroscientists describe wandering as the brain’s “default […]
We can’t get rid of worry altogether: it comes with the territory of life. What we need is to change our relationship with worry. Worry need not be a signal to run around squawking or to hide in the corner. […]
“ … the task … is to be clearly aware of what’s happening without pushing away those aspects of experience that you dislike and clinging to those you do like.” Vidyamala Burch, Living Well with Pain and Illness. The book […]
When our brain misinterprets the world, it can create over-anxiety or over-confidence. In my book Daily Calm I suggest imagining one side of your brain deals in facts and the other in stories. Ask ‘And what are the facts?’ to […]
Everybody worries but I have met people who build great cathedrals of worry in their heads. They ponder, not only every angle of the issue that faces them but every angle of every angle. A review of research on worry […]
1. Focus on your out-breath As you breathe, give your main attention to your out-breath. Sometimes it feels as though the breath is going right down through your feet and into the floor. The out-breath tends to be particularly calming. […]
Do you believe everything your mind tells you? If so:
how many disasters has your mind warned you against that never happened?
how many things have gone wrong that your mind neglected to warn you about?
how often has your mind told you to be angry about something that really didn’t matter in the scheme of things – or to be afraid of something that turned out perfectly well?
Pema Chödrön recommends what she calls “pause practice” as a way of stepping out of the stream of thoughts and preoccupations that can so easily carry us away during our day. To do the practice, just pause and take three conscious […]
