If you are new to meditation, guided meditations are just the place to start! In the Buddhist tradition, a restless mind is often referred to as the “monkey mind.” The goals of mindfulness meditation include calming the monkey mind, reducing stress, and increasing focus. A racing mind that reacts sensitively to little things indicates thinking … More What the Heck is Guided Meditation?
“The joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives. ” ~ Russel M. Nelson . . . . . Seeking Health and Happiness One Day at a Time. Marcy Berg is a writer and therapist living in the Pacific Northwest and … More Cultivating Joy
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are … More Our Deepest Fears
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas everywhere we go … I love the holiday season, and yet Christmas has frequently been a difficult time to celebrate. So much of Christmas has become commercialized and more about receiving than giving. In the Pacific Northwest, it is a rainy and dark season. However, this year … More Planning a Socially Distanced Christmas: 11 Ideas for a Festive Holiday Season
Squirrel! In American slang, someone who is twitchy and changes direction quickly is often called a squirrel. Those adorable rodents with long bushy tails spend all summer gathering nuts to prepare for the winter. However, they are known to shift their attention quickly from one thing to another. While squirrels have excellent long-term memories, a … More 7 Steps to Create New Habits and Be Less Distracted
We go through our days distracted. Our attention gets pulled in many directions. Sometimes, we focus our attention on people and events such as our family, friends, work, politics. And other times, we focus our attention on the minutiae of life such as television, shopping, doing the laundry, video games. Mindfulness, being present in the … More 3 Mindfulness Practices You Can Start Today: Observing
Be content with what you have, rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you. ~ Lao Tzu Seeking Health and Happiness One Day at a Time. Marcy Berg is a writer and therapist living in the Pacific Northwest and Exploring thoughts on mental health, wellness, … More Finding Contentment
Each November, we pause at Thanksgiving to express gratitude for what we have been given. This year, some find it challenging to be thankful in the midst of so many difficult events that we have experienced individually, as a community, and as a country. And yet, it is the process of expressing gratitude that gives us the mental and emotional strength to go on. … More 6 Gratitude Quotes for These Times
Thanksgiving is upon us, and many of us start thinking fondly about childhood gatherings with grandma and grandpa as well as all the aunts and uncles gathered around the table. If you grew up in a larger family, you likely spent your first holidays relegated to the children’s table. There you might’ve missed out on … More Keeping the Social in a Socially Distanced Thanksgiving
Mindfulness is the journey of awareness, learning to be present, conscious, and nonjudgmental of our feelings, thoughts, and actions. Most importantly, mindfulness is a process of growth. … More 8 Myths About Mindfulness