Wondering how to be more playful in your life? Adults often find that responsibilities and seriousness replace the excitement and playfulness of childhood. But by being creative, spontaneous, finding work that feels like play, and being silly, you can cultivate that childlike spirit once again. Ever dream about being a kid again? It’s a common…
The Emotional Vibration Chart maps the range of human emotions to higher and lower frequencies. Peace and joy are higher vibration emotions, while shame and guilt are lower vibration emotions. By using the chart, you can understand which emotions are “higher vibration” and start to cultivate more of those in your life. You’ve heard people…
What is mindful awareness? It’s the art of paying attention to the present moment nonjudgmentally. You know that feeling when you’re in the middle of doing something, and then you realize you weren’t actually paying attention? That’s awareness. Applying nonjudgment to awareness turns it into mindful awareness. Observing myself, I notice a lack of awareness…
Not every meditation technique works perfectly for everyone. From Vipassana to Chakra meditation to Zazen to mantra meditation, there are many types of meditation practices to experiment with as you look for the technique that best connects with you. Oftentimes, experienced meditators go through multiple forms of meditation before settling on one that connects best with…
Why is meditation important? Meditation is a powerful tool to improve well-being by cultivating a calm state of mind and reducing mental chatter and stress. From improved focus, gratitude, and self-compassion, to less anger, stress, and anxiety, practicing mindfulness meditation has an incredible number of benefits. It’s easy to lose sight of just how powerful…
The Mindful Souls subscription box is perfect for anyone looking for a beautifully curated monthly box aimed at spiritual seekers. Their boxes include easy-to-use tools to help you develop your spiritual practice, with 6-8 hand-picked items like jewelry, crystals, aromatherapy products, affirmation cards, and more. Considering ordering a Mindful Souls box, or a similar spiritual…
What makes a good life? According to a Harvard study that’s observed subjects for over 80 years, a good life comes from good relationships. Relationship quality gives a more accurate prediction of whether people will have happy, long lives than their intelligence, genes, or even their cholesterol levels. Most days, we wake up and get…
The Goddess Provisions Box is perfect for spiritual seekers who want to “nurture their inner goddess.” Each monthly subscription box includes 5-7 products like crystals, aromatherapy, natural beauty products, & spiritual tools. With 1700+ reviews and tens of thousands of sales, it’s one of the most popular spiritual subscription boxes available. Considering ordering a Goddess…
Happiness is subjective. But measuring happiness can be done using the subjective happiness scale, which you can also use to track your own happiness over time. Some studies also use behavioral observations and biological data to determine happiness. Measuring data by country requires using bigger picture metrics like life expectancy and per capita GDP. Each…
Dogs have a natural ability to live in the present. If you’re lucky enough to have a dog in your life, you may not even realize that you have a mindfulness guru living with you. Dogs also help us with mindfulness by reminding us to play and experience joy in our daily life. Dogs are…
Negative visualization is the practice of imagining worst-case scenarios, popularized by the Stoics of ancient Rome. Negative visualization exercises can help you be grateful for what you have and appreciate the shortness of life. The Stoics of ancient Rome walked around imagining all manner of illnesses, deaths, and worst-case scenarios that could happen to them…
If you’re wondering how to appreciate life, the best way to do it is by practicing gratitude and reminding yourself of your own mortality. We take life for granted because mortality is scary, so it’s easier to ignore it. But ignoring the fact that our time is finite means it’s harder to appreciate our lives….
Thich Nhat Hanh was a Buddhist monk, teacher, and writer who taught extensively on the subject of mindfulness. When he passed away in 2022, he was rightfully celebrated as one of the most influential promoters of mindfulness in the world. Through his books and teachings, he reached millions of people with a message of compassion…
Understanding the circle of concern vs circle of influence means understanding what we can control, and what we can’t control. The Circle of Concern, Circle of Control, and Circle of Influence deal with exactly this issue. These concepts come from Stephen Covey’s 1989 book ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’. It’s tough to accept…
There’s no more time-honored morning routine than sitting down at the kitchen table with coffee, eggs, and the newspaper. But I stopped reading the news because it made me anxious. And it made me anxious because it was outside my Circle of Control. We’ve been trained in this habit. We mirror the behavior shown to…
Looking for the best mindfulness blogs on the Internet? Top ten lists are a dime a dozen, so I decided to populate this one with mindfulness blogs that I—personally—regularly read and enjoy. Zen Habits and Raptitude, for example, are some of my favorite sites on the Internet and I’ve read them for years. I’ve also…
What does meditation feel like? Meditation is an intensely personal experience. But generally, there tends to be three types of meditation sessions: calm and relaxing, “just okay,” and difficult and frustrating. Each creates a distinct feeling. The experience of meditation doesn’t only differ from person to person. The same person can have a wildly different…
Meditation isn’t for everyone. But it takes time to work. If you’ve tried it and feel like it doesn’t work for you, you may consider trying different meditation techniques, meditating for longer, or doing a meditation course or retreat. I frequently have to encourage myself to keep my meditation practice going. With anything that requires…
The 5 stages of meditation are Optimism, The Slump, Unraveling, Abandoment, and Rediscovery. Building a meditation practice is hard work. Sometimes, setbacks occur. Failure is part of the process of building a sustainable meditation practice. Have you ever been trying to eat healthier, and then (inexplicably) found yourself in front of the pantry eating potato…
The main difference between contemplation and meditation is that meditation is a practice that focuses on clearing the mind, while contemplation is a more analytical and reflective practice that involves thinking deeply about a particular topic or concept. Sometimes, all you need is to understand your own thoughts. When that happens, you sit down and…
