Rest as Resistance (S4E9)
The truth is, awareness of the world can be exhausting. Being in a marginalized body or being an ally to marginalized bodies can leave our nervous systems fried. We need to rest in order to remain resourced to continue resisting the very systems that oppress us. Not to mention, that under a capitalistic and patriarchal society, resting itself is an act of rebellion and resistance! This meditation will guide you towards feeling and finding rest in your body.
Seeing Your Way (S4E8)
Many meditators become attached to the idea that meditating must be done with the eyes closed, but how can we use sight - much like we've used sound in the past - as an anchor and a window into a budding self-awareness? Observing your body's responses and reactions to visual stimulus is a beautiful way to practice. Try it with me!
You Are What You Are Looking For (S4E7)
Whether it is peace, energy, love, kindness, understanding, or something else you are looking for, this meditation will help you find pieces of yourselves that already contain that which you are seeking. It's a practice in resourcing from within. Which isn't meant to eliminate the need for others, only to keep us feeling sturdy and in harmony with ourselves.
Receiving Sound, Observing Self (S4E6)
Sound is an amazing tool for observing our natural reactions and inclinations. Noticing how we physically receive certain sounds, what happens in the body when we can't seem to find a sound after the meditation we are listening to told us to hear! This meditation will use sound and the sense of hearing as a portal to observing the self. It will sort of replace the more frequently used anchors like breath, etc. Give it a listen! See what comes up!
Self Diagnostics (S4E5)
Sometimes a simple check in is incredibly powerful. This meditation will guide you through a little self-diagnostics check, to notice what is present in you in a precise moment. Doubt? Agitation? Fatigue? Practice saying "I see you! It's all good!" before diving deeper. Removing judgement allows us to be honest with ourselves and those around us about what we're navigating in a given moment which can create space for compassion towards yourself and others.
Returning Over and Over (S4E4)
One of the most common misconceptions I come across as a meditation teacher is the belief that you need to be able to empty your mind or stop it from wandering in order to meditate. The practice of meditation is a continual returning from wherever your mind wanders to. This meditation focuses on that very fundamental part of every practice: Returning. Over and over.
Simply Settling (S4E3)
Some days we just feel a little bit wired and unsettled. This meditation is a simple yet effective tool for helping to settle the mind, the nerves, and the spirit. In the meditation, I use the visual of a snow globe all shaken up and slowly settling. Think of this as that but for your mind.
Leaning Into Support (S4E2)
In a highly individualistic society that celebrates independence, it can feel hard sometimes to accept and embrace support. But the truth is, there is massive strength and freedom in allowing loved ones and our communities to support us. This meditation will tune into the ways your body and mind are resisting support as a practice in leaning into it.
Navigating Perfectionism (S4E1)
The body naturally wants to move towards balance. We don't really need to do anything about it. The mind however, often seeks perfection. This meditation will invite you to notice the way this mental tendency towards fixing and adjusting manifests in the body. The more we practice this, the more easily we can respond when we notice it happening in our day to day lives, slowly healing our perfectionist minds.
Bonus Meditation - End of Year Reflection
The meditation includes visualizing the year that is ending in reverse chronological order and letting any memories of whatever happened during the year arise naturally. Afterward, fill out the template available for download. In the template, specify one to two highs and lows from each season, reflect on the one biggest lesson you (re)learned, and contemplate on how you want to feel in the coming year.
Radiating Metta (S3E9)
For those familiar with the practice of cultivating loving-kindness, you probably have done so through a recitation of phrases. Reciting phrases is just one doorway into this particular heart quality, and it doesn’t always work for everyone. In this practice, you’ll be guided to use images or a memory to inspire the sensations of loving-kindness to arise, and then to share it outward.
RAINish (S3E8)
The acronym RAIN - recognize, allow, investigate, non-identification - was created by Michelle McDonald and popularized by Tara Brach. Often taught as a tool to deal with overwhelming emotions, this twist on a more traditional RAIN practice is guided so that it can be an essential technique you refer to regardless of what your current experience is.
Altruistic Joy (S3E7)
Connecting to the experience of joy is a practice. This meditation offers some phrases and questions to repeat to yourself as part of a practice of tuning into joy.
Felt Sense (S3E6)
How are you really right now? Is it possible to go beyond the label, or concept, or construct of sadness or joy and drop into the body? How does whatever you’re feeling manifest right now? Sensations are information! This meditation follows the thread of your experience back to an immediate awareness of what is felt in a moment. Over and over again.
Tuning Into the Body’s Wisdom (S3E5)
Tuning into the embodied experience of a thing - a sound, a thought, a sensation - can give us important insight into how we are feeling at any given moment. This meditation will invite kindness in as we practice returning over and over again to the most present sensations in our body.
Put Down the Doing (S3E4)
In a society obsessed with productivity and "doing" it can be really challenging to honor moments of stillness, even though these moments often hold vital wisdom for our well-being. This meditation is simple, yet can be challenging since. You'll be guided to put down the doing–seeking out the next instruction or thinking about the next thing to "do– and to direct your attention in a way that is mindful of whatever is attracting your attention.
Honoring the Elements (S3E3)
Whenever an emotion or a sensation arises and we get caught in thinking that it shouldn’t be this way, what is happening is simply nature living through us, being expressed in the moment. Much like how the heat or the air in your body comes and goes, much like the expressions of fire and wind in daily life fluctuate and waiver, so it is that all things come and go, arise and pass away. This meditation helps us tune into the elements as they live within us.
Sidestep Compassion Overwhelm (S3E2)
In a news-obsessed, 24-hour information cycle society, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of suffering there is in the world at any given time. Between the people closest to us, those who challenge us, and those we know only from a distance ... It can be a lot to hold. This meditation introduces a few sentences to help you focus your care and attention where it needs to be, while also letting go of the urge to control every outcome.
Your Go To Meditation (S3E1)
One of the biggest barriers many people face when starting their meditation practice is the idea that they are inherently either “good” or “bad” at it. In reality, though, a lot of meditation is the practice of coming back over and over and over again. This 10-minute meditation, which is my "go-to" when I'm in a pinch, is a simple and yet effective practice that kindly reminds you to begin again and again. The good news is that this practice will always be there to welcome you back each time.
Steadying the Heart and Mind (S2E9)
"Balance" and "ease" are words used interchangeably to mean equanimity, while equanimity itself can be defined as a steadiness of the heart and mind. In other words, it is the groundwork for freedom and compassion through wisdom. Like many parts of mindfulness practice, discomfort can't be bypassed to an equanimous state, however, practice helps to cultivate the conditions for equanimity to arise naturally. In this meditation, you'll be guided into cultivating a balanced heart and mind.