12 Minute Meditation

Thanks to our autonomic nervous system, life-sustaining processes like our heartbeat, digestion, and breathing all happen without us even having to pay attention. But our environments, stress levels, and other factors can definitely affect the health and efficiency of these processes. 
For example, sitting hunched at our desks and staring at screens often means that our breathing gets shallow and irregular—which of course affects things like focus, energy, cognition, and attention.  
This week, Shamash Alidina leads a guided breathing exercise called Light, Slow, and Deep (or LSD), designed to re-set the breath in a way that opens the chest, relaxes tension, and calms the nervous system. 
Shamash Alidina has been practising mindfulness since 1998 and runs his own successful training organisation. He is the author of Mindfulness For Dummies, The Mindful Way Through Stress, and most recently, Breathing Exercises for Dummies. He frequently pops up in newspapers, magazines and on radio shows. Based in London, he runs online trainings and speaks at conferences all over the world. He's been teaching mindfulness full-time since 2010. 
The transcription of this guided meditation will be online and in our app at Mindful.org next week. 
Stay curious, stay inspired. Sign up for our free newsletter mindful.org/signup or download the app for free at mindful.org/app. 
Show Notes
Find more from Shamash Alidina here.
If you are looking for an in-depth resource to help build essential skills to meet a changing and uncertain world with a core of inner strength, join Melli O'Brien and a host of other teachers for The Seven Strengths, a FREE 7-day online course happening this May 13-19. Learn more and register at www.mindfulness.com/the-seven-strengths. 
Go Deeper
Breathing mediations have many mental and physical benefits, and you can find dozens of resources on our site. Start here: 
The Breath is Your Superpower: 3 Ways to Help Kids Reset 

Email Apnea Is Real. Here's How to Breathe Better at Work 

What Science Says About the Power of the Outbreath 

Helping Black Women Take A Breath 

How Your Breath Controls Your Mood and Attention  

For more practice with breathing meditation, try 12-Minute Breathing Practice for Awareness: Sit and Know You're Sitting or A Guided Meditation to Encourage Deep Breathing. 
And more from Mindful here:
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City life can often feel frantic, loud, and cut off from natural beauty. It's not often we slow down and take in all there is to experience. But even in urban areas, if you pay attention, you can hear the call of a bird, notice your favorite color in shop windows, and look up at the vast sky above. 
In this guided meditation, we slow our roll and take in the beauty of our surroundings, no matter where we find ourselves.
Kazumi Igus is a Los Angeles native, science teacher, and trained meditation facilitator through UCLA's Mindful Awareness Center. She currently serves as a WholeSchool Mindfulness Director at one of the few predominantly Black high schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Her mission is to transform education into a system that is inherently responsive to students' social and emotional needs, explicitly fosters focus, and empowers students to develop emotional resilience in an increasingly challenging world. 
The transcription of this guided meditation will be online and in our app at Mindful.org next week. 
Stay curious, stay inspired. Sign up for our free newsletter mindful.org/signup or download the app for free at mindful.org/app. 
Show Notes
Find more from Kazumi Igus here.
If you are looking for an in-depth resource to help build essential skills to meet a changing and uncertain world with a core of inner strength, join Melli O'Brien and a host of other teachers for The Seven Strengths, a FREE 7-day online course happening this May 13-19. Learn more and register at www.mindfulness.com/the-seven-strengths. 
Go Deeper
Looking for more reasons to head outside? Here are some additional Mindful.org resources to help you build a stronger relationship with Mama Nature: 
The Nature Remedy: Find Freedom from Tech Overload 

Nature-Based Mindfulness Practices for Families 

We're Hard-Wired to Crave Nature 

Why Is Nature So Good for Your Mental Health? 

What Nature Teaches Us About Well-Being 

For more practice being intentionally mindful outside, try A 12-Minute Meditation to Rest in the Movement of Nature. 

And more from Mindful here:
More episodes of 12 Minute MeditationLet us know what you thought of this episode of 12 Minute Meditation by leaving a review or by emailing [email protected].

Mindfulness meditation involves a willingness to be with ourselves as we are. It offers a way of learning to work with ourselves, and not on ourselves, especially if we are healing from perfectionism.
Mindfulness reminds us that not everything has to be "fixed"—and very often, our movement back to wellness starts when we stop trying to change ourselves and simply accept where we are with care and attention. 
Cheryl Jones is a mindfulness teacher, health and wellness coach, and author of two books, Thriving When Your Cosmic Egg Is Cracked: A Mindful Journey and Mindful Exercise: A Bridge Between Yoga and Exercise. She was the recipient of the Chairman's Leadership Award and the Norman Vincent Peale Award for Positive Thinking for integrating mindfulness into corporate culture at Aetna. You can find her at www.linkedin.com/in/cherylljones/.
The transcription of this guided meditation will be online and in our app at Mindful.org next week. 
Stay curious, stay inspired. Sign up for our free newsletter mindful.org/signup or download the app for free at mindful.org/app. 
Show Notes
Find more from Cheryl Jones here.
If you are looking for an in-depth resource to help build essential skills to meet a changing and uncertain world with a core of inner strength, join Melli O'Brien and a host of other teachers for The Seven Strengths, a FREE 7-day online course happening this May 13-19. Learn more and register at www.mindfulness.com/the-seven-strengths. 
Go Deeper
Healing from perfectionism isn't easy. It takes time and practice. Here are some additional Mindful.org resources to help you build a stronger sense of self-acceptance: 
Awareness in Action: Rethinking ADHD Through Mindfulness 

What Swimming Taught Me About Self-Compassion and Letting Go 

It's Selfish, It's Hokey, and I'll Lose My Edge: 3 Half-Truths About Self-Compassion

How Self-Compassion Can Improve Teen Mental Health 

This Is What Fierce Self-Compassion Looks Like 

Want to try more practices that foster self-compassion? Start here: A 12-Minute Meditation to Embrace All Your Parts 
And more from Mindful here:
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Let us know what you thought of this episode of 12 Minute Meditation by leaving a review or by emailing [email protected].

Change of any kind—whether it's small, momentous, expected or unexpected—can make us feel so vulnerable and unsteady. 
This week, Susan Bauer-Wu offers a guided meditation to invite and nourish inner strength in the face of change. 
Susan Bauer-Wu, PhD, is a registered nurse and nursing educator, as well as a mindfulness teacher and researcher. She is president of the Mind & Life Institute and author of Leaves Falling Gently: Living Fully with Serious & Life-Limiting Illness through Mindfulness, Compassion & Connectedness. 
The transcription of this guided meditation will be online and in our app at Mindful.org next week. 
Stay curious, stay inspired. Sign up for our free newsletter mindful.org/signup or download the app for free at mindful.org/app. 
Show Notes
Find more from Susan Bauer-Wu here.
FREE course! If you are looking for an in-depth resource to help build essential skills to meet a changing and uncertain world with a core of inner strength, join Melli O'Brien and a host of other teachers for The Seven Strengths, a FREE 7-day online course happening this May 13-19. Learn more and register at www.mindfulness.com/the-seven-strengths. 
Go Deeper
Want to learn more about how you can train to stay steady, even when everything around you feels uncertain and evolving? Check out these resources from Mindful.org: 
New Life, Who's This? Rediscovering Who You Are When Everything Has Changed 

Embracing Change: What Nanalan' Teaches Us About Saying Goodbye 

The Only Constant Is Change 

Navigating Change is Hard. Here's How it Makes Us Better Leaders  

Rethinking Equanimity: Margaret Cullen on Equanimity and Quiet Strength 

To get more practice dealing with the reality of change, try A Meditation to Help You Let Go and Accept Change. 
And more from Mindful here:
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Let us know what you thought of this episode of 12 Minute Meditation by leaving a review or by emailing [email protected].

Our culture prizes certainty and tends to regard not-knowing as weakness or failure. 
But research has shown that uncertainty is a quality that we're meant to engage, not reject. Not only does it spark curiosity and help us learn, but it also strengthens confidence and resilience. 
This week, Dr. Sará King offers a practice to help us build comfort with our "don't-know mind" so that we can stay courageous and open to the world around us.
Dr. Sará King is a mother, a neuroscientist, political and learning scientist, medical anthropologist, social entrepreneur, public speaker, and certified yoga and meditation instructor. Dr. King specializes in researching and teaching about the relationship between mindfulness, community alternative medicine, and social justice with an emphasis on examining the relationship between individual and collective awareness as it relates to well-being.
The transcription of this guided meditation will be online and in our app at Mindful.org next week. 
Stay curious, stay inspired. Sign up for our free newsletter mindful.org/signup or download the app for free at mindful.org/app. 
Show Notes
Find more from Sará King here.
If you are looking for an in-depth resource to help build these essential skills of resilience, join Melli O'Brien and a host of other teachers for The Seven Strengths, a FREE 7-day online course happening this May 13-19. Learn more and register at www.mindfulness.com/the-seven-strengths. 
Go Deeper
Looking for ways to engage your beginner's mind? Check out these resources from Mindful.org: 
Why Uncertainty Is Good for Us 

How Embracing Uncertainty Leads To Fulfillment 

Feeling Like a Fraud in Your Own Mindfulness Practice 

Don't Be So Sure  

To get more practice meeting uncertainty, try A Guided Walking Meditation to Meet Uncertainty with Compassion 
And more from Mindful here:
More episodes of 12 Minute Meditation
Let us know what you thought of this episode of 12 Minute Meditation by leaving a review or by emailing [email protected] do women love reading The Pipeline? It's data with perspective. Get free, thoughtful takes on navigating our messy world. Subscribe today.