Mindfulness

Mindfulness

We've become professional overthinkers, analyzing every interaction, second-guessing our decisions, and living everywhere except right here, right now. The constant mental chatter is exhausting. Trust me, as someone who once spent an entire weekend mentally rewriting a two-sentence email I'd already sent, I get it. But here's what I've learned: staying present isn't about emptying your mind or achieving some zen-like state of perpetual calm.

When I visited flourishing groups, I noticed that being with them felt different. They possessed a vibrancy, a switched-on responsiveness that showed up in their bodies. Their posture, in general, was relaxed; their heads were up and their interactions were fluid. Aliveness was the word I kept writing in my notebook: a feeling of being carried along in a river of energy that was headed somewhere good.

Last week, I tried to watch a movie without doing anything else. Just watching. No phone, no laptop, no second screen. I made it exactly 12 minutes before my hand started twitching toward my pocket like some kind of digital zombie. And that's when it hit me. This isn't about being lazy or unmotivated. This constant restlessness, this inability to truly relax, it's something else entirely.

Sometimes the lessons we were raised with, whether passed down from family or society, may not be for us later in life.

On social media, television, and wellness apps, mindfulness is often shown as one simple thing-staying calm and paying attention to the moment. Large companies like Google use mindfulness programs to help employees stay focused and less stressed. Hospitals use it to help people manage pain and improve mental health. Millions of people now use mindfulness apps that promise everything from lowering stress to sleeping better.

Digital interfaces, as convenient as they are, bypass many of the sensory pathways that help us process and retain information. Think about it this way: when you write something by hand, your brain engages multiple systems simultaneously. You're planning the movement, feeling the texture of paper, hearing the scratch of pen on page, and seeing the words form. This multi-sensory engagement creates what psychologists call "embodied cognition"-the idea that our physical actions directly influence our thinking patterns.

They are known, as it were, from the neck up. The cellular memory of facts and experiences, however, connects mind and body: My body recalls that showing my true feelings in childhood led to a put-down. A slammed door meant that Dad was home and drunk. The specific fact/event may be forgotten, but the bodily reaction remains: Any slamming noise may induce terror.

Then I tracked my actual output for a month. The real work. The stuff that actually moved the needle on my business. I was getting about 60% of the work done that I used to accomplish before I became so "responsive." Being constantly available had turned me into a human notification center instead of someone who actually created value. Experts backs this up, too. According to the folks at the APA, multitasking can reduce productivity by up to 40%.

Each decade of life comes with its share of pluses and minuses, but there's something special about being in your 40s. You're wiser and more mature than you were in your youth, more comfortable in your skin and you know what you like. Sure, you may not have quite as much energy as you once did. But you're still having a whole lot of fun - it's just that your definition of fun has changed over time.

In astrology, the Moon exists within each of us. She is internal, subjective, intuitive, and felt. She is illuminating of what is both conscious and unconscious, what is ours and what has been inherited. When she exists in a fire sign, we are offered powerful expression, release, and transformation. Fire moves quickly and burns brightly. Under this lunation, so do our emotions.

Remember when Friday nights meant figuring out which party to hit first? Now, I get genuinely thrilled about having zero plans and a new documentary queued up. Last week, I actually canceled drinks to stay home and organize my spice drawer, and the weirdest part? I felt zero FOMO! If you've ever caught yourself getting excited about a new vacuum cleaner or spending Saturday night researching the best mattress for back support, congratulations! You're officially entering that phase of life where "boring" isn't boring anymore.

It's about what happens in those crucial minutes before bed. The psychology behind this makes sense. As behavioral scientists have found, our environment significantly impacts our stress levels and mental clarity. A cluttered space often leads to a cluttered mind. Those who maintain consistently clean homes have figured out that small, nightly rituals prevent the overwhelming buildup that sends the rest of us into cleaning frenzies.

Host Michael Taft speaks with Stephen Snyder Sensei about the two "missing" brahmaviharas, Innate Goodness practice, heart wisdom vs. mind wisdom, the magic of the "group heart", the paradox of the Heart Sutra, learning to become receptive, God and the nondual, entities, bodhisattvas, deities, the three types of forgiveness, and the "terrible importance" of heart-based practice.Stephen Mugen Snyder, Sensei began practicing daily meditation in 1976.

Each of the individual parts - the headrest, arms, backrest, and seat - move along individual horizontal paths so that they aren't accelerated by gravity like a swinging rocking chair. At the same time, very smooth bearings cut resistance and friction to a minimum, allowing the chair to follow your body's natural movements. Dr David Wickett, the designer of the chair and co-founder of DavidHugh Ltd, says this system is so sensitive that 'even breathing can lift the entire body'.

Yogis discovered the joys of twisting long before the dance craze captured America's attention in the early '60s. Improved abdominal circulation and toning of the abdominal muscles, relief of pain in the hips and shoulders, increased blood flow to the spinal nerves, and greater elasticity and strength of the spine are some of the many physiological benefits derived from practicing the twisting asanas.

The idea of floating in a sensory deprivation tank has always appealed to me. I am a huge fan of fancy spa sessions and most things woo-woo, and floating-a service that invites you to submerge your body in super salty water in the dark, ditching your senses in favor of an anti-gravity experience-sounded like the ultimate meeting of the two. Spa-ish mindfulness! Good for my skin and my mind! Sign me up.

I appreciate the ways others love me, no matter how limited. I am letting go of expecting-or demanding-that they love me exactly as I want them to. I am letting go of wanting others to prove that they love me. At the same time, I can always ask for the kind of love I long for. I am learning to trust others when the record shows they can be trusted, while I, nonetheless, commit myself to being trustworthy regardless of what others may do.

Anger is a deeply human emotion that arises frequently in our lives. Often, it serves as a shield, concealing more vulnerable feelings like fear, shame, rejection, and helplessness. Many of us have a challenging relationship with anger. Anger, like other emotions, usually comes with an "action tendency"-a motivation to do something. We experience anger when our needs are unmet, and we want to take action to correct the situation.

As a documentary filmmaker, anticipating the unexpected is part of the job. We learn to obsess over what could go wrong-equipment failures, weather shifts, emotional volatility, permissions falling apart, safety concerns, or a once-in-a-lifetime moment slipping away. We become experts at scanning for danger, preparing for the failure before it arrives. It isn't neurosis-it's craft. It's training. It's how we keep the work alive.

Ever wonder why some people seem to stay mentally sharp well into their 70s and 80s while others start struggling with brain fog in their 60s? According to research from Harvard Medical School, the difference often comes down to daily habits-and here's the kicker: even small changes made after 60 can significantly improve cognitive function and protect against decline. The brain is remarkably adaptable at any age.