#mindfulness

#mindfulness

Recently someone offered me a couple of books on the spiritual healing arts from a respected author—for free. It was the kind of offer I once would have responded positively to, taken them gratefully, and brought them home to sit on my "to be read" shelf. Maybe I would have tried to read them, maybe I would have even completed them. Instead, what I heard myself saying, with unusual frankness, was, "No thanks. I'm sick of self-improvement."

ROBERT WALDINGER: I am a Zen practitioner and I'm an ordained Zen priest, and I'm a Zen teacher. I'm actually a Roshi, a Zen master. And so I meditate every day. I teach meditation here in the United States and actually internationally, it's a big part of my life. And what I find is that it is an enormous benefit in terms of how I think about my own life, other people's lives, how I think about my research, how I think about working with patients.

We've said it before and we'll say it again: the way you do yoga is the way you do life. In addition to your actual time on the mat, this reality is reflected by the yoga habits that accompany your practice. That pre-yoga cup of tea that must be sipped from a certain mug, the music played en route, painstakingly adjusting your mat so it lines up with the floorboards...these micro moments combine in a regimen that can border on ritual.

A visual timer that can help make transitions easier for everyone. Since kids can't tell time, "five more minutes" doesn't mean much. When time is visual, kids can watch the colored portion get smaller and be less shocked when time is up. If you have a kid that struggles with transitions or doesn't want any time but NOW, this timer is for you.

For years, I tied my identity to productivity. My self-worth hinged on how much I could accomplish in a day, how many boxes I could check. The busier I was, the more valuable I believed myself to be. But that constant need to perform left me mentally and emotionally drained, disconnected not only from others but from myself. The shift didn't happen overnight. There wasn't a single moment of clarity, but rather a quiet unraveling of old habits and a tentative embrace of new rhythms.

Twenty-two foam nubs protrude from the bottom of this shoe. When I slide it on, it almost feels like I'm walking on bubble tape-or like, with every step, an octopus tentacle is suctioning to my foot. Even through a thick cotton sock and all that foam, I can feel textures underfoot. I sense the individual blades of grass on a soccer pitch, and dragging my sole along a textured running track feels a bit akin to licking the roof of my mouth.

People really like Japanese philosophy. If you ever see a list of "untranslatable words" or "beautiful words from around the world," then you will notice how Japanese ideas are often overrepresented. Whenever I explore a Japanese concept on the Mini Philosophy social media pages - wabi- sabi, mono no aware, ikigai - they outperform almost everything else. Part of this, no doubt, is a kind of exoticism.

Zen Buddhist monk and personal hero of mine, Thich Nhat Hanh, spent much of his life writing about mindfulness. He stressed that when we do anything, we should commit to it fully, giving it our undivided attention and allowing ourselves to become immersed in it, be it simply eating, walking, or anything else. "Drink your tea slowly and reverently," he said, "as if it is the axis on which the earth revolves--slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future."

Neuroscience is a newcomer to the field of free will. What are exactly the kind of questions that are worth asking? What different kinds of experiments that can say something about conscious and unconscious decisions can help us be more modest in what we realize we can control, and what we can't? Generally, humans have a sense that they control themselves and sometimes their environment more than they do.

Sometimes it means trying costumes, techy toys, and increasingly kinkier scenarios - and that stuff can definitely be a lot of fun. But other times, mixing it up just means trying out a new sex position. No matter how big or how small the change, doing something new can keep your sex life from becoming boring. Because boring sex - you know, the kind where you're zoning out and thinking about what to eat for lunch tomorrow -

I'm sitting across from a brilliant operator, the kind who's built three companies nearly from scratch, and I notice his screen saver: early morning light spilling gold across the ocean. I laughed and shared my phone screen: dawn breaking over a lake, that first blush of sun hitting the water. That shared knowledge, that we both like launching our days by anchoring ourselves in a moment of nature, we both understood the value.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Tiffany Ng, a 24-year-old tech and culture writer based in New York City who runs the newsletter Cyber Celibate. This story has been edited for length and clarity. I found myself, as most people are, attached to my phone. So I started a project called Cyber Celibate, where I took a "vow of digital chastity" and started experimenting with being a " neo-Luddite." The idea was: What technology can I quit for set periods of time, what can I learn from it, and how can that help me find more intentional relationships with technology?

"Thoughts are the thinker," my Buddhist teacher said this Sunday at our bi-monthly gathering, and I thought, "Amen, sister!" I had the instinct to rejoice and affirm (Southern Baptist style from my youth) because this notion that I don't actually think my thoughts has helped me, more than any other idea, with what I call my "looping." My "looping" is more commonly referred to as intrusive thoughts: unwanted images, impulses, words, or phrases that crash the mental party uninvited.

How do you navigate difficult conversations? During these divisive and tumultuous times, it can be hard to communicate productively with others, especially with those whose perspectives differ significantly from our own. Whatever the topic, whatever our viewpoints or theirs, there's typically nothing easy about these discussions. And often the parties walk away feeling unheard, along with some mixture of feeling frustration, anger, sadness, resentment, grief, defensiveness, loss, overwhelm, or other uncomfortable emotions.

Jane Goodall has passed away at the age of 91. She spent her life championing the comprehension and appreciation of the natural world. In so doing, she taught the rest of the world what it means to be human. One of the world's foremost primatologists and conversationists, Goodall was an embodiment of dharma, an Eastern concept that involves finding your purpose and allowing it to guide your life.

This perplexed my colleague but made eminent sense to me. In evolutionary terms, think of our ancestral hunter-gatherers. Males hunting that woolly mammoth had to have incredible, one-pointed mindful awareness, no distractions. Otherwise, they'd more likely be dinner than kill dinner. These males, excellent at combat, hunting, and present-moment awareness, were more likely to survive and procreate (à la Darwin), leading to more men proficient at mindful, present-moment awareness.

When your days are filled with nothing but the media's onslaught of messages, images, and must-see posts, it can feel good to take a breather. Maybe you've recently figured out a way to carve some "me-time" in this constant search for your attention from all of these online sources. You close your eyes, think about a recent pleasant encounter with a friend, and for one precious moment are transported away from reality.

The principle of non-harming, ahimsa, is the very first of the , or social and ethical restraints, outlined in Patañjali's Yoga Sutras. While we often think of ahimsa as how we treat others, its deepest invitation is to turn that same gentleness inward. When we give ourselves the same tenderness we would extend to a loved one or a dear friend, the nervous system softens, the mind quiets, and space opens for healing.

In psychology, this is called experiential avoidance. Trouble is, this experiential avoidance may seem helpful in the moment, but research shows that continuous avoidance of uncomfortable or upsetting thoughts can actually increase our anxiety and distress. Indeed, Dr. Russ Harris outlined in his book The Happiness Trap that experiential avoidance contributes to anxiety, depression, and numerous other mental health challenges; the harder one tries to avoid the uncomfortable thoughts and feelings, the "more bad feelings we create."

Don't try to eliminate your stress. Instead, take advantage of it. Three experts, Aditi Nerurkar, MD, MPH, Kelly McGonigal, PhD, and Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD combine their insights on physiology, psychology, and mindfulness to show how stress management can become a superpower. They explain how stress can help you grow, how the body's "challenge response" fuels focus and energy, and how mindfulness can help you see beyond your thoughts.

Ever feel like you're doing all the yoga, but still getting stuck in stress, anxiety, or that annoying mental spiral at 2AM? You might be dealing with the Kleshas - the hidden blockers in your brain that yoga philosophy has been calling out for thousands of years (long before your therapist said, "Let's unpack that"). In this guide, we're breaking down the 5 Kleshas in a way that feels modern, relatable, and totally TikTok-worthy - with zero Sanskrit degree required.

Actress Drew Barrymore has opened up about her new-found love of home renovation and design, explaining that transforming a property has become like a form of "meditation" to her. Barrymore, 50, explained in a recent interview that the process of design helps her to feel present and mindful, while sharing insights into her personal style in a new Real Simple interview.

Over 300 million people have downloaded meditation apps, yet only 5 percent stick with them beyond the first month. This isn't simply a failure of willpower-many meditation apps offer guided sessions that quickly feel repetitive, provide little personalization, minimal real-time support, and rarely give feedback on your progress. With so many barriers, it's no wonder so many users instead scroll through TikTok or Instagram.

I felt an inner devastation that caused so much emotional distress I could no longer hide it or hide from it through my work. I did not feel like doing anything except cry and share my suffering with anyone willing to listen. After Karla left me for the third time, I went to a meditation retreat in Estes Park, Colorado, led by Thich Nhat Hanh, the Vietnamese Buddhist monk who founded mindfulness and was nominated by Martin Luther King, Jr., for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Hearing the words "slow down," whether from a yoga teacher or a self-help influencer on Instagram, no matter how well-intentioned, can feel like banging my head against a wall. As if slowing down will solve all my problems! Moving as fast as possible-whether it's my hands on the keyboard at work or my body in and out of Downward-Facing Dog on my yoga mat-is how I try to outrun my stress demons. You know, lest I move in an unhurried fashion and have to actually feel things.

"Time is a thief." I learned this phrase in elementary school. It was regularly uttered by an administrator who, on the first day of school, would wistfully greet the student body, marveling at how much each child had grown over the summer. As a 10-year-old kid, I didn't put much stock into the musings of a middle-aged vice principal. Decades later, however, I better understand and appreciate the sentiment of her words.

Yoga is a way of life. For most student, practice begins on the mat, but once you find your flow, you begin to realize that yoga touches everything you do. From exploring accompany philosophy to focusing on breath and mindfulness, the effects of entering your yoga era are a perspective-shifting experience. Once there, though, you may find yourself immersed in yoga to the point where it's impossible to separate your practice from everything else. And that's kind of the point.