Looking for practical ways to improve the quality of your life? This simple exercise is a way to help you do just that.

Recognizing that lasting change takes time can ease your mind when you’re worried that you are never going to get there.  It takes time for problems to develop, and unfortunately, it takes time for solutions to work.  For instance, you it may be that you have experienced anxiety and depression for quite some time.  With prolonged patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, your brain and body become wired to recognize this as its norm.  The good news is that through self-directed neuroplasticity (a fancy term for changing the neural networks or patterns your brain knows), you can accomplish positive and lasting changes!

So while you may feel as though you are slogging your way through, and that change is coming slowly, here are a few tips to help ward off discouragement and frustration.

Have you ever had days where life seems to be spinning out of control?  One thing after another keeps happening--you can’t find your keys and you’re late for an important meeting, you have another argument with your spouse, and while you thought your checking account was ok until pay day, your account has over drafted.  These are the shower day, and on days like these, it’s easy to become irritable and stressed. 

Sometimes, rather than having just a bad day, you find yourself smack in the middle of a storm.  During storms, life’s stressors are more severe such as—a recent loss—a job, a partner, a loved one, financial troubles, or health concerns.  When this happens, it’s easy to become anxious, depressed, or both!

While you can’t always control the weather, by skillfully managing your inner world, you can dramatically influence how you feel in a positive way.

Inner world?  What’s that?

Inner peace is something we all want and sometimes desperately crave.   However, most of us think that finding inner peace is difficult, and that it is by sheer luck that we experience it once in a while.  We tend to think that true inner peace is reserved for ...

In this expanded version of the three-minute breathing space meditation, we begin by observing inner experiences of thoughts, feelings, and body sensations as they are happening.  The middle phase of the meditation is spent connecting to and focusing on the breath.  The final phase of the meditation is expanding awareness to observe all sensations and the body as a whole.

The holidays are fun, but man can they be stressful! 

On top of your already busy life, the holidays can create chaos with your schedule!  There is shopping to do, parties to attend, gifts to wrap, and bills to pay. 

Honoring traditions and spending time with family and friends, for some, is a beautiful thing, but for others, it can trigger painful memories of the past leading to anger, sadness, or anxiety.  The holidays can also be difficult for those who have lost a loved one and are grieving, or for those who are reminded of loved ones who passed long ago, but who are still dearly missed. 

And what about all of the yummy, tempting food!  When we’re stressed, it’s easy to turn to food for comfort!  It can be difficult to maintain balance and control where over-indulgence can lead to adding a few pounds of weight and a ton of guilt! 

Here are three quick ways that you can make your holiday season happier and healthier:

My love affair with Mindfulness is in full bloom, and when a client recently shared this Ted Talk given by Shauna Shapiro, I couldn’t wait to share it with you!

Key takeaways from this talk include:

The RAIN of Self-Compassion is a simple but profound mindfulness practice can be used as a stand-alone mindful meditation, or as a tool to cope with painful thoughts, feelings, or body sensations. 

RAIN is one of the essential mindfulness tools that

I am a lover of self-compassion.  Seriously, I could talk your ear off for hours.  When I first discovered self-compassion in graduate school, I wondered, where has this been all of my life?  It seems to me that we are most familiar with is self-criticism, self-judgement, and low self-esteem.

I have discovered, however, in my work and in my life, that

The 3-minute breathing space meditation is a quick and portable mini-meditation designed to help you connect with the present moment.