When I first discovered I was pregnant with my son, I went through the full gamut of emotions—excited, nervous, terrified, anxious, and elated. I prepared his nursery, bought a few onesies, pre-registered at the hospital, took a mildly helpful birth class, and considered myself ready.

I had 17 years of meditation practice under my belt going into motherhood. I figured, how different can motherhood be from the other upheavals of everyday life? How hard will it be to meet life with presence and awareness with babies, when I have been training at it for so long?

Turns out, extremely different, and extremely hard. In my experience of having two kids 15 months apart, I can say that motherhood hit like a semi-truck and dragged me down a road of complete confusion and disorientation (with a healthy wallop of sleep deprivation) for two years before I felt like I got some of my footing back.

Now that I am somewhat steadier, I want to share my top three pieces of advice, as well as accompanying meditations to help you on your parenting journey. My hope is to help prepare you for this transition or, at the least, assure you that you are not alone.

Parenthood Lesson #1: There Is More to Babies Than Meets the Eye

Mindfulness tip: Forgive yourself and ask for help

It was 2 a.m. My 15-month-old was waking up every three hours with a 103-degree fever. My 3-week-old was refusing to breastfeed, waking up every few hours and screaming inconsolably and almost perfectly coordinated to the moment that I finally got my other son to sleep. My husband screamed into his pillow. I thrust my screaming baby at him and went to sob on the dirty bathroom floor.

Those days, my husband and I battled daily about who was acting more like a baby. The truth was, we both were. We were pouring every ounce of parental energy and care into our children, leaving us feeling parched for care ourselves.

When I stopped thinking of my desire to be cared for as an embarrassing inconvenience and more like a necessity, two things changed. First, I started to be kinder and gentler to myself during the course of the day, forgiving my messy house, my pile of endless laundry, and the fact that I let my son repeatedly lick the side of the garbage pail because it kept him quiet.

I asked myself the question, “What can I do for you right now? How can I cushion this very hard time?” Sometimes that was just a deep breath. Sometimes it was a trip to the coffee shop. It didn’t matter what exactly it was. The self-kindness was all that mattered.

Second, I started asking for help like it was my job. I asked family, friends, local mothers groups, acquaintances, and even Facebook for babysitting, advice, food, and even comfort. I have never been much of a help-asker, but when I started considering the multiple babies in my house (especially my husband and me), and the sheer impossibility of surviving alone, I summoned up the strength to ask. A surprising number of times, people came through. And even when they couldn’t, it still felt good to ask without shame.

Parenthood Lesson #2: You Are Going Through a Massive Change

Mindfulness tip: Try to be patient

Pre-motherhood, I thought that having a baby would be kind of like buying a new couch for my home. It was a big investment. It would bring a lot of comfort to my life. It would require upkeep. But ultimately, I would still be me, and the couch would be the couch.

Instead, having a baby changed the molecular structure of who I am as a person. Being a mother was not just “Yael + baby”. The math of motherhood transformed the being that was “Yael” into someone that was almost unrecognizable. My body was completely different, with new folds and cushions that didn’t exist before. My mind was filled with thrashing to-do lists, new and urgent fears, and a disorienting sense of time passing both too slowly and too quickly.

In my old life, my daily meditation was the place where I centered myself. Now, in the rare moments I could take to formally meditate, I never made it very far out of mental grocery lists and diaper orders. I was reeling, inside and out.

It took a while to realize the colossal change that becoming a parent would bring. I clung to the baby-as-couch idea far after it became clear that motherhood was something much more radical and transformative than I imagined. Realizing this and accepting the grief that came with the death of the old life, I could slowly step into my life with more patience, curiosity, and even surprising joy.

Related: Think You Don’t Have Time to Meditate? Try This

You will not be the same post-babies. Even if you did not give birth to them, you will be transformed in ways you don’t yet see. Try and be patient as your life and your old sense of self dissolves and rearranges.

Parenthood Lesson #3: Your Spiritual Path and Your Life Are Not Separate

Mindfulness tip: Be present

Scrolling through Instagram on maternity leave, a newborn sleeping lightly on my lap, I was awash in jealousy for the gorgeous photos of people doing yoga on distant beaches, emerging bright and glowing from meditation retreats. I was aware of the irony of that jealousy, since for decades I had felt it while looking at photos of people in my exact situation with newborn babies, but there you go. Jealousy isn’t exactly obedient to logic.

I met with a spiritual director during this time. After listening to me whine about missing my practice and wishing I could go on a retreat, she looked me in the eyes and said, “Yael, your spiritual life is not different than your real life.” I felt the truth of it hit me like a lightning bolt. Of course! I was looking for wisdom and insights and freedom everywhere except right where it has always been—in the present moment. Life, as it is.

Re-adjusting my vision to see my life with the babies as my practice, I started noticing a lot. I saw the pain and the beauty of impermanence as my sons grew out of their clothes and learned new skills. I felt the vulnerability and the heart-expanding love beyond the borders of the self when staring in their eyes or holding their tiny warm bodies. I felt the suffering of resisting life when I clenched up against the unfolding of my life as a mother, and the release of that suffering when I softened into it and opened up to the flood of feelings underneath.

Related: The Healing Power of Self-Care Through Ayurveda

Your spiritual life is your everyday life. The two are not separate. If you notice you are fighting with life, pushing against the truth of how things are, escaping into your phone or running away in your mind, see if you can gently, courageously come back to the present moment. Even if it’s painful, you will suffer less and notice more. Life is right here, waiting for you.

The post 3 Meditations to Help Moms Embrace the Transition to Motherhood appeared first on Sonima.

“Don’t surrender your loneliness so quickly. Let it cut more deep. Let it ferment and season you…” – Hafiz

What does it mean to not “surrender loneliness so quickly”? For most of my life, I would have preferred to surrender my loneliness yesterday. Loneliness felt like a painful, aching, hollow feeling at the core of my gut. It was my constant companion and I most certainly did not want it there. At some point in my twenties, I decided if I was going to spend so much of life being lonely, it was worth investigating what loneliness actually was. What I discovered didn’t stop me from ever getting lonely, but it helped transform my relationship to loneliness from something miserable to a powerful source of information.

Loneliness Hack #1: Make Friends with Desire

My first revelation was that at the center of loneliness was desire. It was a powerful longing for love. And yet, I had learned that that kind of longing was unattractive. I was told that I should stop looking for love, and that it would “happen when I least expected it”. I told myself that I better stop wanting things because not getting them made me feel desperate, pathetic, and disappointed. I told myself that I was too old, too ugly, and just too late for love, and then I told myself that love wasn’t real anyway (given the divorce rate). I tried anything and everything to get me to stop wanting love. Nothing worked. I continued to feel lonely.

One day, I was at the beach with my crush and my crush’s new girlfriend. As they snuggled together on the shore, I morosely wandered into the waves, feeling lost in a haze of loneliness and frustrated desire. Suddenly, I decided that instead of fighting off my yearning, I was going to try and open up to it. With each wave that crashed over my head I called out a new desire. “I want the dress I saw on 5th Avenue,” I started. Crash. “I want to be pretty.” Crash. “I want real love.” Crash. Instead of feeling depressed or lonely, opening up to each desire felt liberating. It felt strong and brave and exciting. Nothing guaranteed I would get these things, but just saying them felt almost as good. Within loneliness is a deep and powerful desire to connect. Trying to get rid of it won’t help. Opening up to the longing will.

Loneliness Hack #2: Learn the Difference Between Your Stories and the Truth

Everybody’s stories are different. Mine sounded like this: “I am so lonely. There must be something wrong with me. I’m too picky. I choose the wrong people. I must be immune to real love.” Sometimes another voice would swoop in: “You will find love! You just have to join a different dating app, cut your hair, and buy some new clothes. You can do this!” And on and on. These voices were part of the overall chorus of mental chatter that accompanied me throughout my day. Much of this “self-talk” was developed as a child to try and navigate my world, and much of it has stayed at the child level in terms of its maturity and problem-solving skills.

So what do we do when we realize we are lost in a maze of depressing self-chatter? First, congratulations! Noticing you are lost in thought (and not just living inside of it) is 80 percent of the battle. Next, notice if there is a feeling underneath the chatter that you don’t want to feel. Desire? Grief? Sadness? See if you can rest and breathe in the feeling itself, not in the mind’s attempt to cover it up. Finally, rather than fighting stories with other stories, try to just notice what is real. The chair underneath you. The wind on your face. Your body as it breathes. These things are real. Wake up out of your circular thoughts by sensitizing yourself to the here and now.

Related: The Fascinating Science of Why You’re So Hard on Yourself

Loneliness Hack #3: Come Home to Yourself

Sometimes loneliness comes to visit us when we are surrounded by people, in a relationship, and/or scrolling through the social media posts of 1,000+ of our “friends”. In my experience, this type of loneliness is a result of being alienated from ourselves. We are not experiencing the richness of life. We have left the building.

There is a Zen quote that says, “A picture of a rice cake cannot satisfy hunger.” In other words, living life glued to our phones, saying things that others want to hear, or being lost in our thoughts leave us feeling hungry, empty, and alone. If you are experiencing this type of loneliness, stop whatever you are doing, and come back to yourself. Meditate with the practice below. Unplug. Exercise. Have an honest talk with a friend or a date with your journal. Your loneliness is a sign of your life calling out to you. Answer it. Come home.

We are deeply interconnected to one another. We breathe the same air, influence one another’s moods, and are made up of the same raw materials. Loneliness is a difficult mind state, but practicing these hacks whenever we feel lonely brings us back to ourselves, to our hearts, and to the interconnected present moment that holds it all. This is how we let loneliness “season” us, emerging more tender and open-hearted on the other side.

The post 3 Ways to Hack Loneliness appeared first on Sonima.

Cultivating feelings of love for yourself and love for others is a wonderful thing. We could all use a little more heart—or let’s call it empathy—not only for those around us but also, perhaps most importantly, for ourselves. By this I mean finding ways to accept what is, observe yourself, and make changes that you decide will serve you as you move through the world. It’s an easy equation: By focusing on yourself first, cultivating a mindfully open and empathic heart, you will find you have love to spare for those around you. As the writer Anne Lamott says, “If you want loving feelings, do loving things.”

Most traditions and cultures, whether ancient or modern, Eastern or Western, talk about the spiritual dimension of the heart and its role in experiencing the power of love, willpower, and inner wisdom. When we linger too long with fear, doubt, grief, and hopelessness in our heart, we undermine our capacity for love and we have officially entered a negative feedback loop.

In this guided meditation for love and kindness, I offer a way to access feelings of love and being loved, and a way to establish a positive loop over time. Don’t worry if it takes awhile to really develop these feelings. Just keep doing it, using your imagination. It involves accessing a memory of a time when you had the feeling of loving or being loved, being cared for or caring deeply for someone else. Just that. None of the backstory or after effects, just the simple feeling of love, however you can call it up in your memory.

Related: How Love and Meditation Are Intertwined

So practice this easy meditation regularly and shine a light around your whole body, especially the area of the physical heart. Open yourself up to a more positive loop. There is no way to be happy all the time or live in a permanent state of joy, nor should we try. We benefit from being open to observing the ways in which we have both negative and positive feelings. The next step is to understand that failures of empathy are human and necessary. The next yet is to reach for the light since as humans, this is a more satisfying way to live our lives. It certainly helps us bond, heal, let go, and be more in sync with those around us.

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At this point, with everything that we know about the benefits of meditation, most people would probably agree that picking up this daily habit is a good idea. A clearer mind, more emotional stability, and a better attention span are all things that everyone can benefit from.

So why isn’t every single person who knows about these benefits actually meditating? The answer, in a majority of cases, is simple: Time.

Finding Time to Meditate

In today’s world, we are all busy. Most of us don’t have a lot of free time. On top of that, we are constantly focusing on something (or someone) that needs to be taken care of. Whenever we do have a free moment, it’s likely that we’re responding to a text message, reading an email, or checking something else off of our to-do lists. This is a natural instinct.

Our minds like to be engaged in something. When you’re waiting at a doctor’s office, commuting, or sitting on a plane, you’re often looking for something to do. So why not make that something meditation?

Waiting time may be your only free time. So use it for something beneficial that can help calm you down and aid you in accomplishing whatever is next in your day.

Related: The New Science Behind the Benefits of Meditation

How to Meditate While You Wait

When I suggest this idea of using any waiting time you have to mediate, people often point out that public environments aren’t exactly set up for quiet reflection. This is true. You might find yourself in a crowded, noisy, place with no room to sit. That’s okay—you can still meditate there.

There are two main ways to engage the mind: outwardly and inwardly. In order to focus the mind inward when there are a lot of distractions around, we use something called body point meditation. There are 27 body points from head to toe, and by working your way through them from bottom to top, you can practice a form of meditation that has real benefits without necessarily having to actually sit down and be completely still. You can even try it with your eyes open if you need to stay aware of your surroundings.

This type of meditation is very grounding, because it directly connects your mind to your body. In order to do that, you need to be present so that your body is with you, your mind is with you, the moment is with you.

You may even find that this type of meditation withdraws you from a noisy, distracting environment, so it’s a great way to help yourself focus when you’re feeling overstimulated. When you’re disconnected from all the activity around you, you’re almost numb to all external sounds and movements. Your mind is engaged into the movement on the points. It’s a shift of activity from outer to inner.

Related: Why You Need to Disconnect (Not Just from Tech)

Try Body Point Meditation Right Now

To practice body point meditation, simply bring your awareness to the sole of your left foot. Then to the sole of your right foot. Then your left shin, and your right shin. Next, move to your calves, then knees. Once you work your way through your legs, move on to your palms, hands, forearms, and upper arms. Then, work your way up your spine, taking notice of the lower, middle, and upper regions.

Continue on by slowly working your way to the top of your head, breathing deeply throughout. In this way, you engage all 27 points of your body and get the chance to truly check in with yourself.

Once you finish, you can reverse the order, and go from the top to the bottom. Another option is to focus on your breath and start counting backwards from 27 to 1. With something as simple as bringing your attention to your body and breath for a short period of time, you can still have a fruitful meditation practice, no matter how busy you are.

The post How to Meditate Anywhere (Even While Waiting in Line) appeared first on Sonima.

You got married. You got fired. You graduated. You had a baby. You moved. You survived an illness. We’re all dealing with some form of change all of the time. And while a greeting card may exist for the particular type of transition you’re currently experiencing, one thing Hallmark never covers is exactly what you’re supposed to do with the cascade of emotions that accompany any major change, positive or negative, in life.

The good news is, when we wake up to whatever moment of change we are in—major or minor—it becomes a lot less scary and out of control. By figuring out where we are and where we can expect to go, we can begin to gain clarity. We can resist less, open more, and navigate through the waters with some ease.

A helpful map that I like to use is an adapted version of the Transition Framework, developed by William Bridges, PhD, in his bestselling book Managing Transitions. He describes three major stages of transition: Endings, Middle Zone and New Beginnings. Even though these stages overlap and sometimes loop back onto each other, they are helpful guideposts as we begin to chart our journey.

ENDINGS

I always seem to be the last one to realize I am going through a major transition. I notice things seem to be off. I experience periods of depression and anxiety. I long for times past and start thinking if I can engineer my life just right, I can get back to that place in the past where, even if I wasn’t happy, at least I was comfortably unhappy. It always takes more time than I expect, but at some point, either I realize it myself or someone says to me: “Yael, you had a baby earlier this year,” “You moved just a few weeks ago,” “Your job just changed dramatically.” Oh yeah. Right. I am experiencing a transition.

Endings happen at the start of a transition and they are marked by a tremendous amount of grief. Even if the change is a good one, whenever a change happens, the “old you” has to die in order to make way for the new you to emerge. After the birth of both of my sons, I first experienced profound denial about the fact that I had a baby at all. I tried to keep apace with my work responsibilities, despite being on maternity leave and sleeping 2-3 hours at night. I strove to be a hip Brooklyn woman who just happened to have a baby, when in truth the baby was taking over my life, my body, my heart, and definitely my sleep, and resisting that truth was causing a lot of suffering. I needed to accept that the baby-free woman was gone. That life was over and was never going to return. Cue the sense of loss, the tears, the sadness and grief.

And yet, once I opened up to the grief, even though I felt sad, it felt better than fighting with the truth. Once I acknowledged the loss, I could be more present for the new reality that was slowly taking shape. If you are in the Endings phase, you have to be very gentle with yourself. You are shedding a skin, and it can feel very tender, emotional, and difficult. As much as you can, remember that grief is a natural part of this process (even for the good changes) and treat yourself with a lot of kindness as you say goodbye to what is gone.

MIDDLE ZONE

The Middle Zone is the gap. Once you have moved through the grieving of your old life, suddenly you are thrust into a new space with no instructions and no experience of the terrain. It is a time that feels chaotic, uncomfortable, confusing, and disorienting.

These periods are also often marked by low productivity, needing to be alone, a feeling of suspension in time. This is all normal and natural. The old structures that held up your life are gone, and yet you are not comfortable in your new way of life.

When I graduated college, I felt very float-y, very lost. I wasn’t exactly depressed, but I also wasn’t jumping for joy every day. My identity as a student was over (for the time being) and I hadn’t yet started working full-time. Each day was a dizzying vertigo of trying to figure out who I was and what I was supposed to be doing with myself.

It is very hard not to fill this type of silence or gap with distractions, anxiety, or excessive planning. And yet, if you can stay off your phone and open up to the feelings of not-knowing, you will discover a great deal of creativity in this period of time. The Middle Zone is where our new route takes shape, one step at a time. It can feel out of control, but if we practice mindfulness and breathe through it, we will see that we are not just drifting…we are being guided somewhere new.

Related: The Simplest Change You Can Make for Better Health

NEW BEGINNINGS

About two years after I started meditating regularly, I was walking down the street and I stopped suddenly. Wow, I thought, apropos of nothing in particular, I haven’t had a panic attack in about a year! Previously, I was having them about 2-3 times per week. That is what New Beginnings feel like—sudden realizations that you are making your way in new waters with more confidence and skill than you thought possible. Don’t get me wrong. It takes time and lots of work to get there, and New Beginnings can often include many “backslides” back to old patterns and ways of doing things. These “backslides” should not be taken as failures. Change happens in a spiral—not a straight line—gradually getting us to where we need to be. Slowly, eventually, we get there.

The bottom line is, no matter where you are in the transition process, be gentle with yourself and understand that everything changes, and you won’t be in this uncomfortable spot for very long. Breathe. You will make it through this time. YOU’VE GOT THIS.

The post A 15-Minute Guided Meditation for Times of Transition and Change appeared first on Sonima.

Most people want to succeed in life; that’s a given. But actually getting to success? That part is a little trickier. What many don’t realize is that there’s an incredibly useful tool to reach success right at their disposal. In fact, the mindset required to reach success lies within.

Whether it’s in your career, family relationships, friendships, health pursuits, or any other area, tapping into your consciousness through meditation can be the first step toward succeeding in any goal. Here’s how.

1. Meditation opens you up to more opportunities.

Success in any aspect of our lives is limited by our own narrow belief systems. We create a comfort zone around our belief system and we tend to stay within that. But meditation helps you work toward a process of transformation so that you can create a new belief system that gives you the confidence to step outside of your comfort zone.

When you know yourself, and your own inner nature, the unknown becomes less scary. If you’re committed to your meditation practice, you can actually bring everything into your comfort zone. Nothing is impossible only when your comfort zone is infinite.

2. Meditation helps you to take the first step.

The first step in any process is the most important. After all, it’s a requirement for reaching the final destination of a journey, and most people aren’t clear on what the first step actually is. The first step is to know your goal. So to take it, you need to know which direction you’re taking that step in. To have that all in place, you need to have clarity of mind.

The quickest route to clarity of mind is meditation. Meditation connects you with your inner core, energy, and consciousness. It brings in a defined picture of who you are and what it is that you sincerely want deep down. This is true for any aspect of your life (work, family, health), and in turn, allows you to take that first step. Suddenly, you have the ability to map your goal, route, and destination. When you have that in place, success is yours. All you have to do is follow the map you’ve laid out.

Related: How Meditation Can Help You Work Smarter

3. The act of meditation is a success in itself.

Meditation is one thing that is not dependent on any goals because there is no failure. There is only success. The more you succeed, the easier it becomes to repeat the process in other contexts. Let’s say you start meditating with the goal to have less stress in your life. You’ll achieve that, but there are so many other fringe benefits you’ll get along with what you initially wanted. You’ll also experience more peace, a clearer mind, more energy, more kindness, more love. When you meditate, you’re connecting with your own inner core nature, which contains all these attributes, and they flourish, whether you are purposely trying to reach them or not.

Here’s the secret: To find success, you don’t actually have to try so hard. Meditation nourishes your roots and when that happens, your whole nature and potentiality blossoms.

The post 3 Ways Meditation Puts You in the Success Mindset appeared first on Sonima.

Going green is so good for you, and we’re not just talking about spinach smoothies. Studies show that being in nature can improve memory, promote sharper thinking, enhance the ability to focus, and improve mood as well as immune function. Living in a city is no excuse. You can find patches anywhere and everywhere. Make it a habit to get fresh air at least twice a day to soothe your mind and restore mental energy. Listen to this guided meditation as you head out for a stroll, no matter where you live.

1. Urbanites, Hit the Streets

City life is most challenging when it comes to connecting with the rhythms of nature. Circadian rhythms can easily get screwed up by all night dining options, street lights, honking horns outside your window, etc. What is less clear is how to get your fix of nature effectively and mindfully. Commit to finding ways to be outside, breathing fresh air, and connecting to the essential rhythm of the place. It may be a rhythm syncopated by car horns and more concrete than green pastures, but it is still possible to find the beauty in all of it.

On a concrete jungle walk, determine that you will stop at every light and look around at the architecture of the buildings. Look up at the sky. Notice how many trees line that block or planters, or not. Take a few deep, relaxing breaths, drop the shoulders, feel the weight of yourself on the sidewalk, and carry on. Make your way to a riverside or park, and sit there for at least five minutes to enjoy quiet contemplation.

With open eyes, make an effort to soften the gaze so that you are taking in the scene almost in peripheral vision. No major focus or intensity of attention. Just breathe and notice how it all feels. You will likely notice patterns of movement, sound, and smell. You can feel your seat on the bench or in the grass. Breath and notice the rhythm of life carrying on around you.

2. Mountain Folks, Take a Hike

Set out on your hike with a sense of self. Stand still and tall before you start. Feel your feet grounding, your head rising, and your breath filling your lungs. Listen to the sounds of nature around you. What can you hear, smell, taste? Take a final deliberate deep breath and head off.

If you have a companion, make an agreement that while you might talk as you walk, each time you stop, you will do so in silence. You will stop. Inhale and sweep the arms overhead and exhale, letting the arms trace a graceful arc around your body. Inhale and exhale two more times like this. Then stand. Gaze softly at the horizon or lower, unless you are feeling tired, in which case, gaze skyward.

Now watch, listen, smell. Feel your skin and notice the quality of your breath, deep and full. Watch the birds and bees and anything else that attracts your attention. Observe without engaging it. If you start thinking or attaching memories, then acknowledge and let them go easily, returning the focus gently on other aspects of the present experience.

Related: A 5-Minute Walking Meditation for Mind-Body Connection

3. Beach Babes, Find Your Flow

Walk down toward the shore. Feel the sand between your toes, its temperature and texture. Once you find a dry spot near the water, take a comfortable seat. Soften the gaze toward the horizon and let sensation arise and dissipate. Engage with the rhythm of the sea. Notice the smells and the sounds. The rhythm of the waves, the undulation of the water. See the movements of tiny birds along the shore, or hear the wail of the wind. Inhale and exhale in a gentle rhythm so quiet that you hardly notice where your body touches the air around you. Just be a gentle observer and when thoughts or memories or desires or to-do lists arise, redirect the mind to the ever-moving water, the soothing sounds in the air and your own breath…even the sounds of your blood flowing through your body.

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Creativity 101: The act of living is an art, according to Ayurveda, and the art of life is in the practices that cultivate wellness. It just so happens that the best practices for this are linked to greater creativity, which, in itself, contributes to greater happiness.

Studies show one must be creative, generative, positive, engaged, present, and mindful to optimize overall health, good immune function and more. Doing creative things is also a proven mood enhancer, however, what this looks like can be different for each of us. What remains the same is the mindset that allows for creative impulses to flow. We all need to partake in practices that involve unrestricted observation as opposed to restrictive repetition. We need to start training our minds to notice everything from inner sensations to mood to feelings as well as smells and tastes in the present moment, keeping the attention flexible and unrestricted.

Related: Finding Your Story Through Poetic Meditation

When you have taught yourself to be more open to experience, you will increase your creative impulses because creativity thrives in a mind that is open, receptive, flexible and non-judgmental. The undeniable truth is that acts of creativity—be they poetry writing, pottery, painting, writing, creative problem solving at work or openly, empathically resolving an argument—are keys to increased happiness and satisfaction. At the very least, states of creative thinking are known to improve memory, reduce rigid thought-processes and encourage flexibility all around.

In many respects, creativity is the art of being open to what is. Here are four basics to think about incorporating into mediation or life, in general, without judgement or expectation:

1. Act with awareness and attention.

Even for a few short minutes, engage with undivided, un-opinionated attention.

2. Observe everything around you.

Notice internal phenomena, like bodily sensations, emotions, memories, thoughts and external ones like sights, sounds, smells, touch.

3. Notice, but don’t overthink it.

Observe without analyzing, and experience your surroundings without processing it judgmentally.

4. Accept the situation.

Start turning away from “I can control and change this or that” to “It is what it is.” From “I cannot do this, it’s too hard” to “This may be difficult, but let’s just see what I can do with it today.” Laugh or shake your head, but don’t evaluate the present moment experience.

You can be serious and still take yourself lightly. Negativity has a deleterious effect on creativity, closing the mind, while judgement-free, mind-wandering optimism makes for the freedom of thoughts, which is so essential to creativity.

Ready to get your creative juices flowing? Train the mind to attend, observe, notice, and accept without too much focus or analysis to the phenomena that passes your mind’s eye without judgement, without distraction. I have found that a short meditation practice, like this one (listen to the video above!), primes the pump for regular sessions of creative work.

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When you’re moving from a waking to a sleeping state, there is a very short time in between when your mind is transitioning from conscious to unconscious. Normally, you can’t directly influence your subconscious when you’re awake, but at that moment, the subconscious mind is more present and accessible than it usually is. In this brief time, you can actually get a direct line to your subconscious mind, allowing it to absorb the thought seeds you plant without being judged by the conscious mind. Because of this, the moment before you fall asleep is a prime time to set intentions—whether they’re big, small, realistic, or outlandish.

In this meditation, I’ll guide you through the process of capitalizing on this unique moment and setting intentions that can help to change your life for the better. Before starting the meditation, it’s a good idea to think about what kind of intention you want to set. You can use this technique to enhance any aspect of your life, whether it’s material, physical, or emotional. It can even be about getting better sleep! The only requirement is that you define your intention very clearly in the present tense, then do the meditation and follow the steps described.

For the best possible results, the intention itself should be short and sweet—just a few words or a quick sentence. Something like, “I always sleep well” or “I make healthy choices.” Though you can set different intentions on different days, I’d recommend sticking with the same one for 28 days, since that’s the length of the natural human cycle—making habits, the menstrual cycle, and more. Once you’ve manifested one intention, you can move onto the next, making use of this powerful natural tool for literally making your dreams come true.

WANT MORE SLEEP? Sign up here for weekly reminders featuring smart sleeping tips and guided, 10-minute meditations to help ensure a better night’s rest.

Related: A 10-Minute Meditation for Deep Sleep

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By now, you’ve hopefully gotten accustomed to preparing your body and mind for sleep by using breathing and counting exercises to clear your head. If you haven’t, check out the first 10-minute meditation in our spring Better Sleep Series here. Next up, we’re focusing on improving the quality of your shuteye to help you feel more rested.

Have you ever gotten seven to eight hours a night and woken up feeling like you haven’t slept a wink? Most likely it’s because you didn’t spend much time in a deep sleep state—the third phase of sleep. The first two phases, preceding deep sleep, are waking and dreaming. Reaching deep sleep is optimal for feeling recharged. This meditation’s mission is to maximize your duration in this state.

To go into deep sleep, a few things need to happen. First, your body needs to be at total rest. Second, your mind also needs to be free of thoughts, which naturally happens when you’re asleep. Third, your mind needs to be relaxed. That means when you’re falling asleep, and in the hours before bedtime, you’re not having any stressful, worrying, or negative thoughts. These types of thoughts encourage your mind to stay at a surface level during sleep because they’re keeping you in a stimulated, agitated state rather than a calm one.

In this meditation, we’ll achieve these three requirements together. You’ll learn to run through a mental checklist to assess whether you’re really truly relaxed and ready to go to bed. You’ll start by checking your body: Where are you holding tension? Where can that tension be released? Then, you’ll check your mind: What is your state of mind? Are you carrying any mental burdens at this given moment? Next, you’ll check your breath: Is it in your throat, chest, or belly?

Lastly, it’s important to always have some happy thoughts or memories before you doze off to help counterbalance anything stressful that happened during the day. Since people normally wake up in the morning with the same thoughts they had when they fell sleep, this is even more crucial. Positive thoughts not only impact your ability to reach deep sleep, but also the entire following day. Though I won’t prompt you to think positive thoughts during the actual meditation, I will encourage you to turn your attention to something you’re grateful for or happy about should you find your mind wandering in the moments before you fall asleep.

WANT MORE SLEEP? Sign up here for weekly reminders featuring smart sleeping tips and guided, 10-minute meditations to help ensure a better night’s rest.

Related: This Is Where Positive Thinking Begins

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According to the CDC’s latest statistics, more than a third of the U.S. population is sleeping less than seven hours per night. That means that a good amount of Americans are sleep-deprived. Why is this such a big deal? When you’re sleeping, your brain is recalibrating itself, which means it’s working even more than when you’re awake. In order to start each day feeling fresh, focused, and ready for what lies ahead, good sleep is crucial.

But even when someone makes a conscious decision to get more sleep, they still sometimes fail. What you may not realize is that how you prepare for sleep—not just when you’re getting ready for bed, but also throughout the day—makes a huge difference in getting the quality and quantity of rest you need.

As for how to lay the groundwork for good sleep throughout the day, all the things you’ve commonly heard before—no caffeine in the afternoon, avoiding stressful news programs right before bed, powering down electronics a couple of hours before you sleep—will help you achieve a better night’s rest. What and when you eat, how you stimulate or relax your mind, and how much stressful interaction you have can also make an impact. Ideally, the two hours before you hit the hay are spent doing things like reading, meditating, and enjoying quality time with your family. These are all activities that can help you drift off in a positive, relaxed mood, which will only improve the caliber of your sleep.

This introductory meditation, the first of three in our spring Sleep Better Series, will help you prepare your mind for rest through breathing and relaxation techniques. Each month, I’ll be introducing a new meditation to be practiced right before bedtime as often as possible over the next 30 days, all with the aim of helping you sleep better.

In this 10-minute meditation, and the ones that follow, there are going to be some common instructions: Get in a relaxed body position, lay down in bed with your feet about a foot apart and your palms facing up and away from your body. When you have crossed legs, for example, you’re not allowing your muscles to be fully at rest. Once you’ve gotten yourself into this position, turned off the lights, and take a couple of deep breaths. Now, press play.

WANT MORE SLEEP? Sign up here for weekly reminders featuring smart sleeping tips and guided, 10-minute meditations to help ensure a better night’s rest.

Related:  A 90-Second Solution to Sleep Better Tonight

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“The only way out is through.”  – Robert Frost

It’s incredibly challenging to sit with any emotional pain, but learning to let it pass through you is the only way to truly begin the healing process. Use this short guided meditation practice from Sanjeev Verma to help you face this distress and alleviate your anguish slowly over time. You’ll come out stronger in the end for your courage and patience.

Related: The Power of Breath for Physical and Emotional Balance

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Five minutes on any social media feed or sitting with a boastful friend or relative is enough to make anyone feel insecure, inadequate, or resentful. In this world of have and have nots, reinforced by bragging status updates, it’s easy to harp on the desires that you have yet to achieve, but seem to come so effortlessly to others. Theses negative thoughts arise in us all from time to time, but you don’t have to let them consume you. Next time you feel these strong emotions bubbling up—whether it’s at your desk or at the dinner table—take a time-out to do this three-minute meditation to center yourself and replace those toxic thoughts with positive ones.

Related: How to Truly Be Happy for Others When They Get What You Want

The post A 3-Minute Meditation to Turn Jealousy into Joy appeared first on Sonima.

Before we get started, lets recap how far you’ve come these last few weeks. The first mediation in this fall series asked you to recall your surroundings with eyes closed while seated. The second meditation asked you to focus on staying present with eyes open, again while seated. For the last mindfulness-building exercise in this series, we ask you to try something a little different: To walk as part of a moving meditation that is designed to foster the important connection between the mind and the body.

Get ready to start walking, and count your steps from this moment on. Count backwards from 100 to 1. Consider every step you take with full awareness. Feel your legs moving. Notice when your feet touch the ground. Pay attention to how your arms swing back and forth and how your hands feel. Observe your breath.

Now count from 1 onwards. Bring your awareness to your toes and see how your joints move. Notice your calves, knees, thigh muscles, and hamstrings. Watch your chest go up and down with each inhale and exhale. Take in every little detail about the movement of your body and how it feels in this instance.

What’s the end-goal, besides getting from point A to point B?

Heightening your awareness of your own body is one of the best ways to ensure your body and mind are in sync. Developing this type of awareness allows you to feel more present and better in control of how you move through space. Whether you’re a fitness enthusiast or you just want to stay mobile and avoid injury, a keen sense of where you are and how you’re moving will serve you well.

What’s more, many of the emotions you feel manifest in your body. When you’re stressed, you can feel the tension physically. When you’re happy, you might feel a sense of lightness. In the same way, we can bring a sense peacefulness that happens in the mind during meditation to the body. Like any other mindfulness practice, the key is consistency. Bring this counting exercise into your everyday walk to work, strolls with your pet, or your daily jog.

>>Sign up to receive free weekly reminders and guided mindfulness meditations to help you and your family improve your focus in just nine weeks.

Related: A 6-Minute Meditation to Change How You See The World

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The first meditation in this fall mindfulness series asked you to practice recalling your surroundings with eyes closed. If you haven’t tried it yet, you can go back and give it a whirl right now. Or you can move on to the next one; it’s not necessary that you do these mindfulness exercises in order—as long as you do them. For the second meditation in the series, we’re going to work a different part of your awareness muscle with eyes open. The purpose is to enhance your memory as well as your ability to notice your surroundings.

Start seated, looking at a single point on a wall in front of you. Try feeling everything in the room. Hear all the sounds. See everything in your peripheral vision. Feel the clothes on your body. Feel the air around you, and the smell of the room. Activate all five senses, focusing on being very present for the next six minutes.

Why is this important? Take the example of my client’s son: After beginning practicing mindfulness, the little boy vastly improved his soccer performance, and he credits his success to better awareness of what’s going on around him. This newly heightened sense allowed the child to anticipate his teammates and opponents’ moves on the field, which, in turn, allowed him to be more strategic and react without hesitation.

Similarly, when you dedicate time to increasing your environmental awareness, you are more readily prepared to handle any obstacles that may unexpectedly get thrown in your path. When you’re living more profoundly in the moment, then you are working toward creating a life that you truly appreciate—literally, every second.

The end goal? Living each day with as much awareness as possible. Not only will this bring you advantages on the playing field of life, but also you’ll be able to look back on memories easily and in detail. Life won’t feel vague. It will feel rich, clear, and well-lived.

>>Sign up to receive free weekly reminders and 6-minute, guided mindfulness meditations to help you and your family improve mental sharpness in just nine weeks.

Related: A 6-Minute Meditation to Build Recollection Awareness

The post A 6-Minute Meditation to Change How You See The World appeared first on Sonima.