Eckhart Tolle wrote  Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have, and make the Now the primary focus of your life. Then, your life will be peaceful and full.  It’s the mind’s natural tendency to focus on the past or the future, moving back and forth, back and forth.  Unfortunately, thoughts of the past often bring regret and thoughts of the future hold worry.  This practice shifts away from this tendency by asking, “WHAT ABOUT NOW?”

The first act of love is to breathe in and go home to your body. “Breathing in, I know I have a body. Hello body, I am home. I’ll take care of you.”
-Thich Nhat Hahn

The breath is often referred to as our faithful companion.  A trustworthy friend with us from our first to last moment on this earth.  Yet, how well do you know your breath?  Would you recognize your breath if you heard the recording of several different people breathing, including yourself?  This meditation offers the invitation to build a deeper relationship with your breath.

A network of 100 million + neurons throughout the body inform what our physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual needs are at any given moment. As a society that spends 13+ hours a day up in their heads while in front of one type of screen or another, we’re cut off from this life-generating knowledge. Mindfulness of the body practices reconnecting to the fiesta of life prompting sensory data our body provides.

What is the tightness in your belly telling you? What is the ache in your lower back asking you to do? Practicing mindfulness of the body reconnects us to the fiesta of life promoting sensory data our body provides us and allows us to foster of physical, mental, and emotional well-being.

Perhaps the most universal place to collect and deepen focus is the breath. This becomes apparent with a simple search on Spotify or YouTube. There are hundreds of songs inviting us to calm ourselves by simply taking a breath. This meditation begins with an intentional breath that calms the nervous system and then opens to a clear, intimate presence with our natural breathing. With breath as a home base, we practice returning again and again when the mind becomes distracted by thoughts, sensations, or emotions. As we can let the gentle undulation of the breath brings a quieting of mind and body.

It’s your mind’s job to think, just as it is your stomach’s job to digest the food. Many believe the goal of meditation is to clear the mind completely, but that is like asking the body to stop breathing.
This meditation’s invitation is to attend and befriend our thoughts allowing all to come and go. As we watch our thoughts, we as the observer can train the mind in greater life-generating ways.

Learning how emotions and feelings show up in our bodies assist us in becoming more embodied which in turn allow us to move towards increased positive thought patterns. As we attend and befriend our emotions great wisdom can be gained.

There are 32 Chakras, energy centers, in and around the human body. This meditation focuses on the seven key chakras found along the central core. When these energy centers are aligned and balanced there is a sense of well-being and a greater atonement with our intuition.

The mind emanates thought like the stomach secretes digestive enzymes. Meditation anchors provide a focal point to which we can return when the mind wanders off into the past or future.

The National Science Foundation estimates we have 12,000 to 60,000 thoughts daily.  80% are negative and 95% are reoccurring.  Yes, that means 95% of what you think today you thought yesterday, and without intervention, you will think tomorrow, and yes, 85% percent will be negative.  This Meditation offers ways to counterbalance our negativity bias.

Using the imagery of the moon as the mind and the sun as the authentic self this meditation assists the mind to focus on how when present our mind reflects the full radiance of the authentic self yet, when lost in the past or future can block its radiance.

This meditation uses the metaphor of leaving in a river to help us distance ourselves from our constant flow of thoughts and see ourselves as the riverbed which holds all, the river and the leaves with equanimity.

This informal practice can be done anywhere, allowing us to check in with the body, note any areas of tension or tightness, and offer each a moment to relax and open.

When the mind is centered our emotions are calm, we feel like ourselves, and have a greater sense of well-being. This 5 minutes Micro Shift meditation allows us to quickly come back to our center throughout the day.

This Micro Shift is perfect for those moments when you pause and discover your system is in high gear whether due to stress, or some other overwhelming situation. When the breath is calm the body and mind follow suit.

Three minutes, three bells. It doesn’t get simpler than that. With each sound of the bell the body and mind come back to this present moment allowing you to respond to your next task, and activities from a place of centeredness.