Meditation & Mindfulness
10-min Guided Meditation
10 minute guided meditation for those begining with a meditation practice.
10-Minute Guided Meditation
This meditation uses various anchors for attention including body sensations, sound, and the breath in order to cultivate curriousity and non-judgemental awareness.
Mindfulness of the senses
10 minute mindfulness practice that focuses on engaging with specific sensations in order to better connect with each moment. Mindfulness practices are everyday practices for strengthening our relationship with the moment-to-moment experiences.
5-min Breath Focused Meditation
Short 5-min meditation utalizing the breath as an anchor of attention.
Self-compassion meditation
Self-compassion allows us to meet uncomfortable experiences (suffering) with a non-judgmental, supportive, and kind attitude. When we can meet our own suffering with self-compassion it allows us to reduce shame and alienation as we begin to understand suffering as a common thread in all humanity. Everybody hurts sometimes and nobody gets out alive. This short 10-min mediattion is about cultivating self-compassion in order to first meet and then sooth suffering.
Meditation on Thoughts
Sometimes when the mind appears busy and cluttered it might seem imposible to meditate. This meditation uses thoughts as a focal point so instead of fighting with the mind you can think of opening up the closet and taking a look at what is inside. In this case we are not emptying the closet rather attempting to sort through and maybe organize what at firts might seem overwhelming.
20-Min Guided Meditation
This 20-min guided meditation offers some simple instructions followed by extended periods of silence for creating space and cultivating deeper states of equanimity.
20-min Meditation for Restlessness and Agitation
In this 20min meditation you will be provided with guidence and suggestions for noticing restlessness and agitation as it shows up in meditation and beyond.
SNARE Meditation
The SNARE Acronym from BEology mindfulness based wellness is a simple but effective focused attention meditation that allows us to strengthen our ability to focus, which is a precurser to deeper states of concentartion and meditation.
SAIN meditation
The SAIN Acronym from BEology Mindfulness Based Wellness is an open awareness mediation technique that allows us to cultivate intimacy with our moment to moment experiences. Once we are able to observe or hold space for our experiences we can move towards deeper acceptance, understanding, and eventually transformation.
SOBER
The SOBER acronym from BEology Mindfulness Based Wellness is about learning to surf or move through more intense emotions and impulses.
SOUL
SOUL is a self-compassion focused meditation from BEology Mindfulness-Based Wellness that uses the acronym SOUL to meet suffering and discomfort.
30-min Meditation
In this longer meditation there is a mix of silence and simple instructons for what to do with distractions, thoughts, discomfort, and emotions.
Gratitude Meditation
Grattitude meditation is about paying attention on purpose to those things in your life which you are greatful for. As we recall grattitude it allows us to cultivate an inner soothing resourse which downloads more contentment and satisfcation with the way things are. Contentment automatically shuts off the consumatory stress response that leads hypervigilence, cravings, and more impulsive behaviours.
Loving Kindness Meditation
Like the grattitude meditation, the loving-kindness meditation is about cultivating a soothing inner resource of love and support. As a result of increased stress and trauma we might become sympathetically tuned (fight-flight-freeze response) and hyper-vigilent. In this state we are more judgmental, critical, and focused on self-preservation as a survival strategy. Loving kindness fortifies the inner soothing resonse that allows us to feel more supported, safe for now, and responsive (versus reactive).
Grounding through 5 Elements and Senses
10-min mindfulness practice for grounding in the here and now. Paying attention on purpose in the moment automatically shifts us away from mind-wandering. While mind-wandering is not necessarily bad however in times of stress, information overload, or for those who struggle with anxiety and depression we can easily get stuck in worry, panic, rummination, and hoplessness. In this practice you will be directed to pay attention to specific senses and elements in your body in order to re-oritent attention to the here and now.
Centering Practice
The intention in this 10-min centering practice is to become more current, curious, connected, and creative allowing for better alignment to who and what matters especially in times of increased stress, opposition or oppression.
Ideal Parent Meditation for soothing, belonging, and feeling supported
According to research on early childhood development, neurobiology of attachment, and attachment theories in psychology, the first 3-5 years of a humans life can have significant impacts on brain development, nervous system functions, relational capacity, and our beliefs about ourselves and the world around us. A metaphor that may be helpful is the idea that our early infant and childhood experiences write the codes, programs, and algorithms which ultimately forms the templates through which we take in and process experiences. We are born into the world with no ability to regulate our nervous system and therefore we relay heavily on our caregivers and environments to build this capacity through modelling, serve and return interactions, relationships, and teaching. Based on these experiences short codes (unconscious beliefs/somatic imprints) are installed that are designed to avoid harm and secure acceptance and belonging. The idea might be summarized as "what fires together wires together" or "if it's true in this context and relationship it is probably true in all similar experiences". This meditation provides an opportunity to leverage imagination in order to recreate more 'ideal' childhood attachment experiences. Whether you have experienced what you consider a helathy and secure attachment relationship with your caregivers, the opposite, or something in between there may be many experiences with relationships throughout our lives that may leave some traumatic residue. Contemplating ideal relationship and steeping in this experience may help to build the capacity to feel loved and a sense belonging while also allowing the nervous system to feel a sense of safety and connection.
Connecting with the "Inner Child" Meditation
Trauma is often described as an experience waiting to be had because in the moment the experience was just too big (we were too young, it was too much, too often, unexpected, feeling alone or unsupported etc) In these incidents there are many stress hormones circulating which may cause the nervous system/brain to store the remnants of the experience in fragments of sensory, emotional, somatic, beliefs about self and the world all over the body. Instead of being sorted and time stamped it is suggested that these experiences stay with us in our body like a disorganized fling cabinet. It is these fragmented past experiences that may become ignited (triggered)by current situations which our nervous system detects as 'similar enough' and essentially relives the past. Some folks describe this experience as being 'haunted by old ghosts'. In addition to traumatic incidents such as accidents, violence, natural disaster etc, we also experience many other traumas throughout our lives that are more related to our core needs to feel like we are acceptable, loved, and belong. Throughout childhood and beyond we may have experiences that have nothing to do with our worthiness, and yet we may unconsciously decide that we are 'not good enough' 'too much' 'unlovable'… The inner child meditation encourages us to connect back to a time when we felt a little more curious, joyful, peaceful, and open; a time before the world seemed to reject a part of who we are and before we abandoned parts of ourselves in order to fit in, make the cut, and survive. Because infants and children need to secure connection and acceptance to survive, it is instinctual to trade our authenticity for acceptance. As we imagine ourselves as children and begin to connect to that part of us, we may experience the joy and wonder of being a child again and also some repressed sadness, grief, shame, and anger.
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