12 Minute Meditation

Our guest this week is Vinny Ferraro. He brings us a guided meditation to help us learn how to meet our struggle and suffering with a kind and friendly presence. This practice is designed to help you: 
Notice where you tend to contract against discomfort 

Identify the ways you opt out of caring for yourself—where you see yourself as an inconvenience or you judge yourself harshly when you're suffering

Widen your circle of curiosity and care to include yourself 

Vinny Ferraro has been a practitioner of insight meditation (vipassanā) since the early 1990s. He is a co-Founder of the Dharma Punx and co-Guiding Teacher of Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society. He is also a nationally recognized leader in designing and implementing interventions for at-risk adolescents and is currently Senior Trainer for Mindful Schools.
The transcription of this guided meditation will be online and in our app at Mindful.org next week. 
Stay curious, stay inspired. Sign up for our free newsletter mindful.org/signup or download the app for free at mindful.org/app. 
Show Notes
Find more from Vinny Ferraro here.
Go Deeper
Self-compassion can be tricky to navigate, especially in extremely individualistic cultures that reward self-sufficiency, mastery, and "success." To learn more about what self-compassion is (and isn't) and how to develop a more honest and kind relationship with yourself, check out these resources from Mindful.org: 
 It's Selfish, It's Hokey, and I'll Lose My Edge: 3 Half-Truths About Self-Compassion 

A Love Letter to Yourself: Self-Compassion Practice 

7 Self-Compassion Reminders for Parents of Kids Who Are Struggling 

This Is What Fierce Self-Compassion Looks Like 

Make simple Self-Love Affirmations a regular practice
For more practice with self-compassion meditation, try Self-Compassion for Nervous System Reset. 
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Our guest this week is Elisha Goldstein. He brings us a guided meditation that uses the breath to create a place of safety and acceptance. This practice is designed to help you: 
Acknowledge stress or anxiety rather than falling into old patterns of running away from it

Practice deep belly breathing as a way to regulate and moderate breathing patterns

Offer compassion to yourself, no matter what you're going through right now

Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist and conducts a private practice in West Los Angeles. He is founder of the Mindful Living Collective—a donation-based leading global network for mindful living and learning, and creator of the Uncover the Power Within coaching program and the free master class on the Uncover the Power Within Blueprint. He is also the author of Tiny Shifts; Uncovering Happiness: Overcoming Depression with Mindfulness and Self-Compassion (Atria Books, 2015); The Now Effect (Atria Books, 2012); Mindfulness Meditations for the Anxious Traveler (Atria Books, 2013); and co-author of A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Workbook (New Harbinger, 2010).
The transcription of this guided meditation will be online and in our app at Mindful.org next week. 
Stay curious, stay inspired. Sign up for our free newsletter mindful.org/signup or download the app for free at mindful.org/app. 
Show Notes
Find more from Elisha Goldstein here.
Go Deeper
Breathing practices are a gentle, simple way to enter into mindfulness practice. To learn more about the benefits of breathwork, check out these resources from Mindful.org: 
Mountain-Climbing Mindfulness: The Power of 10 Deep Breaths 

How to Practice Breathing Meditation 

The Breath is Your Superpower: 3 Ways to Help Kids Reset 

What Science Says About the Power of the Outbreath 

For more practice with breathing meditation, try:  The Breathscape Practice for Cultivating Mindfulness 
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Let us know what you thought of this episode of 12 Minute Meditation by leaving a review or by emailing yourwords@mindful.org.

Our guest this week is Shamash Alidina. He offers a guided practice to invite us to consider how feeling smaller can actually be a big relief. It's not that we diminish our value, but rather that we take a moment to feel that the world is bigger than our worries, and that we are held and surrounded by immense beauty, wonder, and support. In this meditation, you'll: 
Connect with and ground in your body and your senses

Widen your perspective

Open yourself to the experience of awe

Shamash Alidina has been practising mindfulness since 1998 and runs his own successful training organisation. He is the author of Mindfulness For Dummies and the forthcoming Breathing Exercises for Dummies. He frequently pops up in newspapers, magazines and on radio shows. Based in London, he runs online trainings and speaks at conferences all over the world. He's been teaching mindfulness full-time since 2010.
The transcription of this guided meditation will be online and in our app at Mindful.org next week. 
Stay curious, stay inspired. Sign up for our free newsletter mindful.org/signup or download the app for free at mindful.org/app. 
Show Notes
Find more from Shamash Alidina here.
Go Deeper
Awe is a fundamental and essential human emotion, but it's one we get a lot less of these days. To intentionally reconnect with awe and experience the emotional, physical, and relational benefits, check out these resources from Mindful.org: 
Why Do We Feel Awe?

How to Take An Awe Walk 

The Joy of Feeling Small 

Eight Ways Awe Boosts Your Well-Being 

How Awe Brings People Together 

For more practice opening to awe in simple things, try: Jörg Sprave: A Guided Forest Bathing Meditation 
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Our guest this week is Dr. Diana Hill. She brings a guided practice to be with, care for, and notice the story that we bring to our emotional and physical pain. In this meditation, you'll: 
Identify a specific area of emotional or physical discomfort

Name the story underneath that pain, without judgment or the need to "fix"

Notice how the story points to what you care about, and what's most important to you

Consider how you can act on that care

Diana Hill, PhD is a clinical psychologist, international trainer, and sought-out speaker on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and compassion. She is host of the Wise Effort podcast, author of The Self-Compassion Daily Journal, and co-author of the ACT Daily Journal. @drdianahill
The transcription of this guided meditation will be online and in our app at Mindful.org next week. 
Stay curious, stay inspired. Sign up for our free newsletter mindful.org/signup or download the app for free at mindful.org/app. 
Show Notes
Find more from Diana Hill here.
Go Deeper
Living with pain, whether it's emotional, mental, or physical, is an immense challenge. The process of finding meaning is not about trying to spin a story that forces a positive interpretation of struggle. Mindfulness does not position itself as a "fix" to suffering. Rather, it is a practice of attending to ourselves in these seasons, without judgement, forced positivity, numbing, or distraction. For more support in living with chronic conditions, check out these resources from Mindful.org: 
Embracing Discomfort: The Surprising Path to a Meaningful Life 

What Unexpected Chronic Back Pain Taught Me: 4 Takeaways That Matter 

Let Your Pain Be a River: Vidyamala Burch on Living and Teaching With Chronic Pain 

How We Can Thrive Within Discomfort 

The Ultimate Quest to Find Meaning 

For more practice meeting pain with compassion, try: A Meditation to Bring Comfort and Kindness to Pain and Illness 
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Let us know what you thought of this episode of 12 Minute Meditation by leaving a review or by emailing yourwords@mindful.org.

Our guest this week is Thaddaeus Washington, Mindful's featured Teacher of the Month for October. 
He brings a new experience to our meditation lineup: a music-based meditation entitled "Vapour," where sound is the anchor for our attention. In this guided practice, you're invited to simply rest, bring your whole self, and allow the music to unwind the worries of the day. 
Thaddaeus Washington is a musician, singer, songwriter, and founder of Mind Music—a company dedicated to making mindfulness accessible through music and immersive experiences. Thaddaeus has generously shared music from his Common Ground albums with us, which will be available as a full playlist inside the app starting in early November.
The transcription of this guided meditation will be online and in our app at Mindful.org next week. 
Stay curious, stay inspired. Sign up for our free newsletter mindful.org/signup or download the app for free at mindful.org/app. 
Show Notes
Find more from Thaddaeus Washington here.
Go Deeper
Music has long been a part of mindfulness tradition. From singing, dancing, and chanting to simply allowing ourselves to be caught up in wonder and beauty, music has a unique ability to work in us as whole human beings, body, mind, and heart. To learn more about the benefits of incorporating music into your mindfulness practices, check out these resources from Mindful.org: 
Where Music and Meditation Meet 

How Empathy Changes the Way We Process Music 

Why Music Strikes a Chord 

For a different take on a music-based practice, sample the new Desert Pulse playlist on Mindful's YouTube Channel (now available inside the app, as well). 

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Let us know what you thought of this episode of 12 Minute Meditation by leaving a review or by emailing yourwords@mindful.org.