Mindful Habit Change

Meditation For Beginners

Simply Meditation

The following meditation is an exploring of mudita, or sympathetic joy. In this insight practice, we use an image, an intention and phrases, to offer our wish to someone in our life who is doing well. Through this exploration, we may unlock this same emotion in ourselves.

This meditation uses phrases shared by psychotherapist Brian Williams. You can hear his guided meditation at https://soundcloud.com/michaelstoneteaching/guided-meditation-on-mudita.

7 Mindful Minutes: Sensing Joy

The following guided meditation offers a tool for returning your attention to the present moment. By smiling when we notice a distraction, we can gently return our attention to the rhythm of the breath. Visit www.yourmindfulcoach.com and www.center4selfcare.com to learn more.

7 Mindful Minutes: Smile and Return

The following traditional equanimity meditation comes from Jack Kornfield's The Art of Forgiveness, Lovingkindness, and Peace (p. 197-201). Visit www.yourmindfulcoachblog.wordpress.com for more thoughts on equanimity.

7 Mindful Minutes: Equanimity Meditation

Are you happy being busy or busy being happy? It can be difficult to adjust to the pace of a 21st century world. Our technology addicts us to speed and trains our brain to want more. But there is a different approach one can take to touch the stillness inside us in any moment.

Each Ten Talk investigates a meditation-related topic and is paired with a Sunday 9pm live online meditation session. We invite you to listen and join us this Sunday. Simply visit www.center4selfcare.com/meditate4selfcare for login/dialin instructions.

Ten Talk: The Tragedy Of Speed

This fall, www.center4selfcare.com is offering The Well-Worn Path: Mindfulness and Meditation for Positive Habit Change. This episode is the full presentation from September 18, Identifying Habit Patterns

You can join us in Wayne, PA on October 9, November 20 and December 11 or simply following along with our talks and guided meditations. We even have a short video summarizing this series of workshops at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z110IKAUlN4.

Mindful Habit Change 1: Identifying Habit Pattens Talk including Meditations

The practice of mindfulness allows us to practice with our attention. We notice we are distracted, catch ourself, and gently return to begin again.

Want more? This episode is a guided meditation that was part of our first Mindful Habit Change workshop. You can find the full talk here:https://soundcloud.com/user-211379348/mindful-habit-change-identifying-habit-pattens-talk-practices. 

This fall, www.center4selfcare.com is offering The Well-Worn Path: Mindfulness and Meditation for Positive Habit Change. This episode is the abbreviated presentation from September 18, Identifying Habit Patterns

You can join us in Wayne, PA on October 9, November 20 and December 11 or simply following along with our talks and guided meditations. We even have a short video summarizing this series of workshops at www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z110IKAUlN4.

Mindful Habit Change 1: Catch Yourself Meditation

This fall, www.center4selfcare.com is offering The Well-Worn Path: Mindfulness and Meditation for Positive Habit Change. This episode is the full presentation from October 9, Accountability and Reminders.

You can join us in Wayne, PA on November 20 and December 11 or simply following along with our talks and guided meditations. We even have a short video summarizing this series of workshops at www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z110IKAUlN4.

Mindful Habit Change 2: Accountability and Reminders Talk including Meditations

This fall, www.center4selfcare.com is offering The Well-Worn Path: Mindfulness and Meditation for Positive Habit Change. This episode is the full presentation from November 20, Patience and Self-Compassion.

You can join us in Wayne, PA on December 11 or simply following along with our talks and guided meditations. We even have a short video summarizing this series of workshops at www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z110IKAUlN4.

Mindful Habit Change 3: Patience and Self-Compassion Talk including Meditations

This fall, www.center4selfcare.com is offering The Well-Worn Path: Mindfulness and Meditation for Positive Habit Change. This episode is the full presentation from December 9, Sustainable Change.

While the class is over, you can still follow along with our talks and guided meditations. We even have a short video summarizing this series of workshops at www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z110IKAUlN4. Visit yourmindfulcoachblog.wordpress.com for writeups.

Mindful Habit Change 4: Sustainable Change Talk including Meditations

Today's episode includes an introduction to the practice of mindfulness and a brief guided focused breathing meditation. Mindfulness meditation uses the raw material of our life - the breath, the body, our senses - to guide us to the present moment. It can be a critical tool for self-care that you can do anytime and anyplace.

St. Alban's Mindfulness Day - Intro to Mindfulness Meditation (1 of 2)

Today's episode includes an introduction to the practice of insight meditation and the four immeasurable qualities of the heart.  These heart practices invite us to bring images of ourselves and others into our practice and then share our wishes for compassion, lovingkindness, equanimity and joy.

St. Alban's Mindfulness Day - Intro to Insight Meditation (2 of 2)

Today's practice is the body scan. It can be used to harness attention but also to relax. Meditation is not about perfect ourselves or clearing our mind of thoughts. Instead, we bring our attention back again and again, no matter how far our mind has strayed. Learn more at www.center4selfcare.com.

Simply Meditation Body Scan Guided Meditation

Today's practice is the body scan. It can be used to harness attention but also to relax. Our teaching focuses on the spirit of bhavana or cultivation. Meditation is not about perfect ourselves or clearing our mind of thoughts. Instead, we bring our attention back again and again, no matter how far our mind has strayed. www.center4selfcare.com

Simply Meditation Body Scan Teaching plus Guided Meditation

Today's practice is derived from Jack Kornfield's meditation on the Don't Know Mind (https://jackkornfield.com/practice-dont-know-mind/). Our culture suggests that we can know just about anything as long as we have Google and plenty of time. But resting in the uncertainty of not knowing can open us to possibility and relaxation. Learn more at www.center4selfcare.com.

Simply Meditation Don't Know Mind Guided Meditation

Today's practice gives us the space to explore our passions and intentions in a way that cultivates meaning and purpose. I learned this meditation from one of my mentors, Rob Eames. It offers 3 questions: Who am I? What do I want? How can I serve? Learn more at www.center4selfcare.com.

Simply Meditation Meaning and Purpose Guided Meditation

Today's talk and guided practice gives us the space to explore our passions and intentions in a way that cultivates meaning and purpose. I learned this meditation from one of my mentors, Rob Eames. It offers 3 questions: Who am I? What do I want? How can I serve? Learn more at www.center4selfcare.com.

Simply Meditation Meaning & Purpose Teaching plus Guided Meditation

This episode comes from a workshop, How To Become Comfortable With Uncertainty. Filled with stories, poems, teachings and practices, it offers an invitation to explore one's relationship with fear, uncertainty and doubt. Marc also guides the listener through "Fear-Setting," a transformational practice from Tim Ferriss (tim.blog) that is sure to cultivate insight and understanding. Once you've listened, follow this link for the accompanying handout: https://center4selfcare.files.wordpress.com/2019/11/fear-setting-3.pdf

Comfortable With Uncertainty, Workshop Presentation and Guided Practice

The ancient Tibetan tradition of Tonglen is a way to exchange energy amongst beings. In this counterintuitive practice, we breath in the suffering and pain of another and breath out our natural love and compassion. It is a fierce practice but usually very nourishing. We cultivate empathy, connection and wisdom.

Simply Meditation Sending and Receiving (Tonglen) Guided Meditation

Connecting with silence is a valuable way to arrive in the present moment. We can find silence in our environment and also inside of us. This talk uses the inspiration of Thich Nhat Hanh and his book, Silence: The Power of Quiet in a World Full of Noise.

Simply Meditation Listening To Silence Talk Plus Guided Meditation

Connecting with silence is a valuable way to arrive in the present moment. Used as an anchor to our experience, we can find silence in our environment and also inside of us.

Simply Meditation Listening To Silence Guided Meditation

Mindful Consumption is about more than what we eat. It is about everything we put into our body, including news, gossip, ruminations and stories. This practice is inspired by Thich Nhat Hanh, who talks of the Four Nutriments: edible food, sense impressions, volition (motivations) and consciousness (misperceptions). It offers a series of intentions that can be repeated silently.

Simply Meditation Mindful Consumption Guided Meditation

Mindful Consumption is about more than what we eat. It is about everything we put into our body, including news, gossip, ruminations and stories. The accompanying practice is inspired by Thich Nhat Hanh, who talks of the Four Nutriments: edible food, sense impressions, volition (motivations) and consciousness (misperceptions). It offers a series of intentions that can be repeated silently.

Simply Meditation Mindful Consumption Talk Plus Guided Meditation

The simplest instruction in mindfulness meditation is to Begin Again. Beginners and experienced meditators alike find themselves lost in thought or carried away in an emotion. The practice is to gently guide the attention back to the focus of attention and begin again. This talk includes the story of Marc's first meditation while the guided practice begins with movement inspired by his teacher, Jonathan Foust (www.jonathanfoust.com).

Simply Meditation Begin Again Talk Plus Guided Meditation

The simplest instruction in mindfulness meditation is to Begin Again. Beginners and experienced meditators alike find themselves lost in thought or carried away in an emotion. The practice is to gently guide the attention back to the focus of attention and begin again. This guided practice begins with movement inspired by his teacher, Jonathan Foust (www.jonathanfoust.com).

Simply Meditation Begin Again Guided Meditation

This guided meditation begins with a simple standing meditation before transitioning into a supportive walking meditation. It is best done indoors in a space that allows you to walk back and forth freely.

Simply Meditation: Standing and Walking Guided Meditation

This February, Simply Meditation explores four challenges that we often face with aversion. In this talk, we explore procrastination and what messages we can extract from this act. The guided meditation invites the practitioner to explore a particular challenge that they might be avoiding or procrastinating about.

Simply Meditation: Procrastination Talk Plus Guided Meditation

This guided meditation invites you to explore a topic or challenge that you have been procrastinating about. By investigating the sensations and emotions that this situation generates, we might experience a shift. What insight, intuition, and wisdom can we find inside of us to move forward? Inspired by the words of David Whyte, https://www.facebook.com/PoetDavidWhyte/posts/procrastinationis-not-what-it-seems-what-looks-from-the-outside-like-our-delay-o/2067686643257328/

Simply Meditation: Procrastination Guided Meditation

This February, Simply Meditation explores four challenges that we often face with aversion. In this talk, we explore withdrawal and how it can serve as an invitation to refocus and direct one's attention to what is most important. The accompanying guided meditation includes a body scan where we breath deeply into our body.

Simply Meditation: Withdrawal Talk Plus Guided Meditation

This simple meditation invites an attention to the body. As we breathe in, we direct the breath to parts of our body with care and compassion.

Simply Meditation: Breathe Into The Body Guided Meditation

This is the first in a series of retreat reflections and practices. With body-centered inquiry, we often invite a sensation to grow and evolve so we can sense it more clearly. What if the invitation, when reflecting on a gratitude, was "How Good Can It Get?" This talk includes a brief centering at the beginning followed by a longer meditation at the conclusion.

Simply Meditation: How Good Can It Get Talk plus Guided Meditation

The following guided practice invites you to check in with your body and draw the energy of each breath up from the earth. Drawing this positive energy into the body, you can then share it as you release the breath back to the world.

Grounding Guided Meditation

The following talk recognizes that despite the difficulties of our lives, we are also gifted with blessings. What is it like to hold these two together in conversation?

Simply Meditation: Blessed and Besieged Talk Plus Guided Meditation

Today we offer a gentle body scan to connect you with your experience as you drop into presence. Visit us at www.center4selfcare.com to learn more.

Simply Meditation: Restful Body Scan Guided Meditation

The challenge of our time is how to be with what is happening right now. Being aware of it and allowing it to be as it is when we have no control. That doesn't mean we are "OK" with it but instead we learn how to respond thoughtfully to our conditions so that we may see them change and evolve. The guided meditation on working with difficulty inspired by Ajahn Brahm's story, Who Ordered This Truckload of Dung. Watch Brahm describe it here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fx2dnLxO2nM as well as the Body-Centered Inquiry work of Jonathan Foust (jonathanfoust.com).

Simply Meditation: A Truckload of Dung Talk plus Guided Meditation

This talk and guided practice offers everyday tools for being with our experience. These practices help us create a space between stimulus and response so that we can bring compassion, intuition and reason to our actions.

Simply Meditation: Everyday Mindfulness Talk plus Guided Meditation

We began our weekly gathering with the story of the 2 Bad Bricks. We are inclined towards seeing the negative but often miss the positive within it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiu7iHzYQhQ.

This meditation invites the practitioner to reflect on the 'good bricks' in our experience and settle into a feeling of wellbeing and balance.

Simply Meditation: Good Bricks Meditation

A guided meditation inspired by Thich Nhat Hanh

Simply Meditation: Lovingkindness Meditation

Today's talk begins with a guided lovingkindness meditation based on the work of Thich Nhat Hanh and concludes with a reading from Pema Chodron.

Simply Meditation: Lovingkindness Talk plus Guided Meditation

In this guided practice, we open to the experience of sound around us. Sound can be a powerful anchor to presence. The meditation concludes with a poem, Everything is Waiting For You, by David Whyte.

Simply Meditation: Opening To Sound Meditation

One of the principles of mindfulness meditation is bringing the mind, heart and body together. We spend quite a bit of time "in our head." This practice invites you to drop below the neck and into the body, feeling sensation with the body itself as opposed to analyzing it with the mind.

Simply Meditation: Feel With the Body Meditation

Enjoy this brief practice that helps work with a challenge or difficulty in our life and helps us open to possibility as we let go of what we can and let be what we can't.

Simply Meditation: Letting Be Guided Meditation

The following talk looks at the idea of monkey mind and how we can work with the mind and its countless thoughts without trying to control it. The meditation includes a guided visualization that works with this concept. Check out Mooji, who I reference in the talk - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VsXNURolJc.

Simply Meditation: Monkey Mind Talk plus Guided Meditation

Welcome to Creatures of Habit, a 29-day journey of Mindful Habit Change offered by Center4SelfCare.com. Week 1 is a practice of identifying and exploring our habit patterns. Be sure to register at habitchange.eventbrite.com to be part of our interactive community of learning. It's not too late! You can find the video version here: https://youtu.be/lkFgFldwufU

Be sure to support our friends, 
David Gerbstadt - https://www.facebook.com/david.gerbstadt
Scientific Eve - https://insighttimer.com/scientificeve
No More Secrets - https://www.nomoresecretsmbs.org

C4SC presents Creatures of Habit: 29-days of Mindful Habit Change preview

Welcome to Creatures of Habit, a 29-day journey of Mindful Habit Change offered by Center4SelfCare.com. Our first meditation is a visualization where we walk through our day (or the day prior). This can be a relaxing practice but also one that helps us identify routines and habit patterns so we can build on them and change them.

Be sure to register at habitchange.eventbrite.com to be part of our interactive community of learning. It's not too late! You can find the first week's video introduction here: youtu.be/lkFgFldwufU

Habit Meditation 1: Movie of Your Day

Welcome to Creatures of Habit, a 29-day journey of Mindful Habit Change offered by Center4SelfCare.com. Our second meditation is a visualization where we address a habit, challenge or difficulty that we can recall in words and pictures. We then ask ourselves three questions: What am I doing? Is it right? What will I do next?

If you'd like to learn more about our offerings, visit www.center4selfcare.com.

Habit Meditation 2: Three Habit Questions

This guided meditation includes a short teaching on equanimity and being with one's experience. As we assume the seat of the witness, we drop into our body and bring a curious attention to what's happening right now. 

Included are two readings recently shared by Jack Kornfield: 
https://jackkornfield.com/ep-120-seeding-goodness/

Simply Meditation: Seat of the Witness Body Scan

This meditation combines a breath-focused mindfulness practice with an inquiry. As we reflect on the coming year, using the model of James Clear's Year in Review (https://jamesclear.com/annual-review),

What went well last year?
What didn't go so well?
What am I working towards in the year to come?

Visit center4selfcare.com to learn more or register for our 31-day virtual habit change class at habitchange.eventbrite.com today.

Simply Meditation: New Year Reflection

This meditation reflects on three questions inspired by Jonathan Foust and James Clear. As you look forward and backward,

What worked well in the last year?
What didn't go so well?
What are you working towards?

7 Mindful Minutes: Reflection on a New Year

Using the words of Thich Nhat Hanh and inspired by the memory of Martin Luther King Jr., this meditation cultivates an inner state of peace and love. These qualities allow us to engage with the ever-changing world and create connection and meaning.

Peace and Love Meditation

This meditation allows us to explore the waves of our experience. Thoughts, feelings and sensations come and go. The practice of mindfulness is the practice of "being with" these experiences, whether they are pleasant, unpleasant or neutral and allowing them to flow in whatever way they need to. 

Poems shared include:
The Little Duck by Donald C. Babcock
Ride the Wave by Leah Ayliffe
Tell Me by Sandra Belfiore

Riding the Waves of Our Experience Meditation

Your Mindful Coach offers mindfulness and meditation workshops, retreats and private consultations with a special focus on youth sports, men, middle age and the workplace.

This podcast is a collection of talks and guided practices for mindful living.

Your Mindful Coach

Pinned to spotlight

Popular tracks