Joy aids us in waking up to our lives, and savoring is a practice that allows us to slow down, immerse ourselves in experience, and deeply appreciate the moment we’re inhabiting. These two together are a powerful antidote to the gravitational pull of negativity, doomscrolling, and despair.

Jessica Morey is a meditation teacher and coach. She has been practicing meditation for almost 3 decades. She is also the co-founder and former executive director of Inward Bound Mindfulness Education, a nonprofit organization bringing in-depth mindfulness and compassion training to youth.

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 Jessica Morey here.

Go Deeper

Understanding our built-in negativity bias is the first step to balancing it with practices that hone our attention and strengthen our genuine appreciation for the good things in life. You can learn more from these resources on Mindful.org:

1. Seven Strengths for an Uncertain World

2. Halting the Spiral: Navigating Repetitive Thought Patterns

3. 3 Mindful Ways to Transform Negative Thoughts

4. Turn Negative Emotions into Your Greatest Source of Strength

5. How Happy Brains Respond to Negative Things
   

For another approach to unhooking from negativity, try: Peace Begins With Me: A Meditation for When You Feel Overwhelmed By Negative Thoughts

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When we talk about attention, we often use active and extractive verbs: pay, give, court, leverage. In mindfulness, attention isn’t a commodity to be used; it’s a gift to be nurtured. What might it feel like to rest our attention?

This week, teacher Sharon Salzberg offers a guided meditation that’s down-to-earth and deeply restorative as we practice holding our awareness with the lightest touch possible.

Sharon Salzberg is a meditation teacher and New York Times best-selling author. She is the co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, and has played a crucial role in bringing Asian meditation practices to the West. Sharon has been a student of meditation since 1971, guiding retreats worldwide since 1974. She is a columnist for On Being, a regular contributor to The Huffington Post and the author of many books including Real Happiness, Lovingkindness, and Real Change.

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 Sharon Salzberg here.

Go Deeper

Our attention—where we give it and why—is one of our most powerful assets. Learning how to train our awareness to rest in the present moment is one of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves and others. To learn more about how mindfulness can help you build your attentional strength, check out these resources from Mindful.org:

• 3 Simple Ways to Pay Attention

• Get It Done With Mindfulness: How to Be Productive with Attention, Kindness, and Wisdom

• Attention! How Mindfulness Training Is Helping People Reclaim Their Ability to Focus

• How to Give Your Full Attention

At the very heart of mindfulness is the practice of training your attention, moment by moment, with compassion and care. For more practice, try A 12-Minute Breathing Meditation to Cultivate Attention.

And more from Mindful here:

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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.

One of the core principles of mindfulness practice that can be a challenge for people is the notion that it actually makes more sense to accept our emotions rather than resist them. Especially when it comes to painful, confusing, or frightening emotions, this move towards ourselves in compassion can feel incredibly counterintuitive.

This week, author and recovery coach Emily Jane guides us through a practice you can use anytime you need support bringing curiosity, courage, and compassion to difficult experiences.

Emily Jane is a mindfulness teacher, certified Embodied Processing (EP) practitioner, and recovery coach with a background in social work. She’s been in recovery for over eight years, following two decades of active addiction, and her lived experience now fuels her passion for helping others heal. Emily is also the author of Beyond Addiction: A Mindful Guide to Recovery, where she shares her trauma-informed, compassionate approach to healing. Her work integrates mindfulness, coaching, trauma therapy, and somatic tools to help people reconnect with their bodies and find safety, peace, and empowerment on their recovery journey. Connect with Emily Jane online at Holistic Recovery.

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 Emily Jane here.

Go Deeper

Being able to notice and be in our bodies is one of the core skills of mindfulness. In a world that is designed for distraction and disembodiment, this can be a challenging skill to cultivate. If you want to learn more, start with these resources from Mindful.org:

• Addiction, Trauma, and the Problem of Being Present

• What Green Spaces Can Do For Your Body, Your Mind & Your Practice

• Mindfulness Practices to Get Back in Touch with Your Body

• How to Befriend Your Body

• The Science of Embodiment: Connect to Your Body’s Wisdom

For another take on a meditation for body awareness, try: A 10-Minute Meditation to Cultivate Embodied Awareness

And more from Mindful here:

More episodes of 12 Minute Meditation

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