Several years ago, the church I attended tried something new. A member of the congregation, rather than the minister, would deliver the customary offertory message during the Sunday morning contemporary service. It’s the part of the worship service that involves the opening up of wallets, purses, and checkbooks — and nowadays maybe even an app on your phone — to give money. Someone made the mistake of asking me to do the offertory message one Sunday. (It never happened again.) “Who knows …
Can’t Meditate? Try Mindfulness in Motion
I don't remember anything about my very first yoga class, there at the downtown YMCA in Nashville -- even though I had an excellent beginning yoga teacher — she’d even been Dolly Parton's private yoga teacher. I don't remember a thing about the class, except that there was a guided relaxation at the end and I remember thinking afterwards, "This is the first time in my life I ever recall feeling relaxed and energized at the same time... I think I need to come back." So yoga had me from hello. …
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Shut Up and Meditate [video]
It was an unexpected comment from an unlikely source. I was sitting there minding my own business at the Louisville Heart Ball when one of the healthcare executives at my table made an interesting comment. “It seems that most high-performing professionals attribute their success to some type of mindfulness practice.” I didn’t realize someone had told him I had taught yoga and meditation classes for ten years along the way to getting my doctorate in psychology. It’s true — there’s a …
Three Ways to Boost Your Resilience
I’m the only person I know who actually uses and shares on a daily basis the information I explored in my doctoral thesis — how to cultivate resilience, that resourceful, persevering ability to cope effectively with daily stresses and successfully adapt to loss, adversity, conflict and other struggles of life. …
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PODCAST: The Calming Breath Part 1
The Calming Breath is a simple, but powerful way to release tension and refocus your mind. Use this brief guided experience of The Calming Breath Part 1 to relax, refresh and refocus, both mentally and physically. When you're comfortable with The Calming Breath Part 1, you may want to try The Calming Breath Part 2. …