Today's Menu: August 9 - 15

My mindfulness practice shifts from day to day much like my lunch preference, depending on my mood and my appetite. Here are some of my favorite flavors of mindfulness:

• Compassion When I'm my own worst critic, I try to remember self-compassion. The voice in my head can be brutal. Instead of getting stuck in the story, my observer self creates a little space between my head and my heart. I get super curious and watch my thought patterns. Sometimes I laugh at myself and sometimes I remember to be kinder.

• Gratitude When I fear there isn't enough time, enough money, enough love, I turn to gratitude. Instead of focusing on what is missing, I recognize the blessings that already surround me: my health and wealth, my family and friends, nature and the seasons, this moment and this day. Gratitude is the antidote to fear.
  

• Lovingkindness When I'm lonely, wondering if I really belong, I turn to lovingkindness. I radiate wellbeing from my heart to loved ones, to neighbors, to those suffering, and to all beings everywhere. Instead of turning inward, I connect to life by turning outward toward others.

• Nature When I'm overwhelmed by the headlines, texts and emails, AI and the iPhone, I leave the screens behind and take refuge in nature. I bike to the beach or walk on a wooded trail. I meditate on a rock, breathing fresh air, warmed by the sun, and enlivened by ocean breezes. My soul remembers I'm part of creation and I feel whole again.
  

• Stillness When I'm feeling anxious and unsettled, I turn to mindfulness of the body. I feel my feet of the earth. I place my hand on my heart. I tune into my breath. I allow my awareness to flow with the inhale and exhale. I sit in silence and I settle into the stillness beneath the waves of anxiety. I come home to the body.

Practice

Pause and check in with yourself. How does your body feel? What are you carrying emotionally? How can you best practice self-care? What sort of meditation are you craving? Order from the menu below:

• Compassion - something a little sweet and warming Click here: Self-Care

• Gratitude - think thanksgiving with a side of blessings

  Click here: Grace and Gratitude

• Lovingkindness - be adventurous and try something new Click here: Pride

• Nature - Organic and wholesome Click here: Being in Nature

• Stillness - Soothing and restorative

  Click here: Stillness of the Eternal