Journal
Here you'll find writing on mindfulness, neuroscience, mental health, physical wellbeing, and yoga.
These topics often overlap: attention, behaviour and embodiment are all part of the same ecosystem of experience, and the aim here is to explore those connections in a thoughtful and practical way. Some posts draw from research, others from lived experience and teaching. The intention is to share ideas that are useful, considered, and occasionally a bit different from what is typically said.
March 25, 2020
Sleepiness can be one of the most difficult obstacles to encounter in meditation, but there are ways to work with it beneficially. In this meditation, you will learn how to help balance the force of sleepiness, and also to work with it mindfully if you encounter it. We will practice a breathing exercise to help prepare the grounds, then learn tools to support awaked-ness.
March 25, 2020
This class is a progression of mindful movement, core strengthening exercises, hip stabilizers, and balances.
March 24, 2020
Through fluid movement and deep hip openers, we create a warm and steady connection to our bodies. This class works towards Half Moon pose and Wild Thing pose.
March 24, 2020
The field of sound is ever-changing, unpredictable, and diverse, rather like our conscious experience at large. In learning to meditate on sound, we practice equanimity (keeping an even and open mind) through the stages of sensation, perception, and association with sound. We learn to direct our attention back to the sonic field, strengthening the muscles of mindfulness, and clarifying our focus towards the unfiltered experience of the present moment.
March 23, 2020
In this practice we bring together three mindfulness techniques with which we have worked so far, to lengthen the transformative space of meditation. Karen will review the practices for 3 minutes, then lead into a 13 minute guided meditation.
March 22, 2020
Meditating with breath awareness is an effective and accessible technique, but it is difficult to learn! In this meditation, you will practice a simple counting technique to help coalesce your attention with the experience of breathing. This will draw your energy away from preoccupations and distractions, and help centre you in a state of greater peace and presence.
March 21, 2020
Your breath is of your body, it is comforting with no unwanted side effects (!), and is the ideal refuge for your heart and mind to find peace. But when the breath is so easily taken for granted, how do you foster a mindful relationship with it? In this guided meditation, we begin to explore the basics of breath awareness meditation.
March 20, 2020
Our experience in the present moment can be likened to a ripply pond. Instead of getting stuck in difficult or distracting feelings (the ripples), we learn to see wider-lens view, and recognize the changing nature of conscious experience. In is the beginning a mindfulness meditation series to help guide you through the basic practices, give you tools to focus your mind, settle your nervous system, and open your heart.
March 19, 2020
A few practices to help you regulate your nervous system and sleep better.