Mindfulness Mode

The word, fulfillment is a word I'd like to discuss. What does it mean to you? I've had a word of the year, many times, and I found it to be a helpful practice. I can use my word of the year to be inspired every day, in one way or another. Let's talk about having a word of the year. Do you think having a word of the year is a valuable exercise? Before we talk about the word of the year, I want to share with you a quote for the year that I thought was meaningful. I put it up on TikTok to share with the world.

Here's the quote, “be the one who is so busy loving your life, that you have no time for hate, regret, or fear.” I think there's a lot to that quote that's valuable; be the one who is so busy loving your life. And that's related to loving yourself, of course, because if you have a dislike for yourself, if you have a hate-on for yourself, you're probably going to have a hate-on for your life. And so I think it's one in the same. So again, be so busy loving yourself, or be so busy loving your life. I think those two thoughts are very similar.

The next part of the quote is that you will have no time for hate, regret, or fear. Those are all very different things but they are all rooted from fear. Fear is one of those emotions that other emotions come from, including hate, anger, and regret. It's important to embrace fear and just say to yourself, hey, I'm just going to let that fear happen. I'm going to examine it, I'm going to notice it, I'm going to pay attention to it. And I think for me, many times in my life, I tried to not pay attention to it. I tried to push it down, I tried to get busy, so I wouldn't be thinking about it or think about something else.

Fear is something that, if you welcome it, if you are open to it, if you allow it to be, then it won't seem like such a big deal. But that's why I think this quote is really great. “Be the one who is so busy loving your life, that you have no time for hate, regret or fear”. And that quote is by Karen Salmonsohn. And I didn't know this author before I found the quote but I looked her up and noticed she's the author of this book, which I think I'd really enjoy reading, called “Happy Habits: 50 Science Backed Rituals To Adopt (or stop) To Boost Health and Happiness. Keep practicing mindfulness and you will learn more and more about the definition of fear

How can I release a habit that is not serving me any longer? The answer to this question will reveal a very important way to get ahead. This is something a lot of people think of, at the beginning of the year of the year. I haven't read Karen Salmonsohn's book, but I think probably the book is excellent. But back to Word of the Year. So my word of the year is fulfillment, what is yours?  What does fulfillment really mean to you? Well, I think to me, as a mindfulness guy, I think you can choose to be fulfilled, I think fulfillment is a choice. A lot of people do not feel fulfilled in their lives. And that causes them a lot of pain, a lot of angst, a lot of anxiety. And they go day after day feeling as though they have missed the boat. Feeling thoughts like, I'm not achieving enough, I'm not enough. And that is what I have experienced with my clients. A lot of times their anxiety boils down to is this belief that they are not enough, they don't make enough money, or they haven't made enough impact on the world, or maybe haven't authored enough books.

You know what? You are enough. I think that's what mindfulness teaches us. It teaches us to be happy at this very moment. And I think that's why fulfillment is such a great word because you can choose to be fulfilled. Now, it may not be easy to just suddenly decide, I'm fulfilled. The fact is, if you decide that you are going to be satisfied in your life at this very moment, it will give you peace, it will give you a sense of being grounded, so that you can move forward.

Mindfulness certainly does mean to be happy in the moment. Mindfulness also means you can achieve incredible things in your life. It doesn't mean don't look to the future, it doesn't mean don't make goals. You can definitely set goals and have all sorts of plans for your life. But you can also be happy in the moment. So the definition of fulfillment is, “the achievement of something desired, promised, or predicted.

It's important to to think logically about how to be happy in life. How can you feel fulfilled? What do you need to do to feel fulfilled? So fulfillment is my word for 2022.

Why choose a word? Why is it important to choose a word for the year? Hear my thoughts by tuning into the episode.

• Book: Happy Habits: 50 Science Backed Rituals To Adopt (or stop) To Boost Health and Happiness by Karen Salmonsohn

• 496 Stop Missing Your Life; Discover Mindfulness With Cory Muscara

Jared Karol is the founder of a consulting firm specializing in guiding White people to confront racism. As a trusted advisor, he guides executives, people managers, and dedicated change agents at Fortune 500 companies, startups, and nonprofits through his work at JaredKarol.com. Jared is a sought-after professional speaker, panel moderator, leadership coach, and facilitator of difficult conversations. Jared's storytelling approach inspires and influences individuals and groups worldwide. An avid reader, accomplished musician, and active meditator, he lives with his family in the San Francisco Bay Area.

• Website: www.JaredKarol.com

• Karen van Dyne, Meditation Teacher

• Mindfulness has helped me be less volatile and to be able to sit with discomfort whether it's with my family or kids or doing this work. Mindfulness has helped me with impermanence, knowing that it's always going to pass and so how do we get through those moments of discomfort with equanimity and composure and integrity.

• I breathe every morning. In fact, I took time this morning, an hour before we recorded this. Breathing is central. I always remind myself if I'm in a tense situation or if I'm anxious to speak or facilitate a group of less than welcoming people, then I breathe.

• Book: A White Guy Confronting Racism: An Invitation to Reflect and Act

• My discomfort and the fact that I get criticized and attacked and that people question my motives, my character, my ability; all that I have to absorb. It doesn't mean it doesn't hurt or that I don't have feelings or that I don't get triggered. All of that happens, but because of mindfulness we absorb that, we sit with it so that we can respond instead of react.

Nourishing Your Truth and Finding Your Voice; Shauna Reiter

Black Lives Matter With Emmanuel Songsore

I just really wish you the very best, Mindful Tribe. I wish that you feel this amazing feeling in your life of calm focus, and happiness. And that's because way back in 2015, when I started the Mindfulness Mode Podcast, one of my goals was that through mindfulness, I would be able to help you, my listener, learn how to experience calm, focus, and happiness. And that's why I chose that as my tagline; reach new heights of calm focus and happiness.

I've been learning the subtle details of mindfulness along with you, Mindful Tribe. I've been learning from all my fantastic guests, and I've learned that it's important to understand about our emotions. That we have to live with our emotions, and to welcome and open to our emotions. That's pretty much where it all starts. Understanding that when we suppress our emotions, that's not a good thing. It's not healthy to suppress your emotions, push them away, do things so that we can just ignore them pretend they're not there. That's certainly something I've done a lot in my life. I've learned from my guests that many people push away their emotions.

Being grateful is an important part of my life. Is this important to you, Mindful Tribe? It's great when you can truly allow yourself to appreciate whatever is in your life. a book called, ‘Letting Go; The Pathway of Surrender', by David R. Hawkins. What a great book. A number of guests on my show have recommended David Hawkins. This is only one of the books in the series, and I'm absolutely enjoying it.

One of my favorite books, which has to do with letting go is called ‘The Surrender Experiment', by Michael A Singer. Quite a few of my guests have suggested this book as well. This book is written like a novel and each chapter ends with a cliffhanger and it's very much an easy-read. It's about the how the author makes a decision early in his life, to simply let go; he makes this decision that he's going to lead his life by letting go and letting things unfold naturally, and basically to say yes, to whatever presents itself. And he decides to meditate a lot and have meditation as a central part of his life and use meditation as a way that he will deal with most aspects of his life. And it's really fascinating how things turn out. So if you haven't read this, I would recommend it.

My holiday wish for you is that you are able to notice and embrace your emotions, whatever they are. Some of our emotions, of course, can be very painful. The emotions of fear, anger, and bereavement, you know, if you've lost a loved one in your life, I truly feel for you. It's really important to embrace these emotions. Also, besides learning to embrace the emotions, my holiday wish for you is that you would be able to genuinely ask yourself, these three questions. And the three questions can make a massive difference in your life as to how you process your emotions, and whether you actually do process your emotions.

Before I tell you what the three questions are, I just want to say that, one of the things I've learned is that the most effective and most life changing things that I've learned in my life have been the simplest. As humans, we tend to over complicate things, we tend to think that for something to be effective, and really worthwhile. It has to be something that either costs a lot of money or takes a lot of time to learn, or is just very difficult to comprehend it. Well, actually, I think in some ways, the opposite is true. Sometimes some of these things are very, very simple. And the person who teaches this process of focusing on these three questions, suggests you pick up a pen and hold it. He says, just hold the pen loosely. Then he says okay, release it and drop it.

That's how easy it actually is to let go of your emotion that's holding you back. Simply let go of what's bothering you. This method is taken from the Sedona Method, and that's at sedona.com. This is something that I learned from Hale Dwoskin, the man who teaches the Sedona Method. I interviewed Hale Dwoskin back in July of 2020. The episode was # 570. So you can go to MindfulnessMode.com/570, and you can hear Hale on that episode. He is a New York Times bestselling author of ‘The Sedona Method', and he's featured in a movie called Letting Go. You'll learn more about him if you listen to that episode. This method called The Sedona Method was invented first by Lester Levinson and he wrote a book called, Happiness is Free and It's Easier Than You Think. This is a five book series. The teachings boil down to three questions.

Think to yourself, is there a situation in your life that really irritates you, that really bothers you. Do you realize that you're thinking about this a lot? Maybe there's a person in your life, that that really rubs you the wrong way? Or maybe someone at work irritates you? Maybe you think about this person a lot and you wish that they weren't in your life. Start with this focus of, what is this thing that is bothering you? Listen to the episode to hear the three questions.

So I encourage you to just consider these three questions. And in my opinion, that's a holiday gift is to help you understand that peace, for all of us can lie in the answers to these three questions. Calm focus, and happiness can be achieved by answering these three questions. Calm focus and happiness can also be achieved in other ways, too. I mean, there are a number of ways you can find peace in your life.

Self-hypnosis is one of the tools that has really worked for me and made a big difference. The thing about hypnosis is that it works for nearly every issue. Hypnosis is incredible. I am so fortunate to be a trained hypnotist so I can help other people. But I can help myself, I can do self hypnosis, and understand that hypnosis works for almost anything that is holding you back or causing you angst, whether you're not sleeping well. Whether you have a lot of fear, you have a bad habit that you just really want to release, you want to let go of it? Well, Self Hypnosis will help you do that. And maybe it's trauma or pain or motivation, you know, you just can't get motivated for something. Well, hypnosis can help.

My hypnosis teacher Erica Flint taught me that hypnosis can help with almost every issue (Erica on Mindfulness Mode). Maybe you've tried 27 ways to quit smoking, and then the 28th way was hypnosis, and that worked for you. Well, hypnosis works for many people, including me. When so many other things didn't work, no matter what you've tried already, hypnosis can be the answer you're looking for. So I have been very grateful to have worked with quite a few different clients throughout 2021 and we've met with success.

• Book: Letting Go: The Pathway of Surrender by Daniel R. Hawkins

• Calmness and Certainty with Hale Dwoskin

Sara Raymond is a trained hypnotherapist, pilates, yoga, and meditation teacher. As Founder of The Mindful Movement, she has become an oasis for those looking to tap into their inner calm, develop a positive mindset and heal from the stress that is blocking fulfillment. Sara has discovered that knowing what you want isn't enough and she has committed her life to help others break free from the inner turmoil that is keeping them stuck.

• Website: TheMindfulMovement.com

• My Pilates Instructor

• Mindfulness has helped me deal with my emotions. That's probably one of the most significant ways that mindfulness has helped me.

• Breathing was really challenging for me when I first started. It was one of those things, like I said, you have to be still, you have to pay attention.

• Book: Emotional Chaos To Clarity: Move From the Chaos of the Reactive Mind to the Clarity of the Responsive Mind by Phillip Moffitt

• I shared a story about how I started hypnosis and I have a wonderful relationship with that teacher and mentor and then a couple years went by and I was looking for continuing education and I took a training with another teacher. It was great. I really got a lot of value from it and I think it has made a significant improvement in my own practice and working with clients.

• Mindful Movement In Addiction Treatment; Kendra Kirane

Myung Sung: The Korean Art of Living Meditation with Dr. Jenelle Kim

Welcome Mindful Tribe. Today the show is about seasonal mindfulness because when we're celebrating, let's use mindfulness to help us fully enjoy the moments. Enjoy the peace and quiet. Enjoy the bustle, and the hustle and joy, the vibrancy. I talked last week about how you can get through this, if this is challenging for you. If this is a season that does not feel joyous or happy or exciting, what do you do? In this case, I urge you to check out last week's episode, “Overcome Holiday Sadness”. It's Episode 718. How can we enjoy this season even more, and experience more joy and more bliss?

The answer is to notice one of those things that we do every day. We do it every hour. We do it every single hour that we're alive. And of course, you know now what I'm talking about. I'm talking about breathing. And when I first started my podcast, I thought well, I'll ask every guest about breathing. Now I realize that every guest has something interesting to say about breathing, even if what they say is, wow, this is something that I don't really place much focus on.

A lot of guests have given us insight into how to use breathing to enhance your life. And you definitely can use breath to make your life better. I practice Wim Hof breathing, as I've talked about different times on the show. You can always search that on Google and and find all kinds of information about Wim Hof breathing. The bottom line is to not overthink it. It doesn't have to be complicated because it isn't really complicated. The fact is, just remember that breath is important. Remember that at different times let yourself breathe. Take a moment to breathe deeply and with meaning.

Surround yourself with what gives you pleasure. A lot of people find that a hot bath can be so relaxing and enjoyable. Light a few candles, enjoy some bubbles, some lotions, Epsom salts, and treat yourself to this pleasure. It doesn't matter who you are, you can enjoy the pleasure of a hot bath. I don't think I know anybody that can't enjoy that. And if you don't have the luxury of having a tub that is accessible to you, of course you can have a hot shower and just relax under the warm water. Give yourself the gift of some private time where you enjoy a hot, relaxing soak in the tub.

My friend posted that she had received a beautiful birthday gift. Her husband gave her and a digital photo frame. It was terrific how excited she was. She explained that this frame was a treat, because she could put images of her favorite artwork on there. She could include some of her favorite photos, her dogs. And of course, you can very easily put some of your favorite quotes up there. I think this is a beautiful mindful thing; a beautiful gift to yourself. If you pick up a digital photo frame and load it up with some of your favorite, beautiful images. All you have to do is plug it in and turn it on. I just was thinking immediately of Monet, and some of the incredible images of Monet, that I love. And of course, there are so many artists that have created beautiful, impressive images that really can stir your emotions.

If we did not have a variety of different emotions; sadness, pain, fear, then joy and bliss and happiness wouldn't really exist because everything would be flat. We would have no real emotions. And so it's so important to use mindfulness as a tool to help notice your emotions, help feel your emotions, and then decide what you want to do with them. Allowing those thoughts and feelings to happen and that's when you truly begin to grow.

All of the above can be done through meditation. If you're like me and you enjoy a physical activity in your day like, for me, it's running. Every day, I do a one hour run. That gift of getting out there and enjoying nature, and running is a form of meditation. For me, it's also a form of self hypnosis. It's a relaxing, peaceful experience that I give to myself as a gift. So what is it for you that feeds you? Maybe it's swimming, or maybe it isn't an activity at all. In conclusion, I want to say that mindfulness is not about piling on a whole lot of things.

• Book: Letting Go: The Pathway of Surrender by Daniel R. Hawkins

• Understanding the 3 Minds With Meagan Fettes

Morgan Beard has dedicated her life to using creativity to heal and empower. She received her BA in Visual and Media Studies from Duke University in 2012 and her MPS in Art Therapy from the School of Visual Arts in New York City in 2017. As an art therapist in New York, she worked in a public elementary school, an adult inpatient psychiatric unit, and a 183-bed nursing home before her life came to a screeching halt as a result of a personal burnout.

• Website: www.MorganBeard.coach

• I met a woman who worked out of the same office building where I worked. She was a super spunky British woman and she was passionate about TM (Transcendental Meditation). She is still in my life today.

• Mindfulness makes my emotions feel more tangible and tolerable. It makes me feel like I can go through life with them, even though I don't like them.

• I use breathing a lot with my clients. I use it when I'm ramping up to a meditation or a visualization that I guide them through. I usually do that spontaneously.

Book: Going On Being: Buddhism and the Way of Change by Mark Epstein

• I'll tell a personal story. When I was in 8th grade, I had a friend who, when she initially came into our school we were close and then we stopped connecting. It seemed like she was pulling away.

• Creativity and Mindfulness, Learn and Meditate

Nurture Your Soul With Creativity

We're talking about mindfulness and today the topic is how to ‘Overcome Holiday Sadness’. We are going to explore this feeling that there's gloom and doom surrounding the holiday. Do you have a sinking feeling at times and you just feel like you can hardly drag yourself through it? You look around seeing the bright colored lights, hearing the music, with apparent happiness everywhere. You wonder why you feel empty and alone. The holiday season can be a challenge for many people. Is it difficult for you, someone you know or maybe a partner or family member? Today I’ll be talking about self-blame, boundaries, self-forgiveness, and asserting your truth. I want to talk about rediscovering your confidence, and regaining your vibrancy. At this time of year most people want to experience peace, contentment, and happiness.

Confidentiality is important in my practice as I work with clients who experience many difficulties and emotional challenges. It’s rewarding to work with a client and then have them express to me how much better they feel and how effectively their issue is solved through hypnosis. Today, I'm going to share with you some information from one of my clients who is happy to use her name and her testimonial. She wants to share her experience with the world because she feels so much better after suffering a lot of emotional pain.

Natalya has had significant struggles in her life. She came from the Ukraine and life was not very good there at the time. She had a young child and she and her husband brought their child to Canada. They overcame a lot of their challenges. But more recently, she started dealing with some emotional pain that was really holding her back and causing her to struggle. And so I worked with her using hypnosis and she was astounded at the transition she experienced.

This feeling that the whole world is happy, but you are not, is quite common. Sometimes this feeling is related to self blame it sometimes is connected to a belief that you haven't succeeded in life. Some people feel as though they haven’t made the right decisions or done the right things to be successful in life. Self-blame, or self-bullying can pull us down in a major way. It's your inner bully that is pulling you down and causing you to feel derailed.

There are ways to deal with that inner bully. And one of the ways is to just allow the feelings to happen. Notice these emotions and allow them to be what they are. One of the tendencies that we have as humans is, we start to feel these negative emotions, and we tend to push them away. We are inclined to think, oh, I don't like that feeling, I don't want that. And so we do something to push the emotion away.

And what do we do to push the emotions away? Some of us get busy, we just keep working, working, working and trying forget about the negative emotions. Some of us entertain ourselves by watching tv or movies, playing games, cleaning, or even taking care of people. Some of us eat or consume alcohol or other substances. Instead of covering up the feelings, accept them, face them, and learn to exist with those emotions. Allow them to happen. Notice them in your body. And when I say notice them in your body, stop, take a breath, and notice where the feeling exists in your body? Is it in your chest? Is it in your shoulders, or your gut? Really stop and feel where it is in your body and allow yourself to go there and feel that feeling.

I also want to talk about boundaries. We need to set boundaries and allow ourselves to give ourselves what we need and what we thrive on. Some of us need quietness, some need space, and some thrive on peace. Sometimes your life is hectic, and chaotic and we forget or don’t give ourselves permission to give ourselves the very thing that we truly need. Maybe you just truly need 15 minutes of privacy or solitude. Allow yourself to have that by setting boundaries. Boundaries are important, especially at this time of year.

Self-forgiveness is also crucial. Are you feeling that blame? Are you feeling as though you are blaming yourself for the way you're feeling and for the pain that you feel deep inside? Blaming yourself for how you feel makes things worse. Many times that blame exists in our subconscious minds and we don’t realize we are doing it. Our conscious mind is not aware of it. Sometimes we can't help ourselves, but it's so important to grasp the concept of self-forgiveness. Think to yourself, if I could forgive myself, could I do that? Could I actually forgive myself? Think about what that would be like? And then think, would I do that? If I could do it, would I do it? Would I actually free myself from these feelings? Think about the answers to those questions.

It takes time and it takes work but following the above suggestions can help you to feel better. It is important to assert your truth. Pay attention to your emotions and do the work to get to know and understand what is happening with your feelings. Many people find that journaling is a good way to do this. There are also other ways including meditation, talking it out, spending time in nature, or using mantras.

Here is what Natalya shared with me regarding the hypnosis and coaching work we did together.

When I hear those words from Natalia, it moves me. I feel especially grateful for her transition when she talks about her past emotional pain and how much she struggled with self-blame and lack of boundaries. As she said, she had been caught in this trap where she felt she could not say no to anyone. I'm grateful that, looking back, she thinks of her experience as gentle hypnosis sessions. That's my goal. My goal is to move into this gently, and to help my client learn that they are capable of self-forgiveness. We have to start by understanding the definition of self-forgiveness.

Natalya was able to assert her truth as she put it, and then set boundaries. Setting boundaries and understanding the concept of self blame and self forgiveness can help you move forward, to rediscover confidence. It's possible for you to find your peace, and to get to a place where you treasure the current moment. This is something that you can you can discover on your own if you are able to stop and do some journaling and meditation. If you’re like Natalya, maybe you need to reach out to somebody to get help externally. I will share with you that I have room for one more client at this point so if you’re interested, send me an email, [email protected]. Put ‘holiday sadness’ in the subject line and we’ll arrange a free zoom call where we can discuss your situation.

I'd be very happy to, to hear from you and to talk to you about the power of hypnosis to help people like you transition to a better place. Natalia is just one example. I've had quite a number of clients that I've worked with using hypnosis and when it comes to anxiety and stress, it's quite amazing how hypnosis can make a difference. You deserve to find your peace. You deserve to be content, to be happy, and to feel grounded. You deserve to feel fully satisfied and to feel content, and happy.

• Book: Letting Go: The Pathway of Surrender by Daniel R. Hawkins

• Understanding the 3 Minds With Meagan Fettes

Daniel Bauer is an unorthodox Ruckus Maker who has mentored thousands of school leaders through his Better Leaders Better Schools blog, books, podcasts, and powerful coaching experiences. Mastermind: Unlocking Talent Within Every School Leader, is a book that reimagines what professional development for school administrators looks like in order to meet the needs of all school leaders who currently feel isolated and overwhelmed.

• Website: www.BetterLeadersBetterSchools.com

• Since day 1, I've always colored outside the lines. I've carved my own path. My mom reflected this back to me. As a kid I told her, I'm never going to work in a cubicle.

• People are hungry for change in education. They're also hungry for authenticity. That's the wildest part. I used to be embarrassed.

• We start teaching how to integrate more authenticity, belonging and challenge within your school culture.

• Book: Mastermind: Unlocking Talent Within Every School Leader by Daniel Bauer

• There's a million ways that we nurture creativity in leaders. Interestingly, a few years back, I think we all experienced the feeling that ‘the grass is always greener'.

• Nurture Your Soul With Creativity

Nanette V. Hucknall is a recognized authority on relationships, healing psychological wounds, overcoming obstacles and self-empowerment. She is an award-winning author, teacher, trained therapist, career counselor and painter. Through her books, classes, lectures, and retreats, she has deepened the lives of hundreds of spiritual practitioners. Nanette is the author of seven non-fiction books on the teachings of the Higher Self. Her background in both the Agni Yoga tradition combined with the application of Psychosynthesis in her therapy practice has placed her in the unique position of being able to speak to both the conceptual elements of the Higher Self Teachings and their practical applications in everyday life. Her book, How To Live From The Heart, includes compelling stories and illuminating exercises to show you practical ways to listen with your heart and relate to others.

• Website: www.nanettevhucknall.com

• My spiritual teacher

• When I was in my twenties, my worst problems were my emotions. If I would date somebody and break up with them, I would suffer for at least six months. If I loved the person, I would suffer for a year or two years.

• I do a lot of exercise. I've done the happy yoga which is a physical yoga. They really talk a lot about breathing.

• Book: Mindfulness For Beginners by Jon Kabat-Zinn

• I was an art director in the 1960's and there were very few art directors at that time who were women.

• Hug Your Bully To Your Heart Urges Lily Wong

Soren Russow was diagnosed with Atrial Fibrillation (A-Fib) over 15 years ago at only 31 years of age. He was expecting his first child at the time (he now has three amazing daughters), he was playing competitive beach volleyball and eating well. Why did this happen? Would he be taking pharmaceuticals for the rest of his life?

• Website: EaseYourAfib.com

• Matti Anttila Laughter Yoga Teacher

• Mindfulness really helps my emotions because when you look at something and you go, oh my gosh, I can't believe someone did that, and you start to judge and go into this whole story, and then you redefine that thought.

• Breathing helps me access the now or the present moment. One of my favorite writers is Eckhart Tolle, and The Power of Now is a fantastic book.

• Book: The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle

• When I was around 13, in grade 8, I had a really rough year. I ended up having to change schools. Both of my parents had lost their jobs during the recession. This was in the early 80s.

• 482 Choosing Happiness With Positivity Expert Rudrani Devi