Mindfulness Off the Cushion

Our episode today is being published around the holiday season. I couldn’t imagine a better gift than this: the gift of mindful communication, or skillful communication. We all know that communication is a fundamental part of human interaction and plays a crucial role in shaping our relationships and human experiences. I wish topics like effective communication and emotional regulation were taught in a more intentional way at home and school. There is a wealth of power hidden in the simple-ye...

Special guest Brother Dave Kenneally has been practicing mindfulness for over twenty years. A former Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps AND a former Buddhist Monk in the tradition of the Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, he seems to have a penchant for shaving his head and wearing a uniform. Or perhaps it’s his love of service. After spending six years living in Buddhist Monasteries and Practice Centers, he now resides in San Diego, CA and travels the world teaching mindfulness. Dave i...

Special guest Dr. Caroline Buzanko - Her mission is to inspire and empower mental health professionals, educators, and families in promoting children and teens' resilience and long-term success.Website: https://drcarolinebuzanko.com/ Emotion Cards and Body Outline: https://drcarolinebuzanko.com/emotioncardsbodyoutlines/Anxiety Compass Parent masterclass: https://koru-learning-institute.thinkific.com/courses/anxiety-compass-for-parentsFacebook Dr. Buzanko Page: https://www.facebook.c...

Today we’ll learn how a mindful mindset can be incredibly useful when trying to create a space for healing. And the most important ingredient when you’re creating a space for healing is your simple presence. Simple, and yet, not as easy to do as you might think.We can do this for others as we lay the groundwork for healthy communication. And we also do this for ourselves. We’ll explore this human ability we can develop, with practice, to sit with unpleasant thoughts, ideas, or people. And to ...

Today’s episode may not be for you, because today we’re going to approach the topic of corporate wellness. But, wait. Before you move on to another episode, I want to make you a promise. If you give our guest a few moments, he will likely teach you something that you can apply in your own life. I mean, look, here’s the thing. You can’t have corporate wellness without healthy people. And health is not just about your physical fitness. At the end of the day, you simply can’t be fully prese...

If you’re thriving in your life and looking for a way to be 10% happier or 1% more productive, we may not be the podcast for you. If you’re feeling overwhelmed stressed or struggling and you’re looking for help in your daily dance with suffering, welcome home. This podcast was made for you.We hope you’ll join us as we share ways that you can practice bringing awareness to your inner world throughout your daily moments. We hope to point you toward the process of learning how to be more self-aw...

Season 3 Bonus - This guided meditation is for anyone seeking to explore the nature of their mortality. It is a profound practice that under the normal circumstances of everyday life – we rarely examine with mindful awareness.Whenever we contemplate our mortality, many big and strong emotions may arise in the process of this exploration. My encouragement is that if you decide to practice this guided meditation, please do so in a safe space where such emotions can be held, nurtured...

For the final episode of season three with our special guest and mindfulness teacher Geeta Cowlagi, we look back on our brief time together and ask - have we developed the wisdom, courage, and compassion necessary to sit with ourselves and ‘have a cup of tea’? Sometimes, as we’ve discovered, sitting with ourselves can be very hard to do. Mindfulness presents us a challenge - when things get quiet and we get uncomfortable with ourselves, how do we turn towards, rather than away from,...

Season 3 Bonus - In this short, guided meditation, we explore kindness in action.Our special guest, Geeta Cowlagi, helps us create the conditions to make contact with this body, mind, and heart from a place of safety and abundance. We explore how through the act of simply releasing and softening the body, we can begin to release and soften the heart against what Geeta refers to as the “ouches” of our lives. As she points out, we humans can carry these “ouches” in the f...

In this episode of Mindfulness Off the Cushion, we dive deep into what our special guest Geeta Cowlagi refers to as “the four flavors of the heart.” What are these tasty yet complex flavors Geeta speaks of? Kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity. Each of these flavors exists as possibilities, skills, or experiences locked within our hearts. And the heart is just as vital as the mind when it comes to mindfulness practice. In fact, in many Eastern languages, heart and mind are...