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Trending Articles of the Week

Trending Articles of the Week

Flagstaff Aspen RainbowLearn to change how you react to stress
You can reverse the effects of stress and learn how to change the way your body responds to it. Managing stress doesn’t mean eliminating stressors from your life. It means developing positive strategies for dealing with stress and here are some suggestions.

Focus on you: Empowerment through silence
You may feel the busyness of your life seems to keep everything in control, but really, does it instead serve to keep you stuck and block you from moving forward? Learning how to become comfortable with your own thoughts and feelings can improve your intuitions and relationship to yourself.

Mindfulness and Self-Love: Tools to Achieve Your Goals
Perception is reality. How many times have we achieved something or received praise for our work and felt good for a bit, only to have our self-esteem drop again? Learn how to turn this perception around to be more accepting and compassionate towards yourself.

~ Linda-Ann Stewart

Trending Articles of the Week

Trending Articles of the Week

Flagstaff Aspen Rainbow
The Tree Of Contemplative Practices
This is a great infographic that illustrates the different meditative and mindfulness practices. It includes practices that are quiet, creative, active, relational and more, showing all the ways mindfulness affects our lives. They also offer a blank tree to download so you can create your own tree.

Mind over mucus?
For 30 years, Carnegie-Mellon University researchers have given subjects common colds to test how psychological factors affect the susceptibility of their immune systems. The most recent study found a simple social support action actually helps boost the immune system and reduce stress.

Exercise, music and meditation: How to rebuild your brain after a stroke
After suffering a devastating stroke, psychologist David Roland managed to repair his damaged brain. Here he reveals how he did it rebuilt his brain. This article gives hope to other sufferers of this destructive disease.

~ Linda-Ann Stewart

Trending Articles of the Week

Trending Articles of the Week

Flagstaff Aspen RainbowA Mindful Minute: How to Observe a Train of Anxious Thoughts
We all have negative self-talk that spirals into bad feelings that can then affect our behavior. This article has a great illustration to help teach children how to recognize and let go of their anxious thoughts. Although it’s created for children, it’s a great analogy for adults to learn how to do it, too.

How Happiness Influences Our Health, In One Chart
Happiness may be one of the best medicines when it comes to our physical health. Research suggests people who have an exuberant attitude also have a lower heart rate and lower levels of stress. Here’s a chart that shows the benefits of happiness and optimism.

8 Ways to be a Happier you
Abraham Lincoln said, “Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be.” Your thoughts are a choice. This article suggests some easy ways to become a happier person. Most of them have been verified with research.

~ Linda-Ann Stewart

Trending Articles of the Week

Trending Articles of the Week

Flagstaff Aspen RainbowMindfully create better health in a variety of ways
This covers 4 ways to improve your health: mentally, spiritually, with better habits and responses. All of these are under your control and can contribute to making your life healthier and happier.

Got mindfulness? Simple steps to improving your mindful positivity
Meditation and mindfulness are proven techniques to improve your quality of life. But are you pushed for time and just can’t fit meditation into your day? Most of us are. Here are some tips on how to include mindfulness in your day without spending more than a couple of minutes.

Thrive | Creating happiness in a box
Thrive Box was designed by a local volunteer group using neuroscience and positive psychology. They say this little box of practices, if used properly, will make anyone happier.
Local volunteers design “happiness experiences,” including a box of practices designed to make anyone happier. Interesting product that contains various items to push happiness buttons.

~ Linda-Ann Stewart

Trending Articles This Week

Trending Articles This Week

Here are some articles I found interesting and wanted to share.
Flagstaff Aspen Rainbow
How your brain can heal itself
Groundbreaking research offers new hope for people with chronic pain, multiple sclerosis and more. What they’ve discovered about the brain is remarkable. One of the subjects used imagery to retrain his brain and manage his pain. This is a technique I’ve used with pain management clients and it works. This and other treatments they cover give lots of hope for brain issues.

8 Toxic Personalities to Avoid
We all have been exposed to toxic people in our lives. I’ve encountered most of the personalities on this list and have let them leave my life. This article helps to identify them and what they’re doing so you can make rational decisions for your own well being.

Harvard Unveils MRI Study Proving Meditation Literally Rebuilds The Brain’s Gray Matter In 8 Weeks
If you needed anymore evidence that meditation is important, this article will convince you. For only an average of 27 minutes per day for 8 weeks, participants practiced mindfulness exercises. In that time, they experienced a major increase in gray matter density in the hippocampus. This is the part of the brain associated with self-awareness, compassion, and introspection. They also had reduced stress and anxiety.

~ Linda-Ann Stewart

Make Self-Care A Habit

Make Self-Care A Habit

Your life is run by habits. One of the habits that is essential, but that is ignored too often, is the one of self-care. It recharges your batteries and helps you deal with the challenges you face. Learn how important self-care is and how you can include it in your life.




~ Linda-Ann Stewart

Lengthen Your Life By Healing Your Chromosomes

Lengthen Your Life By Healing Your Chromosomes

More and more studies are showing that meditation and mindfulness may actually increase your longevity. They’ve found that meditation can increase the length of your telomeres. These are like shoelace caps at the end of your chromosomes and protect them. As you age, the telomeres shorten. They’re considered to be a clock, showing the age of your chromosomes.

Many studies show a correlation between shorter telomeres and chronic diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer, dementia, and others. Stress can cause your telomeres to shorten quickly.

The good news is that telomeres can lengthen as well as shorten. Reducing stress, exercise, eating healthy, and meditation can increase their length. A recent study showed that loving-kindness mindfulness meditation could alter the length of telomeres.

You have control of your longevity and your health. By taking actions that are healthy for you, you can improve your quality of life.

Inspired by this study: Loving-kindess practice may improve longevity.

~ Linda-Ann Stewart

How To Slow A Racing Mind – Summary

How To Slow A Racing Mind – Summary

By Charles A. Francis

An agitated mind can make it extremely difficult to sit and meditate for any length of time. Fortunately, there are some simple solutions. Once we become aware of the sources of our agitation, we can take measures to eliminate them. The main sources of mental agitation are: too many commitments, background noise, painful memories, and worrying.

To reduce some of the activities that are over-stimulating your mind, you can make a list of them and prioritize them according to how much they truly contribute to your and your family’s happiness and well-being. Then eliminate those activities that have low priority. Remember that your presence is important to your loved ones’ happiness, and you cannot be fully present if your mind is agitated.

When you incorporate mindful breathing and mindful walking into your daily routine, it will be a major step toward taking control of your mind by improving your ability to concentrate and staying in the present moment. They will help you tremendously in calming your mind, making it much easier to sit and meditate, which will calm your mind further. Your life will become much more enjoyable because you will stop the mental agitation that is robbing you of your peace and serenity, and the harmony in your relationships.

Copyright 2013 By Charles A. Francis
All Rights Reserved

Charles A. Francis has studied the practice of mindfulness with Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, and teaches mindfulness meditation through clear and simple instructions. He has over 17 years of experience helping people find true happiness and inner peace with the practice. Find out more about Charles and the Mindfulness Meditation Institute.

How To Slow A Racing Mind – Mindful Walking

How To Slow A Racing Mind – Mindful Walking

By Charles A. Francis

Practicing mindful walking is also very easy. Most of us do a great deal of walking through our daily activities: at home, work, school, or when tending to our family’s needs. These are all wonderful opportunities to practice mindfulness, instead of allowing ourselves to get lost in our thoughts, many of which are either worrying or simply rehashing the same thoughts repeatedly.

When doing mindful walking, we generally walk more slowly than usual. Make your walking a smooth and continuous movement, while being mindful of each step. This can have a tremendous calming effect because it forces your mind to slow down.

As with mindful breathing, simply pay attention to your walking. With each mindful step, observe the sensation on your feet, the contraction of the muscles in your legs, or even the sensations of your clothes against your skin. Not only will this calm your mind, but it will also help you return to the present moment.

One of the best opportunities to practice mindful walking is to and from our vehicles. This is usually a time when we let our minds drift, or we get on our cell phones. Instead, why not use that time to practice mindful walking? You can even do a walking meditation session for a few minutes in a park or another quiet place.

Copyright 2013 Charles A. Francis
All Rights Reserved

Charles A. Francis is the founder and director of the Mindfulness Meditation Institute. The Institute is dedicated to providing people with the tools they need to realize their full potential as human and spiritual beings through the practice of mindfulness meditation.

How To Slow A Racing Mind – The Calming Power of Mindful Breathing

How To Slow A Racing Mind – The Calming Power of Mindful Breathing

By Charles A. Francis

Mindful breathing is a simple tool for keeping your mind from racing out of control. Practicing mindful breathing is very easy and doesn’t take long, and it will interrupt the acceleration of your mind. This will enable you to think with greater clarity, since you’ll have less mental agitation.

All you have to do is stop occasionally and take three to five mindful breaths. You don’t have to strain to concentrate on your breathing, but rather just pay attention to it.

Mindful breathing also has other benefits. It reminds us of what we’re trying to accomplish through our meditation practice, and it brings us back to the present moment, which is where reality is always taking place. You may want to post a reminder note somewhere you’ll see it throughout the day because it’s easy to forget.

Copyright 2013 Charles A. Francis
All Rights Reserved

Charles A. Francis has studied the practice of mindfulness with Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, and teaches mindfulness meditation through clear and simple instructions. He has over 17 years of experience helping people find true happiness and inner peace with the practice. Find out more about Charles and the Mindfulness Meditation Institute.