Category: Mindfulness

Mindful Eating for Families:

Gratitude as an everyday meditation practice.

Gratitude is a practice that increases our capacity for happiness, appreciation, and awe. As we encourage our bodies to strengthen and increase our flexibility through physical exercise, we can expand our ability to experience gratitude by expressing it. What starts as a moment of appreciation can become a practice of enjoying our lives more fully by noticing all the ways we are supported.

Gratitude is defined as “readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness”. What’s important in this definition is the willingness to appreciate and to generate kindness. We can be grateful for what we have, what we don’t have, how we feel, or how we are experiencing life, and we relate to this awareness with kindness. Being grateful helps us alleviate suffering in our lives by bringing attention to the positive rather than the negative. It is also a way to practice open-hearted kindness towards others and ourselves.

Adults can model being grateful to remind young ones of the benefits of this practice. We can ask each other what we are grateful for at the dinner table or before retiring for the night. We may say a gratitude intention before we eat. It doesn’t take much time to practice gratitude, and it can be as simple as pausing, taking a few deep breaths, reflecting on the present moment, and then choosing something or someone to be grateful for.

  • A place to live
  • Work that sustains
  • Food that nourishes the body
  • Feelings that bring awareness to the self
  • Pets who bring unconditional love
  • Family with whom we can communicate 
  • A mind that can choose what to think about
  • A heart that can be open to compassion and empathy
  • A body that is healthy and able to move freely
  • Open spaces in which to exercise
  • Talents we can share with others

Families can express gratitude before a meal by thanking all who played a role in bringing the food to the table. The story of our food is a powerful way to cultivate gratitude as we remind each other of the process of growing food in the fields, being harvested by people, and finally reaching the store where a family member goes shopping. Thich Nhat Hanh offers ways to deepen our capacity to experience and appreciate the interdependent nature of all life. “Eating with the energy of mindfulness, we can experience our interbeing with the planet that is nourishing and sustaining us, and heal our feelings of loneliness and disconnection. We can become fully aware of the miracle of our body – the taste buds in our mouth, and our body transforming food into energy and vitality.”

When guiding mindful eating in classrooms, I am often reminded that some children do not know where their food comes from. So, I explain the story of the popcorn kernel we will eat mindfully, reminding them how everything starts with a seed. The popcorn starts out as a grain of corn, planted in the ground and grows into a tall plant with the help of farmers, the sun, and life-giving water. Next, we follow the journey of the corn as field workers pick the ears, which are then processed into dried kernels that become popcorn. Next, we discuss how the millions of popcorn kernels that started as a single seed in the ground are packaged and stacked on shelves by more people. Children are reminded that for their food to reach the home’s dining table, many, many people and processes have been involved. When we are grateful for the food we eat, we remember all those who made it possible.

This is a short gratitude intention learned at a meditation retreat. 

Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and Space

Combine to make this food.

Numberless beings gave their lives and labors that we may eat.

May we be nourished, so that we may nourish life.

There’s something deeply nourishing about the law of attraction when we express gratitude. The more we express gratitude, the more feelings of well-being will be generated in our lives. With the fundamental practice of mindful eating, we encourage appreciation for the journey of life-nourishing food that sustains us as we invite mindfulness into our family’s daily routine. 

Anne-Marie Emanuelli is the founder and Creative Director of Mindful Frontiers LLC, a Benefit Corporation (B-Corp) based in Taos, New Mexico, dedicated to promoting community wellness through mindfulness. We offer individuals, schools and organizations a variety of mindfulness and meditation tools designed to support and nurture positive social-emotional growth. Our mission is to “welcome a mindful future, one present moment at a time,” guiding people towards greater awareness, emotional resilience, and a deeper connection with themselves and others. Anne-Marie is a certified meditation leader and labyrinth facilitator, with over 25 years of experience practicing meditation. Mindful Frontiers can be found on the Insight Timer app, YouTube and at our website, ⁠MindfulFrontiers.net⁠.

Channelling Compassion using our Five Senses:

Meditation helps ground us in the present moment using the body.

According to the Buddhist teaching of the Five Remembrances, we are all of nature to grow old, get sick, and die, and all of life is of nature to change. This doesn’t mean we should capitulate to despair, though. We may be comforted knowing we’ve made it through many challenging times — maybe not unscathed — but we are still here and continue to experience the vagaries of human existence. What can we do when life seems overwhelming? Joan Baez said, “The antidote to despair is action,” which can take many forms, including taking a break, going for a walk and exercising, writing letters to politicians, working for systemic change, or connecting with your community. 

Meditating with compassion (karuna) is a practice that allows us to process life’s challenges. Karuna helps us feel sadness and despair and channel it towards a change through the heart and mind. “Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.” (Dalai Lama XIV) Compassion is the understanding that we’re all made of strength and struggle. There is no immunity from the challenges of being human. Using compassion, we understand that there is a shared humanity, and we all wish for moments of rest, comfort, and contentment.

Since the brain is conditioned to grasp negativity, we must act to feel better. “People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.” (Thich Nhat Hanh) Mindfulness and meditation teach us that reality is what’s happening here and now, not what’s ruminating in the mind. Compassion practice is daring, as Pema Chodron writes, “It involves learning to relax and allow ourselves to move gently toward what scares us.” We can be courageous in life, understanding that being human means going through difficult times, learning how to handle them, and finding solace and happiness in every moment of our lives, no matter how small and insignificant.

Using the body’s five senses can help bring compassion closer to our hearts and away from the thinking, ruminating mind.  In the following practice, which can be done alone or in a group, we use the senses as they come up in the body to acknowledge what is being felt. We practice noticing sensations without judgment or a desire to fix things. Mindfulness helps us be present with what IS in the moment and accept that we’re all in this life together, one breath at a time.

Five Senses Compassion Meditation Practice:

  • Find a comfortable position: Sit or lie down in a relaxed posture. 
  • Close your eyes: If desired, close your eyes to enhance your focus. Otherwise, just focus on a neutral spot with eyes gazing down before you.
  • Settle the body using the breath: Begin with 3 deeper-than-usual breaths to relax the nervous system and bring awareness to the body. Breathing in, we notice the lungs filling up with oxygen. Breathing out, we share this life force with the outer world. Then, we invite the five senses one at a time with attention to what is happening now.
  • Focus on sight: Notice five things you can see around you, such as colors, shapes, and textures. Pay close attention using your eyes, just noticing these five things without judging or assigning meaning.
  • Focus on hearing: Listen to four different sounds, such as the ticking of a clock, the wind blowing, or voices. 
  • Focus on touch: Feel three sensations on your body, such as the warmth of your breath, the softness of a blanket, or the pressure of your feet on the ground. 
  • Focus on smell: Notice two distinct smells: coffee’s aroma and fresh air’s scent are examples. 
  • Focus on taste: Identify one taste in your mouth, even if it’s just the lingering flavor of water or your last meal.
  • Repeat: Go through the five senses again as many times as you have time for, focusing on different things that come into your awareness.

Open your eyes: When ready, gently open your eyes and return to your surroundings. May you go forth in peaceful ease.

Anne-Marie Emanuelli is the founder and Creative Director at Mindful Frontiers LLC. Mindful Frontiers is a Benefit Corporation (BCorp) based in Taos, New Mexico, dedicated to promoting community wellness through mindfulness. We offer schools and organizations a variety of mindfulness & meditation tools designed to support and nurture individuals and groups with positive social-emotional growth. Our mission is to “welcome a mindful future, one present moment at a time,” guiding people towards greater awareness, emotional balance, and a deeper connection with themselves and others. Anne-Marie is a certified meditation leader and a certified labyrinth facilitator. Featured practices can be found on the Insight Timer app. Our website is ⁠MindfulFrontiers.net⁠.

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Welcoming a Mindful New Year: How to Bring Meditation into Your Family’s Routine.

Many people will resolve to change something as they prepare to start a new year. Most New Year’s resolutions start with honest determination and end within a few weeks or months with lassitude. 

Meditation and mindfulness benefit the entire family and here are some tips on bringing it into your family’s daily routine and making it stick. It isn’t difficult; like any change, it takes willingness, vulnerability, and practice. Meditation is a “practice” for good reason: it takes repetition, just like an exercise routine, to make it part of our schedule. So how can a family bring mindfulness meditation into an already-busy schedule? It’s simple: one breath, one present moment at a time, and practice.

The reasons for bringing mindfulness meditation (vipassana meditation) into your family’s life are well-researched and proven. 

  • Families learn how present-moment mindfulness awareness can bring relaxation and social-emotional well-being into their homes.
  • Children learn that they aren’t judged by their thoughts, sensations, and feelings.
  • Mindfulness is a way to feel good, just as we are as we settle the nervous system.
  • Parents model what it means to be confident yet relaxed, happy, and at ease and accept that life is never perfect.
  • Families build strong bonds through a shared activity; the time spent together invests in compassionate relationship-building.

When sitting on my meditation cushion, I invite presence and calm to my body through mindfulness. Usually, I start the day with a brief moment of watching my breath and noticing sensations in my body and thoughts that arise in my mind. This happens upon waking, while still lying in my bed. I spend a few minutes just noticing what’s happening inside me. Then, as I slowly reach full awakeness, I look around my room and see the colors and light coming through the windows. The sun’s rays stream into the room through hanging prisms that cast rainbows of color on the walls. This practice is at the root of how I treat myself and my family; some days more successful than others. I’m not immune to bouts of sadness, anger and frustration. I believe that practicing what’s called Engaged Parenting is a positive way to live. We may think we aren’t doing enough as parents, but I deeply believe that mindful parenting is enough. “The best way to take care of the future is to take care of the present moment,” says Thich Nhat Hanh. As we care for our children in the present moment, we care for the future.”

Four ways to bring mindfulness into your family’s daily routine:
Mindful Disconnect. Decide as a family when each person will put away their mobile device and engage in a physical activity such as going for a walk, bike ride or drive to the mountains. Even just sitting and staring out the window can be a mindful activity.
Mindful Travelling. When the family drives to and from school or another activity, we can notice sounds, sights and feelings internally and externally in our environment. Electronic devices are put down for a short period of present-moment mindfulness. 
Daily Mindfulness. During an active time, we can do some mindful movement. Dancing, yoga, walking, and just jumping around can be an opportunity for mindfulness. Encouraging children to notice what their body is doing, how it feels in the different limbs to move, what sounds are generated by the activity, and if this is happening outside, noticing nature is a great mindful activity.
Mindful Wind-down. Before settling in for the night, the parent can lead a body scan to bring mindful relaxation to the bedtime routine. Bringing attention to each body part, starting from the feet or the head is very relaxing. Imagining a butterfly landing on each body part can add visualization to the body scan.

I suggest experimenting with these for a week and then discussing with your children which ones they enjoy most. Then, rotate between these mindfulness activities occasionally to keep the experience fresh. Children (and parents) like having a predictable routine and can get bored with the same thing after a while so changing it up may make it stick.

Anne-Marie Emanuelli is the founder and Creative Director at Mindful Frontiers LLC. Mindful Frontiers LLC is a Benefit Corporation (BCorp) based in Taos, New Mexico, dedicated to promoting community wellness through mindfulness. We offer schools and organizations a variety of mindfulness meditation tools designed to support and nurture positive social-emotional growth in individuals. Our mission is to “welcome a mindful future, one present moment at a time,” guiding people towards greater awareness, emotional balance, and a deeper connection with themselves and others. Anne-Marie is a certified meditation leader and a certified labyrinth facilitator. Featured practices can be found on the ⁠Welcoming a Mindful Future⁠ podcast and Insight Timer app. Our website is ⁠MindfulFrontiers.net⁠.

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Twelve minutes a day of mindfulness sharpens the mind.

Meditation helps us pay attention and be more productive. 

Mindfulness is about present-moment awareness. Paying attention to what is going on in the moment, inside and outside of our bodies is the key to meditation. The overarching idea is that by using the awareness skill of attention, we can become more focused on inner and outer experiences and be able to respond to difficult situations more calmly, avoid distractions and be more productive.

Dr. Amishi Jha, author of Peak Mind, and a neuroscientist and professor of psychology at the University of Miami explains that the brain’s neuroplasticity is at the heart of why mindfulness helps with focus. Her research team has identified that twelve minutes is the optimal amount of time for a daily meditation attention practice. “Attention regulates how you perceive your life, think your thoughts, feel your feelings, enjoy your memories, and daydream about the future.” Dr. Jha and her team taught people with high-stress jobs how to place attention where it matters most using mindfulness. “What we gain from mindfulness [is] the capacity to keep our attention where we need it… [and] the more you practice, the more you benefit.”

Daniel Goleman (known for his work on emotional intelligence) wrote in his book, Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence, “Mindfulness is one variety of attention, one way to focus. Concentration is another … If we start to be too concentrated, then mindfulness reminds us to break that trance of absorption and become mindful of what’s arising in the mind.” There are three types of attention: Inner, Other and Outer. Inner Focus is self-awareness. Other Focus is empathy for others. And Outer Focus is understanding systems or the way life works. While meditating, we practice paying attention to what’s going on inside and outside our bodies on purpose, or intentionally. Since the mind will inevitably try to take our attention elsewhere in an attempt to control experiences, we offer it something to pay attention to. This is called a mindful meditation anchor. Usually, it’s the breath but can also be sounds or body sensations. It can also be an open awareness in which we notice whatever comes into our mind and then let it go with non-attachment. We become observers of the present moment without getting distracted by what our ego mind would like to control, such as worry and anxiety.

The following short practice is a fun and beneficial activity for the entire family or a group of people, that is done with eyes open. You can engage in it at home or outdoors. Using the focus power of our eyes and mind, we practice paying attention, on purpose, to one thing for as long as it is visible. Enjoy!

Mindful Meditation Attention Practice

• Find a comfortable place to sit, either in a chair or on the ground looking through a window with an interesting outdoor view. Begin by relaxing the body with a few deep breaths in the nose and out the mouth.
• When you’re ready, choose an object in front of you as your mindfulness anchor: a bird, animal or insect. (I highly recommend selecting a moving anchor.) For as long as you are sitting in meditation, you will keep your focus on this one object and when other objects come into view, you disregard them and continue to watch your chosen anchor. 
• When choosing a bird or insect, you may have to turn your head and follow it for as long as it is within your view. Follow your attention anchor, disregarding anything else that may come in to distract you. Only change your attention anchor if it flies away or disappears. Then just choose the closest object and continue paying attention for as long as possible.

Note: This mindfulness activity is fun because as our attention and eyes follow the anchor, we see other things we’d prefer to pay attention to but commit to focusing on one thing. This teaches us to discern and stay connected. It’s a metaphor for traditional meditation practice where we return to the breath whenever our mind wanders in thought.

Anne-Marie Emanuelli is the founder and Creative Director at Mindful Frontiers. Mindful Frontiers LLC is a Benefit Corporation (BCorp) committed to community wellness. It provides schools and organizations mindfulness meditation tools that nurture positive social-emotional growth. With over two decades of meditation experience, Anne-Marie coaches children, families, individuals, groups, and classrooms. She is a certified meditation leader and a certified labyrinth facilitator. Featured practices can be found on the ⁠Welcoming a Mindful Future⁠ podcast and Insight Timer app. Our website is ⁠MindfulFrontiers.net⁠.

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The Practice of Patience: Meditation Helps Navigate Uncertainty

One of the most important wisdom truths is that the only constant in life is change. We have all experienced chapters of uncertainty in our lives. How can we navigate these times of fear and confusion? I believe we can learn patience and acceptance as well as the compassion that comes from knowing we’ve made it through each time. In the words of Mark Nero, poet and teacher,  “Fear wants us to act too soon. But patience, hard as it is, helps us outlast our preconceptions”.  It is challenging to not get caught up in the chaos, make assumptions, and rush towards a solution. With patience comes the deep knowing of the heart-mind that things will change.

Meditation is a tool that helps to navigate uncertainty by showing us how to find the still, quiet heart center that knows all will work out. Oren Jay Sofer, author and meditation teacher, writes “When life feels out of control at home or beyond, sanity and clarity arrive not from trying to bring order to the chaos but from sitting down right in the middle of it … We find our way through the chaos not by frantically reacting, but by reestablishing our center in the midst of it. Here, in the still quiet space of the heart, we uncover the space to honor what’s true. Then something fresh and unexpected can emerge—an authentic, wise response to life.” 

One way to tap into the heart’s ability to respond wisely to life is the meditation practices of grounding and connecting to nature. Noticing how nature continues to flow through the seasons even during uncertainty, helps us. As Sofer advises, “Close your eyes. Breathe. Feel the ground beneath you, the sky above. Sense the tender flutter of life that flows through you this very moment. Recognize the clear, spacious awareness that knows” all is well in the present moment.

The following meditation practice encourages us to ground ourselves through heart-mind awareness. Patience is the theme of this family practice that takes place in an outdoor setting and welcomes nature’s guidance.

Mindful Waiting: A grounding meditation practice to invite patience
• We begin by centering our attention on the breath. Start out with a couple deeper than usual breaths to relax the nervous system. Then, allow the breath to be normal as you notice where you sense the breath the most: nostrils, chest, or belly.
• Once you feel settled, choose something nearby that is pleasant to look at and rest your gaze on it. Keep your eyes soft and lightly focused on the object. This is your attention anchor for the practice.
• As you continue to gaze gently at your object, notice any changes in your surroundings (colors, sounds, changes in light). Gently notice any changes without losing focus on the stability of your anchor object.
• Sometimes thoughts will arise. When thoughts distract you, let them be. If you don’t fixate on them, they will drift away as clouds in the sky. When you notice that you’re distracted, that’s mindful awareness. Acknowledge that and kindly return to gazing softly at the object. 
• You can choose to change the anchor to another object if you desire. Patience sometimes requires changing course. Just choose one object at a time and stay focused on it for as long as you can.
• When it seems time to bring the practice to an end, close your eyes and bring awareness back to the breath going in and out of the body. Then, when it feels right, open your eyes and smile. 

If you have time, these discussion questions can be introduced: 1. What object did you focus on? 2. Did you notice any changes in the environment as you focused on your anchor? 3. Did the time pass slowly or quickly?

The article was originally published, July 11, 2024, in The Taos News.

Anne-Marie Emanuelli is the founder and Creative Director at Mindful Frontiers LLC, a Benefit Corporation (BCorp) committed to Community Wellness by providing schools and organizations with mindfulness meditation tools that nurture positive social-emotional growth. With over two decades of meditation experience, Anne-Marie provides coaching for children, families, individuals, groups, and classrooms. She is a certified meditation leader and a certified labyrinth facilitator. Featured practices can be found on the ⁠Welcoming a Mindful Future⁠ podcast and Insight Timer app. The website is ⁠MindfulFrontiers.net⁠.

Contact Mindful Frontiers via email

Mindfulness and meditation can help focus the brain on tasks at hand.

A beneficial practice for children with attention challenges. 

Meditation practitioners and teachers know that mindfulness is all about present-moment awareness. I have been teaching mindfulness to students since 2016 to calm behaviors, the transition from one activity to another and to be more aware of the body in space and thoughts in the mind. The overarching idea is that with the awareness skill of mindfulness, students who struggle to pay attention or who are anxious in school could notice where their focus is and manage themselves more effectively. The following are but a couple of the many scientific studies showing how mindfulness helps improve focus and attention. 

According to Dr. Amishi Jha, author of Peak Mind: Find Your Focus, Own Your Attention, Invest 12 Minutes a Day, a neuroscientist and professor of psychology at the University of Miami, the neuroplasticity of our brain is at the heart of why mindfulness helps with focus. “Attention is your superpower. Attention regulates how you perceive your life, think your thoughts, feel your feelings, enjoy your memories, and daydream about the future.” Dr. Jha and her team taught people with high-stress jobs how to place attention where it matters most using mindfulness. “What we gain from mindfulness [is] the capacity to keep our attention where we need it, in the form we need it… Mindfulness training does indeed have a dose-response effect, which means the more you practice, the more you benefit.”

Another article entitled Your Child’s Brain on Mindful Meditation published in ADDitude, an online magazine for ADHD, explained the results of a Harvard study in which “some areas of the brain, including areas related to emotion regulation, grew during an eight-week mindfulness program. And studies involving both imaging and patterns of activation in the brain have shown alterations correlating with greater emotional control, wellbeing, and happiness.”

Since I have been guiding and practicing meditation with adults and children, most self-report that they feel more in tune with what is going on around them, in their body and in their mind. As they learn to sit in silence and notice what is going on inside and around them, they realize how it benefits their life. 

Please note that meditation is not mental health or emotional therapy. Meditation is, however, an effective supplemental practice that can help generate peace of mind and self-control. The key to a successful practice is time and repetition. To reap the greatest benefit, meditation should be a daily activity of at least 10 minutes and according to Dr. Jha’s study, the optimal amount of time is at least 12 minutes per day. 

The following short practice is inspired by Dr. Amishi Jha’s STOP practice in which we Stop what we are doing for a moment, Take a breath, Observe what’s happening in and around us, and then Proceed with greater focus and intention.

Focus Practice Using Mindfulness

When you notice you are losing focus, whether in class or in a meeting, try this practice and invite your child(ren) to try it with you. By practicing this regularly, children will be able to do it on their own at school.

Let’s say you are in a meeting or classroom and you notice your mind wandering or your body getting jittery. The first thing is to acknowledge that you have lost attention to what is going on. You can’t remember the last thing the speaker or the teacher said, or what you were doing, maybe. The first step in mindfulness is simply noticing that attention has been lost. 

When we notice this, we bring our attention to a mindfulness anchor – commonly the breath. We take one to three deep breaths, intentionally noting the air coming in and going out of the body at the nose, the chest, or the belly. Counting these breaths is also a worthwhile practice to bring attention to the moment.

After inviting a few calming breaths, we bring our attention to the body. Where are the feet right now? Where are my hands? Where am I sitting right now? Bring awareness to any feelings in the body. Then, notice the head balanced on top of the shoulders and, if comfortable, take a few seconds to close the eyes and quickly scan the body for any sensations.

Finally, with the enhanced present-moment awareness this short practice has generated, we make the choice to come back to what is going on right now and what we “should” be doing: listening to a speaker or teacher or working on a project or assignment. We can bring renewed focus and clarity to what we are doing and feel more productive and aware. 

This practice can be done anytime we want or anytime we notice ourselves drifting off task. In time, mindfulness of what is going on right now and what needs to be happening will hone the brain’s focus and attention systems.

Originally published in The Taos News, December 8, 2022

The Impermanence of Life:

Mindfulness and the change of seasons

I received an email newsletter from Ten Percent Happier, a meditation app that offers many types of meditation and teachings. The article shared was entitled, “The Joy and Dread of Autumn” by Jay Michaelson and the topic connected to my heart. It speaks to the impermanence of life and how nature dies with the change of seasons. Michaelson writes, “At this time each autumn, as leaves begin to fall in earnest … I actually feel a desire to somehow paste them back onto the trees.” Reading this I thought to myself, “yeah, that’s how I feel.” 

Surely, fall is a beautiful season and recently my family was in New Hampshire where the sugar maple leaves change to deep colors of red and maroon. Along with the more common yellow and orange, fall’s palette is really spectacular. Even on the ground, the leaves create a gorgeous contrast between the still-green grass and beige sidewalks. It’s as if the forests are on fire with color and the sparks are on the ground. 

“Even if the autumn leaves are riotously beautiful, the bare branches of February are bleak and dour,” writes the author, who says he suffers from seasonal affective disorder. The mind knows that death is near so with the colored leaves soon turning brown, the trees will be bare for the next 6 or 7 months. I realize that I’m a green-season person even though I have an autumn birthday and am grateful to live in a region where there is sunshine all year. So in this conundrum, mindfulness helps me practice with emotions, thoughts and sensations conjured up by the change of seasons. I notice the grasping and aversion felt in my body as churning in the stomach and heaviness of heart. I understand that these feelings are uncomfortable, even depressing. I allow myself to explore the sadness when fall is giving way to winter and remind myself in a moment of wisdom that this is a predictable journey of life and death which is temporary and will in a few months transition again to the seasons of rebirth. I try to make friends with my emotions using self-compassion, reminding myself that the flowers and green leaves WILL return. Apple crisp and pumpkin pie are delicious. Wood burning in the fireplace is cozy and all is well in this moment. It’s the cycle of life.

The following family meditation is done outdoors on a hike or where ever we can find an area to be among trees. We keep eyes open and can choose to either sit or lie down for this practice.

Autumn Family Meditation

Begin by feeling the areas of the body in contact with the ground. Sitting, the feet and legs are touching the earth while lying down, the whole back body will be heavy and grounded.

The leader directs everyone to take several deep breaths in through the nose and out the mouth to settle the nervous system and center the body in the meditation space.

The leader then asks everyone how they feel about the change of seasons. Some like it just fine while others may be feeling a little grasping for summer or aversion of fall. It’s a personal thing either way and no need to answer out loud. This is a moment of introspective contemplation. 

Next we do a body scan, moving our attention progressively from one end of the body to the other while noticing any areas that are tense or tight. Those are where the emotions of the change of seasons are physically being felt. 

Looking around, what do we see in the trees and plants around us. What colors are the leaves, branches, plants, vines, etc? Are there signs of life or is everything pretty much asleep?

Using the sense of touch or body sensations, what’s the temperature of the air? Cool, warm, etc. Is there a scent to the change of seasons? Dirt, decaying leaves, evergreens…

What nature sounds are we aware of? Birds, squirrels, a breeze in the trees blowing leaves to the ground? There may be fewer animal sounds when the season is changing to winter.

Once the atmosphere of the practice has been established, we continue to notice the in and out breath and remain in silence, allowing the body and mind to interact with the breath and the environment around us, noticing what our awareness wishes to tune into.

When enough time has passed, we take a few deep breaths together and look around us, mindfully seeing details of nature’s beauty that is a constant in the cycle of life. 

Anne-Marie Emanuelli is the founder and Creative Director at Mindful Frontiers LLC, an education-based mindfulness meditation center offering workshops, classes and coaching for children, families, individuals and classrooms. For more information please visit the website at MindfulFrontiers.net.

https://www.taosnews.com/opinion/columns/the-impermanent-cycle-of-life/article_50a53031-a9c6-5a2d-9d9a-8656aa735797.html

Families Meditate Together

Mindfulness in Daily Family Life: Anything Can Be Done Mindfully

“We have the ability to work wonders. If we live mindfully in everyday life, walk mindfully, are full of love and caring, then we create a miracle and transform the world into a wonderful place.”  — Thich Nhat Hanh from Moments of Mindfulness, 2013

Mindfulness can be brought into our daily activities so that anything we do becomes meditation. Doing the dishes, cleaning the house, driving the car, drinking coffee or tea, and walking with a pet can all be done mindfully. 

Thich Nhat Hanh, Vietnamese Buddhist monk, teacher, and peace activist, wrote extensively about mindfulness in daily life. “Mindfulness is the energy of being aware and awake to the present moment. It is the continuous practice of touching life deeply in every moment of daily life. To be mindful is to be truly alive, present, and at one with those around you and with what you are doing. We bring our body and mind into harmony while we wash the dishes, drive the car, or take our morning shower.” Thay (as he is referred to by his followers), taught that anything we do can be meditation. 

When we engage in an activity mindfully we slow down and REALLY pay attention with applied concentration and open curiosity. I have noticed that when mindfulness is brought to an activity it becomes really enjoyable and imaginative. When the activity is partaken by a group, everyone has a different experience and it is meaningful to all.

When I teach mindfulness to children and families, we engage all the senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, touch. What do we see right now? What do we smell, touch, taste, and hear right now as we are doing this together?

Another thing we can do is recite a gatha or phrase while we engage in an activity and it brings the mind and body together with a calm and clear mind.  Here are a couple of gathas to consider: “Brushing my teeth and rinsing my mouth, I vow to speak purely and lovingly. When my mouth is fragrant with Right Speech, a flower blooms in the garden of my heart. Before starting the car I know where I am going. The car and I are one. If the car goes fast, I go fast.” (From Plum Village website)

This month let’s really pay attention to activities we engage in together. The following practice can be used during any activity to bring mindfulness into the shared experience.

Mindfulness in Daily Life family practice

Choose an activity to experience mindfully: Washing the Dishes, Walking the Dog, Driving to School. You choose the activity. The practice is the same.

  • Begin by consciously identifying what you are doing right now together. 
  • The practice welcomes all the senses: sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste. The leader in the practice asks the questions one at a time, allowing for individual experience.
  • What do you see? What do you hear? What do you smell? What do you feel? What do you taste? For example, if we are washing the dishes, we identify the dish we are washing and notice its texture, color, and design. What sounds do we hear as the cloth rubs the surface or the dishes touch one another? How does the water temperature feel on our hands? What does the soap smell like and is there a sense of taste? (Sometimes smell and taste are related in the body)
  • Each sense is invited and a quiet moment is allowed for everyone to have their experience. We invite patience and awareness and don’t hurry to the next sense.

Walking is also a great activity to do mindfully. Consider this if you walk a pet regularly. While walking, invite all the senses just as was suggested above.

Published April 21, 2022 in The Taos News

Mindful Meditation Brings Hope in Times of Uncertainty

Contemplative and reflective practices are ways to welcome hope back into our life.

Mindful meditation is an insight practice in which a focus anchor is used. The breath, sounds, body sensations, and walking can all be used to anchor our awareness in the present-moment. Basically, that’s what mindful meditation is: bringing full attention to one thing (the attention anchor) in the present moment. By doing so repeatedly and routinely, the body and mind learn to relax and settle into the moment. We call meditation a practice because it takes repetition and commitment.

Just because someone “tried it once” and couldn’t settle their mind doesn’t mean we should give up on meditation. Like any healthy habit, we have to practice to achieve mastery.

All meditation styles use the breath as a concentration anchor. Counting breaths, following the breath through the four cycles (in, pause, out, pause), and simply being aware of the sensation of the breath going in and out of the body. The breath is used as a focus anchor because it is ubiquitous and we can either harness it or just be aware of its natural rhythm.

Other attention anchors would be sound, sensations, body scanning and eventually, open awareness which is where a meditator doesn’t use just one specific anchor. In this practice, we sit and welcome awareness of whatever comes along: investigating and appreciating thoughts, sensations in the body, and feelings / emotions, without attachment or engagement. Just being aware with equanimity and allowing present-moment awareness is a more advanced and freeing practice to which anyone can aspire.

Body scans are an effective way to release tension in the body and mind and are helpful for those who “can’t sit still.” Body scans use breathing and applied focus to release energy within the body in a systematic way. 

  1. The head to toe scan: This body scan takes the practitioner’s attention one area at a time starting with the crown of the head and ending with the toes. It should take about 20 minutes and can take even longer if the practitioner wishes. Starting at the top of the head, using breath and focus, attention is placed on the crown and then moved down the body.  With awareness, curiosity and mindfulness feelings or sensations are welcomed. As the body scan progresses, attention is placed one area at a time: the face, forehead, eye area, nose, cheeks, mouth, and chin. The same kind of breathing and focus is placed as attention is moved down the body:  back of head; shoulders; chest; mid back, hips, thighs, knees, calves, ankles and feet, ending with the toes. 
  2. The toe to head scan: This body scan is the same as #1 except for the direction of the focus. Starting with toes, attention and breath is directed upward through the legs, abdomen, chest, shoulders, back of head, face, crown. 
  3. Tensing and releasing body scan: This body scan can be effective at helping a person fall asleep as the body parts being focused on are tensed as breath is held and then released as the breath is expelled. The act of alternately tensing and releasing muscles is an effective way to encourage relaxation. 

With all these body scans, the key is to go slow and to keep the focus on using breath as an anchor of attention. The mind directs its attention to areas of the body while the breath encourages release of tension and relaxation. Body scans are very effective and can be done any time of the day, including to help induce sleep.

Another mindfulness practice for people who have a hard time sitting still is walking meditation.

In the Zen tradition, walking meditation begins with a very slow walk in which the breath is matched to footsteps. Breathing in when lifting the foot and breathing out when stepping down. After circling around a meditation room a few times, zen meditators generally walk more quickly for a few more rounds, allowing breathing to be natural and bringing the focus on the body. I have done walking meditation more casually during daily exercise walks by placing my awareness on the sensation of my feet on the ground, my breathing and my body.  I have also used sounds around me as anchors during the walk, or a mantra or song repeated over and over. 

There’s no easier time than right now to explore mindful meditation. During Covid19-pandemic social distancing and isolation, teachers from different meditation lineages are sharing guidance freely and generously. Even the Dalai Lama shares Buddhist teachings and spiritual rituals online. Additionally, there are many mobile apps that offer guided practices and my educational center, Mindful Frontiers, has a YouTube channel with videos for all levels and ages.

Mindful meditation guides us in navigating difficult experiences with calm introspection and balanced outward equanimity. Whether you’ve tried once and couldn’t sit still or you used to meditate and let the practice go, now is a wonderful opportunity to bring hope into our uncertain world. Start here and now; one breath at a time.

#weekly prompt— Published on March 3, 2021

Mindful Meditation Can Reconnect Families

A pre-bedtime meditation routine for families is a beautiful way to finish off the day.

A fun and effective pre-bedtime meditation is the “Body Scan”. Children of any age can practice the following body scans. It would be helpful at first for the parent to provide guidance until such a time when the child is confident enough to do the guidance for the group or silently for themself.

  1. The head to toe scan: This body scan takes the practitioner’s attention one area at a time starting with the crown of the head and ending with the toes. It should take about 20 minutes and can take even longer if the practitioner wishes. Starting at the top of the head, using breath and focus, attention is placed on the crown and then moved down the body.  With awareness, curiosity and mindfulness feelings or sensations are welcomed. As the body scan progresses, attention is placed one area at a time: the face, forehead, eye area, nose, cheeks, mouth, and chin. The same kind of breathing and focus is placed as attention is moved down the body:  back of head; shoulders; chest; mid back, hips, thighs, knees, calves, ankles and feet, ending with the toes. 
  2. The toe to head scan: This body scan is the same as #1 except for the direction of the focus. Starting with toes, attention and breath is directed upward through the legs, abdomen, chest, shoulders, back of head, face, crown. 
  3. Tensing and releasing body scan: This body scan can be effective at helping a person fall asleep as the body parts being focused on are tensed as breath is held and then released as the breath is expelled. The act of alternately tensing and releasing muscles is an effective way to encourage relaxation. 

With all of these body scans, the key is to go slow and to keep the focus on using breath as an anchor of attention. The mind directs its attention to the body parts while the breath connects with these parts and encourages release of tension and relaxation. The reason body scans can release and relax is because in meditation, we use the breath as our anchor of attention. As our focus is directed, so does the breath and between attention and breath, the formula leads to relaxation through mindfulness of intention.

The article that follows explains more in detail the kinds of meditation as well as specifics according to age. 

How to teach children meditation: The attention span of a child is much shorter so we do shorter meditation practices. Also, the brain of a child is not yet developed in the frontal cortex area where focus and attention and emotional regulation takes place. When teaching children meditation, directions need to be very simple and imaginative. Since breath awareness is the most basic mindfulness practice, it is where meditation we start instructions for any level of practice. When teaching breath awareness to young meditators, we explain that the breath in the belly is similar to a balloon that is inflated when we breathe in and deflated on the exhale. Using a visual anchor is easier for young children to grasp. Also, young meditators are more likely to feel the breath in their belly than in the other anchor areas such as the chest or the nostrils. In my years of teaching mindfulness in classrooms most students enjoy sitting and focussing on the breath. It’s the first anchor that is taught although it is something they most likely have never done and they enjoy using their imagination as well as the resulting relaxation. Focusing on the inhale and exhale of the breath allows young meditators to get in touch with physical sensations which they may not have ever considered. Closing eyes is optional with young children and at-risk populations and I’ve found that hyper-active children do better lying down than sitting up. With young children and elementary-age students, we start with 1 minute and work towards 5 minutes of meditation.

The benefits of mindfulness for kids: This is where I am especially passionate! Mindful Frontiers, whose mission is to teach meditation skills to families with young children encourages them to incorporate mindfulness into their family’s daily routine. By teaching meditation to young children, meditation teachers believe this stress-reduction skill will be implanted in their brains early and as they grow and mature they will always be able to go back to it in times of stress. It’s a social-emotional learning skill that has long-term benefits. For example, even if a young person lets meditation go during adolescence as they pursue independence and autonomy, someday when they find themselves in a stressful situation, they can remember that as a child they learned this relaxation skill called mindful awareness and they can pick it back up. I would even say that a stressed out teenager who is thinking of suicide or, worse, using a gun to let off anxiety, would remember what it felt to meditate and decide to do that instead. Doing so would save lives!

Specific considerations by age: Toddlers and preschool age kids can listen to a bell / chime and focus on the sound from start to end. This age can also listen to sounds around them, gaze intently at an object, dance mindfully around a classroom. For breath focus, they can notice their belly inflate and deflate with the breath. With practice, a toddler could sit for a minute in silence. 

Older children (elementary school age) can learn to focus on their breath, listen to a bell/chime as well as listen to sounds as meditation anchors just as the younger children. The difference would be the length of time this age could aspire to sitting still. I would start with 1 minute of silent and guided meditation and work up to 3 minutes in about a week and then try to get to 5 minutes within a month. (Mindful Frontiers has  videos on the meditation page targeting this age group). 

Middle-school age and high school age is interesting. The brain of an adolescent is particularly active and believe it or not, the prefrontal cortex is developing at such a fast pace that it is as if they are toddlers again! The same kind of practice is done with this age group. What is different is that I start out with a story, a poem, or a video and then move on to the actual meditation practice. 

— Published February 21, 2021 on Thrive Global