Tag: Mindfulness

Seasonal Transitions and the Practice of Equanimity:

Meditating through the cycles of life.

Transitions can be challenging, whether they involve seasonal changes, life events, or shifts in health. I find the seasonal transition from summer to autumn challenging for several reasons. Firstly, I experience seasonal pollen allergies this time of year that are hard to manage some days. Although my birthday is on the autumn equinox, I prefer summer because, as a mesa mermaid, swimming and paddling in the Rio Grande are favorite activities. Furthermore, watching my flower gardens slowly wilt and go dormant is something my heart struggles to accept. Wisdom teachers say that what we struggle with is our personal dharma practice, so mine is to accept seasonal changes with equanimity. Understanding that the cycles of life are reassuring reminds us to accept transitions. Mother Nature will rest for a while, and when spring comes, she will renew herself. 

Nonetheless, it doesn’t matter how many times we experience transitions; they can leave us feeling uneasy and uncertain. Change is a constant in life and the Five Buddhist Remembrances mirror the understanding of the inevitability of transitions. All beings are of the nature to grow old, to have ill health, to grieve loss, and to die. Everything changes, from our health to our thoughts and our physical bodies. We grow in many ways as we experience the transitions of life, and meditating with equanimity is a way to respond to these changes.

Equanimity is defined as “mental calmness, composure, … especially in a difficult situation” and is a way to navigate change that helps us accept transitions with grace and patience. In an article in Lion’s Roar entitled Finding a Better Balance, author Christiane Wolf points out that meditating with equanimity helps us welcome a more balanced perspective. 

  • Mindfulness helps us accept change as we observe the flow of thoughts, feelings, and sensations in the body without rushing to fix them. 
  • Be open and willing to accept things as they are in each moment.
  • Practice caring deeply with acceptance and nonreactivity.
  • Consciously living life will help us be equanimous over time. 

Meditation is referred to as a “practice” because it requires consistent repetition to reap its relaxing benefits. By practicing with equanimity, we learn to accept each moment as it is. We also express kindness and compassion to ourselves and others when life’s changes are challenging. Using mindfulness, we can accept what we can’t control. This awareness can be helpful because it reminds us that the cycle of life and the changing seasons are a natural, necessary part of life. Embracing change with equanimity and acceptance helps us stay present in the moment, identifying what we can change or alter and what we need to allow. 

Welcoming seasonal changes can be a ritual that brings us closer to our surroundings and helps us find balance between our body and the natural world. Several meditation practices come to mind that help cultivate equanimity in our daily lives. Sitting outdoors, watching the yellow-orange leaves slowly drifting, can be a calming and grounding experience. Walking meditation without a specific destination in mind can help us flow with what is happening around us, noticing those special moments when nature shows us resilience.  I particularly enjoy walking my backyard labyrinth as a flowing meditation, knowing that the path always returns to its origin. 

Sitting on the porch, sipping a cup of tea mindfully, with a smile on the lips, is a meditation practice that welcomes equanimity. “Drink your tea” is a metaphor for staying present in the here and now, as taught by Thich Nhat Hanh. “To be mindful is to be fully present with whatever we are doing. If you are drinking tea, just drink your tea. Do not drink your worries, your projects, your regrets.” Equanimity enables us to be present with whatever life brings into our awareness, encouraging us to experience all the emotions that arise from life’s transitions.

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.

Loving Kindness and Self-Compassion Meditation Offers Big Benefits

Children are born with an innate capacity to give and receive affection and compassion. We’ve noticed how young children absorb the smiles of others and instinctively reciprocate their heart-melting energy. We’ve watched a young child shed tears seeing another being in distress and noticed how they can join in laughter with others. As they grow older, this spontaneity wanes as life affects their lived experiences. They find out that others are not always kind and loving, that people can display hurtful behaviors, and life may become more challenging to navigate.  

Some ways to bring mindfulness into our daily lives are to pause, check in and genuinely wish ourselves and others well.

While the world is sometimes a hard place, mindfulness can help assuage the feelings that come from suffering, known as dukkha in the Pali language. The Four Noble Truths are a core concept in Buddhism, outlining the nature of suffering and the path to liberation from it. They are: the truth of suffering (dukkha), the truth of the origin of suffering (samudaya), the truth of the cessation of suffering (nirodha), and the truth of the path to the cessation of suffering (magga). The Noble Eightfold Path shows us a way to navigate the effects of suffering in our lives. This path is a set of eight interconnected principles that guide a wholehearted lifestyle.

The Noble Eightfold Path is a holistic approach to living a mindful and ethical life, with each aspect supporting and strengthening the others. Two of the paths, Right Intention and Right Mindfulness, include the cultivation of Loving Kindness and Present Moment Awareness. Through these areas of emotional intelligence, we learn to accept the changing nature of our life experiences, our own inner landscape, and the moods of others by generating compassion.

Some ways to bring mindfulness into our daily lives are to pause, check in and genuinely wish ourselves and others well. In the words of Thich Naht Hanh, “The first element of true love is loving kindness. The essence of loving kindness is being able to offer happiness. You can be the sunshine for another person. You can’t offer happiness until you have it for yourself. So build a home inside by accepting yourself and learning to love and heal yourself. Learn how to practice mindfulness in such a way that you can create [moments] of happiness and joy for your own nourishment. Then you have something to offer the other person.”

Mettà or Loving Kindness meditation is a guided practice that uses phrases that you repeat silently as you visualize yourself and others in the mind’s eye. Some basic phrases are: “May you be well; may you be happy; may you be peaceful and at ease.” Mettà takes a bit longer than a formal sitting practice, and it involves a step-by-step process as we express well-wishes to people in our lives, ourselves, and our community. It is helpful to be guided in this meditation so that we can be fully present and mindful of our body, breath, and mind as we follow the guidance and silently recite the phrases. In time, it is possible to guide ourselves in Mettà or to offer it on the fly as we go about our daily activities.

If you’re interested in learning more about the benefits of Mettà / Loving Kindness meditation and being guided in a formal practice, Mindful Frontiers offers a variety of options. At our Insight Timer portal, you will find a user-friendly online platform (app) offering a wide range of meditations. You may also wish to consider a private workshop for you and/or your family.


Anne-Marie Emanuelli is the founder and Creative Director at Mindful Frontiers, a B Corp based in Taos, whose mission is to welcome a mindful future, one present moment at a time, and is dedicated to promoting community wellness through mindfulness and meditation. We offer individuals, families and organizations a variety of practices designed to support and nurture positive social-emotional growth. Lifelong Taoseña Anne-Marie is a certified meditation leader and labyrinth facilitator. Mindful Frontiers is available on social media, on Insight Timer at insighttimer.com/amemanuelli, and at ⁠MindfulFrontiers.net⁠.

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Moods Change Like the Weather:

Inviting gratitude and acceptance of our emotions through meditation.

The human brain has a natural tendency to remember negative experiences more than positive ones. Psychologists refer to this as negativity bias. “Our brains are wired to scout for the bad stuff and fixate on the threat”, says Rick Hanson, Ph.D., Senior Fellow of UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center.

Our brain, by function and development, is a very “old” organ. The part of our brain that is the least developed is the amygdala, which is responsible for fight, flight, or freeze reactions to emotional experiences. This inner brain was crucial when we were hunter-gatherers, as we needed to remain ever-vigilant of threats to our survival. 

As humans have evolved, this part of the brain has remained essentially undeveloped. On the other hand, the most significant part of the brain, the cerebral cortex, has evolved and continues to develop. This frontal area is responsible for many higher-order functions such as memory, perception and interpretation. Meditation and mindfulness stimulate the frontal area of the brain as well as the parasympathetic nervous system, which originates in the brain stem, and is responsible for relaxation. 

Mindfulness can help us notice thoughts and sensations in the present moment and calm our amygdala. When teaching mindfulness of emotions in the classroom, I encourage students to describe them as types of weather, such as stormy, cloudy, rainy, and sunny. Each child perceives their mood, or internal weather, differently, so “cloudy” for one child may mean feeling introspective, while for another it could mean loneliness. It doesn’t matter which weather pattern we use to describe our mood, and by labeling emotions, we move the experience out of the amygdala to the frontal cortex, which makes it possible to use mindfulness to diffuse the emotion. 

Inviting gratitude is a meditation practice for dealing with changing moods. After noticing our internal weather, we can invite gratitude as a way to accept the emotions being felt in the body. Asking the question, “What am I grateful for right now?” is a way to diffuse emotions and refocus the mind. With practice, your moods will settle as the mind chooses a more positive focus. Finding just one or two things to be grateful for may be enough to generate positivity and to settle your mind’s attention away from an uncomfortable mood to a more positive present-moment awareness. When we practice gratitude, we invite compassion and appreciation into our life experiences, which engages the parasympathetic nervous system.

“There is a 90-second window of opportunity during which we can choose to allow an emotion to flow through our body.”

If you attempt to ignore or push away emotions, they may become more intense. Noticing what you are feeling is the first step in accepting your moods. For example, anger makes the heart rate increase. This increase may send excess heat to our palms and face, or you may experience “a lump” in the abdomen or ches,t which is stuck negative energy. Once we become aware of where in the body we are experiencing sensations, mindfulness can be used to label the associated emotion. Anger can be restated as “tightness”, “choppy breathing,” or even “sweaty palms”. By labeling the emotion with a neutral phrase and noticing the sensation in the body, we move the feelings through the mind, into the body and eventually out with the breath. 

Once you notice your internal weather, there is a window of about 90 seconds during which we can shift focus away from thoughts and invite mindfulness awareness, thereby preventing the emotion from escalating. Noticing where an emotion is manifesting in your body helps to interrupt the pattern of escalation and then engaging in mindful breathing practices can be quite calming. Lengthening the exhale is said to invite the “rest and digest” effect of the parasympathetic nervous system. Breathing in for a count of four and exhaling for a count of six is one example of mindful breathing. There are many other breathing practices that help move emotions out of the amygdala and into the frontal cortex, allowing us to regulate our moods through mindfulness meditation. 

If you’re interested in learning more about the benefits of meditation for moods, Mindful Frontiers offers a variety of guided meditation practices on Insight Timer, a user-friendly worldwide platform. You can download the app on your phone or visit the website for free or with a subscription.

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 meditation. We offer 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.

A version was initially published in The Taos News, July 17, 2025.

Mindful listening meditation makes us more attentive.

Meditation isn’t just following the breath in and out of the body, even though that is the most basic practice. Meditation provides the mind something to focus on, allowing the body to relax and enabling us to simply observe the present moment. Sound meditation is a relaxing and enjoyable way to connect with our surroundings. What do we hear around us when we intentionally pay attention?

An example of this is sitting under a tree or on a porch listening to birds. Without trying to identify them, we notice their beautiful melodies as well as the spaces of quiet between the bird songs. 

The challenging part of meditation is figuring out what to do with the thoughts that the mind conjures up.

I recently listened to an audio piece by Alan Watts entitled “Listen,” in which his voice, accompanied by background music, encourages us to simply listen without identifying what we hear: “The easiest way to get into the meditative state is to begin by listening. If you simply close your eyes and allow yourself to hear all the sounds … just listen to the general hum and buzz of the world as if you were listening to music. Don’t try to identify the sounds you are hearing. Don’t put names on them … don’t judge the sounds. Don’t try to make any sense … just listen to the sounds.”

The challenging part of meditation is figuring out what to do with the thoughts that the mind conjures up. In sound meditation, we try not to interpret what we hear and instead enjoy the sounds in a detached manner. While listening to the birds or other environmental sounds, we bring our attention back to the sounds themselves whenever we notice that our mind has wandered or is trying to make meaning of what we are hearing. We follow our breathing and practice concentration, and in the process of listening, we notice things about our surroundings that we may not have been aware of before. Listening to bird songs is a relaxing way to feel connected to our natural environment and to encourage present moment awareness.

Another form of listening meditation is when we are having a conversation with someone. When we practice deep listening, we can focus on what the other person is saying and remain curious about their words. For example, when someone is venting or describing a challenging experience, we can listen past the words into the need they are expressing. They may need to be comforted and feel appreciated, or just to be heard. 

To listen mindfully, we must intentionally show up for the other person and make our own thoughts less important. Additionally, we can choose to listen for understanding rather than preparing our response. Many times, instead of listening closely, we are thinking about what we are going to say. Perhaps we are thinking about offering advice when it isn’t asked for. Perhaps we are planning to share with them an experience we had that was similar. And maybe we aren’t even listening at all, distracted by something else around us. Mindful listening is a meditation practice that enables us to be fully present to the other person. 

As Thich Nhat Hanh wrote, before we can listen well to another person, we need to take the time to listen to ourselves. Sometimes, when we try to listen to someone else, we can’t hear what they are saying because our own emotions and thoughts are too loud in our minds. We should practice listening to our own emotions as they rise without judging or interrupting them. Simply noticing what is happening inside is the first step in mindful listening and is one of the Five Mindfulness Practices for everyday life.

At Plum Village, one of Thich Nhat Hanh’s meditation centers, these mindfulness practices aim to incorporate mindfulness into daily life and have their roots in the Five Precepts offered by the Buddha. Loving speech and deep listening remind us to be aware of the suffering caused by unmindful speech and the inability to listen to others. We commit to cultivating loving speech and compassionate listening to help alleviate suffering and promote reconciliation and peace within ourselves and among others.

Many options exist if you want to incorporate meditation into your or your family’s daily routine. Pre-recorded practices can be found online, and Mindful Frontiers offers a wide range of guided meditations on Insight Timer and YouTube. If one-on-one guidance works better for your family, a personalized workshop can also be arranged. 

Anne-Marie Emanuelli is the founder and creative director of Mindful Frontiers, a B Corp based in Taos dedicated to promoting community wellness through mindfulness and meditation. We offer individuals, families and organizations a variety of practices designed to support and nurture positive social-emotional growth. Lifelong Taoseña, Anne-Marie, is a certified meditation leader and labyrinth facilitator. Mindful Frontiers is available on social media, on Insight Timer at insighttimer.com/amemanuelli, and at ⁠MindfulFrontiers.net⁠.

Originally published in The Taos News, June 12, 2025

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Photo credit: Nina Silverberg by Mo Kaluta

Meditation and Memory: Ancient Wisdom Meets Modern Neuroscience

Among the well-known benefits of meditation, which include physical relaxation, attention enhancement and better sleep, the mind-body intervention of meditation has been found to contribute positively to the neuroplasticity of the human brain. 

Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to form structural and functional neural connections throughout life. At a young age, our brains grow exponentially, and during adolescence, this means organizing thoughts and memories to create a healthy understanding of our life experiences. Neural adaptation allows the brain to learn new skills, recover from injury, and adapt to changing environments. Many studies have shown that meditation helps our brain’s memory capacity and cognitive function. So it seems we can teach an old dog new tricks and meditation is one way to go about it.

Practicing meditation trains your brain to focus, and when we add the power of mindfulness — paying attention, on purpose, to one thing in the present moment — it helps us redirect our minds when we get distracted. An article by Dr. Scott Loeb published in Lone Star Neurology explored meditation and memory, stating: “By repeatedly focusing attention and cultivating meditation, it strengthens specific neural pathways. Mental exercise through meditation builds stronger connections between cells.” 

Meditation practitioners learn to work with how they perceive the world, ourselves, and others. This can positively affect our lives, behaviors, and relationships.

In the book “Altered Traits,” psychologists Daniel Goleman and Richard Davidson discuss research they performed on masters of meditation vs. novice meditators. Using MRI data and gray matter voxels, they examined the brain of Tibetan yogi Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, who began meditating at nine years old and comes from a lineage of Tibetan Buddhism teachers and masters. Rinpoche’s brain looked about eight years younger than what would be considered normal for a 40-year-old. 

Additionally, the ability of master meditators to keep their minds focused for long periods indicates that meditation develops areas of the brain engaged in structural growth. Meditation can stimulate changes in the brain that encourage development in the hippocampus, a region vital for memory. As we age, using meditation to stimulate brain areas that enhance attention and memory may be another reason to bring these practices into our lives. 

In Buddhism, meditation practitioners learn to work with how we perceive the world, ourselves, and others. This can positively affect our lives, behaviors, and relationships. Although the Tibetan master Rinpoche didn’t need proof of the benefits of his lifelong practice, it was interesting that science corroborated what he already knew from Buddhist philosophy. He has since written extensively about his experience collaborating with brain scientists in the book The Joy of Living. 

Meditation also helps maintain attention and working memory during stressful times. Indeed, this is one of the most common impetuses for bringing meditation into a family’s routine. One study on human resources personnel, as explained on neurosciencenews.com, “showed that those who underwent MBSR training were able to maintain their attention and working memory capacity, even during periods of high stress, compared to a control group that did not receive the training.”

What about the most problematic aspect of memory loss, dementia? A study published in the National Library of Medicine in which “the effects of Kirtan Kriya meditation and music listening on cognitive outcomes in adults experiencing subjective cognitive decline, a strong predictor of Alzheimer’s disease,” suggested that the practice of meditation “can significantly enhance both subjective memory function and objective cognitive performance in adults with subjective cognitive decline, and may offer promise for improving outcomes in this population.” 

Another study done in Boston and published in Virginian Rehabilitation & Wellness found that meditation strengthened the cerebral cortex, an area of the brain that handles mental functions such as learning, concentration and memory: “Regular meditation increases blood flow to the brain, which leads to a more robust network of blood vessels in the cerebral cortex, which reinforces our ability for memory capacity.”

The potential for using meditation to enhance the brain’s neuroplasticity is exciting. Harvard researchers reviewed more than a dozen recent studies examining the effects of either mindfulness or cognitive training on older adults with MCI (mild cognitive impairment). “For people with MCI, practicing mindfulness over several weeks to months seemed to sharpen attention, memory, and other mental skills, and ease anxiety and depression. Similarly, cognitive training was associated with better memory, executive function, and mood.” Indeed, it is exciting to scientifically notice fundamental changes in key brain areas that traditionally change and weaken over our lifespan. 


Regardless of how it’s been proven, incorporating meditation into a family’s daily routine seems like a win-win option for members of all ages, and practicing meditators will confirm these benefits in their own lives. Many options exist if you want to incorporate meditation into your daily routine or your family’s daily routine. Pre-recorded practices can easily be found online, and Mindful Frontiers offers a wide range of guided meditations on Insight Timer and YouTube. A personalized workshop can also be arranged if one-on-one guidance works better for you.

Anne-Marie Emanuelli is the founder and Creative Director at Mindful Frontiers LLC, a Benefit Corporation (BCorp) based in Taos, New Mexico, whose mission is to welcome a mindful future, one present moment at a time, and is dedicated to promoting community wellness through mindfulness and meditation. We offer individuals, families and organizations a variety of practices designed to support and nurture positive social-emotional growth. Anne-Marie, lifelong Taoseña, is a certified meditation leader and labyrinth facilitator. Mindful Frontiers can be found on social media and the Insight Timer app. The website is ⁠MindfulFrontiers.net⁠.

Initially published in The Taos News, May 8, 2025

Tonglen practice for awakening compassion

When life is challenging, we can share kindness with the world.

Generating kindness and compassion during challenging times is a way to feel engaged in and supportive of the world. Helping others brings meaning to our lives and reminds us that we are all interconnected. Helping those in less fortunate circumstances opens our eyes to their struggles and brings perspective to our challenges. When we help others, we benefit society and ourselves. Tonglen is a compassionate meditation practice that awakens our potential for releasing suffering and seeking relief. 

The word tonglen comes from the Tibetan language and translates as giving and taking. Tong means giving or sending, and len means receiving or taking. Pema Chödrön, an American-born Tibetan monk who is a Tonglen practitioner and teacher, explains that in tonglen practice, “we visualize taking in the pain of others with every in-breath and sending out whatever will benefit them on the out-breath.” Tonglen meditation uses visualization and the breath to transform negative energy using messages that generate peace; in the process, we feel love for ourselves and others.

Tonglen originated in India and was brought to Tibet around the 11th century. The practice originated to help those suffering from serious diseases so people might heal and continue to help others. Buddhist monks would practice Tonglen with the intention of releasing the suffering of others in their community and the world at large. “Usually, we look away when we see someone suffering. Their pain brings up our fear or anger and our resistance and confusion. So we can also do tonglen for all people just like ourselves—all those who wish to be compassionate but instead are afraid, who wish to be brave but are cowardly.” (Chödrön)

Tonglen is similar to Loving Kindness (Mettà) in that we use the transformative power of the heart to channel healing. Although the overall intention of these practices is similar, tonglen welcomes the feelings of suffering into our hearts. We feel the pain and sadness before guiding the heart to transform the pain into compassion and extend it outward into the world. Chödrön explains the compassion practice further: “Tonglen can be done for those who are ill, those who are dying or have died, or those who are in pain of any kind. It can be done as a formal meditation practice or right on the spot at any time. If we are out walking and we see someone in pain, we can breathe in that person’s pain and send out relief to them.”

Compassion is not the same as empathy. A working definition of compassion is “the feeling that arises when you are confronted with another’s suffering and feel motivated to relieve that suffering.” A subtle difference is that empathy is the ability to understand another’s emotions, whereas, with compassion, we also desire to relieve their suffering. 

The following short tonglen practice can be offered for those struggling with illness or emotional suffering. It can be done sitting in meditation or on the fly as we go about our day’s activities.

Tonglen practice for families and groups. Young children can be invited to draw during this practice and use their creativity to channel compassion.

  1. Sitting in stillness with eyes closed, we welcome compassion into our hearts. Generate open awareness as you watch the breath go in and out, inviting the desire to fully awaken to compassion. Bring your attention to the heart and welcome feelings of love – this could be a golden light, an image of the Buddha, or an overall feeling of warmth. You may also choose to place your hands on your heart.
  2. Visualization of a person’s suffering using the breath and sensations. Breathing in and out welcomes an awareness of your or someone else’s suffering. Name the suffering (sadness, grief, pain). See the situation in as much detail as you wish. 
  3. Receiving and taking in suffering. Focus on the situation by seeing an image of the suffering. Use the in-breath to receive the image and transform it into something more positive on the out-breath. You may try using smoke changing into a healing white light. You can also see the person in pain and visualize their face turning into a smile. As you do this, recite several times: May this pain and suffering be released.
  4. Expand compassion by extending it to all who are in the same situation. Using the same in-and-out-breath practice described above, visualize and welcome an awareness of all who feel the same suffering. On each out-breath, offer them the mantra: May this pain and suffering be released. 

Conclusion of the practice: Sit in silence for several more breaths, enjoying the feeling of release and transformation. Recite the final mantra: May all beings be well and live with ease. When ready, open your eyes slowly, bringing awareness back to your environment and noticing your surroundings.

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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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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Yoga and Meditation:

Close Cousins on the Path of Well-being.

As a meditation guide and coach, I often hear comments such as, “I can’t meditate because I can’t sit still,” or “I can’t stop my mind from thinking.” Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese meditation master and founder of Plum Village, believed that “people should learn to be, rather than just do, and that doing nothing can bring about a quality of being that is very important.” We fear “doing nothing” because we have been trained that our worth is in what we accomplish. Furthermore, the ego identifies itself in mind activity. Meditation helps us be in the moment, mindful of what’s here, and now. Through “doing nothing”, we may even find inspiration for our next project.

Another comment I hear is, “I prefer yoga to meditation because I need to move my body.” Indeed, all beings enjoy movement and we need exercise to keep our bodies healthy. Yoga is a movement practice that includes meditation. There are eight limbs of yoga of which three are close cousins to meditation: Pranayama: Breathing techniques that regulate breathing and calm the mind, Dharana: The concentration of the mind and Dhyana: Meditative absorption where the mind is completely focused on an object of meditation. Meditation includes breathing, calming the body, and focusing the mind on an object of attention. 

Meditation helps us be in the moment, mindful of what’s here, and now.

A blog post from Arohan Yoga further explains the connection: “Yoga and meditation are deeply intertwined. Yoga postures can prepare the body for meditation by releasing tension and improving focus. The relationship between yoga and meditation is like a dance between two partners, each complementing and enhancing the other. Together, they create a harmonious path towards overall well-being, helping us to find balance and tranquility in our lives.” The main benefit of meditation is to calm the mind and body so if you can do yoga, you can meditate.

This month’s family practice involves combining meditation and walking. Thich Nhat Hanh emphasized the practice of mindful walking as a profound way to deepen our connection with our body and the earth. While on my daily walk recently, I explored various ways to combine mind-body connection with walking meditation. Although zen-style walking meditation involves linking the breath to our steps intentionally, I believe we can use simple mantras accompanying the rhythm of our steps to bring meditation into a daily movement routine.

Walking meditation mantras

When you and/or your family are on a walk, choose a mantra and repeat it as long as you can keep your attention on the words. The rhythm can be slow or brisk, following the pace of your steps. When the mind gets distracted or bored, choose another mantra and continue walking. The eyes are focused straight ahead, and slightly down, on the path forward. From time to time, we stop, gaze upward, and appreciate the view before returning to our walking meditation.

  1. Left foot, left foot …
  2. Right toe, right toe …
  3. I move with ease, I move with ease …
  4. May I walk in peace … 
  5. Grounded in the earth …
  6. Chakra mantra: Lam, Vam, Ram, Yam, Ham, Om …

During your next exercise walk or hike, explore blending meditation with movement for a full body-mind experience!

Anne-Marie Emanuelli is the founder and Creative Director at Mindful Frontiers LLC. Mindful Frontiers LLC is a Benefit Corporation (BCorp) committed to community wellness by providing, schools and organizations mindfulness meditation tools that nurture positive social-emotional growth. With over two decades of meditation experience, Anne-Marie offers 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. Our website is ⁠MindfulFrontiers.net⁠.

Inviting the Power of the Heart Through Meditation: 

Building resilience and meaningful relationships with others and ourselves.

“Your heart was made for love: for connection, belonging, and meaningful relationship with other people, beings, and the earth.”

Oren Jay Sofer Your Heart Was Made For This

In the recently published book entitled Your Heart Was Made For This, Oren Jay Sofer expounds on the power of the heart to meet a world in crisis. An important premise in his book is that “whatever the mind frequently thinks upon and ponders, that will become its inclination.” Where we place our mind’s attention is where our personal character and habits of thought will gravitate, much like a rut in the road that grabs us. This is part of the concept of “neuroplasticity” which basically means that our brains are malleable (adults as well as youth) and we can change how we think and act throughout our lives with intention, purpose, and practice. Sofer further explains that “If we do not shape the heart, the world will do it for us, and the world does not have our highest welfare in mind.”

One of my favorite meditation practices is Tonglen. The word tonglen comes from the Tibetan language and translates as giving and taking. Tong means giving or sending, and len means receiving or taking. Tonglen is similar to Loving Kindness (Mettà) in that we are using the transformative power of the heart to channel compassion. We acknowledge the suffering of the world and its beings and then visualize the suffering being transformed in the heart into compassion and then release it outward with intention, on an out-breath, for the betterment of the world.

Heart-based meditation practices such as tonglen and mettà are healthy ways to channel compassion into the world and our own lives. Focussing on the breath going in and out of the heart center is where we start this transforming process. One of the most powerful daily mindfulness practices is to watch where we place our mental attention as we go about our day. Taking a break from scrolling on an electronic device to sit in meditation is a valuable activity that shifts our focus from the external world to our internal environment and helps us notice what our mind is doing. Noticing what we are thinking or ruminating about, and then redirecting our focus back to the body and the breath is a liberating way to change the way our brains control and create ruts of behavior. It is worthwhile to take time to contemplate conscious attention throughout the day as we go about our lives as well as when sitting in meditation. This kind of attention is called heart-mind awareness. Setting aside five to 10 minutes a day to do a heart-mind meditation practice is a healthy way to nourish wise attention and encourage a shift in our mind’s behavior.

This month I invite you to do a short tonglen practice that can be offered for those who are ill, dying, or passed on, or people we know (or don’t know) who are in pain of any kind.  This can also be an on-the-fly practice in which we send compassion to people we encounter throughout the day, offering heartfelt intentions of wellness and ease. 

Tonglen practice for families and groups.

Note: Young children can be invited to draw during this practice and use their creativity to channel compassion.

  1. Sitting in stillness with eyes closed. Begin by breathing in and out, noticing where the breath is the clearest in the body, and then bring your attention to the heart. Welcome feelings of kindness – this could be a golden light, an image of the Buddha or personal deity, or just an overall feeling of warmth. You may also choose to place your hands on your heart.
  2. Visualization of a person’s suffering using the breath and sensations. Breathing in and out welcomes an awareness of your or someone else’s suffering. Name the suffering (sadness, grief, pain). See the situation in your heart-mind just as it is.
  3. Receiving and taking in suffering. Focus on the situation by seeing an image of the suffering. Use the in-breath to receive the image and with the out-breath, transform it into something more positive. You may try using smoke that changes into white light. You can also see the person as being in pain and then visualize their face turning into a smile. As you do this, recite several times: May this pain and suffering be released.
  4. Expanding compassion outward by extending it to all who are suffering. Using the same in-and-out breath process described above, visualize and welcome an awareness of a world that is suffering. On each out-breath offer the mantra to the world: May this pain and suffering be released. 

Conclusion of the practice. Sit in silence for several more breaths, enjoying the feeling of release and transformation. Conclude with a final recitation of the mantra: May all beings be well and live with ease. When ready, open your eyes slowly, shifting your attention to your body and then to the space you’re in by noticing some objects around you.

Originally published, December 13, 2023 in The Taos News

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Anne-Marie Emanuelli is the founder and Creative Director at Mindful Frontiers LLC, a Benefit Corporation committed to Community Wellness through the practice of meditation. With over two decades of meditation experience, Anne-Marie leads meditation workshops and provides coaching for children, families, individuals, groups, and classrooms. She is a certified meditation leader as well as a certified labyrinth facilitator. A full audio version of featured practices can be heard on the Welcoming a Mindful Future podcast. Our website can be accessed at MindfulFrontiers.net.

Loving-Kindness is a Meditation Practice with Big Benefits:

Sending Kind Thoughts

Children are born with an innate capacity to give and receive affection and compassion. We’ve noticed how young children absorb the smiles of others and instinctively reciprocate their own heart-melting energy. We’ve watched a young child shed tears seeing another being in distress and noticed how they are able to join in the laughter of others. Observe them as they hug their furry pets and speak sweetly to un-furry pets such as a butterfly or a lizard. Children are born with a real sense of how to love and be loved. As they grow older, this spontaneity wanes as life affects their lived experiences. They find out that others are not always kind and loving, that people can display hurtful behaviors and life may become more challenging to navigate.  

Indeed, the world is sometimes a hard place and meditation can help assuage the feelings that come from suffering (dukkha in the Pali language of Buddhism). This is actually the first of the Four Noble Truths: that there is suffering in the world. The Second Noble Truth, that there is a cause of suffering, allows us to understand that it is not our fault. The Third Noble Truth teaches us that there is an end to suffering and then the Fourth Noble Truth sends us on the path of how to handle the effects of suffering by training our emotional intelligence.

Emotional intelligence helps us to stay present with life experiences. Intelligence is knowing that this, too, shall pass and that there is a positive way to deal with suffering. By encouraging present-moment awareness we learn to accept the changing nature of our experiences, the behaviors of others, and our own inner landscape. We learn to see things as they are without the duality of “good” or “bad,” and learn to check in with ourselves to build our internal resources.

This may be the biggest benefit of family meditation: to pause, check in, and genuinely wish ourselves and others well. When the family learns to nurture inner peace, we can generate positivity and heartfulness. By practicing mindful meditation, families can model how to keep positivity and generosity flowing, even when life’s experiences are confusing and painful. Loving-kindness, also known as Metta, is a meditation in which we send kind thoughts to ourselves and others. It is a generous practice that anyone can do, no matter the age and level of emotional intelligence.

A Metta Meditation for Sending Loving Kindness

  • Before you start this mediation, set a timer (10-20 minutes for example) and decide who will be the leader. Then choose a few phrases that invoke kindness and compassion. Write them down if it helps everyone to remember. Here are some examples:
    • “May I/you/we be at peace.”
    • “May /you/we be healthy.”
    • “May I/you/we feel free.”
    • “May joy fill my/your/our life.”
  • As is customary for meditation, find a comfortable place where the entire family can be together and attention is the most focused. 
  • Start by taking three deep breaths together, inhaling through the nose, and exhaling through the mouth while tuning in to how the body feels and responds to relaxing breaths.
  • Continuing our rhythmic breathing, we will offer loving-kindness intentions to people in our life, called beneficiaries, (yourself, your family, your neighbors, your community, your country, and people who need kindness across the world). 
  • Offering Metta starts with ourselves individually and then, in turn, moves on to others one at a time, ending with a community or group.
  • With the beneficiary clearly in your mind, repeat the loving-kindness phrases several times, moving from one beneficiary to the next every few minutes. The leader can speak the phrases out loud or encourage everyone to say them silently to themselves as the intended beneficiary is visualized. 
  • When the timer goes off or the meditation is completed, sit quietly for a few moments, smiling and sensing how it feels to have shared loving-kindness with ourselves and the world. 
  • If time permits, journaling can be encouraged. The very young can draw how they feel or who they sent Metta and illustrate how it made that person/those people feel.

Originally published in The Taos News, August 10, 2023