Talks & Guided Meditations
TALK: How Mindfulness Helps
Mindfulness practice provides a respite from the constant stream of repetitive thinking. By cultivating present moment awareness, we can step outside of the ‘home movie’ that is perpetually playing in our heads - we can learn to be more present and more engaged for life as it unfolds, moment by moment.
GUIDED MEDITATION: Awareness of the Breath and Body
In this guided meditation, we will explore two fundamental meditation anchors: the breath and body sensations. By directing our attention to the breath and the body, we are gaining experience in stepping outside of our habitual thinking patterns and resting our attention in the present moment. This is a simple, yet powerful practice.
TALK: The Benefits of Mindful Meditation
A brief overview of Lori’s personal experience with mindful meditation and how it has transformed her life.
GUIDED MEDITATION: Being with the Breath
In this guided meditation, we will practice one of the simplest forms of mindful meditation, cultivating awareness of the breath. We will quickly notice how easily we get distracted and lost in thought. This provides an opportunity to notice how often we get carried away by thought and returning again and again to the breath.
TALK: The Stress Response
A brief overview of the autonomic nervous system, the Fight or Flight response, and how stress accumulation can lead to physical and psychological health issues. Meditation can help to calm the nervous system and engage the Rest and Digest response, which cultivates healing.
GUIDED MEDITATION: Open Awareness
In this guided meditation we practice bringing awareness to whatever arises in the present moment. This could include awareness of the body breathing, awareness of sensations in the body, awareness of sounds, and awareness of thoughts and emotions. This beneficial practice helps to cultivate a mindful acceptance of whatever arises in the present moment, not unlike watching clouds pass overhead.
TALK: The Benefits of a Gratitude Practice
A gratitude practice helps us to curb our tendency to focus on the negative, on all the things that feel threatening to us. With the understanding that what we pay attention to, grows in our lives - finding appreciation for what we do have leads to greater contentment and satisfaction.
GUIDED MEDITATION: Saying “Thank You"
In this guided meditation, we practice saying thank you for all that we have. We find appreciation for the people and things and circumstances that make up our lives. We also find appreciation for many of the things that we don’t often notice; realizing that we do in fact have SO MUCH to be thankful for.