Zen for Everyday Life with Matt Valentine: Mindfulness | Guided Meditation - Buddhaimonia

This week is "Mindfulness of Body" week on the ZfEL podcast. Today I talk about the Buddha's first establishment of mindfulness, mindfulness of body. We'll cover the 4 major elements or "sensations" you can notice through your mindfulness practice, why that's so important and do a short "mindful check-in" to get a feel for the practice itself. Also, make sure to listen to this week's guided meditation, ZfEL #25: Mindfulness of Body / Mindfulness Body Scan, a foundational mindfulness practice that allows you to heighten your ability to notice the sensations and communications of the body and better come in touch with the physical body as a whole. Thank you for listening. Go to Buddhaimonia.com to read my weekly blog as well as guides, books, and other resources, Buddhaimonia.com/newsletter to sign up to the weekly newsletter and get my free eBook The Little Book of Mindfulness, and go to ThisMomentBook.com to get my new book, This Moment: How to Live Fully and Freely in the Present Moment, if you'd like to support the blog and podcast.

Today’s episode is a special bonus preview episode of my new book This Moment: How to Live Fully and Freely in the Present Moment. This is the complete Preface + Introduction of the book which not only sets up the book and explains what it’s all about but explains a number of key insights I’ve discovered from my own practice as well. If you enjoyed these sample chapters and would like to purchase the audiobook, go to ThisMomentBook.com to get more information. Also, keep an eye out for this week’s episodes ZfEL 24: The Buddha’s First Aspect of Mindfulness and ZfEL 25: Guided Meditation – Mindfulness of Body. Thank you for listening. Go to Buddhaimonia.com to read my weekly blog as well as guides, books, and other resources, Buddhaimonia.com/newsletter to sign up to the weekly newsletter and get my free eBook The Little Book of Mindfulness, and go to ThisMomentBook.com to get my new book, This Moment: How to Live Fully and Freely in the Present Moment, if you'd like to support the blog and podcast.

This week's guided meditation is mindful cleaning, a powerful mindfulness practice that takes a typically boring and mundane activity and turns it into something nourishing and delightful. Mindful cleaning can be done while sweeping, mopping, dusting, scrubbing the bathroom, washing the dishes, or while doing anything else. This is a unique practice in that cleaning is typically (for most of us, at least) one of the most boring and mundane activities of our life, so to take such an activity and transform it into an enjoyable practice can be quite nourishing. Also, don't forget to check out this week's talk, episode #22: 3 Keys to a Fulfilling Life Discovered from the Top Regrets of the Dying. Thank you for listening & let me know what you think. Thank you for listening. Go to Buddhaimonia.com to read my weekly blog as well as guides, books, and other resources, Buddhaimonia.com/newsletter to sign up to the weekly newsletter and get my free eBook The Little Book of Mindfulness, and go to ThisMomentBook.com to get my new book, This Moment: How to Live Fully and Freely in the Present Moment, if you'd like to support the blog and podcast.

This week I talk about 3 major keys to a fulfilling life I discovered while researching the top regrets of the dying. In the episode, I talk about what the common denominators were among all the top regrets and show a straightforward path to living a more fulfilled life of no regrets. Also, make sure to listen to this week's guided meditation, ZfEL #23: Mindful Cleaning, a powerful mindfulness practice that takes a typically boring and mundane activity and turns it into something nourishing and delightful. Thank you for listening & let me know what you think. Thank you for listening. Go to Buddhaimonia.com to read my weekly blog as well as guides, books, and other resources, Buddhaimonia.com/newsletter to sign up to the weekly newsletter and get my free eBook The Little Book of Mindfulness, and go to ThisMomentBook.com to get my new book, This Moment: How to Live Fully and Freely in the Present Moment, if you'd like to support the blog and podcast.

This week's guided meditation is the formal version of the cornerstone mindfulness practice of mindful walking (also called walking meditation), which is great when paired after your formal sitting meditation practice. Mindful walking is one of the primary mindfulness practices and for good reason. Mindful walking is something we can do throughout each and every day as well as in a more formal setting (today's version). To walk mindfully is to touch the peace of the present moment with each step. It's a powerful practice and a personal favorite, so I'm happy to be covering it this week. Mindful walking, or walking meditation, is the practice of either counting one's steps or being mindful of the rising, swinging, and placing down of each step. As this guided meditation is on more of the formal practice, I'll be guiding by counting the steps (with plans to do more informal version of the meditation where you'll follow your steps in the near future). Also, don't forget to check out this week's talk, episode #20: Mindfulness at Work: How to Bring Mindfulness to the Workplace. Thank you for listening & let me know what you think. Thank you for listening. Go to Buddhaimonia.com to read my weekly blog as well as guides, books, and other resources, Buddhaimonia.com/newsletter to sign up to the weekly newsletter and get my free eBook The Little Book of Mindfulness, and go to ThisMomentBook.com to get my new book, This Moment: How to Live Fully and Freely in the Present Moment, if you'd like to support the blog and podcast.

This week is all about practicing mindfulness at work. What are the key characteristics of practicing mindfulness at work? How can we work more mindfully and easefully? That's what we'll explore this week. This week's talk is paired best with episodes #12: How to Live More Mindfully in the Modern World: 10 Keys to Reducing Distractions, Combatting Busyness, and Finding the Present Moment in the Chaos of Everyday Life and #6: How to Make Mindfulness a Way of Life: 7 Keys to Living a More Mindful Life. Also, make sure to listen to this week's guided meditation, ZfEL #21: Mindful Walking / Walking Meditation, one of the major mindfulness practices and a personal favorite. Thank you for listening & let me know what you think. Thank you for listening. Go to Buddhaimonia.com to read my weekly blog as well as guides, books, and other resources, Buddhaimonia.com/newsletter to sign up to the weekly newsletter and get my free eBook The Little Book of Mindfulness, and go to ThisMomentBook.com to get my new book, This Moment: How to Live Fully and Freely in the Present Moment, if you'd like to support the blog and podcast.

This week's guided meditation is A Mindful Welcome and it's about welcoming difficult thoughts, emotions, and sensations with the healing energy of mindfulness. The way we typically approach our lives, we push away or bottle down our difficulties in order to avoid the pain and suffering involved with them. But that just leads to more pain and suffering. A Mindful Welcome is about the fundamental shift from "hostile enemy" to "welcoming friend" we must make to begin the path of healing. Also, don't forget to check out this week's talk, episode #18: How to Make Friends with Yourself: Walking the Journey to Yourself with Mindfulness. Thank you for listening & let me know what you think. Thank you for listening. Go to Buddhaimonia.com to read my weekly blog as well as guides, books, and other resources, Buddhaimonia.com/newsletter to sign up to the weekly newsletter and get my free eBook The Little Book of Mindfulness, and go to ThisMomentBook.com to get my new book, This Moment: How to Live Fully and Freely in the Present Moment, if you'd like to support the blog and podcast.

This is Journey to Yourself week on the ZfEL podcast. Today, I talk about how to make friends with yourself with mindfulness practice. I take you through that path with the metaphor of you traversing a forest with the light of mindfulness as that of a torch by your side. This is a topic that often really resonates with people, and is one of my favorite to talk about because of how important I feel it is, so I hope you find value in it. Also, make sure to listen to this week's guided meditation, ZfEL #19: A Mindful Welcome, which is about welcoming difficult thoughts, emotions, and sensations with the healing energy of mindfulness and changing the fundamental way we interact with our challenges and difficulties. Thank you for listening & let me know what you think. Thank you for listening. Go to Buddhaimonia.com to read my weekly blog as well as guides, books, and other resources, Buddhaimonia.com/newsletter to sign up to the weekly newsletter and get my free eBook The Little Book of Mindfulness, and go to ThisMomentBook.com to get my new book, This Moment: How to Live Fully and Freely in the Present Moment, if you'd like to support the blog and podcast.

This week's guided meditation is Loving-Kindness Meditation. Loving-kindness meditation is the traditional Buddhist meditation practice of cultivating positive feelings and well-wishes for all beings. I've found it personally to be one of the most powerful meditation techniques, especially in combination with mindfulness practice. Also, don't forget to check out this week's talk, episode #16: How to Heal the Wounds in Our Heart with Mindfulness and Loving-Kindness. Thank you for listening & let me know what you think. Thank you for listening. Go to Buddhaimonia.com to read my weekly blog as well as guides, books, and other resources, Buddhaimonia.com/newsletter to sign up to the weekly newsletter and get my free eBook The Little Book of Mindfulness, and go to ThisMomentBook.com to get my new book, This Moment: How to Live Fully and Freely in the Present Moment, if you'd like to support the blog and podcast.

This is love week on the Zen for Everyday Life podcast. Today I talk about healing with the practice of mindfulness and loving-kindness. I talk about the significance of loving-kindness in mindfulness practice, why it's such an important quality in the practice of peace, and how to do a simple version of loving-kindness meditation to help overcome everyday challenges. Also, make sure to listen to this week's guided meditation, ZfEL #17: Loving-Kindness Meditation, which is on the traditional formal meditation practice of loving-kindness. Thank you for listening & let me know what you think. Thank you for listening. Go to Buddhaimonia.com to read my weekly blog as well as guides, books, and other resources, Buddhaimonia.com/newsletter to sign up to the weekly newsletter and get my free eBook The Little Book of Mindfulness, and go to ThisMomentBook.com to get my new book, This Moment: How to Live Fully and Freely in the Present Moment, if you'd like to support the blog and podcast.

This week's guided meditation is Healing Through Understanding. Healing Through Understanding is an active meditation which has a remarkable ability to heal internal wounds caused by conflicts with others. I've personally used it countless times and still do on a frequent basis. Its use in everyday life is truly endless. I hope you find it useful. Also, don't forget to check out this week's talk, episode #14: How to Adapt to Life’s Curveballs and Go with the Flow. Thank you for listening & let me know what you think. Thank you for listening. Go to Buddhaimonia.com to read my weekly blog as well as guides, books, and other resources, Buddhaimonia.com/newsletter to sign up to the weekly newsletter and get my free eBook The Little Book of Mindfulness, and go to ThisMomentBook.com to get my new book, This Moment: How to Live Fully and Freely in the Present Moment, if you'd like to support the blog and podcast.

This week I'm giving a little preview of one of the 4 major principles from my upcoming book, This Moment: How to Live Fully and Freely in the Present Moment. Today I talk about living naturally, within that specifically the principle of friction, or resistance. It's the understanding that our resistance to what goes on in our life causes friction. And it's this friction which causes much of our suffering. I open up about my own life to give a clear example of the principle at work, plus I do a reading of a previous article that perfectly fits the theme, which I also chose to include in the book. Also, make sure to listen to this week's guided meditation, which is ZfEL #15: Healing Through Understanding, a very active meditation (or contemplation or sorts) which has a remarkable ability at healing internal wounds caused by conflicts with others. Thank you for listening & let me know what you think. Thank you for listening. Go to Buddhaimonia.com to read my weekly blog as well as guides, books, and other resources, Buddhaimonia.com/newsletter to sign up to the weekly newsletter and get my free eBook The Little Book of Mindfulness, and go to ThisMomentBook.com to get my new book, This Moment: How to Live Fully and Freely in the Present Moment, if you'd like to support the blog and podcast.

This is Modern Living week on the ZfEL podcast. I hope this week has helped you surmount the chaos and craziness that is so often our everyday lives and move to a place of greater peace and mindfulness. Today's guided meditation is "Just Being" and it's about just being, fully, in this moment no matter what's going on around us. Taking everything in, we open ourselves fully to this moment and experience the peace of living fully accepting of whatever may come. Also, don't forget to check out this week's episode #12: How to Live More Mindfully in the Modern World which this guided meditation serves as an accompaniment to. Thank you for listening & let me know what you think. Thank you for listening. Go to Buddhaimonia.com to read my weekly blog as well as guides, books, and other resources, Buddhaimonia.com/newsletter to sign up to the weekly newsletter and get my free eBook The Little Book of Mindfulness, and go to ThisMomentBook.com to get my new book, This Moment: How to Live Fully and Freely in the Present Moment, if you'd like to support the blog and podcast.

This is Modern Living week on the ZfEL podcast. Today I talk about how to how to live more mindfully in the busyness, fast-pace and complexity of the modern world. I cover 10 keys to reducing distractions, combatting busyness and finding ways to live more fully present in the chaos of everyday life. To go along with episode #12, episode #12 and this week's guided meditation is "Just Being" and it's a guided meditation to help you take everything in despite the chaos and craziness of everyday life and just be with it fully in this moment- no matter what that is. Thank you for listening & let me know what you think. Thank you for listening. Go to Buddhaimonia.com to read my weekly blog as well as guides, books, and other resources, Buddhaimonia.com/newsletter to sign up to the weekly newsletter and get my free eBook The Little Book of Mindfulness, and go to ThisMomentBook.com to get my new book, This Moment: How to Live Fully and Freely in the Present Moment, if you'd like to support the blog and podcast.

This is fresh start week on the ZfEL podcast. I hope this week has helped you start your New Year, your week, or any day of your life off with a renewed spirit. Today's guided meditation is "Mindful Refresh: A Guided Morning Meditation" and it's intended to help you let go of what you're holding onto, create space with mindfulness practice, and start fresh whether that's this year, this week, or simply today and in this moment. It's particularly nice as a meditation used in the morning, leaving behind the previous day or week and starting the new day or week off fresh. Also, don't forget to check out this week's episode #10: How to Start Fresh in Every Moment with Mindfulness Practice which this guided meditation serves as an accompaniment to. Thank you for listening & let me know what you think. Thank you for listening. Go to Buddhaimonia.com to read my weekly blog as well as guides, books, and other resources, Buddhaimonia.com/newsletter to sign up to the weekly newsletter and get my free eBook The Little Book of Mindfulness, and go to ThisMomentBook.com to get my new book, This Moment: How to Live Fully and Freely in the Present Moment, if you'd like to support the blog and podcast.