Be here now

I am the type of person that has a hard time sitting still and doing nothing, so I am by no means an expert at mindfulness. In fact, I am pretty bad at it. But for me being bad at something often means I’ve researched a ton of resources about how to get better at it. I hope these resources help you press pause for a bit and enjoy the best month of the year.

As with anything these days, there’s an app for this too. And in this case, many apps. Mindfulness apps help you with lots of things from meditation, to deep breathing, to checking back in on where you are at the moment. Here’s a great review of the most popular mindfulness apps out there. I personally have tried two of these: 1) The Mindfulness App has great resources for meditation but the feature I liked the most is periodic reminders to focus on your breath throughout the day. 2) Insight Timer also has a ton of meditation features but the two I liked the most were the meditation timer, which you can customize by time, sound, etc., and also the guided meditations, which I use to help myself get to sleep.

There are, of course, a ton of books on mindfulness. This list from Goodreads has many great recommendations. From this list there are a couple that I’ve read and enjoyed including The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle and The Art of Happiness by the Dali Lama XIV. I’ve also enjoyed The Little Book of Mindfulness.

Meditation

I’ve been practicing (or attempting to practice) meditation since I was child and was introduced to Transcendental Meditation (TM) by my parents. Since then I have explored different types of meditation in different settings. There are a ton of great places in Colorado to learn about meditation and meditate with others. The Shambala Mountain Center is my favorite with a variety of programs and a beautiful environment to enjoy a little peace.