Mindfulness, Yoga, Tai Chi & Qigong
Looking for a short practice?
Try the 12-Minute Meditation Series from Mindful.org available on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
Dec. 6 Meditation
A Meditation for Tuning Into the Present Soundscape with Melli O’Brien
Are you curious about mindfulness or maybe interested in trying meditation, but not sure how to begin? Resources on this page will help explain the benefits of a mindful practice and I recommend starting with a shorter meditation that may be a bit easier to fit into your daily routine. The 12-Minute series by Mindful.org is a great place to start and those are available on Apple podcasts or Spotify. There are other resources on this page if you are interested in a longer practice as well as some free Apps to explore as well.
Meditation might not be the right fit for you, however, there is an alternative approach you may want to consider, which is the practice of mindful movement. Some of these movements can even be added throughout your day and are an easy way to incorporate a focused awareness/stress relief break, especially if you are spending a lot of time in front of your computer. Cara Bradley offers a short 10 minute intro to mindful movement, Conscious Motion: The Art of Mindful Movement on her site carabradley.net where you can also sign up for her paid courses available through the Mindful Online Learning platform.
I encourage you to explore these resources and give one of the mindful practices a try!
Cheryl Leving
Why try a mindfulness practice?
Mindfulness for Your Health, The Benefits of Living Moment by Moment - NIH News in Health
Five Ways Mindfulness Meditation Is Good for Your Health - UC Berkeley Greater Good Science Center
Can mindfulness lower your cancer risk? - Univ. of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center
"If you spend as little as five minutes a day on mindful breathing, it may help you eat better, exercise more and reduce your risk for disease."
Meditation: A simple, fast way to reduce stress - Mayo Clinic
"Meditation can wipe away the day's stress, bringing with it inner peace. See how you can easily learn to practice meditation whenever you need it most." This article discusses the benefits of meditation as well as explains the various formats of meditative practices.
Stress relief from laughter? It's no joke
Taking Charge of Your Health & Wellbeing - Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing, University of Minnesota
This resource provides great information explaining what mindfulness is, what the benefits are, research behind how it works, and how to begin incorporating a mindfulness practice in to your life.
Wellbeing Assessment - “Before you begin, you need to know where you are! This overall assessment can help you determine where you are in each aspect of wellbeing and point to areas where you might want to make changes.”
What is Mindfulness?
What are the Benefits of Mindfulness?
How Does Mindfulness Work?
How to Begin - Includes a 10 minute guided meditation and 14 minute guided body scan
Free Resources to explore a mindful or meditation practice
Free Apps
UCLA Mindful App
Developed by the Mindful Awareness Research Center at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), this App offers basic & wellness meditations plus a timer try meditating on your own.
The Healthy Minds App
From Healthy Minds Innovations, a nonprofit affiliated with the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
"Translating pioneering neuroscience into tools for everyday life, our unique framework guides you through the four pillars of the science of training the mind."
Smiling Mind App
By Australian non-profit Smiling Mind, dedicated to provide accessible, life-long tools to support healthy minds.
This is app is ”… developed by psychologists and educators to help bring balance to your life. Just as we eat well and stay fit to keep our body healthy, mindfulness meditation is about mental health and looking after the mind.”
UCLA Mindful - The Mindfulness Education Center at UCLA Health
”Our mission is to provide innovative, evidence-based mindfulness programs that empower individuals and institutions to manage stress, enhance health, and cultivate inner and outer peace.”
Getting Started - An introduction with Director of Mindfulness Education Diana Winston
Free Weekly Meditation Class via Zoom with Diana Winston and Guests- All levels of practice are welcome, starts August 14 via Zoom!
"Each week we will explore a new theme or topic in mindfulness. Topics may include self-compassion, working with judgments, obstacles to meditation, dealing with difficult emotions, mindfulness in challenging times, the spectrum of awareness, and much more."
UCLA Mindful’s Guided Meditations List - Sample meditations: Breath, Sound, Body Meditation (12 mins), Meditation for Working with Difficulties (7 mins), Body Scan for Sleep (13 mins)
Center for Mindfulness - Centers for Integrative Health, University of California San Diego
Guided meditations - Offers a number of audio meditations of different lengths varying from 5 minutes to 45 minutes from different contributors.
Myrna Brind Center for Mindfulness - Marcus Institute of Integrative Health, Jefferson Health
Explore Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Guided Practices - Audio files
There are brief introductions from each instructor and underneath corresponding audio files including: Body Scan, Sitting Meditation, Mindful Yoga, Expanding Awareness, and Loving Kindness.
Integrative Medicine Resources - Wexner Medical Center, Ohio State University
Complementary resource guides and recordings - free audio files recorded by an advanced practitioner and behavioral health specialist.
Guided Imagery - Guided imagery practices can help patients relax, improve sleep, prepare for surgery, experience greater clarity, compassion and gratitude and feel more calm, confident and comfortable.
Heart-centered practices can evoke healing and positive emotions, which broaden and build compassion, forgiveness, gratitude and loving-kindness (extending goodwill for safety, health, peace and happiness).
Mindfulness is paying attention in three particular ways: on purpose, in the moment and without judgment. You can practice mindfulness of breathing, eating, bodily sensations (body scan), thoughts, emotions, communication (listening and speaking) and walking or other activities (such as yoga or tai chi).
The Relaxation Response
Press Reset on Stress, Mind and Body Practices for Stress (Free PDF download)
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health
"One way to cope with stress and counteract its harmful effects is by using practices that produce the body’s relaxation response—the opposite of the stress response. Our ‘Press Reset on Stress’ flyer explains how to do three simple mind and body practices that can produce the relaxation response: an easy-to-learn mindfulness exercise, progressive muscle relaxation, and slow, deep breathing. You can use these techniques anytime, anywhere."
Mindful Movement Resources
How to Develop a Mindful Movement Practice - Peter Pace MS, CSCS, Anticancer Lifestyle Program
An explanation of Mindful Movement with 4 four gentle exercises to get you started.
Anticancer Lifestyle Program
Mindful Movement and Breath (video 6:47) - A short series of movements from yoga and meditation teacher David Breen.
Sonic Apothecary RoseyChan.com
Sonic Apothecary - Rosey Chan
Multimedia artist, pianist, and composer Rosey Chan discusses the inspiration behind her album to create a “Musical Pharmacy” on The Science of Happiness podcast.
Discover Sonic Apothecary, available free on YouTube Music and Spotify
sonic-apothecary.com
Answer a short series of questions to determine which music track best suits your meditative experience.
Ongoing Free Online Meditation Events
Univ. of Massachusetts Memorial Health Care Center for Mindfulness
Global Online Meditation Community
Weekly Sessions
Prior registration required
Mondays, 7pm ET/4pm PT (1 hr.)
Thursdays, 12:10pm ET/9:10am PT (40 min.)
Mondays 12:30-1pm PT
Mindful Monday Drop-In Meditation
Wednesdays 4-5:30pm PT
Weekly Class with Diana Winston & Guests
Thursdays 12:30-1pm PT
Hammer Museum Drop-In Meditation (Hybrid)
These 30-minute sessions offer an online community of meditation support and teachings.
Mindfulness and Health Institute
Mondays – Community Mindfulness Meditation Session
5:30-6:30 PM (EDT)
Tuesdays – Mindful Pause
11:45am-Noon (EDT)
Wednesdays – Guided Sitting and Discussion
12:15-1:00 PM (EDT)
Additional Resources for Mindful Well-being
UC Berkeley Greater Good Science Center
A non-profit dedicated to the science and practice of well-being.
Happiness Break Podcast - This short podcast series (under 10 minutes) guides you through research-based practices to develop more compassion, resilience to stress, and moments of joy and inspiration.
The Science of Happiness - Free Online 8 Week Course
"...to teach the ground-breaking science of positive psychology, which explores the roots of a happy and meaningful life." Check their page for updates when the next course starts.Pathway to Happiness - 4-week practice
A free personalized, interactive journey toward helping you discover a more meaningful life 2022! Register, then take a short quiz and receive science-based happiness practices to try for the next four weeks!Thnx4.org - A mobile-friendly online gratitude journal challenge
Register and choose either 10-day or 21-day experience and you can sign up and participate as an individual or host a group challenge. "Thnx4 is based on three decades of research on gratitude, and the benefits of gratitude journaling in particular, which suggest that regularly reflecting upon and expressing thanks can have profound benefits on one’s social, emotional, and physical well-being."Greater Good Magazine: Science-based insights for a meaningful life
This free online Magazine covers topics including mind-body, parenting & family, relationships, and the workplace.
Download Greater Good Science Center’s
December Happiness Calendar
”This month, find peaceful moments together”
Purpose in Life Quiz
Take this free online quiz and "… get your score, learn more about the benefits of purpose, and find resources for identifying and cultivating your own life goals."
Mindful - mindful.org (Limited free access, one year digital subscription is $19.95)
"We’re the place to go for insight, information, and inspiration to help us all live more mindfully."
Mindful.org is a subscription based monthly or yearly membership, however, they do offer limited free access so you can check out their content.
Therapeutic & Restorative Yoga Resources
While most styles of yoga can be viewed as having therapeutic value, “therapeutic yoga” or “yoga therapy” is specifically designed to address health conditions or challenges. I found this description from the Yoga Jaya studio in Burbank, CA - "The practice of Therapeutic Yoga gives the body and mind time to pause, restore, and rejuvenate. It is a gentle and effective practice to release everyday life stresses, and can be modified for those recovering from or living with different physical conditions." Locating a therapeutic yoga class may not be as easy as finding a power yoga or hot yoga class, but a helpful resource is the Association of Yoga Therapists and their IAYT member database referral. You can scroll through their member list to see if classes are available in your area.
NCCIH (National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health)
Yoga for Health: What the Science Says
Yoga for Health (ebook)
”This 39-page eBook provides an overview of what the science says about yoga for health, including its use by children, older adults, pregnant women, and people with health conditions. You’ll also find information on how to practice yoga safely, as well as a summary of national survey findings about the use of yoga in the United States.”
Restorative Yoga - Fountain of Youth Pose (4 min. video) - Washington Regional Medical Center, Arkansas.
Loni Harris, DPT, explains the benefits of the Fountain of Youth pose, which is designed to help decrease stress and anxiety.
Whole U Yoga: Restorative Yoga with Sarah Hay (8 min. Video) - University of Washington
An Introduction to Yoga Therapy - YogaJournal
Dr. Timothy McCall, board-certified specialist in internal medicine & Yoga Journal's Medical Editor provides an overview of Therapeutic Yoga.
16 Benefits of Yoga That Are Supported by Science - Heathline.com
Registered Dietitian Rachael Link discusses 13 evidence-based benefits of yoga.
Tai Chi & Qigong
According the Benson-Henson Institute, "Tai Chi is a Chinese martial art that employs slow intentional movements, coordinated with breathing and imagery, to strengthen and relax the physical body and mind. It enhances and balances the flow of internal energy (qi), resulting in improved health,..."
Mayo Mindfulness: Tai chi is a gentle way to fight stress - Mayo Clinic
The Moving Meditation: A Tai Chi Journey Begins with One Step - Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute
What is Tai Chi, what are the benefits, and what is the difference between Tai Chi and QiQong?
The health benefits of tai chi - Harvard Health Publishing
This article describes tai chi as “meditation in motion.”
Tai Chi: What You Need To Know - National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health
Tai Chi Video Series - Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
"In this video series, Memorial Sloan Kettering’s mind-body therapist Robin Hardbattle guides you through the principles of tai chi and the exercises themselves. These videos are intended to help people who are new to the practice, as well as those who already have some experience."
There are four videos in this series:
Warm-up exercises to loosen up your muscles and joints
An explanation of the individual movements so you’ll know the best way to stand and move
A full tai chi sequence, based on the Yang style short form by Cheng Man-ching
Cool-down techniques to bring your heart rate back to its normal resting level
Qigong
What Are the Health Benefits of Qigong? - Cleveland Clinic
”This ancient practice is quick and easy to do — and could boost your well-being”
Qigong: What You Need To Know - National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health
"What is qigong and how does it work?"
What is Qigong and what can it do for me? - Maryland University of Integrative Health
Tai Chi Research
April 7, 2022 - Seated form of tai chi might boost stroke recovery - American Heart Association journal Stroke
160 adult stroke survivors were assigned to either a sitting tai chi program or a standard stroke rehab exercise program." At the end of three months, those in the sitting tai chi group had better hand and arm function and sitting balance control, significant reductions in depression symptoms and better shoulder range of motion compared to people in the standard exercise group."
June 1, 2021 - Study suggests tai chi can mirror healthy benefits of conventional exercise - UCLA & University of Hong Kong
"A new study shows that tai chi mirrors the beneficial effects of conventional exercise by reducing waist circumference in middle-aged and older adults with central obesity."
Feb. 15, 2021 - Daily tai chi, exercise help older adults with insomnia, study finds - University of Hong Kong
Researchers found adults in their 60s and 70s diagnosed with insomnia who participated in either a tai chi or exercise program for three one-hour training sessions a week experienced more sound sleep and woke up fewer times during the night compared to the control group which did not engage in a supervised tai chi or exercise program.
July 19, 2016 - Study Shows Tai Chi and Physical Therapy Were Equally Helpful for Knee Osteoarthritis
"Patients in the two groups had similar decreases in pain and improvements in physical functioning after 12 weeks, and the benefits of treatment were maintained for the full 52 weeks of the study."