A Mindful Path Forward
Essays on paying attention to ordinary things, such as dishes, gardens, footsteps and sleep, alongside clear guides to the practices behind them.
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- What Is MBSR? Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, Explained
What mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is, where it came from, what happens in the 8-week course, what research says, and how to find a trained teacher.
- Mindfulness Exercises for Adults: Eight Simple Practices
Eight simple mindfulness exercises for adults, from one-minute breathing to a body scan, mindful walking and grounding, with clear steps and tips for daily use.
- Labyrinth Walking Meditation: A Practical Guide
How to walk a labyrinth as a meditation: labyrinth versus maze, the classical and Chartres designs, a simple step-by-step practice and how to find one near you.
- How to Take an Awe Walk
What an awe walk is, what research on awe suggests, and how to take one: where to go, what to notice and simple ways to bring wonder into your daily walks.
- Mindful Gardening: A Practice You Can Start Today
How to practice mindful gardening: using the senses, slow tasks, patience and the seasons, plus simple exercises for pots or a yard and a ten-minute routine.
- Sleep Training for Adults: Building Better Sleep Habits
Sleep training for adults explained: how much sleep adults need, consistent routines, wind-down habits, mindfulness at bedtime, and when to talk to a doctor.
Recent essays
- Something Sacred
February 28, 2025 A young cellist’s advice becomes an essay on taking what matters seriously and turning ordinary work, from making beds to music practice, into something sacred.
- Washing Dishes Meditation
February 13, 2025 A short guided meditation for the kitchen sink: noticing resistance, warm water, textures and breath, and turning an everyday chore into mindful practice.
- Feeling Numb? 4 Mindfulness Tips to Help
January 31, 2025 An essay on the strange experience of feeling numb, why it can happen, four gentle mindfulness tips, and when to reach out to a doctor for more support.
- Grounded Feet
November 19, 2024 Fight or flight lives in the toes, calm lives in grounded feet: a short essay and grounding practice for settling the body by connecting feet with the earth.
- Coming Home
January 30, 2024 An essay on missing a family Christmas, a secret plan called coming home, and what it means to practice coming home to ourselves with comfort and familiarity.
- Seven Tips for Sleep Training as Adults
January 10, 2024 A personal essay on insomnia and meditation with seven tips for retraining the mind for sleep: rituals, audio cues, daytime practice and gentler expectations.
- Hygge, anyone?
November 10, 2023 What the Danish idea of hygge can teach about rest without guilt: making space for coziness, contentment and simple comforts as the winter months arrive.
- The Path to Awe
October 24, 2023 Drawing on Dacher Keltner’s research on awe, an essay on where people find wonder, from music and nature to other people, and how to make a personal map to awe.
Everything on this site is general information about wellbeing practices, not medical or psychological advice. If you are struggling, please speak to a doctor or a licensed mental health professional.