Bringing Mindfulness to Life®

IG Live repost: Mindful tips for going back to school with Kristin Hood (Good Buy Gear), Arlene McLean (Mindful Movers), and Anna Peterson Macsalka (founder of Zenimal) By Anna Peterson Macsalka As I’m sure you can relate, “back-to-school” is everywhere right now, but it definitely feels differe...

I think for the last few years I’ve been treating Zenimal like a racehorse without any real “big picture” purpose.  Eat, sleep, go as fast as possible in a short amount of time, repeat.  An article in Inc. reported on a 27-year study that showed the secret to living a happier life was “working and living with a sense of purpose and meaning.”  That’s it.  One thing.

I ordered my little turtle, and the day it came, it changed our lives. With the idea that it was so easy to use and appealing to tote around, my kids both were in love. We laid together on the bed at bedtime and picked our first meditation, which was ‘sleep’ - and off we went into the journey of calm, listening to founder Anna Macsalka’s soothing voice guide all of us through inhales, exhales, being present and still. 

This blog post comes courtesy of Sleepopolis.

by Josh Hurst

Oftentimes, anxiety makes its way into our daily lives. It could be the result of work stress, difficult relationships, a sudden move, or a tragedy. And although this anxiety manifests in different ways, one common result is insomnia.

If absence makes the heart grow fonder, what happens when everyone’s presence is constantly felt? Obviously we love our family members, but the simple fact is, spending most (or all) of your time together at home can leave you all feeling a little crazy. We all need time alone, a chance to let out stress, and the resources to battle cabin fever. Without these options, it’s easy to find ourselves in the red zone.

I took an unbiased look at my own behaviors, especially the ones that I’m not particularly proud of, and they are indeed based on trauma that has come back as a reaction not a memory, as Bessel van der Kolk explains in his work.  It’s so easy to lose our rational voice when we are suffering.