"Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fuly present, aware of where we are and what we're doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what's going on around us."
Mindful.org
How can mindfulness, or mindful movement, help when you are feeling stressed or overwhelmed? Practicing mindfulness can help you focus on the present moment, which can help you to de-stress, as well as increase your focus and awareness.
Free Meditation and Yoga from MindfulNYU
MindfulNYU is the award-winning meditation, mindfulness, and contemplative life initiative that promotes wisdom, compassion, and well-being on campus—and beyond. MindfulNYU hosts daily yoga classes and group meditation for students, faculty and staff. A commitment to offering inclusive, transformative experiences based in love, community and healing is at the foundation of our mission.
Basic Instructions for Meditation
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Make sure to eliminate distractions you may have brought with you to the meditation by turning off any electronic devices you have.
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Choose a spot in the room where you feel comfortable and are not too crowded, and select a chair or cushion to sit on. You can even lie down if that is most comfortable for you.
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Relax your body into a position that feels comfortable to you. This can be sitting cross-legged, but it does not have to be. Make sure that you have an upright spine so that you can take deep breaths, and adjust your position as you strive to eliminate any tension in your body.
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Close your eyes if you feel comfortable or look slightly downwards with a soft focus.
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Begin to focus on your breathing, the feeling of inhaling a sustaining breath of air, holding that air in your lungs for a few seconds, and then slowly exhaling. You may experience racing thoughts, fatigue, or restlessness — this is all normal. Keep bringing your attention back to the inhale and exhale of your breath.
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Once you are somewhat settled in your breath, notice what is happening in the room and in your body — including sounds, sensations, thoughts, emotions — without getting carried away by them. When you do get carried away, simply bring your attention back to your breath and the present moment with gentleness.
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Don't give up! There is no such thing as meditating “wrong.” The more you practice, the easier it gets to stay present.
Adapted from MindfulNYU
Meditating and Breathing Apps
- Ten Percent Happier: Free and Premium Content. Ten Percent Happier is a clear, simple approach to meditation with bestselling author Dan Harris and the most respected teachers and scientists on the planet.
- Healthy Minds: Free. The ground-breaking Healthy Minds Program uses neuroscience, contemplative traditions, and skill-based learning methods to help you develop the skills for a healthy mind, now in the palm of your hand. Translating pioneering neuroscience into tools for everyday life, our unique framework guides you through the four pillars of the science of training the mind.
- Insight Timer: Free and Premium Content. Guided meditations and talks led by the world's top meditation and mindfulness experts, neuroscientists, psychologists and teachers from Stanford, Harvard, the University of Oxford and more. Join millions learning to meditate on Insight Timer to help calm the mind, reduce anxiety, manage stress, sleep deeply and improve happiness.
- Sattva: Free and Premium Content. Draws its mediations from ancient Vedic principles (FYI, the Vedic religion was one of the major traditions that shaped Hinduism). A rare collection of Guided Meditations, Ancient Chants, Vedic Mantras and Blissful Music to enhance your meditation journey.
- Headspace Student Discount $9.99 per year. Learn to manage feelings and thoughts with the lifelong sk: ill of everyday mindfulness, any time of the day.
- Calm: Free and Premium Content. Offers guided meditation sessions, video lessons on stretching and mindful movement, ambient noise and playlists designed to help you relax or focus on work, and a variety of resources to help you sleep. Free Content available here: https://www.calm.com/together
- Breathe - Calm Down - Meditate: Free and Premium Content. Minimalistic (yet highly customizable) breath meditation app without ads or distractions. Including a meditation timer. Choose from well explored breathing rhythms - or create your own - to activate your parasympathetic nervous system.
- Buddhify: Free and Premium Content. Buddhify focuses on mobile or on-the-go meditation, which you can do wherever you are and whatever you’re doing. Also includes more traditional formal meditations, but they are there for when you have time.
- Aura: Free and Premium Content. Aura is the first all-in-one wellness app that learns how to best help you.Discover an endless library of expert-created tracks for your well-being, all taught by the world’s best coaches, therapists, and storytellers.With Aura's personalized recommendations, you can find peace every morning, day and night.
- Balance: Free and Premium Content. Improve your stress, sleep, and more with the world's first personalized meditation program.
Yoga and Fitness Resources
- YMCA health & Fitness Videos: With different levels for everyone, Y yoga is an effective combination of traditional movements and mindfulness using flexibility, breathing and strength.
- FitOn: Free Fitness app featuring Yoga, Pilates, HIIT, Strength, and Cardio workouts, plus Meditations.
- YogaDownload.com: Here is a selection of extremely popular free 30-minute or less, online yoga classes from YogaDownload. These free full yoga classes are include styles suitable for everyone. Classes featured include beginner yoga classes, vinyasa yoga, hatha yoga, free meditation classes, and yin yoga, and yoga for stress relief and relaxation.
- Yoga with Adreine: Our mission is to connect as many people as possible through high-quality free yoga videos. We welcome all levels, all bodies, all genders, all souls! Browse our library of free yoga videos to find a practice that suits your mood or start a journey toward healing.
- Yoga with Kassandra: Here you'll find weekly Yin Yoga and Vinyasa Flow classes for all experience levels.
- Holden QiGong: Chi or Qi is the life force energy animating through your body and in nature, and gong means "to work with"...so qigong means "to work with our life force energy." Qigong expert Lee Holden introduces the ancient art of qigong, "the art of effortless power."
Mindfulness Videos
- STRESSED? Learn to reframe stressful situations with this short meditation: Stress takes on many forms, especially when a day has felt particularly challenging. Nothing can change the circumstances, but this exercise teaches you how to notice what you're holding onto and how to drop the preoccupying storyline, allowing you to reframe stressful situations. Captions and transcript available for this Headspace video on YouTube page.
- Beginners Mind: Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD, talks about the 9 Attitudes of Mindfulness, how to use them in our Mindfulness practice and daily life. Captions and transcript available on YouTube page.
- Meditation for Beginners: Learn to meditate in 6 minutes with this video from Mindful Editor-in-Chief Barry Boyce. Captions and transcript available on the YouTube page.
- Paying Attention & Mindfulness: Sam Chase asks you to pay attention during his opening talk at TEDxNYU, deftly exploring what it means to be truly mindful and how every one of us can incorporate the practice into our lives. Captions and transcript available on the YouTube page.
- All it takes is 10 mindful minutes: When is the last time you did absolutely nothing for 10 whole minutes? Not texting, talking or even thinking? Mindfulness expert Andy Puddicombe describes the transformative power of doing just that: Refreshing your mind for 10 minutes a day, simply by being mindful and experiencing the present moment. Captions and transcript available on the YouTube page.
Audio Resources
- Audio Meditations from the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center: For an introduction to mindfulness meditation that you can practice on your own, download the UCLA Mindful App (iTunes / Google Play), stream, or download the guided meditations recorded by UCLA MARC's Director of Mindfulness Education, Diana Winston.
- Guided Meditations by Tara Brach: Tara Brach’s teachings blend Western psychology and Eastern spiritual practices, mindful attention to our inner life, and a full, compassionate engagement with our world. The result is a distinctive voice in Western Buddhism, one that offers a wise and caring approach to freeing ourselves and society from suffering.
- AudioDharma: This site is an archive of Dharma talks given by Gil Fronsdal, Andrea Fella and various guest speakers at the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, CA. Each talk illuminates aspects of the Buddha's teachings. The purpose is the same that the Buddha had for his teachings, to guide us toward the end of suffering and the attainment of freedom.
- Dharma Seed: Dharma Seed gathers, preserves, and freely shares recordings of teachers inspired by early Buddhism for the benefit of students, teachers, and dharma centers worldwide. The talks and meditations available through the Dharma Seed website are largely, although not exclusively, teachings from the Western Insight Meditation tradition, as taught at centers like the Insight Meditation Society (IMS), Spirit Rock Meditation Center, Gaia House and New York Insight.
