Archive for the ‘Mindfulness and noticing’ Category

Why the best thing for your work could be…sitting up

Sure, slouching is bad for your back and neck—you knew that. Now a study suggests it may also affect how you feel about the very thing you’re working on. The researchers found that people who slumped as they worked on a stressful task had more negative thoughts, fear, and low self-esteem than people who sat up […]

The pleasure of putting away

“It’s time to take down the Christmas tree,” said my sister. “I don’t want you to take away the tree!” cried my nine-year-old niece, and she fled the room. My 12-year-old niece stayed in the living room to help her mom. Gently, they removed the ornaments one by one and placed them in the storage […]

Check that critic!

I’m experimenting with a new way to manage the inner critic. (Happy to say it’s been more critic than doomsayer lately, but that nagging voice of doubt still saps my energy and efficiency.) I call this technique the Gremlin Checklist. It combines the best aspects of the split-screen technique and mental-habits labeling into one convenient […]

How to be satisfied with a lot less chocolate

Break off a very small piece of chocolate.* Wait… don’t eat it yet!… hold it at a distance and admire its looks. (Especially fun with an engraved bar, like the ones from Dick Taylor.) Bring it to your nose and inhale. Now you can put it in your mouth—and let it slowly melt on your […]

Losing, finding, and mastery

In search of being more grounded while I work, I’ve been trying out a mind-body approach called Somatic Learning. During a daylong workshop on the process, I felt as though years of habitual tension had melted away and areas of chronic pain were finally starting to ease. How long would that newfound ease last, I […]