Many of your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are instinctual reactions to life events. Your brain likes to follow familiar patterns and keep quick information at the ready, to help you solve problems and to survive.
 
So it may take a bit more work, a bit more time, to engage the parts of the brain that help us respond with clear rational thinking rather than the typical knee-jerk reactions. Once we learn to slow down reactivity, perhaps by pausing and breathing in the midst of a stressful situation, we often find empowerment and the freedom to choose if and how to respond.

You may find that you spend a good deal of energy obsessing about your body, whether you’re trying to hide it, flaunt it, slim it down, strengthen it, nourish it, or heal it. But how much time do you actually spend in your body?
 
To embody your body is to sense it, dwelling in your legs, back, belly, chest, arms, neck, and head. Interoception is the ability to sense your inner body and simply notice what is here to be noticed. Making this mind-body connection now and then throughout your day can be a grounding and centering practice.

In mindful presence,
​Lori Furbush

The concept of enlightenment may elicit connotations of vibrancy, illumination, wisdom, and achievement. Perhaps we think enlightenment is some lofty goal we should (and will probably never) attain after years of endlessly perfecting ourselves.
 
Or we can think of enlightenment as the daily work of paying attention, skillfully navigating our thoughts, words, and actions, and forever learning from our own perceived successes and failures. Perhaps enlightenment is making peace with who you already are, and accepting responsibility for your own happiness.

In mindful presence,
Lori Furbush

Strength is often valued over vulnerability. We feel strong when we feel confident, skilled, supported, grounded, and centered. We feel strong when we have an answer or a planned course of action. To feel strong is to feel safe.
 
Vulnerability, then, may feel unsafe. To dwell in that place of uncertainty is unsettling. And yet, we sometimes must let go of what we think we know, what we’re holding onto as “truth,” to open the door for new information and possibility. Allowing yourself to be vulnerable is a bold choice. Softening into vulnerability can reveal the seeds of strength within.

In mindful presence,
​Lori Furbush

Thoughts and emotions are important aspects of being human. They contain information, memories, and perceptions which can be useful in helping us set goals, make decisions, and interact with our world. It is easy to become so immersed in thought and emotion, however, that we “fail to see the forest for the trees.”
 
To be conscious is to be awake and aware. When we’re feeling overwhelmed, it can be helpful to pause, pull back to a wide angle lens, and observe our thoughts and emotions for what they are—just passing clouds in a clear blue sky of consciousness.

In mindful presence,
​Lori Furbush

​It can be an easy, and sometimes comforting, choice to disconnect. We disconnect from the body, getting lost in the noise of the mind. We also tend to disconnect from discomfort, getting lost in distracting habits and gadgets.
 
It may be a challenging, even uncomfortable, choice to reconnect with our inner experience. Finding a practice like mindful movement or meditation helps us reconnect the mind into the body and the body onto the ground. If we want to skillfully navigate the noise of life, we must connect with the strength of silence within.

In mindful presence,
​Lori Furbush

Sometimes we spin ourselves in circles looking for the meaning in things. Why did this happen? What is the purpose? What am I supposed to learn from this?
 
Rather than seeking answers outside of yourself, perhaps the meaning lies within. You have the freedom to choose your perception and interpretation. You have the freedom to find your own answers and to breathe into the questions.

In mindful presence,
Lori Furbush

​We often resist practicing self-care for many reasons. Perhaps it feels self-indulgent, like we haven’t “earned” it. Perhaps all the other tasks on our list are given greater priority. Perhaps there is a discomfort in setting aside our usual distractions and facing ourselves.
 
In truth, self-care is not necessarily luxurious or even relaxing. It is maintenance. Self-care includes cultivating healthy patterns of eating, sleeping, exercising, resting, and recharging, along with skillfully managing thoughts, emotions, and social support. The work of self-care is a 24/7 job that requires a sustained alignment with your sense of center, your boundaries, and your values. When we live our self-care, we are continually rejuvenated, with more energy and presence to handle everyone and everything else.

In mindful presence,
​Lori Furbush

“This too shall pass” is a phrase that often gets us through tough times. Reflecting on the temporary nature of all things reminds us that challenges will eventually shift into greater ease. Of course, the reverse is also true. Pleasant experiences also fade. So we learn to ride waves of emotion without getting lost in the surf. In the midst of the highest high or the lowest low, we can feel, acknowledge, and let it pass.

In mindful presence,
​Lori Furbush

While both your body and your breath exist in the present moment, quite often your mind is somewhere else. As often as you remember, you can bring your attention back to the felt-sense of your body and your breathing to establish presence.
 
True embodied presence allows us to be aware of the mind’s wanderings into desire and aversion—the wanted and the unwanted—while more clearly discerning what requires action and what is better left undone. With presence, we may act without striving and rest without resistance.

In mindful presence,
​Lori Furbush

Mindfulness is a practical tool we can use to know ourselves better and navigate life with skill and freedom of choice. The goal of mindfulness is not to reach some lofty state of bliss, relaxation, or empty mind. It is, rather, the practice of engaging with each unfolding moment in open curious presence. Meeting yourself just as you are is an act of courage.

In mindful presence,
Lori Furbush

For those of us walking the path of self-reflection, it is somehow comforting to know that we are always learning, evolving, and awakening, while at the same time carrying our same old wounded self with tender loving care. Those triggers still trigger us. Those buttons still get pushed. It’s as though we are simultaneously circling outward and inward, uncovering old ways and new insights. We are not linear beings but circles rippling the surface and revealing the depths.

In mindful presence,
​Lori Furbush

Permanence is an illusion. While we may have people and experiences that linger longer in our lives, the truth is that everything comes and goes. Your thoughts, moods, successes, failures, and even your challenges eventually shift into something else.
 
Our familiar pattern is to cling to what we want and push away what we do not want. Remembering that all experiences are fleeting may invite us to really be present for each moment of life, the pleasant and the difficult. Life itself is fleeting. And rich. You may not want to miss a moment while wishing for something else.

In mindful presence,
​Lori Furbush

​While the past can be reviewed and retold in stories and accounts, and the present can be felt with all of your senses, the future remains elusive. Truth is, we never know just how the next moment will unfold. We can make plans and take steps in a particular direction, but uncertainty is always with us. How might you become more comfortable with “living the questions”?
 
In mindful presence,
Lori Furbush

An extraordinarily unique and challenging year is nearing completion. Likely you have experienced moments of frustration, acceptance, sadness, joy, worry, trust, fear, and courage. Perhaps your world was turned upside down; your perception of what is true was tested. You may have resisted and you may have adapted. You might even have found silver linings.
 
As this year ends and another begins, we cannot help but hope for a better future. And yet, as always, much remains complex, nebulous, and incomplete. The question then is whether we can find satisfaction and even peace, knowing that our strengths and our weaknesses make us complete.

In mindful presence,
Lori Furbush

The winter solstice reminds us that darkness and light dance in rhythms, every year, every day, every breath. With an exhale, we release this past year. And in the pause before the next breath begins, we rest in trust. Trust is softening into knowing that another inhale, another day, another new beginning will come in its own time.

​In mindful presence,
Lori Furbush

​In these darker days with another year coming to an end, we pause to reflect, reassess, and renew. Just as there is a centered calm available in the midst of chaos, there is a vibrant animated heart beating within the quiet. This is a time for withdrawing inward, not constricting from the world in fear, but gently aerating the soil within, preparing the ground for the seeds of a fresh start.
 
In mindful presence,
Lori Furbush

​In observing your own mind, you may find that much of your thinking is focused on future and past moments. Rarely are we ever fully present. Experiencing this moment now with all of your senses—touch, taste, smell, sight, and sound—can help you tune in. It takes courage to center yourself in awareness, shining a light into the shadows and being open to what we find.

In mindful presence,
Lori Furbush

It is human nature to want to fix things, to find a solution, to tie it up in a bow and move on. Whether we’re on a journey of physical or mental health issues or both, healing can seem like that carrot at the end of the stick that we can never reach.

Rather counterintuitively, mindfulness practices help us get in touch with and explore our discomfort, taking an active role in meeting ourselves where we are rather than getting lost in distraction and wanting something else. True healing might be expressed as fully experiencing your disappointment, shame, anger, loss, and fear, then welcoming the power and clarity of knowing it is okay to be exactly as you are.

In mindful presence,
Lori Furbush

We experience joy when something sparks a state of pure happiness, an outpouring of appreciation and delight. Your ability to feel the fullness of joy can become blocked, overwhelmed by worry, anger, fear, sadness, striving, resisting. It is important to experience all of our emotions, the pleasant and the unpleasant. What can you let go of to make room for joy to shine through? What brings you to that state of delight?
 
In mindful presence,
Lori Furbush