Apr 13, 2025
You are so excited to prepare dinner for three of your friends. You’ve planned a menu, gone grocery shopping, and spent several hours slicing and chopping, sauteing and mixing to bring forth a delightful meal. Your guests arrive to share your culinary efforts. They...
Mar 4, 2025
Dear Friends of Mindfulness Northwest, A group of 25 people is gathering for a day of mindfulness at Semiahmoo County Park, north of Bellingham. The park is situated on a mile-long sandspit extending into the Salish Sea, with water on both sides. It’s just...
Jan 10, 2025
Dear Friends of Mindfulness Northwest, As the year turns, I find myself reflecting on the journey and adventure Mindfulness Northwest has been and thought I’d share a bit this month. Sometime in 2009 a dream started to take shape in my life. I was starting to...
Dec 13, 2024
by Carolyn McCarthy Photo by Judy Beth Morris On a recent morning in early November, my stomach was in knots. My head was spinning, a thought storm tumbling through. I’d managed to get myself out the door and was walking to yoga class, mat tucked under my arm. But my...
Oct 3, 2024
What happens when you take stock of your day, your life, your purpose? What is the nature of the language you use with yourself? Most of us tend to be harsh and critical of how we are conducting our life. We easily spiral into self-talk of “shoulds:” I should be more...
Mar 4, 2024
ABOUT LABELING The meditation called Labeling (also known as Noting) is a very helpful practice for getting to know patterns in our minds while at the same time starting to develop some space around them. This practice helps us see what our minds are up to without...
Feb 2, 2024
In our classes, when we turn toward difficult emotions, we often say, “This is where the rubber meets the road.” In other words: This is where it gets tough, but also, this is why we’re doing this practice. I have five parents: two in-laws, two birth, one step. In the...
Jan 13, 2024
The practice of forgiveness is both a practical and deep exploration in a world where we humans regularly cause each other harm, and can even harm ourselves. This practice is based on one described by American Insight Meditation teachers Sharon Salzberg and Gina...
Sep 29, 2022
We all know those moments. We’re already wound up. Rushed. So much going on. And we’re also tired from an interrupted night of sleep. Or worried about a health challenge. Or a family member who’s back in that familiar crisis zone. We carry so much...
Feb 23, 2022
Soften, Soothe, Allow is a practice for working with difficult emotions arising from life’s challenges. In this practice from our Mindful Self-Compassion program you’ll bring to mind a life challenge and explore the emotions that arise around it and how to use a...
Dec 1, 2020
I have a strong preference for life to make sense, especially the part that involves human interactions. Do you find that, too? So much rides on our ability to see eye to eye and solve problems. I want everyone’s attitudes and actions, including my own, to line up...
