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...
Aug 2, 2024
“May you be happy…” Have you heard this phrase before? It is one of several phrases that might be used in the loving-kindness meditation practice. Others include: may you feel safe, may you be healthy, may you be at peace, and may you live with ease. What is your...
Jun 6, 2024
After several very serious discussions and a thorough multi-year review of the evidence, the Mindfulness Northwest team has reached a clear consensus – there is an above-average overlap between mindfulness practitioners and birders. It makes sense! Mindfulness is a...
Mar 27, 2024
Before applying to work at Mindfulness Northwest (MNW), I added up the time I’d spent in MNW programs: over 200 hours, most of those in 8-week Mindful Self-Compassion and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction classes.Ask anyone in my life, and they’ll tell you I’ve...
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...
Nov 22, 2023
In March 2021, Mindfulness Northwest Executive Director and Guiding Teacher Tim Burnett led a weekend retreat online focussed on the powerful teachings of beginner’s mind from Buddhism which also form a foundational part of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction as...
Nov 3, 2023
A few weeks ago, I decided to meditate outside, on my deck. It was a beautiful day, a slight breeze rustling through the trees, birds twittering, sky a startling blue, with no clouds. As I was adjusting myself in the special seat I had prepared, with the pillow just...
Nov 1, 2023
by Tim Burnett, October 2023 In October 2023, Mindfulness Northwest Executive Director and Guiding Teacher Tim Burnett led a weekend retreat at the Samish Island Retreat Center focussed on the ways that the exploration of mindfulness, and thus the exploration of a...
Sep 5, 2023
by Tim Burnett, September 2023 In September 2023, Mindfulness Northwest Executive Director and Guiding Teacher Tim Burnett led a weekend retreat at the Samish Island Retreat Center focussed on the ways that mindfulness supports surprising personal changes in a way...
Jun 30, 2023
A student in one of the meditation groups I have the pleasure of supporting told the group a story. Her mood seemed unhappy as she started – there was that feeling of, “I want to share something bad that happened to me in the hope that I’ll feel...
May 6, 2023
My partner and I were on a bike ride. She’s fairly new to town and I had the idea to pass through the university campus to check it out. I remembered a trail that skirts the bottom of the arboretum which would be pretty, so we rode up a neighborhood street and...
Mar 29, 2023
Roses are red, Violets are blue, Happy National Poetry month To you! If you’ve been in our classes or attended our retreats, you know that we celebrate poetry every month of the year. As Lucille Clifton says, “Poetry is a matter of life, not just a matter of...
