News
Covid Policy Updated
As of May 7th, 2022, Mindfulness Northwest's Covid policy is updated as follows. To check our current Covid policy see the About page and scroll down to Policies. Vaccination required: We expect participants to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in accordance to...

Meeting Feelings with the R.A.I.N. Practice ~ Carolyn McCarthy
“April showers bring May flowers.” Or, as Thich Nhat Hanh put it, “No mud, no lotus.” Trials, which can be hard to bear, often spur growth. Beautiful blossoming, even. Yet when too much difficult stuff hits us all at once, we can feel swamped, sodden,...

Acceptance and Attention: Meeting Stress More Gracefully ~ Tim Burnett
I'm on the plane for a brief trip to visit my young adult son. I'm excited about it. I'd left one work task to do enroute. Not ideal, but it happens. I'm usually pretty focused on the plane, I'll get it done. Opening my backpack to start my project, I find…no laptop....

Reification – A Curious Thing We Do ~ Beth Glosten, M.D.
Definition: Reification: to make something abstract more concrete or real; to consider or represent something abstract as a material or concrete thing; to give definite content and form to a concept or idea. We humans come equipped with an amazing mind – a mind that...

Podcast with Seattle Anxiety Specialists ~ Tim Burnett
Tim greatly enjoyed this conversation with Dr. Jennifer Ghahari of Seattle Anxiety Specialists on the value of mindfulness (and compassion) training for wellness and managing anxiety.

The Value of Retreat ~ Tim Burnett
Checking in to the Zoom room on a Saturday morning in August, I could tell the group was nervous about spending the next six hours in silence. Impressively, everyone in my class of health professionals - doctors, nurses, a researcher - had all shown up and none were...

Patience ~ Tim Burnett
Recently we were asked to provide a workshop for one of our clients on "Pandemic Fatigue" and I realized: yeah - that's a thing now isn't it? It's been a long hard slog for all of us. For some, suffering the loss of someone close...

Talking About Social Justice ~ Tim Burnett & Carolyn McCarthy
Just over a year ago, a Minneapolis police officer murdered George Floyd. Like so many individuals and organizations, Mindfulness Northwest heard this wake-up call. Instead of an immediate public response, we’ve turned inward, toward self-examination. We wanted to...

Considering Posture ~ Beth Glosten
Posture is the structural basis of our upright position. And posture supports our upright position in meditation. But it is tricky. We are guided to be upright, but relaxed – not too tight, and not too loose. But what does this all mean? If I’m “relaxed,” I feel my...

Fierce Meets Tender: Self-Compassion in Action ~ Carolyn McCarthy
The ferry was running late. New to island living, my friend hadn’t planned for the ways wind and water might shape his day. Now he would miss his meeting. Frustrated, he texted a colleague to ask her to cover for him. But wait! They seemed to be speeding up. The boat...

Interview with Executive Director, Tim Burnett: Cultivating Acceptance in Relationships
Explore the important role of acceptance in relationships - what it is and isn't - and how it relates to curiosity, vulnerability, and intimacy. Listen to the Podcast of Tim's conversation with Wise Compassion's Michelle Becker below.

You Do Not Have To Be Good ~ Tim Burnett
You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves. Right. Remembering these lines I feel something in my gut unclench a bit. I find...

The Calm Within the Storm ~ Michael Kelberer
By all accounts the Dalai Lama is the embodiment of equanimity. In the face of persecution, a lifetime of exile, the responsibility of both an entire nation and an entire religion, he has always seemed grounded, open-eyed and to be acting from a base of strength....

Meeting a Challenging Moment ~ Tim Burnett
Dear Friends, We finally kissed 2020 goodbye a few weeks ago, hoping for more peaceful, healthy, and productive times ahead. And yet as I write this, the U.S. is breaking tragic records for deaths from Covid-19 and Congress is debating whether to impeach President...

When Kindness is the Only Thing That Makes Sense Anymore ~ Teresa Johnson
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...