A Meditation to Return to Ourselves When Practicing Feels Impossible

Many of us are bearing witness daily to suffering all over the planet. We care about others, and we want desperately to be of use—and seeing the horrors in images and videos and stories every day can be deeply dysregulating to our nervous systems.

When we get overwhelmed by this vicarious trauma, we tend to shut down. We disconnect from ourselves and each other. We're so spun out in our anxiety, anger, or overwhelm that it can feel impossible to engage in any kind of mindfulness or meditation practice.

This week, Shalini Bahl offers tender and practical guidance for how to pause, reconnect, and return to ourselves—and our essential practice—in times of intense internal and external upheaval.

Shalini Bahl, PhD, is the award-winning author of Return to Mindfulness and founder of Sama Life, where she offers daily live micro-practices for real-world engagement. A certified MBSR and Search Inside Yourself teacher with pioneering research in mindfulness and consumer well-being recognized by the American Marketing Association, she brings contemplative practice into complex real-world contexts—from Town Council chambers to corporate boardrooms.

Through her teaching, writing, and TEDx talks, she focuses on building practical mindfulness skills that disrupt default patterns and restore clarity, integrity, and care. Her guided meditations have reached over 80,000 listeners worldwide.

The transcription of this guided meditation will be online and in our app at Mindful.org next week.

Stay curious, stay inspired. Sign up for our free newsletter mindful.org/signup or download the app for free at mindful.org/app.

Show Notes

Find more from Shalini Bahl here.

Go Deeper

For more resources on regulating your nervous system in times of crisis, check out these resources from Mindful.org:

• Why Your Outbreath is Connected to Your Well-Being

• How Tuning Into Your Body Can Make You More Resilient

• Addiction, Trauma, and the Problem of Being Present

• The Science and Practice of Staying Present Through Difficult Times

To try another meditation focused on pausing for clarity, try these 3 Guided Meditations to Find Balance During Moments of Panic.

And more from Mindful here:

More episodes of 12 Minute Meditation

Let us know what you thought of this episode of 12 Minute Meditation by leaving a review or by emailing yourwords@mindful.org.