12 Minute Meditation

It might seem counterintuitive, but intentionally tuning into what's distracting you can actually help strengthen your ability to focus. In today's guided practice, meditation teacher Toby Sola introduces what he calls a "concentration algorithm." This practice will help you identify which type of sensory experience you are naturally drawn to, and then give you a structure for how to focus on it, so that you can quickly attain deep concentration. Toby Sola is dedicated to helping you create a feedback loop between your meditation practice and your ability to make the world a better place. Toby has been teaching meditation for two decades and has refined his craft through years of monastic training and close collaboration with the world-renowned teacher Shinzen Young. He is an award-winning designer and founder of the Brightmind Meditation app. Note that this practice includes long pauses of complete silence to give you time to spend in contemplation. If you want more time, feel free to pause the recording as you go. The transcription of this guided meditation will be online at Mindful.org next week. Stay curious, stay inspired. Join our community by signing up for our free newsletter: mindful.org/signup Show Notes Find more from Toby Sola and his company Brightmind here. Go Deeper Want to learn more about training your attention? Here are two articles we think you'll love: Paying Attention to the Space In Between Reclaiming Our Attention From "Convenience" For more practice, try this 3-Part Focused Attention Meditation Series you can use to strengthen your focus when you feel distracted. 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.

When we are stressed or overwhelmed, or when our mind feels like it's spinning out of control—it's easy to forget that simply dropping into the body can be a powerful way to interrupt thEse thought loops. In this week's refresh, meditation teacher Tara Healey guides us through a practice to calm the mind, notice sensations in the body, and bring awareness to the present moment. If you'd like the transcription of this guided meditation, it will be online on Mindful.org next week. Stay curious, stay inspired. Join our community by signing up for our free newsletter, where we share compelling insights and actionable ideas to enrich your everyday life. Connect with us at mindful.org/signup. Show Notes Learn more about Tara Healy here. 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. Today, meditation teacher and bestselling author Jon Kabat-Zinn guides us through a silent walking meditation—a great addition to your mindfulness toolkit and a way to enter more deeply into the vitality & sensory richness of what is happening in & around you right now. [link]

We mostly think of walking as an activity that is supposed to accomplish something: getting from point A to point B, exercising, reaching our daily step goals. And of course, those are all great reasons to go for a walk. In today's practice, meditation teacher and bestselling author Jon Kabat-Zinn offers up another way that you can experience a walk—simply as a way to enter more deeply into the vitality and sensory richness of what is happening in and around you right now. A walking meditation isn't about getting anywhere or accomplishing anything. It's just about being with each step, fully here, where you actually are. There is no arriving, other than continually arriving in the present moment. If you'd like the transcription of this guided meditation, it will be online on Mindful.org next week. Stay curious, stay inspired. Join our community by signing up for our free newsletter, where we share compelling insights and actionable ideas to enrich your everyday life. Connect with us at mindful.org/signup. Show Notes Learn more about the work and research of Jon Kabat-Zinn here. 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.

Tonglen, sometimes called loving-kindness meditation, is a Tibetan practice of giving and receiving. In Tonglen, we open ourselves to our entire experience, including what is painful and difficult. We acknowledge our suffering, including the suffering we share with others. Then, we release intentions for peace, healing, and love out into the world. In today's meditation, teacher Kimberly Brown guides us through a gentle practice based on Tonglen. This meditation is a space for us to simply experience our struggle, to breathe in any tension or tightness, and to breathe out love, both as a sense of openness and ease, and also as a way of being at peace with ourselves and others. Note that this practice includes longer pauses of complete silence for reflection and presence. If you want more time, feel free to pause the recording as you go. If you'd like the transcription of this guided meditation, it will be online on Mindful.org next week. Stay curious, stay inspired. Join our community by signing up for our free newsletter, where we share compelling insights and actionable ideas to enrich your everyday life. Connect with us at mindful.org/signup. Show Notes Find more from Kimberly Brown here and read her recent (and timely) article on Mindful.org. 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.

When we are experiencing difficult emotions or situations, our first impulse is often to look for a way out—usually through distracting, numbing, running, or denying. But what if the key to getting to the other side of difficulty is to simply be with it, offering the discomfort our courageous awareness and presence? In this week's practice, author and meditation teacher Ed Halliwell guides us through a meditation we can lean on when things get tough. Note that this practice includes longer pauses of complete silence for reflection and presence. If you want more time, feel free to pause the recording as you go. If you'd like the transcription of this guided meditation, it will be online on Mindful.org next week. Stay curious, stay inspired. Join our community by signing up for our free newsletter, where we share compelling insights and actionable ideas to enrich your everyday life. Connect with us at mindful.org/signup. Show Notes Find more from Ed Halliwell here. 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.

You might not think of mindfulness as being a resource to help with decision-making, but moments of intentional silence can sharpen our mental clarity and help us discern which choices feel most aligned. In this guided practice, meditation teacher Toby Sola offers a simple technique you can use, whether you're facing a life-changing choice or are just feeling overwhelmed by all the small decisions that often crowd our busy lives. Note that this practice includes pauses of complete silence that might be longer than our listeners are accustomed to. This is to give you time to spend in contemplation. If you want more time, feel free to pause the recording as you go. If you'd like the transcription of this guided meditation, it will be online on Mindful.org next week. Stay curious, stay inspired. Join our community by signing up for our free newsletter, where we share compelling insights and actionable ideas to enrich your everyday life. Connect with us at mindful.org/signup. Show Notes Find more from Toby Sola and his company Brightmind here. 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.

If you've ever been awake at three a.m., tossing and turning and wishing you could snap your fingers and get back to sleep, then you know: the more you try to fall asleep, the less likely you are to drift off. In this week's guided practice, we're revisiting a meditation with Mark Bertin that can release the striving, let go of tension, and make it easier for body and mind to settle into rest. A quick note: Since this is a sleep meditation, you won't be hearing a closing bell or statement like usual, but instead just a drifting off into silence. If you'd like the transcription of this guided meditation, it will be online on Mindful.org next week. Stay curious, stay inspired. Join our community by signing up for our free newsletter, where we share compelling insights and actionable ideas to enrich your everyday life. Connect with us at mindful.org/signup. Show Notes Find more from Dr. Mark Bertin here. 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.

Have you ever wondered why there are so many varieties of meditation practices, and why some of them seem to contradict each other in approach, style, or even objective? In today's guided practice, meditation teacher Toby Sola walks us through three common types of meditation. Plus, he explains why the word "meditation" is very much like the word "sport"—and how all these different practices actually share the same overarching purpose. If you're new to meditation or curious about trying new approaches, you'll love this week's practice. Note that there are intentional pauses included in today's recording. If you'd like more time to practice the techniques outlined here, please feel free to pause the recording as you go along. If you'd like the transcription of this guided meditation, it will be online on Mindful.org next week. There's still time to get in on some of our best Mother's Day deals! Claim up to 50% off—ends May 12th. Stay curious, stay inspired. Join our community by signing up for our free newsletter, where we share compelling insights and actionable ideas to enrich your everyday life. Connect with us at mindful.org/signup. Show Notes Find more from Toby Sola and his company Brightmind here. 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.

Many modern Western cultures don't have a deep understanding of land as a source of collective identity, story, or purpose. There is a sense that, yes, land can be lovely—but it is mainly seen as a source of recreation or extraction, not necessarily as an integral part of what shapes us and future generations. In this guided practice, Indigenous scholar and teacher Yuria Celidwen introduces a fresh way to consider our connection to the natural spaces around us. This is a practice that invites reverence, gratitude, and belonging, where our experience of the earth moves from being strictly transactional to being interconnected and relational. This meditation is part of our Powerful Women of the Mindfulness Movement series, where we're sharing guided practices from the women featured in our 2025 special edition of Mindful magazine. If you'd like the transcription of this guided meditation, it will be online on Mindful.org next week. Curious about the many benefits of being a member? Learn about our subscription tiers and join Mindful here. Stay curious, stay inspired. Join our community by signing up for our free newsletter, where we share compelling insights and actionable ideas to enrich your everyday life. Connect with us at mindful.org/signup. Show Notes Find more from Yuria Celidwen here. You can learn more about Yuria's story and how her work is fostering an "ethics of belonging" on Mindful.org, where we interviewed her for our 2025 Powerful Women of the Mindfulness Movement feature. 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.

Recent studies have confirmed that the constant presence and use of tech in our lives have become a hazard to our well-being on multiple levels. Meditation teacher, mindful tech designer, and self-identified tech lover Jay Vidyarthi observes, "It's okay to enjoy technology. Tech becomes a problem when we get so attached to it that our lives fall out of balance—and this happens because a certain device or app or game or even your work email might satisfy a specific, lacking, healthy emotional need." So how do we mindfully hold that tension and seek balance in our relationship to technology? In today's meditation, Jay leads us through a contemplative practice that can help us dig down and understand our motivations for using tech, while also identifying ways to be more intentional about the why, how, and when of our digital consumption. If you'd like the transcription of this guided meditation, it will be online on Mindful.org next week. Curious about the many benefits of being a member? Learn about our subscription tiers and join Mindful here. Stay curious, stay inspired. Join our community by signing up for our free newsletter, where we share compelling insights and actionable ideas to enrich your everyday life. Connect with us at mindful.org/signup. Show Notes Find more from Jay Vidyarthi here. If you live in North America and are interested in creating a healthier relationship to all the screens in your life, you can enter to win a free copy of Jay's new book, Reclaim Your Mind: Seven Strategies to Enjoy Tech Mindfully, which offers a compassionate, research-informed path to a more intentional digital life. The contest runs through May 17th, and it's easy and free to enter. Just click here. 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.