mindful+

mindful meanderings on daily life

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mindful+stickers Write a kind thought. Stick it in the subway.Photograph it and share. Ask me for one! @mindfulplus #mindfulplus #mindfulpluschangemaking (at Union Square, Manhattan)

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Mindful+belly laugh Write a kind thought. Stick it in the subway. Photograph it and share it. @mindfulplus

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mindful+ Write a kind thought. Stick it in the subway. Photograph it and share it @mindfulplus #mindfulplus (at L Train)

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mindful+ Write a kind thought. Stick it in the subway. Photograph it and share it. @mindfulplus #sharpe (at Union Square, Manhattan)

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mindful+ Write a kind thought. Stick it in the subway. Photograph it and share it. @mindfulplus (at City College)

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mindful+letting go of objects 

This wooden stove is a toy a dear friend of mine gave my daughter when she was about two years old. I can remember many parties, playdates and occasions where she and her friends baked cookies and played collaboratively with this stove. My daughter is seven now and has outgrown this toy.I dropped it off at the salvation army yesterday. 

This is a series I have wanted to start for a long time now as a way to chronicle and keep some part of the objects that I am trying to let go of, if only through a photograph. Every object I keep has memories associated with it and it saddens me to think that I may not have access to a particular memory if I give up the object. This visual record is both a process and an experiment that I hope will help me detach from objects but keep the memories. 

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Mindful+ mom

Rachael has the most heart warming tattoo on her forearm a dedication to her daughter she found in a book of poems. It reads “Guinevere even if a day should go by when I don’t say “I love you” may never a moment go by without you knowing I do. D.H. “

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Thanks to my husband for a delicious #mindfulmartini on a Saturday night

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mindful+sitting with your feelings

I wanted to make it better for her. To offer her something else, something equally great, something that would make her sadness go away. I tried. And then I just fell silent. Later with friends we discussed how important it is to let children (and all people) have their feelings and to not try to change them. Feeling sad about missing an important event is a real feeling and it’s also a fact of life. Why cover up the sadness with another event, a substitute, a distraction? What about simply accepting the sadness at having missed a great opportunity? Perhaps if we can sit with the discomfort and emotion surrounding the disappointment we can move through it, fully feel it and move on to other opportunities to come.  

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/02/arts/design/yayoi-kusamas-mirrored-room-at-david-zwirner-gallery.html?hpw&rref=arts&_r=1&

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Mindful+organs

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mindful+relating

I could have taken her anger and internalized it and then perhaps passed it along throughout the day. Instead I decided to respond with curiosity and kindness and based on the results, the fact that my heart stopped pounding and I felt much less agitated, it was clearly the way to go.

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#1 mindfully eating a chocolate covered caramel with espresso for dessert

I’ve decided once again to try to cut down my daily intake of sugar. Since I am no good at cold turkey and I resist the word “diet” I have decided to take the mindful chocolate eating approach :) That means that I will still have a chocolate or two once in a while but I will do my best to keep it at that. When I am not practicing mindfulness I can easily eat four or five of these without even noticing and that’s just the beginning. You can try this with wine and cocktails as well.

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mindful+

This is a blog about the joys and challenges that come with trying to stay mindful in everyday life. It's called mindful+ because you can add anything to mindful, for example mindful+kids mindful+eating mindful+work mindful+grocery shopping mindful+commuting. Just try it. 

I am starting this project as a way to stay as present as possible in my daily life while keeping a sense of humor about the challenges that continuously arise.    

I invite you to share your stories with me and I will post them here so that others can read and join this conversation about mindful daily living and we can learn from each other. 

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to be mindful is to be awake to your own life