Depending on your comfort and interest level, I generally like to incorporate some somatic (meaning body-based) and mindfulness practice into therapy. The research about meditation is robust and clear. Meditating is an incredibly beneficial practice affording us significant health benefits, peace of mind and less reactivity, and generally allowing us to be more present and intentional in our daily lives. I have found that there are a lot of ways to practice that can be much more accessible and tailored than it is often portrayed in popular culture.

We practice shaping the ‘muscle’ of our attention because it down-regulates our nervous system and changes the architecture of our brains, literally making them more integrated.

Compassion has two wings to the definition. The first is a sensitivity and attending to suffering, and the second is a call to action to alleviate that pain. There are skills that can be fostered here that align with our most cherished values around connection, contentment, and peace. We can practice compassionate action by regularly meditating. This helps our nervous systems down-regulate more of the time so we can show up in more values-driven ways.

Compassionate mindfulness can be defined as learning to choose and sustain our focus of attention with warmth. Jon Kabat Zinn describes mindfulness as paying attention in a particular way to the present moment with a non-judgmental stance. I like to recognize really present moments as ‘knowing the time you’re having while you’re having it.’ There can be a softness and acceptance to how we exist in relationship to ourselves and to others that we can cultivate in the present moment.

When we practice mindfulness, we direct our attention to the current moment and try to become more intimately connected with our own experience. A kindly stance is essential here. It becomes possible to allow what is currently happening around and inside of us to simply be as it is. We can drop trying to change or overidentifying with this moment. This practice also shifts us from a ‘doing’ frame of mind to a ‘being’ frame of mind.

This ‘being’ state of mind is ideally characterized by a compassionate and kindly acceptance of the present moment as it is, without judgment.