mindfulness and meditation

The world is a turbulent place and lately it has felt even more so- Orlando, Baghdad, Alton Sterling, Dallas. It's not only the violence, but the needless suffering- America's terrible prison system, Venezuela's extreme recession and obviously, climate change- just to name a few that are popping up in my field of vision. I didn't even realize how much this all was effecting me - I just felt very tired- until I went to a mindfulness meditation yesterday afternoon that addressed some of these issues and the feelings around them. The changes after the meditation were very subtle. I felt like I could breathe a little easier. I noticed, hours later, that it felt like a storm cloud had lifted and I could appreciate the day again. In other words, it was incredibly helpful in a very subtle way. I highly recommend it! Here are a few resources if you're interested: 

Calm.com- an easy to use app/website that has guided meditations- I've used this a lot and love it

The Rubin Museum- they have weekly meditations and talks which are GREAT. if you're not able to make the actual meditation they post a podcast of the talk here. I personally love what Tracy Cochran has to say. 

Nature- the park, your yard. Of course it'd be nice to go away to the mountains or the beach and let your mind wander through the myriad of visuals to offer, but I find that even sitting and looking at one beautiful tree or up at the sky can bring me piece of mind and remind me that I'm a part of the amazing thing called existence.