A Mood Boost to Start the Week: A Mircodose Meditation for Mindfulness and Resilience

Here's a microdose meditation to help you boost your mood as you start the week.

Will you help me co-create the future of Whole Again by taking a minute to fill out our community survey? Start here.

Discover how to scroll less and live more by taking my Free Smartphone Wellness Audit by clicking phone.

Did you know that stickers are wonderful visual cues to help you create healthy habits? You can get one of my free Pause Breathe Reflect sticker by clicking sticker.

To discover more and sign up for My RIPPLE EFFECT newsletter by clicking Ripple Effect.

We can also connect on LinkedIn. or at [email protected]

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

If you feel you need more mental health support, please contact NAMI.

With Whole Again: A Fresh Approach to Healing, Growth & Resilience after Physical Trauma through Kintsugi Mindfulness listeners explore resilience through personal stories of trauma, scars, and injury while learning to overcome PTSD, imposter syndrome, self-doubt, and perfectionism with self-compassion, self-love, and self-worth. Through insightful discussions on stress management, mindfulness practices, and digital wellness, the show offers practical tools like breathwork, micro-dose meditation, grounding techniques, visualization, and daily affirmations for anxiety relief and stress relief. Inspired by the art of kintsugi, the podcast embraces healing as a process of transformation, encouraging a shift in perspective from worry and being overwhelmed to gratitude and personal growth. By exploring the mind-body connection, micro-dosing strategies for emotional well-being, and holistic approaches to self-care, this podcast empowers listeners to cultivate emotional resilience and live with greater balance and intention.

Hey there, it's Michael. On Mondays, I love sharing a shorter practice with you to help you navigate today's uncertainty with more mindfulness, resilience, and grace. And today, we'll sigh it out. This practice can be found on my Pause, Breathe, Reflect app, which is totally free to download in Apple's App Store and on Google Play.

I hope you like it, and I hope it's meaningful to you

Researchers at Stanford University did a study comparing breathwork patterns, and they found that cyclic sighing was the one that elevated mood the best. So in this practice, we'll play with this breathing pattern and I'll guide you through it

When you're ready, settle into a comfortable position. And as you do, you can close the eyes or you can keep them open. And we'll begin, as we usually do, with three grounding inhales and nice, slow releasing exhales

Giving yourself permission to come into the moment. Come into your posture and tune in to your body, your heart, and your mind

Settling in and slowing down

As you settle into the natural rhythm of the breath, I'll share how we'll play with this breathwork pattern. If you can, breathe up through the nose and out through the mouth. And with our in breath, we'll breathe in once, filling up the lungs. And then we'll breathe in a second time, fully expanding the lungs.

And with your breath out, breathe out slowly at your own pace So when you're ready, breathing up through the nose, take a full breath in

And take a second breath in, fully expanding the lungs

And then slowly sigh your breath out, breathing out through the mouth

taking this at your own pace

Now breathing up through the nose again, filling your lungs with air Taking a second breath in, fully expanding the lungs. And a slow exhale, sighing out your breath Relaxing into this moment

And I'll give you some space to play with this on your own Two inhales and one slow relaxing exhale

When you're ready, you can begin to ease your attention

You can start to flutter the eyes open and wiggle your fingers and toes.

I hope you enjoyed this practice. And if you know someone who might find it valuable as well, I hope you'll share it with them. You can find this practice as well as hundreds more on my Pause, Breathe, Reflect app, which is free to download in Apple's App Store and in Google Play

And until Wednesday's episode, may our practice together benefit all living creatures, and may we celebrate our scars as golden symbols of our strength and resilience

Key Takeaways