12 Minute Meditation

Mindfulness meditation involves a willingness to be with ourselves as we are. It offers a way of learning to work with ourselves, and not on ourselves, especially if we are healing from perfectionism.
Mindfulness reminds us that not everything has to be "fixed"—and very often, our movement back to wellness starts when we stop trying to change ourselves and simply accept where we are with care and attention. 
Cheryl Jones is a mindfulness teacher, health and wellness coach, and author of two books, Thriving When Your Cosmic Egg Is Cracked: A Mindful Journey and Mindful Exercise: A Bridge Between Yoga and Exercise. She was the recipient of the Chairman's Leadership Award and the Norman Vincent Peale Award for Positive Thinking for integrating mindfulness into corporate culture at Aetna. You can find her at www.linkedin.com/in/cherylljones/.
The transcription of this guided meditation will be online and in our app at Mindful.org next week. 
Stay curious, stay inspired. Sign up for our free newsletter mindful.org/signup or download the app for free at mindful.org/app. 
Show Notes
Find more from Cheryl Jones here.
If you are looking for an in-depth resource to help build essential skills to meet a changing and uncertain world with a core of inner strength, join Melli O'Brien and a host of other teachers for The Seven Strengths, a FREE 7-day online course happening this May 13-19. Learn more and register at www.mindfulness.com/the-seven-strengths. 
Go Deeper
Healing from perfectionism isn't easy. It takes time and practice. Here are some additional Mindful.org resources to help you build a stronger sense of self-acceptance: 
Awareness in Action: Rethinking ADHD Through Mindfulness 

What Swimming Taught Me About Self-Compassion and Letting Go 

It's Selfish, It's Hokey, and I'll Lose My Edge: 3 Half-Truths About Self-Compassion

How Self-Compassion Can Improve Teen Mental Health 

This Is What Fierce Self-Compassion Looks Like 

Want to try more practices that foster self-compassion? Start here: A 12-Minute Meditation to Embrace All Your Parts 
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Change of any kind—whether it's small, momentous, expected or unexpected—can make us feel so vulnerable and unsteady. 
This week, Susan Bauer-Wu offers a guided meditation to invite and nourish inner strength in the face of change. 
Susan Bauer-Wu, PhD, is a registered nurse and nursing educator, as well as a mindfulness teacher and researcher. She is president of the Mind & Life Institute and author of Leaves Falling Gently: Living Fully with Serious & Life-Limiting Illness through Mindfulness, Compassion & Connectedness. 
The transcription of this guided meditation will be online and in our app at Mindful.org next week. 
Stay curious, stay inspired. Sign up for our free newsletter mindful.org/signup or download the app for free at mindful.org/app. 
Show Notes
Find more from Susan Bauer-Wu here.
FREE course! If you are looking for an in-depth resource to help build essential skills to meet a changing and uncertain world with a core of inner strength, join Melli O'Brien and a host of other teachers for The Seven Strengths, a FREE 7-day online course happening this May 13-19. Learn more and register at www.mindfulness.com/the-seven-strengths. 
Go Deeper
Want to learn more about how you can train to stay steady, even when everything around you feels uncertain and evolving? Check out these resources from Mindful.org: 
New Life, Who's This? Rediscovering Who You Are When Everything Has Changed 

Embracing Change: What Nanalan' Teaches Us About Saying Goodbye 

The Only Constant Is Change 

Navigating Change is Hard. Here's How it Makes Us Better Leaders  

Rethinking Equanimity: Margaret Cullen on Equanimity and Quiet Strength 

To get more practice dealing with the reality of change, try A Meditation to Help You Let Go and Accept Change. 
And more from Mindful here:
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Let us know what you thought of this episode of 12 Minute Meditation by leaving a review or by emailing [email protected].

Our culture prizes certainty and tends to regard not-knowing as weakness or failure. 
But research has shown that uncertainty is a quality that we're meant to engage, not reject. Not only does it spark curiosity and help us learn, but it also strengthens confidence and resilience. 
This week, Dr. Sará King offers a practice to help us build comfort with our "don't-know mind" so that we can stay courageous and open to the world around us.
Dr. Sará King is a mother, a neuroscientist, political and learning scientist, medical anthropologist, social entrepreneur, public speaker, and certified yoga and meditation instructor. Dr. King specializes in researching and teaching about the relationship between mindfulness, community alternative medicine, and social justice with an emphasis on examining the relationship between individual and collective awareness as it relates to well-being.
The transcription of this guided meditation will be online and in our app at Mindful.org next week. 
Stay curious, stay inspired. Sign up for our free newsletter mindful.org/signup or download the app for free at mindful.org/app. 
Show Notes
Find more from Sará King here.
If you are looking for an in-depth resource to help build these essential skills of resilience, join Melli O'Brien and a host of other teachers for The Seven Strengths, a FREE 7-day online course happening this May 13-19. Learn more and register at www.mindfulness.com/the-seven-strengths. 
Go Deeper
Looking for ways to engage your beginner's mind? Check out these resources from Mindful.org: 
Why Uncertainty Is Good for Us 

How Embracing Uncertainty Leads To Fulfillment 

Feeling Like a Fraud in Your Own Mindfulness Practice 

Don't Be So Sure  

To get more practice meeting uncertainty, try A Guided Walking Meditation to Meet Uncertainty with Compassion 
And more from Mindful here:
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Let us know what you thought of this episode of 12 Minute Meditation by leaving a review or by emailing [email protected] do women love reading The Pipeline? It's data with perspective. Get free, thoughtful takes on navigating our messy world. Subscribe today.

When we are going through a difficult season personally, or we are bearing witness to the pain of others, our relationship to genuine joy or happiness can get complicated and confusing. Happiness can feel out of reach, or it can feel like a betrayal, like it's something we don't "deserve" in hard times. 
But strengthening our ability to notice and soak in moments of beauty, tenderness, connection, and gratitude can actually have a fortifying effect on us. It can help us build resilience and fill our empty emotional tanks—which can foster our own healing and make it possible for us to show up in healing ways for others. 
This week, teacher Wendy O'Leary shares a guided practice to tune our attention to the reality that shimmers right alongside our genuine seasons of struggle. 
Wendy O'Leary, M.Ed., author and health educator, has three children's books and an adult book on self-compassion in families. She is a certified mindfulness teacher, parent educator, and self-compassion advocate with expertise in teaching emotional resilience to children and adults. Her next publication is a card deck for children titled "Let's Grow Happiness," created in collaboration with her colleague Helen Maffini. It is scheduled for release on April 21, 2026 and can be preordered at www.wendyoleary.com.
 
The transcription of this guided meditation will be online and in our app at Mindful.org next week. 
Stay curious, stay inspired. Sign up for our free newsletter mindful.org/signup or download the app for free at mindful.org/app. 
Show Notes
Find more from Wendy O'Leary here.
If you are looking for an in-depth resource to help build these essential skills of resilience, join Melli O'Brien and a host of other teachers for The Seven Strengths, a FREE 7-day online course happening this May 13-19. Learn more and register at www.mindfulness.com/the-seven-strengths. 
Go Deeper
To explore more about how happiness is not just something we get when things are going well, but an essential human experience, check out these resources from Mindful.org: 
What We Know (Or Think We Know) About Happiness 

Three Emerging Pathways to Happiness 

Find Happiness by Embracing All of Your Emotions 

Searching for Happiness and Finding Yard Work 

Why Happiness Isn't Always Comfortable

To get more practice noticing and connecting with happiness, try 3 Guided Meditations to Open Up to Happiness.
And more from Mindful here:
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There are so many reasons why we might be struggling to get to sleep and stay asleep. Work or relationship stress, health concerns, hormonal changes, the state of the world—there's plenty to keep us awake at night. 
This week, Mark Bertin offers a soothing sleep practice to help settle our restlessness, using the breath as a calming anchor to gently coax our busy minds and tense bodies into rest. 
Because this is a sleep meditation, there won't be the usual recorded outro, so you can just drift off in silence. 
Mark Bertin, MD, is a pediatrician, author, professor, and mindfulness teacher specializing in neurodevelopmental behavioral pediatrics. He's a regular contributor to Mindful.org and Psychology Today. He is the author of How Children Thrive: The Practical Science of Raising Independent, Resilient, and Happy Kids (Sounds True, 2018). Dr. Bertin resides in Pleasantville, New York. For more, visit developmentaldoctor.com.
The transcription of this guided meditation will be online and in our app at Mindful.org next week. 
Stay curious, stay inspired. Sign up for our free newsletter mindful.org/signup or download the app for free at mindful.org/app. 
Show Notes
Find more from Dr. Mark Bertin here.
Go Deeper
For help understanding how mindfulness can make sleep better and more restorative, check out these resources from Mindful.org: 
The Ultimate Guide to Mindfulness for Sleep 

Why We Wake Up At Night and How Mindfulness Helps Us Sleep Again 

The Science of Deep Sleep 

8 Tips for Better Sleep at Night 

Mindful has a wonderful collection of sleep meditations. If you want to try another version of a body scan, A 12-Minute Body Scan Meditation for Letting Go of Stress and Falling Asleep is a great place to start.  
And more from Mindful here:
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Let us know what you thought of this episode of 12 Minute Meditation by leaving a review or by emailing [email protected].