I LOVE giving gifts.

Part of my gift-giving gratification comes from seeing the joy on the receiver’s face; however, it’s not necessary for me to get the “gift-giving high” that makes my heart sing.

…and this entire blog is all about giving you some gifts.

There are multiple gifts here… so stick around.

First… a story about why these gifts are so great, and why I’ve chosen to give them to you.

There were years and years I rolled my eyes when I heard people talking about mindfulness and reaching a state of calm.

The reason for my eye rolls was simple.

Utter ignorance. 

I was in a state of constant stress.

In the field of journalism (especially “instant gratification” TV journalism) a “positive” skill is having your mind constantly buzzing around like a busy bee… you’re always looking for a lede, a story, or the next killer headline.

My mornings started with that “pinball brain” as I call it. (Visualize the ball of a pinball machine…)

After years of carrying on that killer habit (and I do mean killer… because stress kills) I received a wake-up call with the diagnosis of anxiety disorder.

What?

Anxiety disorder?

Me?

No.

Really?

Wait… what?

Yes.

Me.

Disorder.

My “incredible talent” for always being on the job, brain on overdrive, etc… it was a disorder.

It was making my body older than it was biologically, and it was hurting more than just my health.

It was hurting my relationships.

It was hurting my sense of reason.

I’ve been extremely transparent about my personal story – and this is part of it.

It’s the part that I used to consider a rock bottom… but now I realize there were no rocks.

There was a trampoline… all I needed to do was realize that I could jump higher from this point than I ever could before.

There was just one ingredient I was missing.

Mindfulness.

One day a very powerful and generous woman asked me if I practiced meditation.

My response was, “Well, we meditate at the end of yoga class…”

She smiled sweetly and said, “You need to go deeper.”

What was this “deeper” of which she spoke?

What in the world did she mean?

I asked her what she meant, and she said that if she explained her journey of going deeper it may influence mine.

She told me that I needed to find my own.

What?

My own what?

I left her office feeling confused, inspired, hopeless, and hopeful at the same time.

My journey to a mindful life started then.

It started with a powerful go-getter who gave me an abstract thought that blew my mind… and then left me with all of the exploded pieces to figure out for myself.

I began reading everything I could find about mindfulness.

I started with this phenomenal book and kept going.

Then I invested in coaching and leaders to help me find what “deeper” meant for me.

Which brings me back to the topic of gift-giving.

Here are your gifts!

One of the greatest tools of mindfulness is something you have with you right now.

Your breath.

It’s the bedrock of finding a mindfulness practice.

That’s why I’ve created two breathing bubbles for you – a 5-Minute guided breathing bubble session and a 10-Minute guided breathing bubble session.

Click the links to go to whichever you’d like… whenever you’d like.

These can be used anytime you like as long as you are sitting still and in a safe place.

Just follow the bubble and the instructions on the screen.

These breathing bubbles will not only bring you to a calm place, but they can help form the mindfulness practice that can lead you to whatever “deeper” means for you.

These are also extremely useful in times of great stress.

Mindfulness uses breath because breath always brings us back to our present moment.

Be present.

Sit with your breath.

Enjoy your gifts!