💙 Try one of our most-recommended mindfulness exercises

Plus, four of our favorite meditation episodes

View this email online Sol Cotti for NPR Friends, You know something is good when people keep recommending it to you. One day, you’ve never heard of The Bear, the next, your social feeds are full of think pieces on masculinity and TikToks about the female gaze. Before you know it, you’ve binged the whole season.  For us at Life Kit, this is sort of what it’s been like with the “five senses meditation.” This exercise was first recommended to us by an expert in our episode about how to have a good weekend, then by Grover (yes, *that* Grover) when he was giving us tips to help kids through the early days of the pandemic. And finally, just this week, it came up AGAIN in an interview with therapist Yolanda Renteria as a way to ground yourself when you’re feeling reactive.  I can vouch for this exercise. I use it when I’m feeling anxious or, on the opposite end of the spectrum, when I’m having an experience I’d really like to savor. Whatever the impetus, you won’t regret giving yourself a minute or two to be present in your environment and notice the world around you. And I personally promise this meditation will make you feel better than if you'd used the time to doomscroll. You can try it *right now.* Here’s how it works (Directions vary on which order to go in, but here’s what I usually do):    5️⃣ 👀 Notice five things you can see.  4️⃣ 👂🏿 Four things that you can hear.  3️⃣ 🤲🏼  Three things that you can feel.  2️⃣ 👃🏾 Two things you can smell.  1️⃣ 😋 One thing you can taste.  Big inhale. Big exhale. Now that you've checked in with the present moment, know that this is a tool you can take with you wherever you go. If you like how it felt ...  Here are four of our favorite episodes on mindfulness:  🌬 A guided practice for breath-based meditation from Jon Kabat-Zinn, the founder of mindfulness-based stress reduction: Read or Listen 🌧 Psychologist and mindfulness teacher Tara Brach explains a simple mindfulness tool using the acronym RAIN: Read or Listen 😡 A six-step practice to help you harness your anger from Rod Owens, a lama in the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism: Read or Listen ☮️ A conversation with author and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg on how meditation can be used for social change: Read or Listen  Remember, taking time to pause doesn’t just help you, it allows you to be your best self for others:  "One of the strangest things I discovered about meditation practice is that while it looks like maybe the most solitary activity imaginable ... what it actually produces is a profound sense of connection, not only to yourself but to others," — Sharon Salzberg Thanks for taking a moment to connect. I hope you’ll make space for many more. — Beck Harlan, Life Kit visual editor    Newsletter continues after sponsor message We love hearing from you. And we *love* hearing your random life tips. 📹 In fact, we love it so much we started testing out your tips in a video series on Instagram. Here's one about how to quickly fix a wobbly table. 📹 So send us a note at lifekit@npr.org or leave us a voicemail with a greeting, your name, phone number and your tip at 202.216.9823.   You could hear yourself in an upcoming episode or see your tip tested on NPR's Instagram account. Thanks for sticking with us! Listen to your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to hear live radio from Vermont Public (edit station). What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: LifeKit@npr.org Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can sign up here. Looking for more great content? Check out all of our newsletter offerings — including Daily News, Code Switch, Health and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to Life Kit emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 Unsubscribe  |  Privacy Policy