“Wherever you go, there you are.”
Jon Kabat Zinn
Well, hello! There you are. I know there is so much competing for your attention nowadays so I’m grateful you are reading this.
I’m Heidi Woods and I’ll be sharing some helpful mindfulness tips and practices with you. I’m a Mindfulness Educator, Occupational Therapist, and Yoga Instructor. I live and work in Bismarck, North Dakota and have been involved with OpenMIND for the past 3 years.
I started Mindful You-Mindful Me in 2017 to teach mindfulness meditation to children, teachers, and other adults. I’ve worked in numerous schools across the state, with the state prison and correctional center, in nursing homes and with athletes. I feel this work is so important, especially for children as research has shown their EQ (emotional quotient) is more of a predictor of success than their IQ. And the truth is, when we feel better we do better.
Learning to gift ourselves with mindfulness
Whether you have a thriving mindfulness practice or feel like you don’t know where to begin, I’ve got you! Most people quit trying to meditate because they think they are doing it wrong or they can’t stop their thoughts. Sound familiar? Congratulations! You’re perfectly normal.
We can’t stop our thoughts but we can learn to relate to them in a new way. Our thoughts dominate our internal landscape because that is the nature of the mind, to think. Just like our ears are designed to hear, if I were to ask you to stop listening it would be impossible unless you plugged your ears or turned off the music. You couldn’t just stop hearing with your will. Our thoughts are the same.
When practiced over time, guided meditations, mindfulness practices, and breath work can be such a gift. It is a practice, so don’t give up! It’s with consistent practice we discover the gift of present-moment awareness. Only then can we begin to become more aware of any suppressed emotions and meet them with self-compassion and non-judgment.
A greater sense of well-being for the next generation
I believe that mindfulness practices provide us with a path to a greater sense of well-being. When we can gift ourselves moments of stillness, we can begin to unleash the greatest healing gift of all, the ability to listen to our inner guidance and wisdom and find that elusive sense of calm I know so many are seeking.
I want to be part of raising the next generation of compassionate leaders, thoughtful decision makers, and conscious communicators who are emotionally intelligent and have concrete resources to navigate this ever-changing and sometimes chaotic world. Children are our future leaders, teachers, and torchbearers. Research shows practicing mindfulness empowers them to become more socially and emotionally aware through education and resources.
My hope is that together we can help our children feel more connected, empowered, and teach them the tools to navigate life a little more skillfully when things get hard.
So what should you do when you feel overwhelmed? Get still, my friends. Breathe deep. And remember peace begins within.
