Nadi shodhana, also known as alternate nostril breathing, is a breathing practice that involves alternating the breath between left and right nostrils. It’s believed to balance the flow of energy, or prana, in the body, and it’s also known to bring ease to the nervous system.It might help to blow your nose before this practice, and if you’re feeling particularly stuffy you might consider practicing with visualization and not by plugging each nostril. We begin with about five minutes of settling and connecting with the breath before beginning the practice.For more products, writings, and resources centered around mindfulness, visit www.samanthacase.com

I’ve found in my practice that even taking five minutes in the middle of the day or between activities can bring a greater sense of ease and grounding to my whole day. This short but impactful practice is supportive during those busier days when it feels more difficult to set aside a longer chunk of time for meditation. Enjoy this meditation from a posture of lying down, seated, or standing. Wishing you more space and ease in your life today and every day!For more products, writings, and resources centered around mindfulness, visit www.samanthacase.com

Begin the day by welcoming in gentle movement and dropping into awareness. We begin by standing, and then make our way to the floor. Prepare for some light movement, wearing loose and comfortable clothing. You might also want to have a cushion or pillow nearby for our seated movements.For more products, writings, and resources centered around mindfulness, visit www.samanthacase.com

This meditation can be helpful mid-day or moments when you feel your mind falling into the trance of thoughts. The mind has a tendency to push-and-pull us around all day, getting caught in loops of thought or stuck in overthinking. By allowing thoughts to pass like clouds in a sky and switching on our awareness of the body, we become less caught in the mind’s powerful current.“In those moments when you’re lost in thought, what if you could pause and say, 'OK, it is just a thought' That is revolutionary.  That can change your life! Now, the key is that we approach this with a gentleness and kindness. Each time we recognize thinking and come back into the present moment with gentleness and kindness, we are planting a seed of mindfulness.  We are creating a new habit—a new way of being in the world.  We quiet down the incessant buzz of thoughts in our mind. We take refuge in what is true—the aliveness and tenderness and mystery of the present moment—rather than in the story line of our thoughts.” — Tara BrachFor more products, writings, and resources centered around mindfulness, visit www.samanthacase.com

We return to the basics of meditation in this simple practice. Though meditation is a lifelong and layered process, it’s simple by nature. First, we rest our awareness with an anchor: the in and out flow of the breath, sensations in the body, or sounds as they come and go freely. Then, when we notice our awareness has drifted off (most often to thoughts and all the knocking about in the mind), we gently bring our awareness back to our anchor.“Truly- there is no ‘right’ meditation and striving to get it right reinforces the sense of an imperfect, striving self. Rather, give permission for the meditation experience to be whatever it is. Trust that if you are sincere in your intention toward being awake and openhearted, that in time your practice will carry you home to a sense of wholeness and freedom.” — Tara BrachFor more products, writings, and resources centered around mindfulness, visit www.samanthacase.com

In this meditation, we focus on cultivating the quality of gratitude. We ease our way into the practice by first moving through a simple body scan and then resting awareness with the breath before opening to gratitude. We use the image of a candle flame to symbolize our expression of gratitude as well as the warmth it generates. As always, when you notice the mind drifting to thoughts during the process, gently notice your awareness has left and then practice bringing it back to your anchor.For more products, writings, and resources centered around mindfulness, visit www.samanthacase.com

Hard emotions are a natural part of experiencing life as a human. For many of us, our tendency is to distract ourselves, numb out, or suppress the discomfort that arises in the body with difficult emotional states. Instead, so often what the emotional pain in our bodies needs is acknowledgment by being held in spacious awareness. In this meditation, we move through a brief body scan before resting the awareness on a particularly challenging area, and holding that space with loving awareness.For more products, writings, and resources centered around mindfulness, visit www.samanthacase.com

In this short talk I discuss the misconception that meditation = peace, and I normalize the vast range of experiences that might come up for us in meditation. I also share some about my own experience of feeling and sitting with discomfort in meditation. Enjoy!For more products, writings, and resources centered around mindfulness, visit www.samanthacase.com

In this simple mindfulness meditation we start by bringing awareness to the body, then rest in the presence of our breath. This meditation begins with quite a bit of guidance, then progressively allows more space for silence and self-guidance. In this space, the practice is to continually notice when the attention wanders, and then return to the breath or another anchor, like body sensations or sounds.For more products, writings, and resources centered around mindfulness, visit www.samanthacase.com

In phases of uncertainty and instability, grounding through the body is particularly important to help us stay centered and connected to our physical experience of the world. Body scans can also be supportive for people who tend to ruminate, overthink, or experience anxiety. Moving awareness through the body helps move our focus from the mind and into our somatic (bodily) experience. As I guide you through different areas of the body, try to feel that area “from the inside out”—noticing sensations like tingling, vibrating, pulsating, warmth and coolness, or numbness. It’s not unusual for there to be a lack of feeling in some areas of the body—just notice that.Poem at the end is "I Have Decided" by Mary Oliver.For more products, writings, and resources centered around mindfulness, visit www.samanthacase.com