She hosts the 60 Mindful Minutes podcast, which is an Apple top 100 social science podcast. Kristen Manieri is a certified habits coach and a certified mindfulness teacher through the International Mindfulness Teachers Association. What it means to “preload your fork,” and how and why to stop.Digital distraction as anesthesia for the unpleasant effects of stress.The Observer self within us that witnesses all of our experience.Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now and Michael Singer’s The Untethered Soul.Mindful presence as a return to ourselves and to something within us that is true.The relative safety and predictability in staying in default mindless mode.The ego’s resistance to mindful presence.The body as a “flare” that clues us in to our mental and emotional state.Slowing down when we notice we’re scattered and getting ahead of ourselves.choiceless awareness as types of mindful presence Unconscious habits and defaults as the brain’s way of saving resources.
Why it’s often so hard to remember to be present and open to our experience.Creating conditions or opportunities to have mindful moments.Some of the big benefits of being more present and aware.We also explored the importance of connecting with ourselves and our bodies, and how we can use physical symptoms as signals for things we need to attend to. One intriguing question we considered together: Should it be relaxing to practice mindfulness and meditation? As Kristen described, it’s not necessarily a comfortable or safe process to fully wake up, and yet it’s the only way to be fully alive. This was a really interesting conversation that went some directions I hadn’t expected-especially on the topic of mindfulness-that I found really clarifying.
My guest this week is Kristen Manieri, author of the new book Better Daily Mindfulness Habits: Simple Changes with Lifelong Impact (affiliate link).