This year mindful hub will have a special focus on the unique needs of millennial young adults. Check back often to view excerpts from Donna Torney’s forthcoming book, Center Points for Young Adults: Building identity, intimacy, and youthful wisdom through contemplative practices.
First published at Kayleighmichael.com If you had told teenaged Me that I would be with a man who loves cars, who cares about politics, who likes to keep his body as hairless as possible and who sometimes says things like, “Every woman needs a dishwasher” (I corrected this immediately, by…
“Let’s just get this over with.” This may be an appropriate sentiment when you are having a root canal, but did you ever notice this mindset seeping into daily life? The self-talk may sound something like this: “I can’t wait until it’s Friday!” “Will this winter ever end?” These thoughts…
You probably know one or know someone who is worrying about one. If you don’t know one, let me introduce you to the average emerging adult in this “great again” first-world country of ours. You see I have a special seat the Hogwarts-banquet-turned-Hunger Games. I’m a psychotherapist and I work…
Practicing letting go is one of the foundations of mindfulness. But how is it done? What does it mean? It could mean letting go of a disappointment from the past, a relationship that’s not working out, or it could mean letting go of a plan to change someone or something. Letting…
For many young adults starting life with mountains of student debt, owing a debt of gratitude can be the straw that breaks the camels back. Can you remember feeling gratitude as a young adult? Maybe you were having the time of your life at a concert. Perhaps you were taking…
What is an emerging adult? Most adult development experts agree that emerging adulthood is the life period between the late teen years and the early thirties. Undoubtedly, some of us reach the stage of “established adulthood” much sooner. But the current cohort of young adults- those brave souls on the frontier…
Science tells us that practicing gratitude has many health benefits, like feeling less lonely and building a stronger immune system. So why is it sometimes difficult for us to feel grateful? Why do we sometimes have a hard time saying thank you, when one of the byproducts of gratitude is…
We love the idea of traveling for months (even years) on end. What we don’t love as much though, is the craziness and imbalance that often accompany solo traveling, like exhaustion, and feeling homesick. You’re sitting in a beautiful city, a thousand miles away from home, and you’re second-guessing why…
What comes to mind when you hear the word easy? maybe a single-digit math problem, or a six-piece puzzle? Perhaps a recipe with four ingredients. When it comes to the word ease, however, it’s not so simple to pull up a visual. Ease is more of a feeling, more of…
“Comparison is the thief of joy” – Theodore Roosevelt Comparing situation A with situation B is a big part of how we make it through the day. Overuse of this often unconscious process, however, can feed anxiety and feelings of being “less than” or “better than” that lead to separation, isolation,…
The other day I mentioned that I felt guilty after taking a nap. Luckily I have some kind friends who answered with loving responses, encouraging me to rest. If only our culture would do the same. If only we were allowed, like bears, to turn off our metabolism, tuck in…
In Dickens’ timeless Christmas Carol we meet Ebenezer Scrooge, a joyless bachelor who just can’t seem to muster one drop of generosity for any being on earth, not even his amiable nephew, Fred. In spite of Ebenezer’s outright hostile response to his nephew’s invitation to Christmas dinner, Fred remains steadfast in his kindness toward his…
