Maintain a regular formal seated meditation practice, as it serves as a foundational “dojo” for training mindfulness, concentration, calmness, and equanimity, which then fuels all other practices in life.
Take an active interest in caring for your own mental health from the outset, recognizing it as something to be stewarded, rather than solely relying on experts when problems arise.
Instead of relying solely on a single formal meditation practice, intentionally engage in various “little volcanoes” of practice across different life domains to foster holistic growth and integration.
Use suffering, pain points, or a sense of unlived depth in any area of your life as a cue to explore and implement specific practices within that domain.
Recognize suffering as a crucial indicator light, signaling that there is something you are not mindful of, prompting you to investigate and bring awareness to that area.
When caught in worry, pan back your awareness from the content of your thoughts to the fundamental sense of being a body in a chair, allowing worries to dissipate within this broader perspective.
Frequently ask yourself, “What do I need right now?” as a central question for self-compassion, balancing it with “What does the world need right now?”
Understand that the core purpose of practice is to clear away mental “junk” and obscurations, allowing your inherent availability, freshness, and spontaneity to shine forth.
Trust in the power of bare awareness, understanding that simply sitting and being aware can, over time, act as a solvent to dissolve mental constructs and difficulties.
Reframe your natural curiosity about various topics into an interest in how to make those topics or activities liberating practices, especially if you struggle with attention.
Start daily conversations, especially with loved ones, by actively listening and allowing the other person to speak fully, avoiding reactive responses to improve communication.
Deliberately bring awareness to the act of seeing, tuning into the “weirdness” of taking in the world, which can help erode the boundary between your ego and the larger environment.
Cultivate non-conceptual seeing by observing objects without labeling or intellectualizing them, allowing them to appear in their raw, shimmery, and beautiful essence.
While walking, repeatedly remind yourself to simply “see” without getting lost in thoughts about what you are seeing, gently returning your attention to the direct visual experience.
Practice koan-like inquiry by pausing and feeling into impossible questions like “What is this?” or “Who am I?” with your whole body, without seeking an intellectual answer, to quiet thoughts and erode mental frameworks.
Occasionally drop all specific meditation techniques and simply acknowledge that “this is all just happening right now,” fostering a quality of acceptance and letting go of fixation.
Place a hand on your chest or perform another simple, settling touch gesture to hack into the mammalian care system and calm your nervous system, which can be used even when comforting others.
Begin your meditation practice with loving-kindness to settle the mind, then transition to a more open awareness.
As a meditation practice, instead of traditional breath focus or noting, repeatedly ask yourself “Are you aware?” and gently return to this inquiry when your mind drifts.
Make sharing your mental health challenges a practice, as it connects you to resources, clarifies your experience, and helps you find common cause, ultimately improving your life.
Participate in a practice group where members share insights and struggles, as this collective learning environment can significantly accelerate your personal growth.
Approach sharing as an equanimity practice, checking in with yourself about what feels appropriate to share, being present to the other person, and noticing when you might be oversharing.
When sharing or guiding practice, be honest about your level of experience, do not pretend to know what you don’t, and understand the basics of trauma-informed mindfulness.
As your own teacher, recognize your limitations and know when to seek out and learn from experts who possess greater knowledge in specific practice areas.
Feel empowered to guide friends in simple practices, such as a few minutes of breath awareness, even if you are not an expert, to offer immediate support when they are struggling.
Reframe ADHD as a virtue by intentionally turning every aspect of your life into a practice, leveraging your natural curiosity and energy.
Engage in self-compassion practices to counter the pattern of letting people down due to overcommitment and organizational challenges often associated with ADHD.
If you have an ADHD diagnosis, experiment with various meditation practices, as some may find concentration difficult while others with hyperfocus might benefit from it.
If using hyperfocus in concentration practice, learn to release the desperate, fixated grip on attention, allowing for a more relaxed and open focus.
Engage in non-dual practices that emphasize present moment awareness, making a virtue of the natural “popping back” into the present that often occurs with ADHD.
When your attention returns to the present moment (common with ADHD), consciously avoid activating circuits of fear and self-loathing, instead embracing the refreshment of the present.
View every mental health challenge as a unique window into a specific style of practice or direction of inquiry, remembering that awareness and openness are the binding glue.
Cultivate compassion for your attentional style, allowing the “virtue” of jumping around to exist, and create life structures that accommodate and support your ADHD.
Be clear and transparent with friends and family about your ADHD and how it impacts you, fostering acceptance and understanding in your relationships.
Develop awareness to recognize the early signs of hypomanic shifts, then implement structures like earlier sleep and exercise to allow the energy to play out without feeding it.
During periods of low mood, reframe the experience as a natural, even nurturing, process, allowing yourself to “be in the dark” rather than fighting it.
Before falling asleep, visualize protective imagery like a cedar tree, a powerful figure, or other protectors around you to cultivate a sense of safety and ease neurotic thoughts.
Approach parenting by relaxing and intentionally viewing your child as a wondrous mystery, cultivating equanimity to respond calmly to situations.
Before starting focused work like writing, perform a short grounding practice to settle your mind and then allow ideas to flow without overthinking.
Seek guidance from a voice coach to learn techniques for speaking from different parts of your body, enhancing vocal range and addressing specific vocal habits.
Engage in mindful movement practices like Feldenkrais, starting with simple movements and making tiny adjustments to discover healthier and more efficient patterns, especially for working with injuries.
Before running, set an intention to focus your attention deliberately on aspects like breath, body movement, or the soundscape, rather than getting lost in worries, to deepen the practice.
Integrate equanimity into your running by not fighting with yourself or your body, aiming to “get out of your own way” and let go of the “runner” so there is only the experience of running.
If you listen to music while running, assess whether it supports your practice or acts as a distraction, and adjust based on your personal exploration.