Thoughts From a Therapist
Mindfulness, Embodiment & Everyday Well-Being
Articles about attention, meditation, breath, movement, health behavior, contentment, and returning to what is here.
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Exercise Snacks: How 10 Seconds Can Build Both Physical and Psychological Strength
Ten squats, whenever I thought of it. What started as a fitness habit turned into a lesson in discipline: make the goal small enough…
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Meditation Is the Practice of Returning
“I didn’t do it well” is the most common thing I hear about meditation. But every time your mind wanders and you return, you’ve…
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The Anxiety of Efficiency
A reflection on the paradox of rushing in order to relax, and how efficiency can sometimes reproduce the very anxiety we are trying to…
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The Question of Enough | Stimulation, Fulfillment, and the Physiology of Contentment
One pattern I see repeatedly — in my office and in my own life — is the question of enough. Not the familiar concern…
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The Necessity of Adversity
Expanding Our Capacity to Navigate Everyday Stress When we think about stress tolerance, it is easy to imagine it as something we either possess…
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Somatic Descent Into the Hidden Narrative: A Clinical Vignette about Anger and Grief
She came into therapy with a sharp, immediate reaction whenever the subject of suicide emerged. Her face tightened. Her posture stiffened. The anger arrived…
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The Observer and the Observed
Detaching from identity through acceptance of our contradictions Hello. Let’s use the observer to notice our attachments to identity. When I was in college,…
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State Shifting: Breaking the Feedback Loop of Rumination
Rumination isn’t just mental—it’s physiological. Learn how cold water and other state-shifting techniques can disrupt the feedback loop and restore clarity.
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The Practice of Differentiation: Becoming the Observer of Ourselves
Differentiation is the ability to observe our inner life without being consumed by it. In this post, we explore how becoming the witness to…
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The Snake in the Room: A Mindful Approach to Understanding Anxiety
Not all anxiety is the same. This post explores three distinct forms of anxiety—trauma, adaptive fear, and cognitive worry—through the metaphor of a snake…
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Analysis vs Observation
This post contrasts sensation analysis with simple observation. Analysis categorizes and deducts, often distancing us from direct experience. In contrast, observation focuses on present…
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