Just Breathe with Eileen Fein: Recent Episodes
Just Breathe with Eileen Fein
Welcome to Just Breathe with Eileen Fein, where I take listeners through guided Breathwork meditations that help you be still, be mindful, be kind to yourself and see the perfect beauty that lives in you. Visit The Tiny Balcony - www.thetinybalcony.com/meditation - to learn more about how to bring meditation and mindfulness into your life.
Today, let's use our breath to welcome Spring and new beginnings and create an open space for growth and self-care.
Visit The Tiny Balcony to access all our free handbooks and journals that will help you bring mindfulness into your life.
Check out my newest mini course - The Essentials of Meditation - to learn how to easily bring meditation into your life.
Today we are going to use the gift of your breath to heal your relationship with your body and sense of self-worth. Our bodies carry us all day, every day and are the vessels for our spirit. Yet we are often crueler to ourselves – especially the way we see and think about our bodies - than we would be to a stranger. You will use affirmations and the gift of your breath to create an open space where healing can begin and self-love can grow.
Visit The Tiny Balcony to access all our free handbooks and journals that will help you bring mindfulness into your life.
Check out my newest mini course - The Essentials of Meditation - to learn how to easily bring meditation into your life.
One of the most powerful benefits of meditation is that it helps develop the part of your brain that’s responsible for empathy and compassion and balancing emotions. This naturally leads to a decrease in judgmental behavior toward yourself and toward others. But cultivating non-judgment also needs to be a conscious practice. So, let’s breathe together today and start this year from a clean and open place that is free from judgement.
Visit The Tiny Balcony to access all our free handbooks and journals that will help you bring mindfulness into your life.
Download our free audio workshop - How to Embrace Your Body with Mindfulness - as a first step to making this your year of mindful living.
Today’s breathwork meditation is about starting your day with intention and the morning sun. When life is as chaotic as it is these days, it’s easy to fall into a habit of just pushing through and reacting to everything that’s thrown at you. But as you know, this approach is exhausting. It takes your time, energy and focus away from the things that matter to you – your family, your loved ones, you own well-being – and throws your life off balance. What mindfulness, and the gift of your breath can do is put things back in balance by creating a space to step back, observe what’s happening and decide how you want to react to it. You have that power! You can decide if and where you want to put your focus, energy, and time. And the greatest time to do that is in the morning – before the day has started. So let’s breathe together.
Visit The Tiny Balcony to access all our free handbooks and journals that will help you bring mindfulness into your life.
Download our free audio workshop - How to Embrace Your Body with Mindfulness - as a first step to making this your year of mindful living.
Today's Breathwork meditation is about giving yourself the gift of Loving-Kindness. Mindfulness is not complicated, but it requires loving-kindness to beat back judgement and make it a daily practice. Easier said than done – I know. You are most likely your own worst critic, throwing judgements at yourself that you wouldn’t throw at anyone else. Kindness is the antidote to judgement. I like to think that it takes the punch out of that critic that lives in your head. In the light of kindness, that critic needs to go back to its corner and sit down. This simple loving kindness meditation is a wonderful way to give loving-kindness to yourself through the capacity of kindness that lives in your heart. The kindness you give so readily to others but hold back from yourself. As you work through this loving kindness meditation notice any resistance that comes up. Breath into that resistance with a caring and gentle heart.
Today’s Breathwork meditation is about living mindfully through the gift of your breath. The goal of mindfulness is to be aware of exactly what our experience is in the moment we are experiencing it. It is learning through to compassionately make a space for what we are thinking and feeling. Being mindful does not mean disconnecting or withdrawing from our emotions, it just puts them in perspective. This can include noticing when we are minds are racing, or an awareness of joy, sadness, anxiety or grief. This is where intention is so important. Our intention in mindfulness is to notice and with self-compassion choose which thoughts we will continue to think and which ones we will let go of.
I have found that the focused breathing we do in Breathwork is an incredible tool to achieve mindfulness, and the ultimate goal, fulfillment. With just one breath we can gently hold our experience with patience and compassion and choose which thoughts and feelings we wish to hold onto and which ones we wish to let go of. In this one breath we can be mindful and present to what this moment is looking to give us.
Today’s Breathwork meditation is about sparking joy in your life. If you’ve “kondo’ed” your apartment in an effort to “spark joy” you know exactly who I’m talking about: The lovely organizing guru Marie Kondo who has revolutionized the meaning of “tidying,” transforming it from a chore into a vehicle for changing in your life, which you can see in her Netflix special, Tidying Up With Marie Kondo. Which I LOVE.
After watching two episodes, I immediately understood why she is the object of just as much fascination as her signature method. She is so centered, grounded, and radiantly curious. She has an aura that just radiates joy. And, of course, because of this she has also been at the spark of a lot of criticism by people who love their stuff and think she is just being a clean freak.
Yet if you really listen to her, her tone, her intention with each client, and watch how she transforms people's lives, I believe you should examine your criticism as it may be a reflection of your own fear of letting go of all that is holding you back...clutter in your life is clutter in your mind; and a cluttered mind has no room for change, curiosity and connection to the present versus the past.
I support her approach as it supports clarity and connection, the true meaning of life. Let joy be sparked in your life by simplicity and connection through the gift of your breath.
Today’s Breathwork meditation is about self-care and how to give it to yourself without feeling selfish. Self-care has become a marketing buzz word that packages everything from skin care products, to detox drinks, to binge watching TV. But these things can actually be detrimental to self care as they are often costly and distracting to the true purpose of self-care – being mentally healthy not just in the moment but in the long run. So how do you find a self-care routine that supports your needs over time, one that is accessible, affordable and sustainable? Mindfulness and the practice of Breathwork meditation. Let me teach you how in this guided Breathwork meditation.
Today’s Breathwork meditation is about getting more positive energy. Even if you love what you do, where you live, your kids, your partner, your neighborhood, your dog - life happens! The secret to bouncing back from a bad day and getting more positive energy is learning how to move through it. How you respond can mean the difference between a quick recovery or going into a spiral. That’s where your breath can save you. Through the power of deep, focused breathing you can switch your nervous system from a state of stress to one of relaxation.
So let’s breathe together and help you experience how to get that positive energy flowing and stop the loop before it starts.
Today’s Breathwork meditation is about finding inspiration. Although the term "follow your passion" seems to be the newest answers to finding your purpose, I believe the secret to finding you purpose is connection. Connection is what makes us feel alive. Here are three ways you can experience connection - in the real world not online - each day.
And the simplest thing you can do is breathe!
Let’s breathe together now and help you experience how to be inspired by the very thing that keeps you alive each day.
Today’s Breathwork meditation is about how to have more fun. A recent study found that we actually have more fun when we are spontaneous versus when we schedule fun time. For a type-A like me this was hard to accept so I really dug in to read what these researchers found and it was a big Ah-Ha.
Why? Because when we schedule fun our mind does what it always does, it files it into a neat folder of to-dos. And what fun is that?
The researchers note that, "the focus on productivity is so widespread that people even strive to make leisure productive and brag about being busy.” Sound familiar? Think Instagram and Facebook picture perfect posts!
In addition to adding spontaneity into our lives, another piece of advice the researchers offered is to stop trying to fit so MUCH into our lives. Think quality over quantity. And the greatest way to do this is connection with other people. Just get together anywhere and start talking and walking and end up someplace....you'll be happier because of it!
Today’s Breathwork meditation is about happiness and getting more of it. I like to think of happiness as a journey not a destination that is led by moments of joy along the way. It is these moments of joy that fill your heart and remind you of the happiness, the safety, the unconditional love from which you originally came and are still connected to, if you just choose to recognize that you are not separated from it – how can you be when it lives inside you and keeps your heart beating?
Today, you will breathe and reconnect with joy so can remember and in remembering, feel the happiness that lines the path of your journey.
Today’s Breathwork meditation is about recharging. Oh my goodness, how many pieces of information passed across your eyes today? Especially these days! How many people asked you to do something? How many promises did you make? What does your calendar look like for the next 6 weeks? Yes, I know. And to relax you scroll, or binge watch and you don’t give your mind the time it needs to recharge and help you remember what you value so you can have boundaries. So today we are going to breath to recharge and quiet your mind, even though at first it will fight against you. Because although the mind is the king of the senses, the breath is the king of the mind.
Today’s Breathwork meditation is about how to teach your kid how to meditate and be mindful. This one is a little funny for me as I find my daughter to be one of the most mindful people I know. She is so in tune with what she is feeling in the present moment rather than rehashing the past or imagining the future.
That said, as she is growing up and facing the challenges of other people’s personalities, agendas, and energy, this clarity can become a swirl of colors and she will sometimes get upset trying to explain her day to me because she doesn’t understand why something happened or how she should feel about it. Add on top of that the uncertainty of these times!
That is what today’s meditation is about. That swirling feeling in your mind that comes when you interact with others in this world. Breathwork creates a still place where all the colors of those feelings can settle so you see them, recognize them and then choose which one you wish to take and which ones you wish to leave behind. That is mindfulness.
Breathwork meditation is a wonderful meditation technique for kids because it doesn’t require they do anything accept breathe.
This is a meditation you can do with a kid of any age as a shared experience, and teach them to do on their own so they can decide how they wish to feel when you are not there. In this podcast I’ve provided a script that you can adapt to teach this method the first time you do this with your kid together. After that you and your kid can just dive into and breathe.
Today’s Breathwork meditation is about living mindfully with Breathwork meditation. The goal of mindfulness is to be aware of exactly what our experience is in the moment we are experiencing it and compassionately making space for what we are thinking and feeling. Being mindful does not mean disconnecting or withdrawing from our emotions. Mindfulness just puts them in perspective. This can include noticing when we are minds are racing, or an awareness of joy, sadness, anxiety or grief. This is where intention is so important. Our intention in mindfulness is to notice and with self-compassion choose which thoughts we will continue to think and which ones we will let go of.
I have found that the focused breathing we do in Breathwork is an incredible tool to achieve mindfulness, and the ultimate goal, fulfillment. With just one breath we can gently hold our experience with patience and compassion, and choose which thoughts and feelings we wish to hold onto and which ones we wish to let go of. In this one breath we can be mindful and present to what this moment is looking to give us.
Today’s Breathwork meditation is about happiness and getting more of it. I like to think of happiness as a journey not a destination that is led by moments of joy along the way. It is these moments of joy that fill your heart and remind you of the happiness, the safety, the unconditional love from which you originally came and are still connected to, if you just choose to recognize that you are not separated from it – how can you be when it lives inside you and keeps your heart beating? So today you will breathe and reconnect with joy so can remember and in remembering feel the wash of happiness that lines the path of your journey.
Today’s Breathwork meditation is about how to jump start creativity. I believe that creativity is one of the greatest channels of the power of connection. Through creativity we can connect with our true self and connect to other people and how they think, feel and act. Collectively our creativity can change the world. Download my FREE Breathwork Worksheet to expand your Breathwork experience and moment of connection!
Today’s Breathwork meditation is about how to stop feeling like a bad mom. Oh, this is a big one because “bad” means different things to different people who serve as moms in a child’s life. But the end feeling is pretty similar. Heartbreaking disappointment in one’s self. A reconfirmation of no to the questions – Am I worthy of this child? Of their love? It is one of the biggest fears I believe we all have.
But on the other side of our biggest fears lives our biggest life. And in this case, that is unconditional love. Love that accepts you for all your mistakes when you practice honesty, accountability and forgiveness. That is how you stop feeling like a bad mom. Stop trying to be perfect.
Remember, children learn by our actions not just our words. Though the power of your breath today you will give yourself the gift of forgiveness and the strength of accountability and honesty so you can in turn give it to your children.
Today’s Breathwork meditation is about how to stop self-sabotage. Some people may be blessed to not have this monster living in their closet, but most of us do. It’s the push back you give when you feel that you do not deserve the love you are receiving, when you shatter what could be easily fixable, or when you do something to make yourself feel even worse than you already do because bad just isn’t bad enough for you. This is self-sabotage and it is fed by fear. Yet, through the gift of your breath, you have the ability take a step back and create a space of stillness where fear cannot live because your breath is telling you that you are safe. In this safe still space, you can be mindful of what you are feeling, and with each breath, let go of what fear has told you is true and let in the real truth in - that you are worthy, that you are lovable, that you are whole.
Today’s Breathwork meditation is about reconnecting to your instinct with Breathwork. As I have said before, although technology has advanced exponentially in the past decade, we are the same beings we have been for thousands of years. However, if you learn to use this in your favor it can be a good thing, because as yoga master, BKS Iyengar says, "the breath is the king of the mind."
Through the gift of your breath, you have the ability to still your mind from all the chatter of information that comes at you each day and hear the one voice that is your instinct. The answer that has been living inside you just waiting for you to ask the right question.
Today’s mini Breathwork meditation is about how to reduce and let go of stress. Although technology has advanced exponentially we are the same beings we have been for thousands of year. Our minds are negatively wired – this isn’t a good or bad thing - it's just our physiology. Because of this, we can become overloaded with so much information technology provides. Yet, as yoga master, BKS Iyengar says, the mind if the king of the sense but the breath is the king of the mind."
Through the gift of our breath, which you have been given and has sustained you since the moment you came into this world, you have the ability to still your mind and let go of stress. In this still space there is no fear, no expectations, no deadlines, only clarity and the ability to rise above stress.
Today's Breathwork meditation is about falling asleep. Peaceful sleep is something we all wish to have. Through this podcast, I teach how to let go of the day's stress, fall back into the strength of your breath and unlock a moment of love in your life. In this moment of love, you will let go of fear and fall peacefully asleep.
Today’s Breathwork meditation is about letting go of people that are no longer healthy to have in your life. This is a tough one but very important because having people in your life that are not supportive, not giving as much as they are taking or not listening to your needs is toxic. So breathe, and know what you are already whole without these people and that you already have everything you need, waiting inside of you.
Today’s Breathwork meditation is about setting boundaries. To set boundaries you first have to know what is important to you so you know what to say yes to and what to say no to, and where to find compromise - in your work life and personal life. So what is important to you? What do you value? What are your life’s intention?
Today's Breathwork meditation is about letting go of the week. In these times of uncertainty, we have all come to realize how important this is. Letting go so you can create a space for all the moments of love, joy and peace that will come across your path. I like to think of letting go as a form of surrendering – not giving up but giving it up to a higher being to take care of it. Letting go of the rope we call control and falling back into the flow of life with mindfulness.
Today’s meditation is about giving forgiveness. It’s about giving forgiveness so you can create a space to connect with all the moments of love, joy and peace that have come across your path all your life and in this very moment.
When you forgive, you accept what happened – you don’t condone it, you just accept it and surrender what you wished could have been different. And in this surrendering you are not a victim or a prisoner of the past anymore. You are free. Free to live in this moment and all it holds for you. So breathe, and through your breath give forgiveness so you can be free.
Today's Breathwork meditation is about letting love in. We all wish to be seen and accepted. Yet our primal brain that protects us from anything it thinks will hurt us, is quickest when it detects the power of love. Love demands vulnerability, like a rose demands a bent knee to reach its essence. And fear does not take well to bending. But you will bend today though the power of your breath. Then just wait and see as the universe rises up to meet you in this state of love, what or who shows up soon!
Today's Breathwork meditation is about being a mindful parent – this definitely requires every breath in your body some days. Being a parent is the greatest gift and greatest challenge at the same moment. It brings to life the principle of Yin and Yang - that all things exist as inseparable and contradictory opposites. Being a mindful parent is about being present not perfect, and that requires letting go off fear.
This Breathwork meditation is an exercise to flip off your fears so your children can take the steps of their journey without the burden of your fears.
Today's Breathwork meditation is about workplace stress. As Bob Dylan sings, you're gonna have to serve somebody. Office politics, and other people’s agendas and neurosis can make it hard to stay sane and be present, even when you are not at work.
The reason I bring up Dylan’s song in today's podcast is the word serve. Today you will breathe and switch your definition of serve from a something that is taken from you to that which is the best of you that you can offer. Breathe and serve without surrendering.
Today's Breathwork meditation is about patience – and getting more of it. Most of us feel 10 minutes behind or 10 seconds away from doing or saying something that is going take us WAY off the path of our journey. In this mini Breathwork meditation you will use your breath to quite your mind and create a still place where you can grow the strength of patience.
Today's Breathwork meditation is a Micro Mini version for those who have no time. My Mini Breathwork meditations are typically about 10 to 15 minutes long because I know that time is a rare commodity and giving yourself time is the hardest thing to do. But she I also know that sometimes life doesn’t give you time - even 15 minutes!
Sometimes you are right in the middle of a situation and you need to decide right then how you are going to act. That decision is going to keep you on or throw you off your life's journey. For those times, this is your Micro Mini Breathwork Meditation because one breath is all you need to stop thinking and start listening to the answer you already know.
Today's Breathwork meditation is about chronic pain. Chronic pain is a very real condition that plagues not only the body itself but also the mind, as it puts the mind into a state of constant stress – which becomes a cycle that feeds into pain. Stress feeds pain, pain feed stress. In this mini Breathwork meditation you will quite you minds and in doing so address both the stress of pain and pain itself. As always talk to your healthcare professional before doing anything related to your health.
Welcome to Just Breathe with Eileen Fein, where I take listeners through guided Breathwork mediations that you help you be still, be mindful, be kind to yourself and see the perfect beauty that lives in you.
In these uncertain times, there’s a simple technique that can ease your overstressed mind and body – breathing. Even though breathing is something you do all day, every day without thought – thank goodness – you probably aren’t tapping into this incredible resource as much as you should.
When you focus your awareness on your breathing and breathe deeply from your belly, you tap into the vagus nerve that sits behind your diaphragm. This switches your body’s nervous system from the sympathetic to the parasympathetic (fight or flight to relaxation).
When the parasympathetic nervous system is switched on, it can help you relax, sleep better, feel more positive, and even reduce depression. It can also help you reduce your blood pressure, improve heart health, and slow the aging process.
On each episode of Just Breathe I’ll show you how to increase joy and positive energy, set boundaries and stop self-sabotage, address chronic pain, and give yourself the gift of self-care. All through the power of your breath.
So now it’s time to be still, be mindful, be kind to yourself and see the perfect beauty that lives in you. This is Just Breathe.