The Mindful Word

LIFE’S PILGRIMAGE: Journeying towards our long-sought spiritual home

Laura Vazquez Santos — Mon, 12 Oct 2026 18:00:00 +0000

There are moments in life when the things we spend so much time chasing suddenly seem very small. A diagnosis can do that. So can grief, chronic pain or the loss of someone we love. A season of depression or spiritual desolation can also cause us to reconsider our priorities and question what truly brings meaning and fulfillment to our lives. And other times, it’s simply the slow accumulation of disappointment and the realization that despite doing everything “right,” life […]

The post LIFE’S PILGRIMAGE: Journeying towards our long-sought spiritual home appeared first on The Mindful Word.

FIND PEACE AFTER LOSS: How a sense of connection can help with grief

Dr. Craig Hogan — Wed, 07 Oct 2026 18:00:00 +0000

“There is no death, and there are no dead.” Life carries us forward with a steady rhythm, until one day, something unexpected changes everything: a sudden illness, an accident, a death no one saw coming. In that moment, everything else falls away. The death of someone we love is one of the most profound events life brings to us. That person we grew up with—built a life alongside, shared our story with—is gone from our sight, all at once. And […]

The post FIND PEACE AFTER LOSS: How a sense of connection can help with grief appeared first on The Mindful Word.

THE VOICE THAT ARRIVES: 3 ways to step away from your ego’s criticisms

Shani Bahar Azulay — Mon, 05 Oct 2026 18:00:00 +0000

You notice it. The old reaction, the familiar retreat, the “yes” you didn’t mean. For a moment, there is real clarity: there it is again. And then, almost in the same breath, a second voice arrives. Not the one that noticed. The one that judges. “You should know better by now.” “After all this practice, still?” “What is wrong with you?” For many people on a mindful path, this second voice does more damage than the pattern itself. The pattern […]

The post THE VOICE THAT ARRIVES: 3 ways to step away from your ego’s criticisms appeared first on The Mindful Word.

THE QUIET POWER OF DOING LESS: Finding peace in a culture of constant doing

Bushra Fajar — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 18:00:00 +0000

There is a strange kind of tiredness that comes from having done “nothing” all day. You wake up, check your phone, answer a few messages, scroll through social media and make a list of things you should be doing. Then, somehow, the day is almost over. You may not have accomplished much, yet you feel exhausted. So you promise yourself that tomorrow will be different. Tomorrow, you’ll wake up earlier, be more productive, finish everything on your list and finally […]

The post THE QUIET POWER OF DOING LESS: Finding peace in a culture of constant doing appeared first on The Mindful Word.

THE TIMING THAT ISN’T OURS: Tempering the body’s physical responses to external pressures

Feon Chau — Mon, 28 Sep 2026 18:00:00 +0000

There are certain situations in which my body is already bracing before I’ve made sense of them. A message arrives, the phone rings or someone asks a simple question, and my jaw tightens. My shoulders lift. I hold my breath. They usually aren’t crises, but instead, they’re ordinary moments so small that even noticing my reaction can feel excessive. Yet, my reactions are immediate and real, and they linger long enough after the situation has passed that I can’t quite […]

The post THE TIMING THAT ISN’T OURS: Tempering the body’s physical responses to external pressures appeared first on The Mindful Word.

MINDFULNESS AND ART: The quiet power of making one small mark at a time

Roxana Bahrami — Wed, 23 Sep 2026 18:00:00 +0000

For many years, I’ve watched people arrive at my art workshops carrying the visible signs of busy lives. They often apologize before they even begin. They use statements like: Then I give them a pen or a pencil. Not a complicated set of art supplies. Just a pen and a small piece of paper. I ask them to make one simple mark or line, then another, and then something changes. Conversations slow down and people stop looking around the room […]

The post MINDFULNESS AND ART: The quiet power of making one small mark at a time appeared first on The Mindful Word.

WHAT TEACHING MEMOIR WRITING HAS TAUGHT ME: Holding space for other people’s truths

Diana Raab — Mon, 21 Sep 2026 18:00:00 +0000

The woman was in her late sixties. She said she started writing a memoir about the story of her deceased husband. She claimed she was writing the memoir as a gift to her family and didn’t care if it ever got published. She wasn’t a published writer but had been journaling for many years. She began reading what she wrote about her husband’s life and subsequent motorcycle accident. The workshop participants and I listened in awe. Her words were strung […]

The post WHAT TEACHING MEMOIR WRITING HAS TAUGHT ME: Holding space for other people’s truths appeared first on The Mindful Word.

THE MORAL LIFE BEGINS WITH A QUESTION: “Why do I believe this is right?”

George Cassidy Payne — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 18:00:00 +0000

Most of us inherit our moral worlds before we’re old enough to know that we’re inheriting them. Our parents teach us certain things. Religion teaches us others. Schools, friends, neighbourhoods and popular culture fill in the gaps. Our experiences do some of the teaching, too. Something that happened to us when we were young can quietly become a principle we carry for decades. Eventually, though, life has a way of interrupting what we thought we knew. Someone we love does […]

The post THE MORAL LIFE BEGINS WITH A QUESTION: “Why do I believe this is right?” appeared first on The Mindful Word.

WHEN LIFE BREAKS YOU OPEN: Finding the silver lining in the midst of clouds

Diana Raab — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 18:00:00 +0000

My father, a Holocaust survivor, always reminded me to look for the silver lining. Even though he’s been gone for 37 years, I still feel him over my shoulder, whispering those words, especially in life’s darkest moments. At the time, I didn’t realize how often I’d need that wisdom. In 2001, when I was 47 and just one month before the World Trade Centers fell, I was diagnosed with DCIS, an early form of breast cancer. It was the beginning […]

The post WHEN LIFE BREAKS YOU OPEN: Finding the silver lining in the midst of clouds appeared first on The Mindful Word.

LEARN TO NOTICE THE SMALL THINGS: How gratitude changes the way we see ordinary days

Bushra Fajar — Wed, 09 Sep 2026 18:00:00 +0000

For a long time, I thought gratitude was something I was supposed to feel when something wonderful happened. Good news, an achievement, a special occasion—those were the moments that seemed worth celebrating. Ordinary days felt different. I’d wake up, get ready, study or work, talk to people, finish whatever needed to be done and go to sleep. Then the same routine would begin again. Nothing seemed particularly special about it. At some point, though, I started noticing how much of […]

The post LEARN TO NOTICE THE SMALL THINGS: How gratitude changes the way we see ordinary days appeared first on The Mindful Word.