Be MindPHL

How often have you heard, “It’s not what you do, but how you do it.” Mindfulness meditation is often oversimplified as being solely a practice of training attention. But there is a second, more subtle, but perhaps even more important factor to the practice: the attitude we practice with.  Our attitude impacts how we perceive and so relate with ourselves and our life. In the practice of mindfulness meditation, just as we explore gently training and reshaping our attention, so too can we explore shifting how we relate with our experience. Perhaps we are often critical of ourselves — practicing mindfulness, we can explore nonjudgment, or compassion. Perhaps we are always leaning forward in life, wondering what the next moment will bring — with mindfulness, we can explore allowing, and letting be. Our personality and the attitude with which me meet ourselves and our life is not fixed — it can change (slowly, but surely) given the time and intention. For more information about Be MindPHL visit www.bemindphl.com To subscribe and attend classes (and enjoy our growing library of classes!) visit www.patreon.com/bemindphl

“The most difficult thing to do is to be just who you are, without embellishing, without undermining or downplaying.” -Pema Chodron-   In our culture many of us are aware of the term narcissism. Many people, for fear of being labeled a narcissist, downplay or ignore their own abilities and skills. Likewise, within spiritual and meditation traditions, many of the “masters” of the modern spiritual marketplace are continually offering some “next step”, some “next or better” way to be or feel or live.   In such a state of affairs, we can either downplay how we feel for fear of being shamed for it, or we may just overlook how well we are doing — how far we’ve come — because there is the promise of “better things to come.”   Brandon goes on to share that to turn our attention toward ourselves, to take honest stock of our talents and abilities — to greet ourselves! — can be a radical act of healing. If you enjoy the episode and want to learn more about Be MindPHL visit www.bemindphl.com To subscribe and enjoy the benefit of both livestream classes and the Be MindPHL archive visit www.patreon.com/bemindphl

Well-being is rooted in attention. This is because what we give our attention to influences both how we feel in the moment, and what we will give our attention to in the future. Your attention is the foundation on which growth, learning and healing (healing as an experience of wholeness and satisfaction) depend.   Brandon goes on to point out that practicing mindfulness, training our attention to be in connection with our breath and body, we find that the ease we so often go looking for outside ourselves can be found within. This learning, this "re-covery" of attention is a process. The results are not automatic. But it is practice worth doing -- to reclaim your attention. If you enjoy the episode and want to learn more about Be MindPHL visit www.bemindphl.com To subscribe and enjoy the benefit of both livestream classes and the Be MindPHL archive, visit www.patreon.com/bemindphl

Brandon begins this class by admitting he's been wrong. For years he either dismissed, overlooked, or downplayed the practice of repeating phrases of lovingkindness.  But to dismiss such a practice, we overlook one of the most fundamental and powerful opportunities of meditation practice: to shift, to redirect how we think, perceive, and relate with our experience.  Brandon goes on to point out that just in the way that drop by drop, a river can be redirected. So too can the mind and its thinking be gently redirected toward a more wholesome, inspiring, and inclusive view of ourselves and our life. If you enjoy the episode and want to learn more about Be MindPHL visit www.bemindphl.com To subscribe and enjoy the benefit of both livestream classes and the Be MindPHL archive, visit www.patreon.com/bemindphl

Is mindfulness really boring? In this episode of Be MindPHL podcast, Brandon goes on to share how for many, mindfulness practice is a kind of attention detox. The instructions to the practice are simple. The experience of the breath or body from moment to moment are also simple. Many people describe the practice as boring — or say that not much is happening. This recognition can be the spark of tremendous insight! First, can we see how this desire to be entertained — to feel and be carried along by strong emotions — might be playing out both in the moment and in our life. What is our relationship with simplicity and stability? Could we explore being OK with things being OK? Want to hear the entire session? or learn more about Be MindPHL? Visit www.bemindphl.com or patreon.com/beminphl You can also follow us on Instagram at @bemindphl

In this episode of the Be MindPHL podcast, Brandon gets candid about the unrealistic and even harmful expectations that spiritual and meditation/mindfulness teachers (or the larger "wellness" industry) perpetuate about being tired.  Life is complex. Life is exhausting.  But so much of the spiritual and wellness space is built around perpetuating the belief that if you just "ate right" or "did enough yoga" or "meditated more" that those feelings wouldn't happen. Yes they would. And yes they do. But admitting that is usually seen as "unspiritual" or people are afraid they won't get the likes/shares/follows for admitting that. May this episode be a welcome acknowledgement that yes, your meditation teacher gets exhausted too.

Mindfulness meditation is a practice of training our attention. It's developing a habit of being present to ourselves and our life. Like any habit, it needs patience and persistence to take root! For that reason, we need to "commit to sit."  In this episode of the Be MindPHL Podcast Brandon goes on to share how smartphones have cut our attention spans in half, and how that wandering attention leads to stress and anxiety.  Want to hear the entire session? or learn more about Be MindPHL? Visit www.bemindphl.com or patreon.com/beminphl You can also follow us on Instagram at @bemindphl

In the Episode of the Be MindPHL Podcast Brandon shares how self-compassion is not a quality that we must adopt or learn, but one we must remember. Compassion for self and others is innate, but through our various circumstances, we lose touch with it. Practicing self-compassion meditation enables us to safely rekindle nurture our own loving ability. Want to hear the entire session? or learn more about Be MindPHL? Visit www.bemindphl.com or patreon.com/beminphl You can also follow us on Instagram at @bemindphl

In the Episode of the Be MindPHL Podcast Brandon shares how the difference between stressed and rest, the the difference between feeling anxious and scattered versus relaxed and at ease -- it all begins with our attention.  Mindfulness meditation is a training of attention -- and that training translates to a change in how we relate with life. He then goes on to explain why the breath and counting are used to develop focus and concentration. Want to hear the entire session? or learn more about Be MindPHL? Visit www.bemindphl.com or patreon.com/beminphl You can also follow us on Instagram at @bemindphl

What is self-compassion? In this episode Brandon begins the episode by discussing the dual nature of compassion -- this ability to feel and be present for difficult experiences, while ALSO being able to extend tenderness and kindness to ourselves He goes on to elaborate how the practice of meditation, (which he defines as "becoming familiar with") enables us to cultivate self-compassion, the ability to extend to compassion to ourselves in times of difficulty, as a skill. Before closing out the episode, Brandon shares how at first these practices can seem stale -- or like we're "forcing it" -- but with time and practice, self-compassion can seem not just second nature -- but utterly natural!Want to hear the entire session? or learn more about Be MindPHL? Visit www.bemindphl.com or patreon.com/beminphl You can also follow us on Instagram at @bemindphl

Why is self-compassion -- the practice of meeting ourselves with consideration, kindness and tenderness in the face of difficulty -- so hard? In this episode of the Be MindPHL Podcast, Brandon discusses the biggest barrier to self-compassion. They go on to share how guided inquiry practice can enable us to both begin to recognize and release these barriers. Brandon concludes the talk by acknowledging that even after we have consciously decided to make a change in our life, we can feel the pull of old habitual ways of seeing ourselves and our life. But rather than fold -- rather than give up -- we can acknowledge that this feeling of "working the edge" is not a sign of failure or self-doubt, but growth, and growing self-awareness. Want to hear the entire session? or learn more about Be MindPHL?  Visit www.bemindphl.com  You can also follow us on Instagram at @bemindphl

Have you ever wondered who you are?  Wondered whether you're a good person? Or have you ever had the nagging sense that you could show up differently in life -- with greater intention and presence -- but just don't know how to get from hassled or hectic to here? These are big questions, but ones so many of us have no doubt encountered at some point in our life.  In this inaugural episode of the Be MindPHL Podcast, Brandon shares how stress pushes us into *reacting* to life based on habit, rather than *responding* to life from a place of intention and presence. While habits can be helpful -- enabling us to manage challenging situations -- if we never shift out of that reactive mode, we can wind up feeling disconnected from ourselves and our life. Brandon goes on to share how mindfulness meditation, the practice of bringing a relaxed, clear attention to the moment, can be a tool, a means for finding more calm more often -- and in doing, beginning to live with that intention and presence we suspect we are capable of. For more information about Be MindPHL and to learn how to subscribe visit www.bemindphl.com You can also follow us on Instagram at @bemindphl