Showing Up To Life
By Art Burns
Showing Up To LifeAug 20, 2023
EP 728: The Lesser-Known Aspect of Attention Training
Popping in for an impromptu episode on the vital importance of seeing - clearly and efficiently - where our attention is at any given moment.
If you're interested in a chat, click here:
EP 727: How to Commit to Doing the Work
I'm back after a loooooong break to talk about mindfulness, rigidity, chaos, tolerance, and how to approach 'The Work'
EP 726: Happy Holidays + The Subtle Aversion in H8WORK
Gosh! I tried to squeeze it all into this episode. How'd I do?
EP 725: How to Notice Healing and Growth
Most people come to mindfulness and compassion practices in order to heal and grow in some way. It could be anything, from stress reduction to relationship work, and everything in between.
So it's important to recognize that the mind - because it doesn't 'see' what isn't there - will tend to not notice the improvements along the way of the journey. This will often lead to pessimism and, often, the abandonment of the practices.
In today's episode, I explore this phenomenon from the perspective of our intra- and interpersonal, moment-by-moment experiences.
EP 724: Workplace Stress - Workload
Another quickie! I just posted this on social media and thought you might like to hear it:
In the Compsych Stress Pulse Report - a report that showed that nearly 70% of employees in North America experience chronic stress - the number one reason people cited for workplace stress is their workload.
While it is true that employees are asked to more than ever, the workload itself is not the true source of the stress.
Check out this video and let me know what you think!
EP 723: A Message About Holiday Stress
A little message to help you manage stress during the holidays.
I wish you well!
EP 722: Blame is Bullsh*t
When we engage in blame, not only are we never accurate in the placing of blame, we deprive ourselves of all that is really important.
EP 721: Reflections on Self Reflection
Self reflection can be a profoundly beneficial practice. We can learn about who we are in the here and now from examining who we were before. Or self reflection can be profoundly inhibiting and damaging. We become a more limited version. of ourselves and lose our self confidence and optimism. The difference is in how much we hold ourselves with love and kindness as we perform the self reflection.
EP 720: Acceptance and Wu Wei: A Personal Story
Back today with a story of acceptance, kindness, and forgiveness at the Hockey Rink.
EP 719: Life Is Play
When kids play, they learn far more efficiently. And, while most of us have abandoned play as childish and wasteful, we actually will be more efficient and capable - more OPTIMIZED for life - when we play at our life instead of trying to win at life.
In today's episode, I talk all about this from both the spiritual and the scientific approaches.
Hope you enjoy!
Wishing you well.
EP 718: Using Curiosity and Gratitude to Handle Difficult Experiences
In today's episode of Showing Up To Life, I talk about what are - to me and the many clients I've worked with over the past four years - the most essential and vital skills to managing life's stressors without the damaging stress on the body.
As always, if you have any questions or comments, I welcome all emails: art@artburnscoaching.comI wish you well.
EP 717: Undoing Loneliness With Kindness
It's great to be back! Today I talk about the pandemic of loneliness - in the US and around the world - and how we can heal from it.
Please tell me about loneliness where you live.
EP 716: Authenticity, Self Awareness, and Gentle Inquiry
Some Sunday morning thoughts on Self Awareness, Authenticity, and gentle inquiry.
EP 715: Finding Balance
There are many ways in which we can - and ought to - find balance. Today, I talk about the balance that mindfulness, kindness, and compassion promote: the balance between striving in the material experience and finding loving awareness in the spiritual experience.
If you'd like to chat about this, why not schedule a virtual cup of tea?
https://calendly.com/artburns/virtual-cup-of-tea
EP 714: Casual Fridays - Journaling for Well Being
We're back with another episode of Casual Fridays, the podcast about bringing mindfulness into the workplace to improve productivity and well being so we can bring it home with us and change our lives.
Today, I offer one of my very favorite mindfulness practices that you can do at your desk before you dive into work each morning.
EP 713: Casual Fridays: Micromanaging - Why it Hinders Your Organization and What You Can Do Instead
This episode is for the managers. If you'd like to understand how to specifically apply this to your role; or to learn about my new 12-Week program called The Mindful Manager, please schedule your FREE consultation here:
EP 712: Casual Fridays - Tapping Into Our Resources
Today I discuss a very special practice that will cultivate the skill of attention to what is happening here and now, where all our resources are available to us.
EP 711: Conflict Resolution For The Win!
Today, a personal story to illustrate the skills involved with conflict resolution, and the magic that happens in the process.
EP 710: Am I a Guru? Or Am I a Mechanic?
This question came to me this morning: If I'm not a Guru, then what am I? And it seemed the only logical action was to work it out in a Showing Up to Life Episode!
EP 709: Casual Fridays: Self Care is a Skill
Today's Casual Friday episode is all about self care when we don't have time or resources for manicures, massages, or nature walks. When we cultivate loving awareness of our moment by moment experience, self care takes on a whole new potential.
EP 708: It Popped Into My Head... But Did It?
In today's episode we explore the meanings - and the common misunderstandings - of the terms 'Mind' and 'Brain' and also the concept of the the 'Mind-Body Connection.'
As always, if you would like a copy of the written instructions for the practice I discuss here - or if you have ANY questions at all - please email me at art@artburnscoaching.com
EP 707: Mind Training, Critical Thinking, and Letting Go
"I hold my theories on the tips of my fingers, so that the merest breath of fact will blow them away." Michael Faraday
If you would like a copy of the RAIN exercise I go over today, please comment below or send me an email.
art@artburnscoaching.com
EP 706: Giving to Receive
"The most effective way to activate the circuitry of the brain associated with positive emotions is through generosity." - Richard Davidson
"If you knew, as I do, the power of giving, you would not let a single meal pass without sharing some of it." - The Buddha
Today's episode is all about the benefits of generosity. Both giving and the openness to receive.
Here is the link I refer to:
https://artburnscoaching.podia.com/6f0ae188-df4c-4b9d-8417-ab78d77b36e7
EP 705: Casual Fridays: Setting - And Understanding - Our Goals From The Flow State
Often, when we set goals, we do so from a rigid state of clinging and attachment. And in this state of attachment, we might confuse the goals we set.
We might think 'I need to buy a big house by the time I'm 35' but what we really mean is 'I believe a big house will make me happy'
As we cultivate the skills of non-judging awareness, we can approach our goals - and our happiness - with more critical thinking that allows us a deeper and more accurate understanding.
EP 704: Handling Stressors Like a Brand New Car... Or Not
We tend, I believe, to see ourselves and one another as having some uniform capacity for handling life's challenges, as we would believe that two VW Jettas coming off the assembly line are made of the same essential parts. We know there are Jettas of different colors, and that some have more features than others, but at the base, every Jetta is made exactly the same way.
Nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to humans and the apparatus with which we are born to handle stressors in life.
I talk about this - and how important and helpful it is to understand our own starting point; to understand our own capacity for managing stressors - in today's episode.Please let me know what you think!
EP 703: Thoughts, Memories, and The Storytelling Mind
As we live our lives, moment by moment, we experience every moment through the three realms of Our Body, Our Emotions, and Our Thoughts.
The thoughts can take many forms, but mostly the thoughts are part of a system we have for predicting what's going to happen to us and whether we should be worried or not.
In today's episode, I talk about where these stories come from and how we can change our relationship with them.
EP 702: How to Notice The Absence of Thoughts And Behaviors... And Why it Matters
When people hear "Don't think of a hippopotamus" the first thing that pops into our minds is, in fact, a hippopotamus. Today I discuss why this happens and what we can do to notice the absence of difficult behavior in familiar circumstances. And I talk about why this is so important.
EP 701: Perhaps the Most Important Skill
Mindfulness is about skillfulness that becomes natural and habitual through regular practice. And this episode describes what could be the most important skill there is.
If you enjoy this episode and find it helpful, please share it with a friend!
EP 700: Casual Fridays: Active Listening - The Skill Every Organization Needs
I know I've talked about this before, but the practice and skill of active listening are well worth saying again.
If you'd like a copy of the written instructions for this practice, please email me at
art@artburnscoaching.com
EP 699: Casual Fridays - All About Empathy
We're back with a new edition of the Casual Fridays podcast!
Today I talk about one of the most significant and powerful skills we can bring to the workplace: Empathy.(And I discuss how practicing empathy at work creates a positive feedback loop in every area of our lives!)
I hope you enjoy today's episode.
EP 698: Mindful Like a Rock Star
How to live life in the Now. Even when - especially when - you make mistakes.
Ep 697: Kindness is a Practice
But the practice, as I discuss today, starts with awareness.
If you'd like to receive a copy of written instructions for the two practices I discussed today, shoot me an email:
art@artburnscoaching.com
EP 696: Casual Fridays BONUS: Avoiding Burnout and Connecting to Something Bigger Than You
Today I discuss a very effective thing you can do - starting right now - to help avoid burnout.
EP 695: Casual Fridays: The Power of Kindness, Part II
A follow-up to last week's episode, today I talk about the power of kindness on the level of the brain and nervous system.
To get a free copy of the practice I mentioned in today's episode, just send an email with "send the practice" in the subject line to art@artburnscoaching.com
EP 694: How Meditation Allows us to See The Roots of Our Habits
In today's episode, I talk about how to develop a dis-identified relationship to your thoughts and emotions and how this objective view allows us to intuitively see the roots of our behavior.
EP 693: The Resonance of Mindfulness and The Power of Generosity
Today we cover how the practices you do and the skillfulness you cultivate - for your own health and well-being - resonate with everyone else around you.
This makes your practice an act of generosity. And, as I explain in today's episode, this generosity is a powerful force for your well-being.
EP 692: Where Attention Goes, Energy Flows
Today we discuss our most vital and precious resource: Our Attention.
EP 691: THE World, or MY World is Falling Apart?
What people usually mean when they say 'The world is falling apart around me.'
EP 690: Casual Fridays - The Power of Kindness
Welcome back to Casual Fridays, the podcast that brings mindfulness to the workplace!
Today I discuss the power of kindness and how we can develop the habit of non-judging awareness in our interpersonal interactions.
Next week I'll tell you some mind-blowing science behind kindness and its very close friend, compassion.
EP 689: Talking - or not Talking - About Our Spiritual Work
This episode is all about sharing, or not, our spiritual journey. And why.
EP 688: Casual Friday: Active Listening
In today's episode of Mindfulness @ Work: Casual Fridays, I discuss the value of listening to understand.
If you would like a copy of the written instructions for the practice I describe here, please email me:
art@artburnscoaching.com
EP 687: A Special Message for First Responders
Today's episode is for everyone but is specifically speaking to the men and women who brave danger and exhaustion for our safety.
Anyone interested in the FREE workshop for First Responders, find info and register here:
EP 686: The Epidemic of Loneliness
Today's episode explores the connection between stress and connection, or lack thereof.
And we discuss how connection is not about 'a lot of friends' but is more about an openness to genuine connection.
EP 685: Casual Fridays: Empathy Sandwich
Welcome back to Mindfulness @ Work: Casual Fridays!
Today's episode is about mindful communication and a special little practice I call the Empathy Sandwich.
EP 684: Returning to Acceptance
Back today to take the concept of acceptance a little further by illustrating the way we return to acceptance over and over until we realize that everything we need for happiness is right here, right now.
I use this old Dead tune to help me make my point:
I hope you enjoy the topic and the tune!
EP 683: Acceptance 101
Today we go back to the basics and revisit one of the most foundational skills of mindfulness: The skill of Acceptance.
EP 682: Ricochet Rabbit Mind
What we really mean when we say 'Monkey Mind' and why it is so important to understand.
The book I reference in today's video: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14432719-the-magic-of-awareness
EP 682: Casual Fridays: About Your Host
A bit about me and my journey from Madison Ave Ad Exec to Mindfulness Meditation Teacher and Coach.
EP 681: Casual Fridays: Attention is Your Power - Here's How to Harness it
Where attention goes, energy flows.
Our attention is our greatest resource and most of the time we are gladly giving away the lion's share of it. Mindfulness practices develop the skill set that allows us to reclaim that power and to harness it for our own success, passion, and our ability to thrive in all areas of our lives.
EP 680: The 3 Skills of Mindfulness
Today we discuss the three foundational skills of mindfulness that we derive from daily practice. If you'd like to learn some of these practices, book your free session right here: https://calendly.com/artburns/45-min-coaching-session