Mindfulness for Wellbeing

In this meditation Carla-Jo helps you to soothe your body and mind so that you feel ready for sleep. Often our bodies respond to self care quicker than the mind so in this practice we place a hand on our heart area or our tummy and help to create feelings of connection and safety so that we can feel more settled ready for a deep restful sleep. To find out more about Carla-Jo and her work please see carlajo-mindfulness.com. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health then please seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help you. Photo by Johny Georend on Unsplash

Taking the time to settle your mind and body before sleep is so important to ensure you have a good night of rest. In this short practice, Carla-Jo helps you to begin to calm your body and mind. The meditation finishes with a short gratitude practice which can help you to cultivate feelings of goodness allowing you to have a positive state of mind as you drift off to sleep. To find out more about Carla-Jo and her work please see carlajo-mindfulness.com Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used alongside therapy to help you.

This meditation will help you to reintegrate your mind and body allowing stress and anxiety to begin to dissolve. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com

Opening to pleasant experiences allows you to begin to strengthen the parts of your brain that create and notice the sensations of pleasure and happiness. This meditation can help you to create a sense of open hearted calm. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com

This meditation helps you to begin to soften the tension and stress in your body by using the power of the breath. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com

So much of the time we are lost in the past or carried away by the future, mindful walking can help us to come back to the present, to see what is going on for us, and to meet everything that arises with non-judgment and care. When we do this we see more clearly, make wiser choices, and can feel more grounded and calm. Thank you to Kathy and Cyndee for inspiring me to do this. May it help you all on your mindfulness journey. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used alongside therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com

This is a loving-kindness meditation to help you cultivate a sense of connection and belonging. For more information on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health then please seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that, they can be used along-side therapy work to support you. Photo by Mike Scheid

If you are new to mindfulness adding counting the breaths can help to aid concentration. This meditation will help you to focus on one thing at a time and allow you to begin to feel a sense of calm. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com

This Mindfulness of Breathing Practice has less guidance than usual so you can have more space to focus on your practice. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com

Multiple studies now show that practicing gratitude helps your wellbeing and can lower stress levels. This meditation guides you through a simple gratitude practice which can help you to feel a sense of calm and contentment. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com

In the first of this 3 part series, Carla-Jo helps you to begin to settle your body and mind so you can feel in a place of calm to help you have a restful sleep. In this eight-and-a-half-minute meditation, we begin with settling the body, finding an area of comfort/safety within that we can use as our home base. Then we move on reciting some simple phrases such as 'may I feel safe and protected. To find out more about Carla-Jo and her work please see carlajo-mindfulness.com Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used alongside therapy to help you. Photo by Ann Savchenka on Unsplash

This breathing space meditation has three parts to it: Arriving, Gathering and Expanding. It can be used as a pause in a busy day or as an emergency meditation to help you feel more calm and clarity in a stressful situation. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com

This meditation helps you to come back to the present moment by connecting with the breath. It helps to stimulate the calming system in your body. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com

In this meditation we practice softening the body. So often throughout the day tension builds up and up leaving us feeling exhausted and uncomfortable. When our body is tense its a reflection of our busy mind. As we soften our body and mind we feel more calm and energised. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com

Loving kindness meditation brings out our natural capacity for connection and love for ourselves. It helps us to feel less separate and alone. In this practice we practice cultivating love for two beings that we have a strong connection to (this can also include pets). Then we imagine them showering us in love and we finish by cultivating love for ourselves. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com

This mindful breathing practice is for those of you looking to start practicing meditation for longer than 3/7 minutes. Connect with your breath and deepen your awareness, cultivate a space of inner trust and calm...begin to see your inner world more clearly so that you can make wiser choices and take better care of yourself. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help to support you. For more information on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com The photograph is by Alex Shutin on UnSplash.

This mindfulness of breathing practice has less guidance than usual so you can have more space to focus on your practice. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help to support you.

This connection meditation helps you to develop compassion for others and in doing so it can help you to feel calm, connected and happy. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com Photo by Hudson Hintze on Unsplash

In this meditation we use our feet as a focus for our mindfulness practice. This can help you to feel more grounded, present and calm. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com

In this kindness to self meditation we gently cultivate a sense of warmth and kindness to ourselves using phrases like 'may I be well'. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com

In this meditation we bring a curious attention to our breath, we deeply explore the physical sensations, moment by moment . By doing this we anchor ourselves in the present moment, we begin to dissolve stress and tension and we see more deeply into the fluid nature of life. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com

This meditation is offered to help you calm your busy mind. Carla-Jo guides you to place your attention on your hands and breath to help you calm the mind down. With practice this can help you to feel a sense of presence and stability. To find out more about Carla-Jo and her work please see carlajo-mindfulness.com Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health then please seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help you. Photo by Harli Marten on Unsplash.

This body scan meditation invites you to gently move your awareness around your body. Try and leave behind any preconceptions about what you should feel and instead try to simply observe what you find with a soft, kind awareness. It can help you to dissolve tension and stress allowing you to feel a sense of calm. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com

In this meditation, we focus our awareness on the movement of the belly/abdomen as we breathe in and out. As well as helping us to cultivate mindfulness, abdominal breathing stimulates the calming/soothing system in the body. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used alongside therapy to help to support you.

In this meditation we imagine a place where we feel safe and allowed to be fully all we are. Cultivating this sense of acceptance and safety can help us to feel calm and peaceful. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com

We can sometimes feel so lost in our mind, so caught up in thoughts that we completely disconnect from our body. When we can begin to bring our awareness back into the body it can help to break the unhelpful thought cycles, it can help you to feel more grounded and present. It can also help you tap into your intuition and connect with who you really are. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com (Photo by Andressa Voltolini)

Take a moment out of your busy day to breathe and cultivate kindness. Kindness is so important to help melt away daily stressors and yet it can often be overlooked. Take 3 or 7 minutes out and bathe in kindness. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com

In this meditation we explore focused and open awareness, with particular reference to the breath. In focused awareness we learn to pay attention to one thing at a time. This can help us to feel a sense of calm stability. With open awareness we can observe how our moment to moment experience is constantly changing, this can help us to live a more harmonious life because we are perceiving it more accurately. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com

In this meditation we open our awareness to become vast like the sky, allowing both pleasant unpleasant experiences to appear and disappear without getting attached to them or judging them. Resting in each moment as it arises, we’re not trying to get anywhere…we are just witnessing with a soft, gentle, kind awareness all that passes by. Practicing this we can cultivate a sense of calm and clarity. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used alongside therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com

Some days we just feel flustered, disconnected, frazzled. Our being is crying out to stop, to pause and to reconnect. In this meditation we bring our awareness to the body and breath, which helps us feel grounded and steady. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com

This meditation helps you to cultivate your present moment awareness. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used alongside therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com

You’ve probably noticed that when you are trying to meditate that there are lots of thoughts popping into your head taking you away from paying attention to your breath. This practice is an opportunity to bring more awareness to this and see if you can begin to let the thoughts go using the breath as an anchor. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used alongside therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com

This meditation uses imagery to help you begin to cultivate kindness towards yourself and can help you feel more peaceful. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com

This meditation can help you to feel calm, reconnected, and steady. Sometimes the business of life can feel overwhelming. In this practice I invite you to connect to your breathing, to feel yourself supported by the earth and I support you in cultivating a tender, gentleness towards yourself. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used alongside therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com The beautiful cover photo is by JJ Ling.

Take this time to reconnect to you, to deeply listen and sense how you are and cultivate self care. In the meditation we practice bringing a loving awareness to all that's arising within. To find out more about Carla-Jo her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help to support you. Photograph is by Kyle Cotterall on Up Splash

This meditation helps you to develop a sense of calm and kindness towards yourself. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com