Guided Practice | Connect With Anyone By Experiencing Common Humanity
A practice that uses visualization and intention-setting to prepare your mind for whatever all the crazy humans in your life might throw at you, making you better at automatically responding in a more compassionate, patient and understanding way.
MoreWanna Be Less Judgy? The Solution: Stop Trying NOT to Be Judgmental | Ep. 115
Do you find yourself making assumptions, criticisms or unfair evaluations of the people you serve or work with. Trying to stop judgmental thinking can be counterproductive so we explore surprising ways to master your judgy mind.
MoreService Prep Practice | Mobilize Your Inner Service Superhero
Activation of your very best qualities before service or a big moment you want to feel super prepared for
MoreWin By Letting Go of Service Outcomes | Ep. 111
Good service outcomes are unreliable and it’s painful when we invest a lot of love into a service scenario that doesn’t bear fruit. How do we let go of outcomes without losing our service spark?
MoreCommunicate Mindfully & Transform Your Life | feat. Dan Huston | Ep. 98
Communication is everything, right? So how come more people don’t learn how to really be THERE for it? Dan Huston is the O.G. mindful communication educator and has so much profound wisdom to share.
MorePractice: Give. Take. Transform.
This is a short guided practice that I consider to be martial arts training for emotional resilience. Exercise attention and feeling capacity as though it’s a muscle.
MoreGuided Practice: Mindful Drop-In
Strategy and quick practice to consistently drop into greater self-awareness throughout the day – have more calm, focus and authority over your emotions throughout the day. This is basically the essentials of mindfulness packed into 10 minutes or so.
MorePractice: Emergency Lifeline | Self-Compassion
A game-changing in-the-moment mindfulness practice that will allow us to meet the reactions we have with the kindness and support of a good friend.
MorePrinciples To Re-Inspire How We Approach Modern Service
Originally published here for the Institute of Organizational Mindfulness. Ichi-go Ichi-e is a Japanese parable translating to One Encounter, One Opportunity. It’s become the slogan of the practice of tea ceremony, which for many Asian cultures is the quintessential means of practicing mindfulness through action. It reveals how doing a simple daily ritual with […]
MoreCustomer Service Rockstars Make Friends with Repetitive Tasks
Originally published here for the Institute of Organizational Mindfulness. A new job or role might start out as a love affair. But so often after the first few months, it loses its lustre. We begin to feel deadened by the repetition of seemingly menial tasks. Why does repetition do this and can we change […]
MoreMindful Service Is An Inside-Out Game
Originally published here for the Institute of Organizational Mindfulness. Expand Your Communication Skills Have you ever gone to eat somewhere and everything is “perfect”? The person serving you recommends a wine pairing with a sniper’s precision. It arrives with surgically-executed food, both of which are timed like a Swiss monorail. And yet the experience was […]
MoreMaster The Essential Service Tool: Attention | Ep.78
A core discussion on mindfulness and service. The straight essentials to implement mindfulness into your service life and watch it transform. And a deep look at one of the most important things to understand with our practice: the struggles with mindfulness are valuable, mindful growth experiences.
MoreMake Mindfulness Stick To Your Service Culture | feat. Andy Lee | Ep. 75
Tap into the the wisdom, humanity and academic rigor of Andy Lee, founder of the legendary mindfulness program at Aetna Health. Now on a mission to help organizations weave mindfulness into its culture, we discuss the challenges and profound possibility of these practices to transform the workplace.
MoreReal Service Skills | Also: New Course Announcement | Ep. 71
About the service skills you most need but aren’t taught. Ones I’ve gathered from years of learning and travel and my upcoming course that will distill them into practices and principles that any service-oriented person can use.
MoreSelf-Hospitality Pt. 9: You Don’t Have To Tell Your Mind How To Meditate
The resulting experience of each meditation doesn’t matter nearly as much as your mindset around your experiences. Meditation is not a state you reach, but an attitude you maintain.
MoreSelf-Hospitality Pt. 8: Restore Yourself With The Parasympathetic Nervous System
The resulting experience of each meditation doesn’t matter nearly as much as your mindset around your experiences. Meditation is not a state you reach, but an attitude you maintain.
MoreSelf-Hospitality Pt. 7: Meditation is Not a Performance, It’s a Medicine
The resulting experience of each meditation doesn’t matter nearly as much as your mindset around your experiences. Meditation is not a state you reach, but an attitude you maintain.
MoreSelf-Hospitality Pt. 6 – It Doesn’t Matter What The Experience Is
The resulting experience of each meditation doesn’t matter nearly as much as your mindset around your experiences. Meditation is not a state you reach, but an attitude you maintain.
MoreHow Mindful Service is a Universal Skill (Serving Even When There’s No One Around To Serve Pt. 2) | Ep. 63
Realize how moments of crisis like are something you’ve been training your whole life for – through every opportunity you’ve taken to pay attention, be compassionate, understand things better, and choose to de-escalate rather than react.
MoreSelf-Hospitality Pt. 5: How To Meditate Effortlessly
Successful meditation is effortless meditation. Not in the way of “I’m such an expert at it that it seems effortless.” You can be effortless during the first meditation you ever do. Effortlessness doesn’t mean there’s no discomfort. It doesn’t mean you’re having the most luxurious imaginable experience – relaxed, floating beyond the tension of the […]
MoreSelf-Hospitality Pt. 4: Focus Works Differently in Meditation
So when you learn meditation, you’re given something to put your attention. Perhaps it’s your breath or, in my case, a mantra. Your first instinct might be to focus on that thing wholeheartedly. But in meditation ease and openness is truly what gives the practice power, and nothing takes you further from that than the […]
MoreSelf-Hospitality Pt. 3: How Master Meditators Are No Different Than 12-Year-Olds in Malls
When are shopping malls fun? When you’re a teenager. At any point in your adult life. At any point in your pre-teen years while getting dragged along by your parents. Some combination of options other than just a) (Really? Not possible.) Tell me you answered a). That’s my answer every time. Some people may enjoy […]
MoreSelf-Hospitality Pt. 2: Unlock The Power of Your Intention
One might think that meditation is a matter of attention – and we can measure our success by where our awareness is at any given time. For example, we have a mantra to repeat or breath to focus on and the amount of time that we keep ourselves locked on it can then somehow equal […]
MoreSelf-Hospitality Pt. 1: Meditation Essentials
Because, y’know, we’re all monks now. Welcome to the new series Self-Hospitality. Its purpose is to give you everything you need to get the most out of meditation, self-care and this fresh new life we get to live with such powerful tools at our disposal. The weekly tools and principles I share will help you […]
MoreObservation Skills: They’re Truly Being Mastered When They’re Used On Yourself (Service Skills You’re Never Taught Pt. 4) | Ep. 59
True service comes from the inside out. Within you is a still, wise, and infinitely broad awareness that can anchor you in the most chaotic of situations. Learn to access this “Buddha self” and remain tethered to it regardless of what the rest of your mind is doing.
MoreSay What You Mean…And Speak To Our Shared Dignity – Mindfully Communicating w/ Oren Jay Sofer | Ep. 56
Happy 2020! The podcast is starting off the year with a very special interview on the transformative power of mindful communication. Truly listening, understanding, and speaking to what’s really needed can make the humblest of interactions feel truly alive. And my discussion with Oren Jay Sofer, the subject’s most definitive voice, was bursting with such aliveness at every moment. So many insights. So much value.
MoreThe Beginner’s Mind: Serving With True Wisdom By Forgetting Everything (You Think) You Know | Ep. 50
It’s the podcast’s 50th episode anniversary so I am discussing principles to take your service mindset to the next level – and it involves a starting from an open, unbiased perspective. The Zen principle of “The Beginner’s Mind” involves a sort of “wise innocence” that allows maximum readiness, learning and growth from any given moment without abandoning all the knowledge and skill you’ve developed over the years.
MoreChallenging The Limitations of Corporate Mindfulness Training – Interview w/ Catherine Sherlock | Ep. 35
Catherine Sherlock is going against the grain to deepen the power of mindfulness training on the organizational level.
MoreWhen You Can Truly Provide Care…You Also Give It To Yourself – Interview w/ Janet Fouts | Ep. 33
Discussion that looks at mindfulness, emotional intelligence, monotasking, caregiving and hospitality principles that work in any setting.
MoreIs What I Have To Say An Improvement on Silence? – Interview w/ Rebecca Shafir, M.A.CCC | Ep. 31
Conversation with Rebecca Shafir, speech pathologist, mindful communication and business coach and author of Zen of Listening (a very important book for me). We discuss communication techniques, pitfalls and mindful living.
MoreMindfulness & Owning Emotional Sensitivity – Interview w/ Rachael Kable | Ep. 28
Rachael Kable’s mission is educate the world on simple, practical and methodical ways of incorporating mindfulness into every aspect of your life. She tells her story and discusses how mindfulness helps harness the potential of emotional sensitivity.
MoreOne Order of the Good Life…Oh, Um, Extra Real, Please – Interview w/ Cory Hardaker Pt. 2 | Ep. 23
The conclusion of our wonderful discussion about life, the spiritual journey and all the silliness and hardship we need to embrace along the way.
MoreEnlightenment…With A Side of Grit – Interview w/ Cory Hardaker Pt. 1 | Ep. 22
Funny, insightful and super real discussion with Cory Hardaker, a meditation and martial arts teacher and host of the Mindfulness of Doom podcast
MoreThe Zen of Work: How Growing Professionally & Personally Doesn’t Always Mean Doing “Important Stuff” | Ep. 21
I discuss my present situation and share stories and cases that reveal how you’re always growing and evolving…even (sometimes especially) when you’re “going backwards” .
MoreLiving Your Best Life By Asking Your Best Questions – Interview w/ Marc Champagne of the KYŌ App | Ep. 15
An interview with the co-founder of the KYO App discussing the power of journaling and asking yourself the right questions to improve your life
MoreEverything Improves When You Live As An Information Gatherer | Ep. 07
Mastering the art of information gathering to free you from the challenges of difficult people.
MoreMeditation: The Most Powerful Tool For Upgrading The Way We Serve | Ep. 03
Learn how to meditate effortlessly and adapt powerful ancient principles to your daily life.
MoreGood Service = Self Awareness: Interview w/ Kevin von Behren | Ep. 01
Founder of Fly Awake Tea House in Portland Oregon shares his deep sense of service and what it takes to create a unique gathering space.
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