There are truly some people out there doing some amazing work. Dan Pink used to be Al Gore’s speechwriter, but now he is a career analyst helping companies redefine what motivates their executives and employees. If you haven’t ever checked out TED talks, they’re worth getting into. Not all of them will “roll your socks up and down,” as my wife says, but you may find many of them really illuminating. In this talk, Dan Pink discusses the secret behind what motivates us. In my past career, I was in sales and management, and the companies always provided heavy financial incentives and trips for doing well. Dan Pink says this is a less effective way of helping you approach your life to get the job done.

There is a tradition on the Mindfulness and Psychotherapy blog. Every Monday, I cite a quote or a poem that is related to mindfulness and psychotherapy in some way and then explore it a bit and how it is relevant to our lives. For me, quotes and poetry can often sink me into a state of greater understanding. This is a special day as it marks the release of A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Workbook. So, I'm going to begin with something from the book. We open up A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Workbook with a very appropriate poem by Mary Oliver, entitled "The Journey": One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began, though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice— though the whole house began to tremble and you felt the old tug at your ankles. “Mend my life!” each voice cried.

There is a tradition on the Mindfulness and Psychotherapy blog. Every Monday, I cite a quote or a poem that is related to mindfulness and psychotherapy in some way and then explore it a bit and how it is relevant to our lives. For me, quotes and poetry can often sink me into a state of greater understanding. So for today, here is a quote by Rumi: Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.

There is a tradition on the Mindfulness and Psychotherapy Blog. Every Monday, I cite a quote or a poem that is related to mindfulness and psychotherapy in some way and then explore it a bit and ...

On January 16th, 2009 The Mindfulness and Psychotherapy Blog was birthed and I want to express my gratitude to John Grohol and all the readers who have been a part of this whether you just read a post and took something from it or whether you have been active in commenting or even retweeting. Looking back on this year, my intention was for this blog to be an avenue for all of us to interact around mindfulness as it touches the many facets of life. I tried to create posts that were practical and accessible and that we could actually read and apply in our daily lives. On Mondays I started "Mondays Mindful Quote" where I posted a quote from leaders such as Thich Nhat Hanh, Pema Chodron, Mother Teresa, Hafiz, Rumi, the Dalai Lama, and many more. During the second half of the year I began to bring you interviews with leaders in the field such as Jack Kornfield, Jeff Brantley, Sharon Salzberg, Zindel Segal, Sylvia Boorstein, Tara Brach, Fred Luskin and more.

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There is a tradition on the Mindfulness and Psychotherapy Blog. Every Monday, I cite a quote or a poem that is related to mindfulness and psychotherapy in some way and then explore it a bit and ...

The Mindful Mood that is... Often times the day seems to become routine and before we know it piles of responsibilities from work and home have stacked up and we feel like chickens running around with their heads cut off. I suggest taking a couple minutes to practice the video below 2-3 times a day for a week to come down from the busy mind, focus your attention, ground to the present moment and refocus to what you're really intending to pay attention to in the moment. It may help to actually put it in your calendar at first. When can you practice? Look for the "in-between" moments. These are moments before you are about to take a break or while you're waiting for someone. As you get the hang of this you won't need this video and can practice it when parked in the car, in the bathroom, or while waiting in line. Note: When the mind says, "forget it, this isn't going to work," as much as possible, just note that judgment as a mental event in the mind that is happy to keep you at status quo. Your work is to become aware of these types of thoughts, let them be, and come back to this practice. Click through to see the video...

  Four months ago I wrote a blog post titled 10 Quotes for a Mindful Day. Since then I began an increasingly popular tradition called Mondays Mindful Quote where every Monday I post a quote that I ...

Tom was taking a Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) course with me and really had wonderful intentions to do the practices that were assigned week to week. However, at the time he was to sit ...