Download the free Mindful App
 
subscribe

Personal Essays

First-person stories about what mindfulness looks like in real, messy, everyday life. These essays are honest, personal, and often funny - written by people who've found that paying attention changes everything.
Illustration of a woman with orange hair and a pensive expression against a light green background. The image has a mixed-media or collage-style appearance, combining photographic and painted elements.
Depression & Grief
Rebirth 

After experiencing a painful break-up, Misha Becker discovers that in every moment is a death and a rebirth. In the gap is the opportunity for healing and a fresh start. Read More 

  • Mindful Staff
  • August 31, 2010
Close-up of a wilted red flower hanging downwards against a blurred blue and gray background, conveying a somber and melancholic mood.
Depression & Grief
Death Don’t Have No Mercy: A Memoir of a Mother’s Death 

When the time comes is it possible to override the instinct to hold on? Mariana Caplan chronicles the intimate and universal experience of her mother’s death, recounting the resistance, the acceptance, and the many unplanned feelings in between.   Read More 

  • Mindful Staff
  • August 31, 2010
egg on toast in a row of toast
Eating & Body Image
What to Eat in the Morning? 

Food writer John Thorne, author of Pot on the Fire, muses over breakfast—its purpose, its constitution and what it means for your day. Read More 

  • Mindful Staff
  • August 30, 2010
A close-up image showing a black smartwatch with a rectangular screen and three side buttons placed next to a black smartphone on a glossy, reflective surface. The smartwatch is in the foreground, with the smartphone slightly blurred in the background.
Magazine
Taking Back the Time 

Have we equated productivity with speed? Margaret Wheatley explains how slowing down just might be the difference between ideas and action. Read More 

  • Margaret Wheatley
  • August 26, 2010
A person is leaping from one rock formation to another under a clear blue sky. The text overlay reads,
Magazine
Don’t Be So Sure 

Margaret Wheatley explains why now, more than ever, we need a curiosity and a willingness to sit in uncertainty. Read More 

  • Mindful Staff
  • August 26, 2010
Two men sitting at a table.
Magazine
Only the Lonely 

When Meg Federico helped start up a program for lonely older people and their caregivers, she didn’t know what she was getting into: a goofy, loving atmosphere where people come to life and living in the present is the only option. Read More 

  • Mindful Staff
  • August 25, 2010
A group of people holding signs.
Magazine
Dead Silence 

Have we chosen numbness over social and political involvement? Author Margaret Wheatley on silence as a choice, and the cost of not speaking up. Read More 

  • Margaret Wheatley
  • August 25, 2010
Martin luther king jr.
Loving-Kindness & Compassion
Surrendered to Love 

How Martin Luther King's vision of life based on a love ethic could heal our wounded world. Read More 

  • Mindful Staff
  • August 25, 2010
A blurry image of a flower.
Magazine
Using the Energy of Anger 

“Why is it so hard to awaken?” asks Ezra Bayda, author of At Home in the Muddy Water: A Guide to Finding Peace within Everyday Chaos. “In part it’s because the life force, or energy, necessary to awaken is leaking away from morning until night.” Read More 

  • Mindful Staff
  • August 25, 2010
Ad for a mindfulness app with meditations, articles, and a section sidebar, shown on a phone held in hand.