two women having a relaxing time together

How To Use Non-Judgment And Acceptance To Let Go

I don't know about you, but I'm tired of fighting all those things from the past that are holding me back. Those old mindsets, emotions, and triggers that pop into your head at the most inopportune time. As a result, it totally hijacks your level of productivity. How do you get into a non-judgment state-of-mind to release all of these emotions?!? The theme of this week, in its entirety, is inviting in acceptance, compassion, forgiveness, and...
woman in white blazer holding tablet computer

How to Reduce Stress Quickly With Mindfulness in 2023

Mindful Actions got a complete overhaul last week and I am absolutely in love with the new look. I hope this new format will make it easier for you to find podcast and blog posts more easily. The goal is that specific topics and issues will be more searchable. Know that whatever you're dealing with in different seasons of life, there is a mindfulness tactic that can help. The goal of Mindful Actions is to help you with stress management, not...
aerial view photography of woman sitting on blanket while holding mug filled with pink liquid looking sideward

Your Mind Deserves A Break: The 7 Types Of Rest To Make You Feel Better

It's time to rest and relax. We are just going to sit and be today. Nice and simple. Be here, be present, be accepting, be you. One thing I like to remind people is that you can still practice mindfulness and be stressed. You can still meditate and be overwhelmed. That’s WHY we practice these things! They help us cope. They don’t make us perfectly calm and peaceful people. They help alleviate the stress symptoms, but they’ll never fully...
photo of woman sitting on boat spreading her arms

How To Relieve Holiday Stress With Mindfulness and Deep Breathing

I've been reading a lot of books and research recently about the truth and science behind mindfulness, because I'm not here just to gaslight you into believing that everyone can be happy by making a few habit changes. No, I am here to break it down for you, show you the realities of finding your way through mindfulness and meditation,  and to help you learn from the varying moments in your life to create real, long-lasting growth. And that...
photo of woman looking at the mirror

The Struggle With Self Acceptance And Confidence

I've been in a bit of a slump recently, possibly even spanning over a couple of weeks. I'm not really sure when it all started, I just know that I really started to feel it this week. I've been feeling a bit lost and confused and down on myself. In particular with my body image and self acceptance. Listen to this blog post on the podcast below or keep reading! Before I sat down to write this, I did 2 self-love meditations to try and tune in to...
woman open arms while closed eyes smiling photo

How To Live A Good Life With Manifestation And Hard Work

Manifestation is a huge trend right now. There is a lot of misleading information out there surrounding this. So many social media accounts post a positive affirmation and say "like this post to claim it and this will happen to you in 30 days!". I'll be honest, I've participated in some of those posts. It's fun to create good energy around yourself and It's great to imagine receiving something in life that you asked for. It helps to create a...
positive black woman looking at window with purebred dogs

Your Feelings Are Valid, And Other Thoughts On Emotional Support

If you want to listen to this topic, stream it and subscribe on your favorite podcast listening app, or just listen here. Let's talk about feelings today. Which, in all honesty, is something I really hate to talk about. Ask my husband, I hate talking about my feelings, but I'm working on it. I'll listen to other people talk about their own feelings, I just don’t like to talk about mine. Which is why the podcast is perfect because I get...
stressed professional woman

Mindfulness When Experiencing Overwhelm

Question for you, did you read and process this title? I'll give you another second to think about it, and if you want to listen to this short podcast episode, or at least the meditation portion, instead of reading the meditation script here, go for it! How Words & Mindset Matter So, I'm guessing you may have read it to simply know what the topic was going to be about, but you probably didn't think too much in depth about it, which totally...
woman in pink sports bra and black leggings doing yoga on yoga mat

How Mindfulness Can Make You Emotionally Stronger

We all feel weak sometimes. Some of us feel it more often than not. But I want you to know that you are not weak. In fact, you are so incredibly strong. When you better understand your emotions, your triggers, and how your mind and body respond to certain situations, you are able to get out of it sooner. The more you lean into the fear, ignoring your emotions, and allowing the fear to take over, the longer it will take to move on. Use your...
photo of woman standing in front of wooden wall looking away

How Avoiding your Feelings can Make Things Worse

We had some housework and repairs to get done recently, bur I'm an introvert and enneagram 9 and HATE making phone calls and confronting others about their work. Shoutout to everyone else like me! I avoid making appointments that don't have automated systems like the plague. Can we start saying we avoid it like Covid instead of the plague? Too soon? I feel like it's too soon. 😬 But, anyway, so I had to change some appointments around, and I...
a woman taking selfie with her friends

Introverts and Extroverts: How to work better together

The weekends are fun, especially in the spring and summer, but man, I am so glad for Monday to come along where I can sit by myself and just quietly get my work done. I'm an introvert surrounded by a family of extroverts. It's exhausting! I actually see the work week as an opportunity to recharge from the weekend. Anybody else live this backwards life?  It's important to notice this balance. We need to experience the opposite...
two women sitting on white bench

5 Easy Ways to Live Mindfully

People often think that they need to invest a lot of time to create a mindset shift in order to live more mindfully. In fact, it's quite the opposite. Practicing mindfulness can be done in a split second. Literally, a split second. As long as it takes your brain to notice and process what you're doing, that's your mind being triggered to focus and take a break. So here are 5 simple ways you can incorporate mindful living into your life with...
woman in activewear in yoga position

Creating Confidence in Your Decisions with Meditation

How many times have we been confident in a decision only to tell someone about it and immediately begin to doubt ourselves based on their reaction? Yeah? It's not just me, right? Ha! See what I did there? I doubted my own statement by looking for validation from others! Here's the thing. Everyone sees life differently, even when we're dealing with the same exact situation. So we have to learn to honor our own thoughts, while still be accepting...
woman closing her eyes against sun light standing near purple petaled flower plant

Living in Gratitude

Creating a gratitude practice works best when it's done in a manner that works for you. So, you're probably thinking, great, but how do you get to the point where gratitude comes naturally to me?  Glad you asked, that's what I'm here to help with! I created a gratitude series that includes 6 audio meditations (varying in length) + a downloadable gratitude journal where you can mix and match the pages best fit your needs. I hope you love...
woman sitting on brown wooden chair beside coconut

Mindfulness for Stress Relief

Meditation works. No, it won't solve your problems right away for you, but it will make you stronger so that you are both able and willing to start working on solutions on your own. It helps us focus on the things that are most important to us, and let go of the "clutter" in our minds. Mindfulness meditation is a life tool to help you calm down when you're stressed. It helps us get through both the good days and the bad days. Meditation helps...
Finding Beauty in Everyday Life | bethbackes.com | Mindfulness Blog

Finding Beauty in Everyday Life

I did an exercise recently where we learned how to create vision boards. Vision boards have never been my thing. Crafting, ew. But I thought, what the heck, I made a promise to myself to try new things, so let's do this. Flowers and plants have also never been my thing. Plants around me die if I even just look at them in the wrong way. One time, a set of dragon's breath died in my front gardening bed. As I was taking the dead plants to throw in...
Create time to focus on you. Don't stress out by blocking out more time, but instead use the time you already have more wisely.

5 Ways to Practice Mindfulness When you’re Super Busy

The list is simple. Basically, whenever I have a little quiet time so I can reflect on the present moment. 1. Doctors offices, lines, or waiting rooms Mentally scan your body, think about why you're there in the first place. Be present and in-tune with your body so you can give them a full, truthful report. 2. Walking to the office or in between errands I love walking mindfulness practices! It's so simple and makes your walk more enjoyable. All...
Doing basic moves throughout the day is ideal, especially if you're sitting at a desk for long hours. You don't have to put pressure on yourself to fit in an entire workout if your daily schedule doesn't go as planned. Check out some of my quick tips for adding movement and checking your posture while we work the day shift.

How to Keep Your Body Active During the Work Day

You have good intentions to work out, but you're a working mom so your morning workout is never guaranteed. Or your afternoon workout. Or your evening workout. I talk about fitting in spurts of activity throughout the day in my post How to Workout When you don't have Time to Workout, but today we're going to talk about physical activity at work and in the office. I work in higher education, and pre-Covid, one of the easiest ways for me to get...
You know lemon water can boost your morning routine, but you don't always have time to cut and squeeze a fresh lemon. Trust me, I've been there! Check out my hydration pro-tip on making lemon ice cubes to simplify the prep-time and improve your morning.

Hydration Pro-Tip: Lemon Water Ice Cubes

I have another hydration hack for you that I'm super excited to share. Problem: You know a glass of lemon water is one of the best things for you first thing in the morning but you don't have the time, energy, or brain function to cut and squeeze a lemon before your coffee. You've also tried pre-cutting the lemons and storing the slices in the fridge, but they never stay good long enough so you ended up tossing them anyway. Sound familiar?...
Dry July: Why I'm swapping out alcohol for water

Dry July: Why I’m Swapping Alcohol for Water this Summer

Unpopular opinion: I started the "Go Dry In July" challenge. I follow a few heart health organizations on social media who have been promoting this, and I'm hopping on board. For on thing, I am so over the "mom needs a drink" culture. Mom doesn't need a drink. Mom needs to hydrate and eat healthy so that we're the best we can be for ourselves, our kids, and our jobs. Alcohol will not help us in any of those aspects. Plus, I've pretty much had...

© 2017-2023 Mindful Actions. All rights reserved.