As a retired teacher, I absolutely love this. I am now teaching yoga and tai chi to senior citizens and we do short meditations. I am so insecure about it but am gradually getting more comfortable. Being vulnerable is the key! Thank you for being such a great teacher. Being my authentic self seems to be the key.
I began bringing meditation and qi-gong to the beginning of my classes a few years ago. It really helps the students let go of whatever else is happening at school and be present for my lesson. As a music teacher, I know singing is the best way to regulate the nervous system, but some kids can't do that until they are relaxed and focused. I just made up how to teach it to kids since I'm not officially trained, but most of the skills of a teacher are general for teaching pretty much anything.
Nice Rebecca! Re: the skills of a teacher, yes many of them are quite transferable, especially the modelling. Most of my school teacher friends who use mindfulness / meditation in their classrooms - and I know many who do this - guide a simple 2 or 3 minute "getting settled" practice of some kind, very general. Some so a breath practice, some do a "5-4-3-2-1" grounding type practice - depends a bit on the age of the students.
What do you do exactly? Appreciate you sharing your experience!
I find moving meditation, like Qi-gong, most beneficial for students who are sitting all day long. There are many ways to practice this so I start by spin-tapping, which is like having a coat on your shoulders and twisting back and forth so the sleeves hit you...except no coat. You relax and let your arms do the swinging and tapping on your body- this is a wonderful way to relax the upper body and clear the mind.
That's for the first 3-5 minutes of class; the students come in and know to put their stuff down and start spinning. Once everyone has arrived and settled in, then I do stretching, mostly targeting their shoulders and neck since they all have "text neck" these days, and moving into a standing flow (similar to tai chi, but more repetitive so easier to follow) with guided breathing, inhales and exhales.
We always end standing still, hands on lower belly, breathing deep and slow, and I tell them something that helps them with grounding, gentleness to self, or being kind. All in all, it's about 10 minutes at the start of class. Even if I don't have a long class time, it's worth it because then they are more focused, less behavior issues, and everyone is more relaxed and ready to get to work.
I also end my classes with Gratitude Circle, which is a quick "one thing you are grateful for" (they can also pass) around the room, and that's it!
You were the one who encouraged me to start guiding meditations a couple of years ago, and it was in retrospect a major turning point for my practice (and my life in general). I’m not only guiding meditation regularly, I’m actually using your toolkit to encourage others to do it too. We’re infecting the world like a slowly creeping fungus of mindfulness… <ew>
Jeff, I so love that you are actively pursuing the agenda to intentionally spread the practice and empowering each of us to do the same. I place so many burdens on myself to 'get it right' that I've never offered to guide a short meditation, although I've been sitting daily for nearly ten years.
Even when a friend has shown repeated curiosity about my practice, I've been reluctant to suggest that we try a short meditation together for all the reasons you mention. My fear that I'll stumble to find the 'best' words to use; or that I'll make it too complicated; or that I should explain more about the practice before we sit together; and of course a fear that the response to the way I guide it yields a big shrug of indifference . . . .
The script is a great place to start, and as you were guiding it I heard myself make small changes that I know I would find helpful. With my tendency to over prepare, I'm likely to listen to this a several more times. That way I can internalize the steps of the guidance instead of reading the script while sitting with another person.
Thank you, my friend. 🙏🏻 ❤️
(N.B. even boiling an egg takes a bit of guidance from someone with experience.....)
It does! I’ve had two excellent chefs give me two different techniques for boiling the perfect egg and I still end up with chalky yokes. Maybe that makes it an even more appropriate analogy 🤣
I copied Shinzen when I started, and I was always reading, which would sound very wooden. Eventually, I got the hang of it.
Over the years, I have listened to some truly terrible meditation teachers guide practices. Or at least, I thought they were terrible at the time. Then at the end, all these hands go up and people share how much they loved the meditation, how it helped them. Made me realize I really don’t know what works for different people. Doing your thing with the intention to be supportive often ends up being just that for someone. It’s kind of amazing.
Which isn’t to say everyone should walk around dispensing “wisdom” God help us, I recoil often enough when I hear my own. Guiding a minimal practice is different matter.
Peer-led is the unlock. People trust a friend fumbling through it more than a teacher who has it perfect. The expert voice is the actual barrier most of the time.
I heard! I got a lifetime subscription to Calm because I like Jeff’s daily meditations so much. Totally bummed out that he is not doing daily Calm meditations anymore!!
Good to have you here though Elaine. Very Happy to give you a free subscription to Home Base - Calm do lots of other good stuff, and I still have a lot of meditations on there…
Hi Elaine! I work with Jeff here at Home Base and while his meditations are still on the Calm app, there are no new meditations being recorded and the main place for all his new writing and recorded meditations is right here on Substack.
This is the note he shares at the bottom of all his posts here:
Did you find me on Calm or Happier? While the meditations I made for the apps live on in perpetuity, I’m no longer paid to record new meditations for them. My latest work happens here, and becoming a paid subscriber is the best way to support that.
"I'm boiling an egg" is the euphemism I'll be using from now on when fam members see me meditating (obviously) and ask me, earnestly, "Oh, sorry, are you meditating?" :D
I first started meditating with you when you came to Calm. I absolutely loved your 30 Day Meditation and recommended it to so many people. I had been with Calm since 2018 but this was so different. So vulnerable. I am so happy another Calm subscriber posted you were now on Substack. I have done several of your YouTube Do Nothing meditation over the years. Thank you for sharing your meditations here too.
How timely: I was just sending an email to my employer's training head about the possibility of educational reimbursement for a meditation teaching certification... It's good to remember that we can share this without credentials!
Nice Jeff! - I hope you do that certification and get reimbursed! Super helpful and sometimes essential to take a course if you’re planning to guide meditation in a professional context. Plus there’s great learning when you do these programs, you’re usually in a cohort of other meditators and you’re personally meditating a lot and sharing about practice and you get so much good experience.
But if you’re just gonna be organizing and holding space for people to meet and do some meditation, maybe occasionally guide a practice yourself, or press play on one of the apps… I think certification is overkill
Thanks so much, Jeff! I'm definitely leaning towards something more professional, particularly offering meditation guidance at work. But mostly I want to share meditation practice competently... whatever the context. My 5 years of practice have brought so much joy and calm; would love to spread some of that around. Thank you for sharing your own experience and knowledge - you demonstrate that practice can also be fun!
Well I’m certainly in a better place now after having a grrrr type morning. Your previous initial hello chat about remembering to simply meditate to settle yourself down has now made me calm enough to actually type! We are having a get together at our church next week to chat about our way to progress having now sold our listed church (long story, won’t hack on…!) but meditation is on our list. I can’t imagine why I’m looking forward to talking to others about this!
Thank you Jeff !! I so appreciate of you and this movement ! I start every coaching session with meditation and I find it so beneficial to us both . I had no idea how to lead and just I learned from you and others . I find it so gratifying when I hear how much better they feel afterwards. :)
I am sitting here with my 7 year old granddaughter who is watching Bluey on YouTube. I played this and meditated in and out. For me, I am learning to meditate in non traditional ways because I am in them more than I am traditional. I wish I could say my 7 year old got it but she was just asking when I would be done and if we could play Rummikube, Yahtzee or Trouble.
This is wonderful. After teaching meditation for years, I finally signed up for certification with a very well known teacher. And almost didn’t “pass.” It caused a loss of confidence for a while. I like your take on how we learn from others no matter their level of experience.
Interesting - I wonder what strict criteria they thought you didn't fulfill. I guess it depends a lot on the technique and the context. Everyone can potentially help someone (and vice-versa) - that's the big picture
As a retired teacher, I absolutely love this. I am now teaching yoga and tai chi to senior citizens and we do short meditations. I am so insecure about it but am gradually getting more comfortable. Being vulnerable is the key! Thank you for being such a great teacher. Being my authentic self seems to be the key.
Sheila absolutely totally and 100%
I began bringing meditation and qi-gong to the beginning of my classes a few years ago. It really helps the students let go of whatever else is happening at school and be present for my lesson. As a music teacher, I know singing is the best way to regulate the nervous system, but some kids can't do that until they are relaxed and focused. I just made up how to teach it to kids since I'm not officially trained, but most of the skills of a teacher are general for teaching pretty much anything.
Nice Rebecca! Re: the skills of a teacher, yes many of them are quite transferable, especially the modelling. Most of my school teacher friends who use mindfulness / meditation in their classrooms - and I know many who do this - guide a simple 2 or 3 minute "getting settled" practice of some kind, very general. Some so a breath practice, some do a "5-4-3-2-1" grounding type practice - depends a bit on the age of the students.
What do you do exactly? Appreciate you sharing your experience!
I find moving meditation, like Qi-gong, most beneficial for students who are sitting all day long. There are many ways to practice this so I start by spin-tapping, which is like having a coat on your shoulders and twisting back and forth so the sleeves hit you...except no coat. You relax and let your arms do the swinging and tapping on your body- this is a wonderful way to relax the upper body and clear the mind.
That's for the first 3-5 minutes of class; the students come in and know to put their stuff down and start spinning. Once everyone has arrived and settled in, then I do stretching, mostly targeting their shoulders and neck since they all have "text neck" these days, and moving into a standing flow (similar to tai chi, but more repetitive so easier to follow) with guided breathing, inhales and exhales.
We always end standing still, hands on lower belly, breathing deep and slow, and I tell them something that helps them with grounding, gentleness to self, or being kind. All in all, it's about 10 minutes at the start of class. Even if I don't have a long class time, it's worth it because then they are more focused, less behavior issues, and everyone is more relaxed and ready to get to work.
I also end my classes with Gratitude Circle, which is a quick "one thing you are grateful for" (they can also pass) around the room, and that's it!
Pretty much a perfect routine friend
This is so fabulous!! I’m inspired to bring that into my family routine
You were the one who encouraged me to start guiding meditations a couple of years ago, and it was in retrospect a major turning point for my practice (and my life in general). I’m not only guiding meditation regularly, I’m actually using your toolkit to encourage others to do it too. We’re infecting the world like a slowly creeping fungus of mindfulness… <ew>
Happy to be part of your mycelium web Lori 🤣
Oh, that sounds much more elegant. 😉
So good and thanks as always .. let’s lengthen the Mindful Caravan as we cross the terrain of life 💪🏼🐢
Mindful Caravan ! 🥰🥰🥰 thanks for the community imagery Geoff
Pleasure Suzy 😊🐢
Well said Lori 🙏🏼👌🏻🐢
Fungus and golden nectar chins 🤣
Jeff, I so love that you are actively pursuing the agenda to intentionally spread the practice and empowering each of us to do the same. I place so many burdens on myself to 'get it right' that I've never offered to guide a short meditation, although I've been sitting daily for nearly ten years.
Even when a friend has shown repeated curiosity about my practice, I've been reluctant to suggest that we try a short meditation together for all the reasons you mention. My fear that I'll stumble to find the 'best' words to use; or that I'll make it too complicated; or that I should explain more about the practice before we sit together; and of course a fear that the response to the way I guide it yields a big shrug of indifference . . . .
The script is a great place to start, and as you were guiding it I heard myself make small changes that I know I would find helpful. With my tendency to over prepare, I'm likely to listen to this a several more times. That way I can internalize the steps of the guidance instead of reading the script while sitting with another person.
Thank you, my friend. 🙏🏻 ❤️
(N.B. even boiling an egg takes a bit of guidance from someone with experience.....)
It does! I’ve had two excellent chefs give me two different techniques for boiling the perfect egg and I still end up with chalky yokes. Maybe that makes it an even more appropriate analogy 🤣
I copied Shinzen when I started, and I was always reading, which would sound very wooden. Eventually, I got the hang of it.
Over the years, I have listened to some truly terrible meditation teachers guide practices. Or at least, I thought they were terrible at the time. Then at the end, all these hands go up and people share how much they loved the meditation, how it helped them. Made me realize I really don’t know what works for different people. Doing your thing with the intention to be supportive often ends up being just that for someone. It’s kind of amazing.
Which isn’t to say everyone should walk around dispensing “wisdom” God help us, I recoil often enough when I hear my own. Guiding a minimal practice is different matter.
Peer-led is the unlock. People trust a friend fumbling through it more than a teacher who has it perfect. The expert voice is the actual barrier most of the time.
Thank you Jeff. I will now go forth to see if I can exist without having an agenda today!
ha!
Are you not doing Calm anymore??
I heard! I got a lifetime subscription to Calm because I like Jeff’s daily meditations so much. Totally bummed out that he is not doing daily Calm meditations anymore!!
Me too! Maybe in the future…
Good to have you here though Elaine. Very Happy to give you a free subscription to Home Base - Calm do lots of other good stuff, and I still have a lot of meditations on there…
Hi Elaine! I work with Jeff here at Home Base and while his meditations are still on the Calm app, there are no new meditations being recorded and the main place for all his new writing and recorded meditations is right here on Substack.
This is the note he shares at the bottom of all his posts here:
Did you find me on Calm or Happier? While the meditations I made for the apps live on in perpetuity, I’m no longer paid to record new meditations for them. My latest work happens here, and becoming a paid subscriber is the best way to support that.
Joe Mazza in this thread above, Jeff Warren said “ Very Happy to give you a free subscription to Home Base .” How do I go about accepting his offer?
Just email us at
info@jeffwarren.org
"I'm boiling an egg" is the euphemism I'll be using from now on when fam members see me meditating (obviously) and ask me, earnestly, "Oh, sorry, are you meditating?" :D
🤣🐣
I first started meditating with you when you came to Calm. I absolutely loved your 30 Day Meditation and recommended it to so many people. I had been with Calm since 2018 but this was so different. So vulnerable. I am so happy another Calm subscriber posted you were now on Substack. I have done several of your YouTube Do Nothing meditation over the years. Thank you for sharing your meditations here too.
Welcome Laura good to see you here!
How timely: I was just sending an email to my employer's training head about the possibility of educational reimbursement for a meditation teaching certification... It's good to remember that we can share this without credentials!
Nice Jeff! - I hope you do that certification and get reimbursed! Super helpful and sometimes essential to take a course if you’re planning to guide meditation in a professional context. Plus there’s great learning when you do these programs, you’re usually in a cohort of other meditators and you’re personally meditating a lot and sharing about practice and you get so much good experience.
But if you’re just gonna be organizing and holding space for people to meet and do some meditation, maybe occasionally guide a practice yourself, or press play on one of the apps… I think certification is overkill
Thanks so much, Jeff! I'm definitely leaning towards something more professional, particularly offering meditation guidance at work. But mostly I want to share meditation practice competently... whatever the context. My 5 years of practice have brought so much joy and calm; would love to spread some of that around. Thank you for sharing your own experience and knowledge - you demonstrate that practice can also be fun!
Nice Jeff. Never a bad thing to take a professional training, since it helps you a much as the folks you end up supporting!
This one was a godsend today. Thank you, Jeff!!
Well I’m certainly in a better place now after having a grrrr type morning. Your previous initial hello chat about remembering to simply meditate to settle yourself down has now made me calm enough to actually type! We are having a get together at our church next week to chat about our way to progress having now sold our listed church (long story, won’t hack on…!) but meditation is on our list. I can’t imagine why I’m looking forward to talking to others about this!
Thank you Jeff !! I so appreciate of you and this movement ! I start every coaching session with meditation and I find it so beneficial to us both . I had no idea how to lead and just I learned from you and others . I find it so gratifying when I hear how much better they feel afterwards. :)
Thank you Jeff! I’m a high school social studies teacher, and I could not agree with you more that the world really needs to meditate.
I am sitting here with my 7 year old granddaughter who is watching Bluey on YouTube. I played this and meditated in and out. For me, I am learning to meditate in non traditional ways because I am in them more than I am traditional. I wish I could say my 7 year old got it but she was just asking when I would be done and if we could play Rummikube, Yahtzee or Trouble.
I find it’s good to let it percolate in the environment , even the role modeling is a success 👏
It’s not always easy to find a quiet spot so I’ve had to learn adapt.
Thank you
This is wonderful. After teaching meditation for years, I finally signed up for certification with a very well known teacher. And almost didn’t “pass.” It caused a loss of confidence for a while. I like your take on how we learn from others no matter their level of experience.
Interesting - I wonder what strict criteria they thought you didn't fulfill. I guess it depends a lot on the technique and the context. Everyone can potentially help someone (and vice-versa) - that's the big picture