In this meditation, we focus our awareness on the movement of the belly/abdomen as we breathe in and out. As well as helping us to cultivate mindfulness, abdominal breathing stimulates the calming/soothing system in the body. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used alongside therapy to help to support you.

Abdominal breathing meditation cultivates mindfulness and soothes the body's calming system, but it is not a substitute for professional help in mental health.

Belly Breathing

If you are new to mindfulness adding counting the breaths can help to aid concentration. This meditation will help you to focus on one thing at a time and allow you to begin to feel a sense of calm. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com

Counting breaths aids concentration and promotes calm in mindfulness meditation, but professional help is crucial for those struggling with mental health.

Breathing Meditation with Counting

So much of the time we are lost in the past or carried away by the future, mindful walking can help us to come back to the present, to see what is going on for us, and to meet everything that arises with non-judgment and care. When we do this we see more clearly, make wiser choices, and can feel more grounded and calm. Thank you to Kathy and Cyndee for inspiring me to do this. May it help you all on your mindfulness journey. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used alongside therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com

Mindful walking brings us back to the present, helps us see more clearly, make wiser choices, and feel grounded and calm. It's not a substitute for professional help.

Walking Meditation - Out and About

In this meditation we practice softening the body. So often throughout the day tension builds up and up leaving us feeling exhausted and uncomfortable. When our body is tense its a reflection of our busy mind. As we soften our body and mind we feel more calm and energised. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com

Softening the body and mind through meditation can create a calm and energized state, but seeking professional help is important for mental health.

Softening the Body and Mind

You’ve probably noticed that when you are trying to meditate that there are lots of thoughts popping into your head taking you away from paying attention to your breath. This practice is an opportunity to bring more awareness to this and see if you can begin to let the thoughts go using the breath as an anchor. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used alongside therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com

Meditation helps bring awareness to thoughts and use breath as an anchor, but it's not a substitute for professional help for mental health.

Mindfulness of Thoughts

Take this time to reconnect to you, to deeply listen and sense how you are and cultivate self care. In the meditation we practice bringing a loving awareness to all that's arising within. To find out more about Carla-Jo her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help to support you. Photograph is by Kyle Cotterall on Up Splash

Practice self-care with Carla-Jo's guided meditation, bringing loving awareness to all that arises within. Seek professional help if struggling with mental health.

Arriving in This Moment

Take a moment out of your busy day to breathe and cultivate kindness. Kindness is so important to help melt away daily stressors and yet it can often be overlooked. Take 3 or 7 minutes out and bathe in kindness. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com

Practice kindness and mindfulness with Carla-Jo's meditations, but seek professional help if struggling with mental health.

Breathing Space with Kindness

This meditation helps you to begin to soften the tension and stress in your body by using the power of the breath. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com

Meditation eases tension & stress in the body through controlled breathing, not a substitute for professional help, supports therapy, by Carla-Jo.

Tension Release Meditation

Some days we just feel flustered, disconnected, frazzled. Our being is crying out to stop, to pause and to reconnect. In this meditation we bring our awareness to the body and breath, which helps us feel grounded and steady. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com

Meditation to ground and steady yourself by bringing awareness to the body and breath; not a substitute for professional help, but can be used with therapy.

Grounding Meditation

This meditation is offered to help you calm your busy mind. Carla-Jo guides you to place your attention on your hands and breath to help you calm the mind down. With practice this can help you to feel a sense of presence and stability. To find out more about Carla-Jo and her work please see carlajo-mindfulness.com Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health then please seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help you. Photo by Harli Marten on Unsplash.

Meditation to calm the mind by focusing on hands and breath. Helps feel presence and stability. Not a substitute for professional help.

Calming Your Busy Mind Meditation

In this meditation we open our awareness to become vast like the sky, allowing both pleasant unpleasant experiences to appear and disappear without getting attached to them or judging them. Resting in each moment as it arises, we’re not trying to get anywhere…we are just witnessing with a soft, gentle, kind awareness all that passes by. Practicing this we can cultivate a sense of calm and clarity. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used alongside therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com

Meditation encourages one to let go of judgement and become aware of the present moment to cultivate calmness and clarity. Seek professional help for mental health issues.

Open Awareness

In this meditation we explore focused and open awareness, with particular reference to the breath. In focused awareness we learn to pay attention to one thing at a time. This can help us to feel a sense of calm stability. With open awareness we can observe how our moment to moment experience is constantly changing, this can help us to live a more harmonious life because we are perceiving it more accurately. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com

This meditation explores focused and open awareness, using the breath as a reference, for a more calm and harmonious life, but professional help is crucial for mental health struggles.

Exploring Focused and Open Awareness

This meditation helps you to cultivate your present moment awareness. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used alongside therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com

Meditation for present moment awareness, not a substitute for professional help, but can support therapy. Visit www.carlajo-mindfulness.com for more.

Mindful Listening Meditation

In this meditation Carla-Jo helps you to soothe your body and mind so that you feel ready for sleep. Often our bodies respond to self care quicker than the mind so in this practice we place a hand on our heart area or our tummy and help to create feelings of connection and safety so that we can feel more settled ready for a deep restful sleep. To find out more about Carla-Jo and her work please see carlajo-mindfulness.com. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health then please seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help you. Photo by Johny Georend on Unsplash

Meditation to soothe body and mind for better sleep. Hand on heart or tummy creates feelings of connection and safety. Not a substitute for professional help.

Soothing Meditation to Help with Sleep

Loving kindness meditation brings out our natural capacity for connection and love for ourselves. It helps us to feel less separate and alone. In this practice we practice cultivating love for two beings that we have a strong connection to (this can also include pets). Then we imagine them showering us in love and we finish by cultivating love for ourselves. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com

Loving kindness meditation cultivates self-love and connection to others, imagining them showering us with love, but it's not a substitute for professional help.

Loving Kindness Meditation

Opening to pleasant experiences allows you to begin to strengthen the parts of your brain that create and notice the sensations of pleasure and happiness. This meditation can help you to create a sense of open hearted calm. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com

Opening to pleasant experiences helps strengthen brain parts that create pleasure & happiness. This meditation creates open-hearted calm. Seek professional help for mental health issues.

Opening to Pleasant Experiences

In this meditation we bring a curious attention to our breath, we deeply explore the physical sensations, moment by moment . By doing this we anchor ourselves in the present moment, we begin to dissolve stress and tension and we see more deeply into the fluid nature of life. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com

Meditation explores breath sensations, dissolves stress, and increases awareness of life; not a substitute for therapy. More at www.carlajo-mindfulness.com.

Exploring the Breath

Multiple studies now show that practicing gratitude helps your wellbeing and can lower stress levels. This meditation guides you through a simple gratitude practice which can help you to feel a sense of calm and contentment. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com

Practicing gratitude through meditation can lower stress levels and improve wellbeing; seek professional help if struggling with mental health.

Gratitude Meditation

In this meditation we imagine a place where we feel safe and allowed to be fully all we are. Cultivating this sense of acceptance and safety can help us to feel calm and peaceful. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com

Imagine a safe place to cultivate acceptance and tranquility; note that meditation is not a substitute for professional help, but can support therapy.

Safe Place Meditation

This meditation helps you to come back to the present moment by connecting with the breath. It helps to stimulate the calming system in your body. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com

Meditation to connect with breath stimulates calming system in the body; not a substitute for professional help, but can support therapy.

Mindfulness of Breathing Meditation

This connection meditation helps you to develop compassion for others and in doing so it can help you to feel calm, connected and happy. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com Photo by Hudson Hintze on Unsplash

Connection meditation promotes compassion to enhance mental health, but professional help is still necessary for severe cases. Visit carlajo-mindfulness.com.

Connection Meditation

This meditation uses imagery to help you begin to cultivate kindness towards yourself and can help you feel more peaceful. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com

Meditation with imagery to cultivate self-kindness and enhance inner peace; not a substitute for professional help, but can be used alongside therapy.

Kindness to Self - Using Imagery

In this kindness to self meditation we gently cultivate a sense of warmth and kindness to ourselves using phrases like 'may I be well'. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com

A meditation practice to develop self-kindness and warmth using phrases like 'may I be well,' but not a substitute for professional mental health help.

Kindness to Self - Using Phrases

This meditation helps you to develop a sense of calm and kindness towards yourself. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com

Meditation promotes self-kindness and calmness. Seek professional help for mental health and use it alongside therapy. Visit www.carlajo-mindfulness.com.

The Kindly Breath Meditation

This body scan meditation invites you to gently move your awareness around your body. Try and leave behind any preconceptions about what you should feel and instead try to simply observe what you find with a soft, kind awareness. It can help you to dissolve tension and stress allowing you to feel a sense of calm. Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used along side therapy to help to support you. For more on Carla-Jo and her work please see www.carlajo-mindfulness.com

Body scan meditation encourages observing your body with gentle awareness to dissolve tension and stress, leading to calmness, not a substitute for professional help.

The Body Scan

This mindfulness practice allows you to steady your mind ready for a new day ahead. We start by focusing on breathing and sensing gratitude, we then set intentions for the day. After your practice, you may feel more able to move through your morning with a sense of gratitude and presence.

A mindfulness practice for steadying the mind and setting intentions for the day, leading to a sense of gratitude and presence in the morning.

Beginning A New Day Meditation

Taking the time to settle your mind and body before sleep is so important to ensure you have a good night of rest. In this short practice, Carla-Jo helps you to begin to calm your body and mind. The meditation finishes with a short gratitude practice which can help you to cultivate feelings of goodness allowing you to have a positive state of mind as you drift off to sleep. To find out more about Carla-Jo and her work please see carlajo-mindfulness.com Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used alongside therapy to help you.

Carla-Jo's short meditation practice helps calm your mind and body for a good night's sleep, including a gratitude practice to cultivate positive feelings.

Winding Down Before Sleep

In the first of this 3 part series, Carla-Jo helps you to begin to settle your body and mind so you can feel in a place of calm to help you have a restful sleep. In this eight-and-a-half-minute meditation, we begin with settling the body, finding an area of comfort/safety within that we can use as our home base. Then we move on reciting some simple phrases such as 'may I feel safe and protected. To find out more about Carla-Jo and her work please see carlajo-mindfulness.com Please note: If you are struggling with your mental health it's really important to seek professional help. These meditations are not a substitute for that but can be used alongside therapy to help you. Photo by Ann Savchenka on Unsplash

Carla-Jo's 8.5-minute meditation helps in calming the mind and body for a restful sleep, using simple phrases and finding a home base for comfort.

Settling Before Sleep - Meditation 1

Take a moment to pause and soak up this poem about listening to your heart. See it as a mindfulness practice. Don’t strive to listen just allow the words to flow to you and trust your heart will take what it needs.

Embrace the poem on listening to your heart as a mindfulness practice, allowing the words to flow and trusting your heart to take what it needs.

Listen to Your Heart

Carla-Jo Geraghty

Mindfulness Teacher and Mentor

AFGHANISTAN

ALAND ISLANDS

ALBANIA

ALGERIA

AMERICAN SAMOA

ANDORRA

ANGOLA

ANGUILLA

ANTARCTICA

ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

ARGENTINA

ARMENIA

ARUBA

AUSTRALIA

AUSTRIA

AZERBAIJAN

BAHAMAS

BAHRAIN

BANGLADESH

BARBADOS

BELARUS

BELGIUM

BELIZE

BENIN

BERMUDA

BHUTAN

BOLIVIA

BONAIRE, SINT EUSTATIUS AND SABA

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

BOTSWANA

BOUVET ISLAND

BRAZIL

BRITISH INDIAN OCEAN TERRITORY

BRUNEI DARUSSALAM

BULGARIA

BURKINA FASO

BURUNDI

CAMBODIA

CAMEROON

CANADA

CAPE VERDE

CAYMAN ISLANDS

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

CHAD

CHILE

CHINA

CHRISTMAS ISLAND

COCOS (KEELING) ISLANDS

COLOMBIA

COMOROS

CONGO

CONGO, THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE

COOK ISLANDS

COSTA RICA

COTE D'IVOIRE

CROATIA

CUBA

CURACAO

CYPRUS

CZECHIA

DENMARK

DJIBOUTI

DOMINICA

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

ECUADOR

EGYPT

EL SALVADOR

EQUATORIAL GUINEA

ERITREA

ESTONIA

ETHIOPIA

FALKLAND ISLANDS (MALVINAS)

FAROE ISLANDS

FIJI

FINLAND

FRANCE

FRENCH GUIANA

FRENCH POLYNESIA

FRENCH SOUTHERN TERRITORIES

GABON

GAMBIA

GEORGIA

GERMANY

GHANA

GIBRALTAR

GREECE

GREENLAND

GRENADA

GUADELOUPE

GUAM

GUATEMALA

GUERNSEY

GUINEA

GUINEA-BISSAU

GUYANA

HAITI

HEARD ISLAND AND MCDONALD ISLANDS

HOLY SEE (VATICAN CITY STATE)

HONDURAS

HONG KONG

Sometimes we can get lost in thoughts about the past, worry about the future and we can feel overwhelmed. This mindfulness meditation helps you rest your body and mind by returning to the present moment. You choose which anchor of attention is best for you out of the options given and then you center yourself with it. The more you practice this, the more able you will notice when you have got lost in overthinking and come back to rest in the present. Photo by Ravi Pinisetti

Rest your mind and body with mindfulness meditation by focusing on the present moment and choosing an anchor of attention that works best for you.

Resting In Presence

Often the mind can feel so busy with never-ending thoughts. We begin to identify with them which can lead us to feeling stressed and affect the way we are in the world. This meditation helps you to ground yourself in your felt sense experience so that you can begin to witness the thoughts for what they are, mental constructs. By practicing this regularly you can begin to loosen the grip your thoughts have on you and start opening to more of a sense of freedom. Photo by Ian Chen on Unsplash

This meditation promotes grounding in the present moment, allowing one to observe thoughts as mental constructs and cultivate a sense of freedom.

You Are Not Your Thoughts Meditation

Sometimes we can feel overwhelmed by our busy thoughts. This mindfulness meditation helps you to learn how to bring your attention to your present moment felt sense experience. We focus on bringing mindfulness awareness to the feet and belly breathing. When we do this we can begin to see the thoughts as clouds just passing through the sky and our attention doesn't get as hooked on them. The more you practice this the more skilled you can become at letting your thoughts go. Remember it is a practice so go gently with yourself. Photo by Bill Huy

A mindfulness meditation to bring attention to present moment sensations, helping to let go of overwhelming thoughts and cultivate awareness.

Letting Go Of Thoughts

This is a gratitude meditation for you to practice at the end of your day or right before bed to help you cultivate a sense of appreciation for your life. When we practice gratitude at this time of day it can also help us to feel more settled and calm for sleep.

Practice gratitude meditation at night to appreciate life and feel calm at bedtime.