Present Moment Mindfulness and Yoga

08/05/2025

😆Everyone has their own style of meditation...you do you.

08/03/2025

🐾 The Mindful Dog: Lesson 1
📸 Featuring Lincoln, 4mo rescue puppy, fulltime heart-melter

After a full-speed game of fetch, Lincoln flopped down in the grass like a tiny, furry Buddha.
He had every reason to hold onto that tennis ball. He earned it. He caught it. He loved it.
But instead—he gently let it go.

Why?
Because he knew:
Letting go = another round of joy.
Clinging = game over.

Sometimes our nervous system wants to hold tight to whatever feels safe or familiar—even when more joy is possible.
But like Lincoln, we can learn to trust what’s next.
Release. Rest. Reset. Fetch again.

🐶❤️ Over 3 million dogs enter shelters each year. If you’re thinking of adopting—please do.
Lincoln says thank you.
Probably while chewing something.

07/20/2025

Pause and think about this.

The difference between fitting in and belonging.

07/11/2025

🧘‍♀️Mindful Living Tip of the Week
Focus Is a Power Move

We talk about freedom like it’s doing whatever we want.
But real freedom? Is choosing where your attention goes.

Because every time you’re pulled into a ping, a scroll, a “just one more thing,” you’re not deciding. Your distractions are.

💡 Here’s the brain science:
Every task switch drains your prefrontal cortex (the part that helps with focus, planning, and emotional regulation). And your brain can’t multitask. It can only toggle (badly).

🎯 This week, try this:
Set a timer for 8 minutes.
Choose one thing.
Be all in.
When your mind wanders or the phone pings (it will), just come back.

🧠 Why 8 Minutes?
Because even 8–12 minutes of focused attention a day can rewire your brain for clarity and calm (based on research by Dr. Amishi Jha and others). It’s short enough to stick with.
And long enough to build real change. That’s neuroplasticity in action.

✨ What’s one thing this week that deserves your full presence?




Please share with someone who needs to practice focusing...

06/30/2025

Excited to share another published article I wrote for the magazine Taste For Life!

Feel like you're stuck in survival mode? You may be more ready to move forward than you realize.

https://tasteforlife.com/blogs/alyson-phelan/more-ready-you-realize

Feel like you’re stuck in survival mode? You may be more ready to move on than you realize.

06/27/2025

We had the honor of spending the evening with the monks of Gaden Shartseon on their Sacred Earth and Healing Arts of Tibet Tour. We learned about Karma: Cause and Effect. The teaching explored how our actions shape our lives and how awareness can open the door to transformation.

The purpose of the tour is to share with all people the monks’ culture, as well as practices and paths to inner peace and compassion.

Tours like this help fund the construction of essential facilities at Gaden Shartse along with monastic life there.

So very honored to have had this opportunity. 🧘‍♀️🙏

06/24/2025

✨Client Spotlight: Angela’s Quiet Strength and Radiant Care

Angela is the kind of person whose smile says it all. Open-hearted, generous, and deeply attuned to the people around her. A devoted nurse, wife, mother, and grandmother, she came to the Mindful Living Group in the wake of something many caregivers know too well: stress, overwhelm, and the deep fatigue that follows giving so much to others for so long.

During the height of the pandemic, Angela showed up for her patients with courage and care. At home, she continued to give to her family, her grandchildren, and her aging mother, whom she supports with steady love and presence. She arrived at our group with her daughter Michelle, seeking tools to manage burnout and restore her own sense of balance.

🌿 What she found was a place to slow down, breathe, and reconnect. And what she brings is a calming presence that touches everyone in the room. Angela listens with intention, speaks with kindness, and reminds us that tending to your own nervous system isn’t selfish, it’s necessary.

Outside the group, Angela expresses her creativity through scrapbooking, capturing the stories that matter most. She cheers proudly at her grandkids’ games, stays involved in her community, and offers care in quiet, powerful ways wherever she goes.

🧘‍♀️Angela shows us that resilience isn’t loud—it’s grounded, intentional, and built one moment of presence at a time. We’re honored to have her in this community.

06/21/2025

Our Mindful Living Group had a wonderful time with Sacred Seeing at the Art Museum. Dinner, a guided tour, and a guided meditation...such a beautiful community.

06/17/2025

🧘‍♀️Mindful Living Tip of the Week
Lie Down. Touch the Earth. Start Again.

🛋️ The latest wellness trend?
Lying flat on the floor. No to-do list. No timeline. Just being still.

🌿 But here’s the upgrade:
Take it outside.
Find a patch of grass, a quiet hill, or the backyard you forgot was healing.
Lie down. Let the earth hold you.

Your body knows what it’s doing.
When the world feels shaky, it craves contact with something steady.
And nothing steadier than the ground beneath your feet...or your body.

🧠 Here's what happens:
Body on earth = brain gets the memo: We're safe.
Stress signals start to fade.
Breath slows. Shoulders drop. Thoughts soften.

Try this:
🌱 Lie on the grass for 3 minutes.
Feel the texture. Smell the air. Let your body sink.
Place a hand on your chest. Feel your heartbeat. That’s presence. That’s life.

We don’t always need to figure it out.
Sometimes we just need to lie down and let the world hold us for a minute.

This week, don’t rise and grind until you lie down and root.

06/03/2025

✨Client Spotlight: Hannah’s Legacy of Leadership, Heart, and Mindful Living

Hannah Fairbanks is a true teacher—in the classroom, in the community, and in the way she lives her life.

After years of shaping minds and mentoring student-athletes at Lake Erie College, Hannah’s legacy continues to ripple outward. She was recently honored by the college for her deep commitment to student success and her role as a trusted resource and advocate. Her work has touched generations, and her care continues to be felt far beyond campus.

🌿 Hannah joined the Mindful Living Group to explore ways to navigate everyday stress and stay grounded in the midst of a full, active life. What she found was a space for reflection, reconnection, and community. And what she brings? A steady presence, a kind heart, and a sharp wit that keeps us all paying attention.

As a wife, mother, grandmother, and long-time Painesville resident, Hannah remains deeply involved in her community. She’s a vital part of her church—where she recently helped lead bicentennial celebrations—and continues to support educational and civic life across the region.

📚 In our mindfulness group, Hannah models what it means to live with intention. She welcomes new members with genuine warmth, shares insight with humility, and reminds us that mindful living isn’t separate from the rest of life—it’s woven into how we speak, listen, rest, and care for each other.

💬 Hannah teaches us that leadership doesn’t always look loud—and that strength, presence, and compassion are skills we can all keep learning. She shows up fully, and in doing so, invites the rest of us to do the same.

05/30/2025

🧘‍♀️Mindful Living Tip of the Week
Too Busy to Read This? Exactly. Busy Is a Four-Letter Word.

🗣️Let’s talk about the hustle status symbol we all love to hate:
Busy.

We toss it around like confetti:
“How are you?”
“Busy!”
(No follow-up needed. We’ve all nodded like that means everything’s fine.)

🛑But here’s the nervous system scoop:
“Busy” isn’t just a calendar issue. It’s a full-body experience. And often one that feels like anxiety dressed up in a productivity costume.

The more we glorify it, the harder it is to notice when we’re not okay.

Try this:
🧘 Replace “busy” with the truth.
Next time someone asks how you are, try “I’ve had a full plate lately, and I’m learning to clear it.”
Watch how that shifts the energy (yours and theirs).

📆 Add blank space to your day.
Literally. On your calendar. Like an important meeting with your own nervous system.

🧠 Remind yourself: You don’t have to earn rest or play.
Not with output. Not with efficiency. Just by being a human who occasionally needs a minute (or ten).

Being “not busy” isn’t lazy.
It’s a radical act of nervous system kindness.

05/23/2025

🧘‍♀️Mindful Living Tip of the Week
Overstimulated? Try a Mini Digital Detox

📱 Yes, I get it. You're reading this… on your phone.
And here I am, telling you to spend less time on your device—while you’re on your device. Trust me, I see the irony. 😁

But hear me out.

Your nervous system wasn’t designed for this much input. Every ping, scroll, and swipe keeps your brain on high alert. And while your phone’s dishing out dopamine, your body’s quietly asking for a break.

That’s where mindfulness steps in—not to shame your screen time, but to give you an off-ramp.

Try this:

🔌 1. Choose a No-Scroll Zone
Pick one part of your day (mornings, mealtimes, or the last 30 minutes before bed for instance) and make it screen-free. Give your brain space to exhale.

🌿 2. Swap the Scroll for a Sensory Reset
Instead of reaching for your phone, step outside. Feel the air. Run cool water over your hands. Stretch. These small sensory shifts help reset your nervous system.

🧠 3. Notice the Reach
That moment you instinctively grab your phone? Pause. Ask yourself: “What am I really needing right now?” A breath? A break? A bit of calm? That question alone can change the moment.

📵 I’m not saying ditch your phone.
Just don’t let it run the show.

So go ahead! Like this post… and then put your phone down. 😉
Even ten mindful minutes can make a difference.