We recognize that habit-building and good mental health can’t be isolated to just one corner of the internet. Myrth is our favorite tool, but it’s not our only tool. In our regular Recommended Reading series, we’ll share links to articles, books, and other tools that we think you’ll find helpful, interesting, or fun.

This week, we’ve been thinking a lot about mindfulness here at Myrth. Mindfulness helps us be present in the moment, keep things in perspective, and go about our days with clarity and purpose. Here is a round-up of links that we think you’ll enjoy if you’re also curious about mindfulness and want to explore it further.

1. Mindfulness for helping with career transitions. During times of change, it’s normal and common to experience elevated stress levels. Career transitions are particularly fraught, and especially if you’re not just switching jobs but switching industries, too. Mindfulness can help manage the stress of that transition and keep imposter syndrome in check. Here’s a helpful article from the ABA Journal with more on that subject.

You’re not bound by who you thought you should be when you were in your 20s. There was no way for you, as a 20-something, to know what you should be as a 40-something. It’s OK to change. It’s OK to take a detour. … Finally, recognize that you may go through many careers in your lifetime, and this is OK. Give yourself permission to course-correct. 

The Myrth team are no strangers to major career transitions, and we bet you aren’t, either. Next time you face a big professional change, we hope you’ll be able to return to this article and draw on it for support.

2. Mindfulness apps are taking off. If you’re a fan of meditation apps, this article is for you. 

According to a new research study by FactMR, the mindfulness meditation application market was valued at ~US$ 134 Million in 2018 and is estimated to grow by ~7% year-over-year in 2019. - Did you know the Calm app was recently valued at US$ 1 Billion? -Influenced by a multitude of factors, spanning from the ubiquity of 'self-care' trends to growing practices of mental health exercises, the market for mindfulness meditation application is likely to see strong growth over the years to come. Growing preference for meditation as a viable method to unwind is serving as a major sales propellant of mindfulness meditation application market.

We’ve used mindfulness apps before and are big fans of guided meditation (more on that later). Although we’re skeptical of things that encourage more reliance on our phones, an app to guide you through meditation can be really useful, especially if you tend to be easily distracted.

3. Easy mindfulness resources for getting started. Sometimes, it can be overwhelming trying to pick up meditation. It’s easy to get misconceptions about how to meditate the “right” way, especially if you look at how Hollywood and popular culture portrays it. We like this collection of easy resources, including links to several guided meditations (many of them just a few minutes long).

Whenever you bring awareness to what you’re directly experiencing via your senses, or to your state of mind via your thoughts and emotions, you’re being mindful. And there’s growing research showing that when you train your brain to be mindful, you’re actually remodeling the physical structure of your brain. The goal of mindfulness is to wake up to the inner workings of our mental, emotional, and physical processes.

Like we said, we’re big fans of guided meditation here at Myrth. It’s an easy way to start meditating, but it’s also a good way to help keep our meditation practices on track once we’ve progressed further. 

4. Check out this beautiful, sustainable meditation temple. You can meditate anywhere you find yourself, but sometimes it’s really pleasant to practice mindfulness in a space designed to encourage it. Whether it’s a quiet corner of your home or community space where you can meditate with others, a designated meditation station can help keep you focused and centered in your practice. Take a peek at this stunning meditation temple designed from sustainable bamboo and built in Tulum, Mexico.

Although it maintains a powerful, sturdy aesthetic the building is made entirely from bamboo materials and will even provide effective protection from sun and rain to make it ideal for meditation practice and more. ... The arched vaults support each other, co-existing in structural dependency, serving as a reminder to the community of our interdependence and the accomplishments we can achieve when we work together.

We love the idea of a space designed to reflect its purpose, and there’s something really cool about a building that echoes the interrelatedness of the community that uses it. If you get a chance to visit this spot and meditate here, please let us know!