Mindfulness Exercises, with Sean Fargo

40 Episodes
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By: Sean Fargo

Practical, trauma‑sensitive mindfulness for everyday life — and for the people who teach it. Expect grounded guided meditations, evidence‑informed tools, and candid conversations with leading voices in the field.Hosted by Sean Fargo — former Buddhist monk, founder of MindfulnessExercises.com, and a certified Search Inside Yourself instructor—each episode blends compassion, clarity, and real‑world application for practitioners, therapists, coaches, educators, and wellness professionals.What you’ll find:• Guided practices: breath awareness, body scans, self‑compassion, sleep, and nervous‑system regulation  • Teacher tools: trauma‑sensitive language, sequencing, and ethical foundations for safe, inclusive mindfulness  • Expert interviews with renowned teachers and researchers (e.g., Sharo...

The Freedom Of Letting Go Of Rescue
Today at 2:00 PM

We explore equanimity as open-handed love for parents and caregivers, moving from control to clear, steady presence. We share boundary-setting phrases, examine vulnerability, and offer tools to stay compassionate without burning out.

• reframing parenting through the open hand of love
• equanimity for providers facing crisis and burnout
• “not my emergency” as a compassionate boundary
• self and other equanimity phrases for daily practice
• vulnerability in letting go of control and identity
• Vedana and feeling tones as anchors for balance
• children as owners of their actions and path
• equanimity as innate, accessible, and trainable


A Guided Practice To Feel Grateful In Ordinary Moments
Yesterday at 10:00 AM

Pause with us for a few quiet minutes that can change the tone of your whole day. We guide a gentle gratitude practice that starts with settling your body and softening your gaze, then moves into noticing one simple detail of your surroundings—light on your skin, the support of the chair, the hush between sounds. From there, we widen the circle to everyday helpers you rarely see: the bus driver who kept you on time, the person who stacked the fruit, the author whose words steadied you. Finally, we land on the breath as a living reminder that th...


Following The Lights That Make You Shine
Last Sunday at 10:00 AM

We guide a short meditation into Howard Thurman’s reminder to ask what makes you come alive and act on it. Through questions and a poem about quiet usefulness, we show how to find patterns that reliably light you up and turn them into simple, repeatable choices.

• soft breath and body scan to settle
• Howard Thurman quote reframing purpose
• reflective questions to spot aliveness
• noticing patterns in vivid, energized moments
• moving beyond vague bliss toward specific contexts
• poem on usefulness over spectacle
• applying patterns to daily choices and actions


Be...


Mindfulness Of Death Helps You Live More Fully
Last Friday at 10:00 AM

What happens when you stop treating death like a problem to avoid and start meeting it with mindful attention? 

We explore mindfulness of death as a grounded, breath-based practice that can jolt you out of autopilot and back into what matters: love, honesty, and the astonishing fact that you’re here at all. 

Instead of turning mortality into a gloomy story, we stay close to direct experience, sensing each inhale as potentially the last and noticing how that changes everything. 

We also get practical about how to share this work responsibly. 

Mindfu...


Softening & Steering (A Guided Meditation)
03/24/2026

We guide a short meditation that begins with birdsong and ends with a steadier, kinder presence in the body. We soften tension and resistance, then steer our attention toward care, values, and the life we want to live breath by breath. 
• settling into the body and the space around us 
• softening breath and releasing unnecessary tension 
• noticing resistance as clenching, tightness, quick breathing 
• spotting resistance as judging or distancing 
• meeting fear with gentle space and care 
• grounding through contact with the seat or ground 
• steering intention toward values, love, and wisdom 
• returning through small...


Mindful Grief
03/24/2026

Grief doesn’t only hurt because we miss someone or something. It also hurts because we keep arguing with it. If you have ever thought, “I should be over this,” or “If I stop being sad, I’m forgetting them,” this conversation offers a different path: mindfulness of grief that treats sadness as a natural human energy, not a verdict on your strength or your love. 

We talk about the “sacred architecture of grief”, the real ways grief moves through the body and nervous system when we stop labelling it as good or bad. We share simple practices for sof...


How Self-Compassion Softens Meditation Resistance And Fear
03/24/2026

We explore how to meet resistance to the present moment with compassion instead of force, especially when mindfulness starts to feel scary. We work through what to say when a client wants to stop because they do not want to “see” themselves, and how to keep the practice gentle, safe, and flexible. 
• why resistance often shows up as tightening, distraction, or avoidance 
• treating ourselves like a friend through kindness and self-compassion 
• how to respond when someone says they want to stop 
• questions that invite safety and clarity rather than pushing 
• asking what someone truly wants from mindfuln...


Overnight Meditation, Self-Compassion, And The Honest Work Of Letting Go
03/23/2026

We explore an overnight meditation that turns into a lesson on pain, compassion, and balance. We trade strategies for naming sensations, breathing with discomfort, mindful eating at home, and finding ease through wise effort and progressive relaxation.

• overnight sit reflections and physical discomfort
• naming sensations instead of labelling pain
• breathing through the whole body and feeling tones
• compassion that includes oneself
• mindful movement as part of practice
• mindful eating at home and temptation triggers
• pausing and outcome reflection for cravings
• moderation as a skillful option
• progressive muscle relaxation and wise effort
•...


Resting With Breath: A Guided Practice For Gentle Presence
03/21/2026

We guide a short meditation on gentle awareness, using breath, body, and emotion as anchors for presence. We explore how simple awareness can hold chaos, restore balance, and connect us to values and care.

• setting the intention to stop striving
• anchoring attention in natural breathing
• noticing sensations, sounds, and thoughts
• meeting emotion as energy in the body
• layering awareness with curiosity and care
• using the mantra simple awareness
• reorienting to the room with steady presence
• carrying gentle awareness into daily life


Become a Certified Mindfulness Medi...


'Just Like Me' Meditation (one of my personal favorites)
03/19/2026

We guide a short, focused meditation that settles the body, opens awareness, and trains compassion through the “Just Like Me” practice. By recognizing shared emotions, pain, and joy, we reduce reactivity and end with a clear wish: may they be well.

• setting posture and grounding through breath
• scanning the body and naming what is predominant
• introducing the Just Like Me framework
• bringing to mind a distant or difficult person
• recognizing shared emotions and suffering
• acknowledging shared peace, joy and happiness
• resting in awareness and observing shifts
• closing with the wish may they be well


Realizing Your Best Moments Almost Never Happened
03/17/2026

Ever notice how your best memories start to fade into the background until they feel ordinary? We flip that script with a guided mindfulness practice built around mental subtraction—the science-backed move of imagining your treasured moment never happened—so its value returns with force. Across just a few minutes, we help you settle the body, pick one meaningful event, and trace the unlikely chain of choices, timing, and support that brought it to life.

We then walk through the near-misses: the unread email, the missed bus that didn’t happen, the small yes you almost didn’t say. T...


How A Three-Minute Gratitude Practice Can Rewire Your Day
03/15/2026

We guide a step-by-step gratitude practice that starts with one simple sensation and widens to unseen helpers, trusted tools, loved ones, and even challenges. The session closes with thanks for body, mind, and the chance to pause.

• noticing a single present-moment comfort
• appreciating unseen helpers and shared labor
• honoring tools and the effort within them
• thanking a loved one and sensing the heart
• naming one bright spot from today
• exploring gratitude toward a challenge
• closing with thanks for body, mind, and practice


Become a Certified Mindfulness Me...


How To Meet Pain, Sit With Temptation, And Practice Self-Compassion
03/13/2026

We explore how to meet physical pain, temptation, and tension with gentle awareness, and how to find a practical middle way between forcing and avoiding. Stories from overnight sitting lead to tools for mindful eating at home, progressive muscle relaxation, and teaching with care.

• naming sensations instead of labeling “pain”
• whole-body breathing into difficult areas
• feeling tones: pleasant, unpleasant, neutral
• waves of discomfort, letting go, and growth
• mindful posture changes as part of practice
• home-friendly mindful eating rituals and pauses
• outcome reflection to interrupt habits
• moderation strategies without feeding compulsion
• progressive mu...


Quiet Strength: The Power of Equanimity (with Margaret Cullen & Sean Fargo)
03/10/2026

Today we explore equanimity as a living, heart-based steadiness that holds passion, pain, and joy without collapsing or numbing out. Renowned teacher and author Margaret Cullen offers practical gateways through feeling tone, identity, and simple phrases that reduce friction, burnout, and outrage.

• redefining equanimity as caring presence, not apathy
• Vedana as the primary gateway to balance
• spaciousness instead of dulling experience
• recovery time as a measure of equanimity
• identity, praise and blame, and the worldly winds
• vulnerability as an undefended heart
• activism without outrage fatigue
• parenting with an open hand, not a tight grip...


From Monastic Bowls To Kitchen Tables: How Food Shapes Awareness
03/09/2026

We explore mindful eating through monastic stories, simple practices with raisins, chocolate and tea, and how intention changes what food does to our minds and bodies. Listeners share how mindfulness supports storytelling, therapy and daily meditation habits.

• monastic one‑meal practice and silent chewing
• food as energy, intention and ethics
• noticing hunger, craving and resistance
• raisin and chocolate exercises for savoring
• body signals, stuck energy and comfort choices
• tea as ceremony for presence and community
• integrating mindfulness with story work
• safe intensity, regulation and journalling
• daily practice momentum and therapeutic flow


One Minute To Settle The Mind
03/07/2026

Ever wish you could shift your whole mood in the time it takes to breathe twice? We share a simple, one‑minute practice designed for those edge moments—right after waking, before bed, ahead of meditation, or just before stepping into a tough conversation—when the mind spirals and the body tightens. Rather than force change, we start by noticing what’s true: the climate of your thoughts, the texture of your breath, the tone of your body. That honest check‑in reduces reactivity and sets the stage for a kinder state.

From there, we guide you to soften...


Feeling More Gratitude And Gladness :)
03/05/2026

We guide a short mindfulness practice to cultivate gratitude and gladness and explain how these feelings lift mood, increase satisfaction, and build resilience. We balance appreciation with honest contact with loss, then show how to embody warmth and grow equanimity across daily life.

• defining gratitude and gladness and why they help
• noticing natural moments of appreciation during the day
• creating simple cues to feel thankful for what is present
• enriching the feeling through body, memory, and expression
• balancing gratitude with disappointment without denial
• short integration drill to build equanimity
• practical tips to let good ex...


Loving Kindness Before Sleep
03/03/2026

We explore why the mind bounces at night and teach a simple, four-phrase practice that builds calm and focus. By repeating kind wishes for safety, health, happiness, and ease, we train attention to settle and let sleep come naturally.

• why thoughts race at bedtime
• how repetition builds focus and calm
• the four phrases and their purpose
• gentle instructions for practicing in bed
• returning to the words when the mind wanders
• extending the practice to loved ones


Become a Certified Mindfulness Meditation Teacher: Certify.MindfulnessExercises.com

Take...


Morning Mindfulness For A Brighter Day
03/01/2026

We guide a short morning practice to build calm, focus, and purpose through breath, visualization, and a clear intention to care for the body while contributing to others. We reconnect with values and the quiet mystery that brightens the day when attention turns warm and present.

• deep, steady breathing to settle the body
• sensing aliveness and naming calm and focus
• visualising moments of joy ahead
• choosing simple acts of care for the body
• identifying one meaningful way to help others
• setting a fulfilling daily intention
• returning to non-judgmental awareness during stress
• reconnec...


Daily Practice for Love & Happiness (Meditation)
02/27/2026

We guide a short mindfulness practice that centers our shared human needs for happiness, love, and connection. Through a steady breath, we soften harsh judgments, balance self-kindness with care for others, and carry appreciation into daily life.

• recognising shared needs for happiness, love and connection
• noticing and easing sharp criticism and condemnation
• alternating breath: cherish self on inhale, others on exhale
• extending appreciation to everyone we meet
• keeping gratitude as a daily practice


Become a Certified Mindfulness Meditation Teacher: Certify.MindfulnessExercises.com

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People Crave Presence, Not More Content
02/25/2026

We trace why people want human mindfulness teachers and how embodiment turns abstract practice into real connection. We share stories, simple techniques, and global signals pointing to a growing need for presence in a noisy world.

• rising demand for human-led mindfulness
• value of personal stories and warm presence
• search for market data and trend signals
• loneliness, “human walkers” and paid companionship
• AI abundance versus embodied connection
• head, heart and whole-body awareness cues
• integrating mindfulness with yoga and healing arts
• family co-regulation and the cuddle couch image
• WHO mental health data and UN attention<...


Mindfulness of Eating
02/23/2026

Become a Certified Mindfulness Meditation Teacher: Certify.MindfulnessExercises.com

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Email: Sean@MindfulnessExercises.com

Mindfulness Exercises with Sean Fargo is a practical, grounded mindfulness podcast for people who want meditation to actually help in real life.

Hosted by Sean Fargo — a former Buddhist monk, mindfulness teacher, and founder of MindfulnessExercises.com — this podcast explores how mindfulness can support mental health, emotional regulation, trauma sensitivity, chronic pain, leadership, creativity, and meaningful work.

Each episode offers a mi...


Beauty Of Your Breath
02/21/2026

We guide a gentle mindfulness practice that softens the body, anchors attention in the breath, and trains a kind return from wandering thoughts. The aim is a reliable home base in presence that eases anxiety without force or judgment.

• settling posture, softening belly, shoulders and jaw
• choosing breath as a steady home base
• receiving the breath rather than controlling it
• using a soft “thinking” note to interrupt storylines
• re-relaxing the body and reopening awareness
• allowing background sounds and sensations
• strengthening the muscle of returning to presence


Become a Certifi...


Manifesting Intention
02/20/2026

What if just one minute could gently shape your entire day?

In this short, guided intention-setting practice, you’re invited to pause, breathe, and consciously choose how you want to show up today. In just 60 seconds, we’ll plant a simple seed of kindness and presence—helping you move through your conversations, work, and relationships with greater care and awareness.

This brief audio is perfect for listening first thing in the morning, before a meeting, or anytime you need a reset. Let this one-minute practice support you in creating a day that feels grounded, intentional, and he...


Affirmations of Gratitude
02/19/2026

A calm, guided gratitude practice uses sevenfold repetition to help the words sink in and shift our attention. We move through receiving support, self-compassion, openness to love, and releasing hurts with kindness, closing with appreciation for health and the present.

• research-backed reason to repeat affirmations seven times
• gratitude for gifts received from others
• holding gratitude for self, others and the greater good
• opening to receive and give love
• releasing hurts with compassion, kindness and thankfulness
• appreciating health and rejoicing in what is present


Become a Certified Mindfulness...


Wishing Care For Self & Others - Dealing With The Inner Critic (Day 7 / Last Day)
02/17/2026

Ever wish your inner critic would finally give you a break? Sean Fargo closes our seven-day journey by teaching a simple, reliable practice that replaces self-attack with grounded compassion. We start where warmth is easiest—thinking of someone or an animal that naturally opens the heart—then repeat four steady phrases: may you be safe, may you be healthy, may you be happy, may you live with ease. From that genuine warmth, we turn the same phrases inward and, yes, even toward the inner critic itself.

Across this guided session, we explore why loving-kindness is more than feel...


How To Stop Ruminating - Dealing With The Inner Critic (Day 6)
02/16/2026

Ever catch your mind replaying a cringe moment on loop? We take you inside that spiral and show how mindfulness breaks the pattern—not by arguing with thoughts, but by starving the loop of fuel and returning attention to the raw, steadying details of the present moment. Instead of wrestling with the inner critic, we practice kind curiosity and let the body lead the way back to clarity.

Across this focused, guided session, we map the hallmarks of rumination—repetition without resolution, shrinking perspective, and rising tension—and explain why the brain confuses looping with problem solving. Then w...


The Voice of a Good Friend - Dealing With The Inner Critic (Day 5)
02/15/2026

What would change if your inner critic had a microphone and your best friend could hear every word? We put that scenario to work and build a practical way to answer harsh self-talk with grounded compassion. Instead of arguing with the critic or pretending it isn’t there, we slow down, test its claims, and invite the voice of a true friend to sit at the table with us.

We start by imagining our most judgmental thoughts broadcast aloud, then ask a simple question: how would a caring friend respond? That shift unlocks clarity. Suddenly, “I’m incomp...


Feeling Acceptance - Dealing With The Inner Critic (Day 4)
02/14/2026

What if the question “Do people really like me?” is less about others and more about how we meet ourselves? On day four of our inner critic series, we turn toward acceptance and likability with a grounded, practical approach that blends mindfulness, body awareness, and compassionate realism. Rather than debating the critic on its terms, we slow down, listen to the stories that surface in social spaces, and feel their imprint in the body—tight jaws, tense shoulders, or a breath that never quite lands.

We walk through a brief guided practice designed to help you contact safety...


Feeling Worthy - Dealing With The Inner Critic (Day 3)
02/13/2026

What if the voice that says “You’re not a good person” isn’t telling the truth, just repeating an old script? Today we take aim at the inner critic’s favorite storyline—unworthiness—and replace it with clear seeing, honest accountability, and a steadier sense of worth.

We start by naming where this story shows up most: pressure at work, tensions at home, friction in relationships, or those late-night existential doubts. Then we slow down with a brief guided practice—grounded posture, steady breath, and focused attention—that helps us notice what the critic says and what is actually h...


Feeling Competent - Dealing With The Inner Critic (Day 2)
02/12/2026

Ever catch your mind declaring you incompetent after a single slip. We go straight to the heart of that voice and gently dismantle its all or nothing rules with a short, steadying practice you can repeat anytime. Instead of debating the critic, we map its favorite phrases, notice how it lands in the body, and build a kinder, truer standard for competence that leaves room for learning.

We start by naming the core question the critic attacks—am I competent—and get specific about where it shows up: presentations, parenting, creative work, or decisions under pressure. Then we s...


Dealing With The Inner Critic (Day 1)
02/11/2026

Ever notice how the harshest voice in the room lives in your own head? We kick off a seven-day journey to name that voice, understand what it targets, and learn how to meet it with mindfulness instead of fear. Drawing on years of teaching and monastic practice, Sean Fargo offers a simple framework that turns vague self-judgment into something you can observe, question, and gently transform.

We break the inner critic into three clear identity targets: competence, goodness and worthiness of care, and acceptability or likability. By naming these patterns, you’ll see exactly where the sting la...


From Fear Of AI To Finding Community Through Mindfulness
02/10/2026

We explore how to stay human amid fast tech change through the voice of a 75-year-old practitioner who turns doubt into community practice. We share practical mindfulness tools for ADHD and point to resources and teachers who make presence feel doable.

• analog wisdom meeting digital anxiety
• community as the cure for isolation
• humility and lineage informing practice
• ADHD-friendly mindfulness techniques
• sensory anchors and open awareness
• resources from Mark Coleman and Loch Kelly
• podcasting as a bridge for connection
• closing with tenderness and intention


Become a Certified Mind...


Breath That Changes Everything
02/06/2026

Breath is the first thing we reach for in crisis and the last thing we notice in the rush of daily life. This conversation dives into a living lineage of breathwork—from the roots of Anapanasati to the modern, transformative practice of conscious connected breathing—and shows how a simple, continuous inhale-exhale can change how we heal, love, and lead.

Visit Anthony's website: Alchemy of Breath

We sit down with Anthony Abognano of Alchemy of Breath to unpack his facilitator training and the inner journey at its core. Anthony explains why students write autobiographies, examine birt...


Integrating Mindfulness And Wild Creativity For A Braver Artistic Life
01/31/2026

We explore how contemplative practice and bold artistic expression strengthen each other, using Anne Cushman’s story to map a path from silence to color and back again. Six shared principles offer practical tools to make space, feel more, and create with less fear.

• the roller skating dream as a symbol of inner conflict between sage and trickster
• how Spirit Rock integrated silence with painting, writing, and movement
• creativity as reclamation over talent, and process-focused training
• mindfulness boosting divergent thinking, focus, and resilience
• six principles: space, body, emotions, sacred time, golden thread, letting go
• sim...


Facing Feelings Without Fear
01/28/2026

If “good vibes only” has ever left you feeling worse, you’re not alone. We dig into spiritual bypass—the habit of reaching for positivity to avoid discomfort—and show how it quietly amplifies stress, anger, and grief. Instead of shoving hard feelings away, we walk through a grounded, mindful approach that helps you feel safely, learn from what your body is saying, and move forward with clear action.

We start by naming what bypass looks like in everyday life: focusing on peace and acceptance while ignoring the messy, human emotions that keep surfacing. From there, we unpack why...


Certified Human: Now Hiring Walk Buddies And Cuddle Couches
01/26/2026

We share why real human presence matters more than yet another guided track and how embodiment turns mindfulness from a script into a living practice. We also explore signals of rising demand, from global mental health needs to local community spaces.

• rising interest in human mindfulness guides
• teaching through personal stories and eye contact
• searching for market data and credible sources
• loneliness, paid walking companions, and community need
• head, heart, and whole-body awareness balance
• simple practices for integrated attention
• family intimacy, the cuddle couch, and co-regulation
• WHO mental health figures and UN attention...


Your Boss Has An AI Girlfriend; Your Heart Still Wants A Hug
01/24/2026

We weigh how AI can support mindfulness while naming what it cannot replace: human presence, shared reality, and the heart’s wisdom. Practical boundaries, ethical concerns, and community care guide a nuanced path between helpful tools and hollow substitutes.

• Lifetime access and open attendance clarified
• Name introductions and community tone setting
• AI’s strengths in personalization and scalability
• The limits of simulation versus lived presence
• Risks of outsourcing awareness and creativity
• Cultivating compassion, gratitude, and equanimity
• Loneliness as a health crisis and social ties
• Ethics in AI use across wellbeing contexts
• Upcom...


Mindful Micro-Steps For Big Feelings
01/22/2026

What if fear, grief, anger, and old hurts didn’t run the show anymore? We share a gentle way to build real emotional capacity without white-knuckling your way through pain. Instead of diving into the deep end, we map a clear, safe progression—starting with mild memories, grounding in the body, and adding just enough mindfulness to feel what’s there without getting swept away.

We begin by setting the container: a quiet space, a stable seat, and a few minutes connecting to breath and body. From there we invite a small, manageable memory to surface—a minor di...


How Conscious Breathing Transforms Anxiety, with Anthony Abbagnano
01/20/2026

What if the safest place you can find is the breath you’re already taking? We sit down with Anthony Abbagnano — founder of Alchemy of Breath and author of Outer Chaos, Inner Calm — to explore how conscious breathing can shift anxiety, resolve trauma responses, and restore a sense of agency in everyday life. His story arcs from a startling early awakening at boarding school to months of stillness during a life-threatening illness, revealing the quiet power of will on the inhale and surrender on the exhale.

Visit Anthony's Website: Alchemy of Breath

Anthony breaks down the me...