Hi. My name is Sara Huffman and welcome to the journey, for I do believe that mindfulness is a journey – a practice in being in this life exactly as it is, not necessarily as we wish it to be. My own journey down this path started about 25 years ago when I was taking care of my mother who was suffering from chronic pain. I discovered the book Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn wherein he details the core principles of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, a program he pioneered at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. While the intention was to help my mother better manage her own pain, that book put me on the path of learning about mindfulness for my own curiosity.

After my mother’s death, I embraced the life of being a single mother, and my pursuit of mindfulness continued, albeit a very distracted pursuit. As my son grew up, I continued to read about mindfulness, learning about all of its benefits and different ways it can help with stress. Yet I rarely practiced it. For all the time I spent reading about it, I never felt like I had the time to practice it.

But what was interesting is that even the little I did practice found its way into my life, little by little, to help ease me through some really tough times. That is, until 2021, when my relationship with my son fell apart and I found myself in a place of pain, grief, confusion, anger – you name it. All of it. All at once.

And that’s when I embraced mindfulness completely. It became a lifeline for me, a way to keep moving forward without losing myself in grief. Yet still I struggled with making it a regular practice – I found that instructions for sitting a certain way to be challenging; or setting aside a certain amount of time every day to be daunting. What grew from this, though, was my own practice. No cushion necessary. Practiced when I had the time, learning how to make time for the practice. One step, one choice, one breath at a time.

Once I started with the small steps, the journey just spread out in front of me like an adventure waiting to be taken. And now I have the opportunity to invite you along, not on my journey, but to start your own. Taking your first step, sitting in your favorite spot. You belong here, where you are, right now.  Ready?