During an eight-hour workday we each take about 8,000 breaths. This is great news. We have 8,000 opportunities to touch peace, creativity and productivity.

It’s no coincidence that kale, spinach and broccoli offer the body similar nutrients that protect cardiovascular health while oranges, kumquats, carrots, and pumpkins contain antioxidants like vitamin C and beta carotene. Vibrant fruits and veggies lure us to enjoy a rainbow of nutritional support.

Gift yourself bliss in less than 2 minutes. Take a break from whatever it is you’re doing. Find a comfortable chair, cushion or rug to sit on and watch this brief meditation. Breathe easily and freely focusing on your in-breaths and out-breaths. Absorb Thay’s words and the sound of the bell with each inhale, release all the tensions in your body with each exhale.

In movies, love is romantic, overwhelming and above all else, provokes a willingness to give up everything, even oneself, to protect it. This framework births spectacular stories full of drama but the truth is, we cannot love another fully and sacrifice ourselves. We need to honor ourselves while honoring our loved one. True love creates freedom, abundance and joy.

In this six minute video, brother Thay Phap guides us through Thich Nhat Hanh’s meditation of the natural world within us. We acknowledge the freshness of our flower, the stability of our mountain, the stillness of our waters and the space within and around us to be free. Below is a transcription of the meditations, for your enjoyment.

“If I lose my direction, I have to look to the north star, and I go to the North. That does not mean I expect to arrive at the North Star. I just want to go in that direction.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

The last thing a grumpy person may want to hear is ‘count your blessings.’ Potentially condescending and dismissive, this advice feels more like a knock down than a hand up.  Our emotions are legitimate, and it’s important to accept them -- not suppress them or replace them with positivity.

The oldest human writing about how to live in the present moment is an instruction for how to live alone.

In it, the Buddha doesn’t talk of separation from friends and family – in fact, he considers community to be very valuable. Rather, he defines living alone as living in freedom, which is the only condition for happiness.