Somewhere along the way, stillness became a luxury.
We live in a time of relentless demand. The notifications, the news, the obligations, the mental noise of a world that rarely pauses. Most of us are running on empty in ways we have normalized so thoroughly we no longer recognize them as depletion. We call it being busy. We call it keeping up. We rarely call it what it is.
An overloaded nervous system looking for a way back to itself.
Where This Began
In the late 1970s, a physician named Jon Kabat-Zinn was working at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center and noticing something that troubled him. Medicine could only go so far. For patients living with chronic pain and conditions that resisted conventional treatment, there came a point where traditional science had nothing left to offer.
He believed there was something beyond that ceiling.
Drawing from Buddhist meditation practices and stripping them of their religious context, Kabat-Zinn developed an eight-week program called Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, MBSR. He began working with patients who had been told there was nothing more that could be done for them. And something remarkable happened. People got better. Not always in the ways medicine measures better, but in the ways that matter most. They suffered less. They related differently to their pain. They found a quality of presence that no prescription had been able to provide.
I know this because I am one of those people.
My own introduction to mindfulness came through MBSR at a moment when I was just beginning what would become a long and complicated relationship with pain. I did not come to this practice looking for peace. I came looking for a way to survive what I was living through. What I found radicalized my relationship with pain in ways I had not thought possible. Not by eliminating it. But by changing how I met it.
That experience committed me to something deeper. Decades of study followed, with secular programs, Buddhist teachers, and former monks. I am now completing my Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification. And it is why I built this channel — but more on that in a moment.
A Word Overused and Underembodied
Mindfulness is a word we hear constantly now. It appears on wellness apps, corporate retreats, and self-help shelves. And while its visibility has brought real benefit to many people, something has been lost in the translation.
True mindfulness is not a productivity hack or a stress management technique you apply when things get hard and set aside when they don’t. It is a way of being. An ongoing practice of meeting your actual experience, whatever it is, with presence, curiosity, and without judgment.
Jon Kabat-Zinn identified eight foundational attitudes that support a genuine practice. They are worth knowing not as a checklist but as an orientation.
Non-judging. Patience. Beginner’s Mind. Trust. Non-striving. Acceptance. Letting Go. Gratitude.
These are not attitudes you achieve. They are qualities you practice. And like any practice, they deepen with time and return.
Introducing the Prem Valley Mindfulness YouTube Channel
Everything I have described above, the research, the practice, the decades of study, pointed me toward one clear next step. I wanted to make this accessible. Not just to those who can attend a class or afford a coach, but to anyone, anywhere, who is looking for a place to stop.
So I built one.
The Prem Valley Mindfulness YouTube channel is a free resource offering short, accessible mindfulness practices that can be done anywhere, anytime, with no prior experience and no equipment. It will always remain free. There are currently two offerings on the channel and more are coming.
Body Scan Meditation — 13 minutes
The body scan is one of the most researched mindfulness practices in the world. It involves moving attention slowly through the body, noticing sensation without trying to change anything. For those living with chronic pain, stress, or the kind of exhaustion that has settled into the bones, this practice offers something rare. Permission to simply be with your own experience, exactly as it is.
Thirteen minutes. A chair, a bed, your lunch break. No flexibility required. No prior experience necessary. (Link to Body Scan here).
Mindfulness Through Art: The Acrylic Pour — 5 minutes
This one is for the makers. Fluid art, the practice of pouring acrylic paint onto canvas and following where it flows, mirrors the principles of mindfulness in ways that are almost impossible to miss. Non-judgment. Beginner’s mind. Wu Wei, the Taoist principle of effortless action. Whatever your creative medium, this video is for you. (Link to Art Meditation here).
The Challenge
Here is my invitation to you.
Take the 13-minute Body Scan Challenge. Watch the video, follow along, and see if it was as intimidating as you thought. Then come back to the YouTube channel and leave a comment sharing your experience. I read every one.
For those willing to take the challenge and share their experience, I have reserved a small number of signed copies of my novel Keeper of the Clearing to send as my gift and thank you for investing in yourself. First come, first served.
The channel is here: Prem Valley Mindfulness on YouTube
Come As You Are
For those who want to go deeper, I offer one-on-one guidance and group classes through Prem Valley Mindfulness, available in person in Baker City, Oregon, and remotely. You can find out more at premvalleymindfulness.com.
But for now, no commitment is required. Just a few minutes and a willingness to arrive.
That is always enough to begin.
Jan
Jan Wood is an author, mindfulness guide, and lover of life, based in Baker City, Oregon. Through Prem Valley Mindfulness, she offers personalized mindfulness coaching grounded in practical, everyday practice — for those navigating stress, chronic illness, or simply the beautiful complexity of being human. If you are curious about working together or exploring the daily practices offered on the site, she would be glad to hear from you at premvalleymindfulness.com.
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