From the category archives:

Reducing Stress & Anxiety

Reasons You Should Keep Meditating

by Beth on January 30, 2012

 When I teach meditation, I always get questions as to the benefits of meditation. Below is a list of benefits that science researchers, MDs, and long-term meditators have found. I’ve just copied and pasted one of the slides that I use in these talks. What’s important to realize is that none of these benefits come [...]

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I Want To Meditate NOW

by Beth on June 20, 2011

Most people, myself included, begin meditating to become a happier person and to create a more peaceful and fulfilling life. Of course, many of us want it all NOW. It’s Ok if meditation’s going to be difficult the first one or two times, but more than that it’s really irritating. I’m not meditating to get [...]

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Perfect Meditation?

by Beth on May 17, 2011

I began meditating 20 years ago to fix my imperfections. Of course, meditation didn’t go smoothly or perfectly, so I felt even more damaged and imperfect. Not a pleasant place to be – the very tool to make me feel good about myself was making me feel worse.  Over these years of struggle, meditation worked [...]

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Like most human beings, I like pleasant things and dislike unpleasant ones. In fact, I used to really, really hate feeling yucky – “what’s wrong with me that I have these horrible feelings?” Over time, with mindfulness meditation, I’ve learned to make peace with the myriad of unpleasant thoughts, feelings, and sensations that assail me. [...]

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Meditate With Gratitude

by Beth on April 1, 2011

How would you like to: Manage stress by reducing levels of stress hormones. Produce higher number of blood cells that protect the immune system. Have better quality and duration of sleep. Feel greater optimism about coming days and immediate week. Make more progress towards important personal goals. Have higher states of alertness, enthusiasm, determination, attentiveness, [...]

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I Am Of The Nature To Get Sick

by Beth on March 22, 2011

Hello everyone. Please forgive me for disappearing from this blog. In January, I came down with H1N1 (swine flu) in London. It took me 10 days before I could fly home and only now have I gotten my life back together. I want to share with you how grateful I am for my insight/mindfulness practice [...]

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We all have different learning styles. This blog may be a perfect fit for those who prefer to learn by reading. The instructions I’ve given recently on Loving-Kindness might be a good fit for auditory learners because we internally “hear” the well-wishing. “May I feel safe. May I feel happy. May I feel healthy. May [...]

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Watch The Gap

by Beth on November 15, 2010

I practice mindfulness meditation for three main reasons: Learning about the mind; Training the mind; Creating spaciousness in the mind. It’s only through our mind that we relate to ourselves, interpret the world around us, and relate to others. Therefore, the more we understand how the mind views events, responds to problems, and reacts habitually, [...]

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When you meditate, do you want a still, peaceful, and non-chatty mind? After each meditation, do you analyze what you could have done better? Do you strive hard to be a “good” mediator? If you answer yes to any of these three questions then this post is for you. Until the past few years, I [...]

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SETTING AN INTENTION

by Cheryl on September 30, 2010

Learning to meditate is like developing any other skill. Some very few people have natural talent; the rest of us have to work at it.  Think of any skill you’ve developed—learning to drive, playing tennis, playing the guitar. Consider a skill you’ve learned as an adult. I learned to ice-skate when I was 37.  First [...]

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