Watch The Gap

by Beth 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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YOU’RE A BETTER MEDITATOR THAN YOU THINK!

by Beth November 11, 2010

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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Meditation Creates A Life Well-Lived

by Beth November 5, 2010

I don’t know the exact statistics, but from experience, I’d guess that the drop-out rate of people who try meditating and then give up is over 80%. And that’s totally understandable. Because:  simple ≠ easy. The actual process of meditation is simple and the day-to-day practice can be difficult, frustrating, and discouraging. But this drop-out [...]

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The Sound of Silence

by Ruby October 14, 2010

I have heard two of my favorite teachers, both Westerners who are Buddhist monks and the abbots of monasteries, teach and work with the “sound of silence” or the “nada” sound as the object of focus during meditation. I began practicing with nada a few years ago and have found that it works for me, and [...]

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Seeing Pain With New Eyes

by Beth October 7, 2010

For this past Monday’s post about how to meditate when you have pain, we received a great comment from Toni, a long-term mediator and author of the book, How to Be Sick: A Buddhist-Inspired Guide for the Chronically Ill and Their Caregivers (2010). While this book has the word “Buddhist” in it, you will find [...]

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What To Do When Meditation Becomes Painful

by Beth October 4, 2010

Della wrote the following comment to Ruby’s post ….: “I agree that meditation is a challenge for me. Very often, something is hurting me – my head, my back, my neck. It can be quite distracting. I find that repeating a mantra – my favorite is – ‘God is here. All is well,’ helps me [...]

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SETTING AN INTENTION

by Cheryl 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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Why Do I Do This To Myself?

by Ruby September 23, 2010

Meditation has never been easy or comfortable for me. I’m not one of those folks who taste the delight of peace and stillness in meditation unless I’m on a retreat, and even then it takes a fairly long time for me to get there, and it tends to be brief and fleeting. Most of my [...]

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When Meditation Becomes “Difficult”

by Beth September 20, 2010

Anna wrote, “I believe that meditation [has] a lot of benefits, now do you think it also has disadvantages?”  I decided to answer her as a post because I think she asked a fascinating question. According to Encarta Dictionary (2005), synonyms for “disadvantage” include: difficulty, drawback, shortcoming, weakness, hindrance, handicap, detriment, minus, demerit, inconvenience  At [...]

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MORE ON GRATITUDE

by Cheryl September 16, 2010

Begin your meditation by spending a moment noticing still water. See it. Or feel it. Or “hear” it. You might only experience still water for 1 second. Notice that. Then spend a few moments expressing gratitude. Refresh this practice by feeling grateful for all the things you take for granted. Clean water out of the [...]

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