In modern approaches to (western) meditation, several important factors have not been incorporated into the practice. One such example is the importance given to ethics in every meditation tradition. Mentioning this in a mindfulness class is sure to embarrass the teacher. The other important factor that is overlooked is the Read more…
This is a guest post from Dr. Amy Sarow, doctor in audiology. Overview: – What is Tinnitus? – Mind and Body Connection – Mindful Exercises for Tinnitus Relief What is Tinnitus? Have you ever noticed after a loud concert that your hearing feels muffled and you hear a ‘ringing’ sound? Read more…
This is a guest post by David Chorlton from Meaningful Paths. Let’s face it, 2020 and 2021 were two stressful years. The global pandemic, the financial concerns and the combative politics have all combined to make life extraordinarily difficult. We have been confined to our homes, furloughed from our jobs, Read more…
When people think about meditation, they often picture a monk sitting cross-legged in the lotus position. But it does not have to be like that. Actually, the other positions in which you can do meditation are just as good. I might even argue that some positions are even better suited Read more…
Having myself a Ph.D. in physics and hearing what many people have to say about quantum mechanics, I am the last person to doubt the great importance of expertise. But, as we will see, beginner’s mind is not the opposite of expertise. Beginner’s mind is a way of looking at Read more…
I often have the feeling that I want to deepen my mindfulness and meditation practice but I do not have the time or money to go on a longer retreat. Therefore, I try to occasionally have one at home. In this post, I share how to best do this. You Read more…
As you will see with practice, in the meditative domain, the best way to achieve your own goals is to back off from striving for results and instead to start focusing carefully on seeing and accepting things as they are, moment by moment. With patience and regular practice, movement toward Read more…
The 3 minute breathing space is by far the most popular exercise from within MBCT. This small 3 minutes meditation forms the bridge between the formal meditations and applying the learned techniques in daily life. Origins of the 3 minute breathing space When John Teasdale, Mark Williams and Zindel Segal Read more…
Acceptance is one of the core attitudes of mindfulness meditation. But, like any other skill, it needs to be practiced. This post will give you the necessary exercises and tools to perfect this subtle art. What is acceptance? Acceptance is a very active process, there is nothing passive about it, Read more…
Have you tried metta (loving kindness), but it made you feel awkward or phony? You said the phrases but they did not resonate with you. This post is about how to craft your metta meditation phrases so they resonate with you. At the end of the post, I give a Read more…
No matter how long you have been practicing mindfulness or meditation, we all have periods where we feel stuck. Where we would like to concentrate deeper, or have less mind wandering. Here are 6 tips I discovered that can dramatically improve your meditation. If you are eager for the tips, Read more…
Beginners often have a number of common difficulties when starting our with mindfulness. Luckily, a great number of solutions exists. This posts gives you the most important ones. I cannot meditate, my mind is all over the place Obviously, if you have tried any form of meditation, you know this Read more…
We have all been told we need to meditate for 20 to 50 minutes a day. But many of us do not have this time to spare. So what if we can incorporate our practice into something we really like? Most of us do like listening to music, don’t we. Read more…
Sometimes our heads are not a good place to be. It can feel overwhelming when thoughts start to race and emotions are flaring up. Furthermore, most of us have been educated in such a way that we value our thinking over all else. So sometimes, getting out of our heads Read more…
In the first part of this two part article series, I discussed the wide variety of practices that are available in the modern mindfulness tradition. I focus deeper on the diversity of formal meditation practices that you can choose from and detail them. In this second part, I discuss the Read more…