I occasionally see meditation students start crying. It’s always a tough moment for me as it somehow makes me unsure whether I should continue the meditation or offer some advice on how to deal with it. Usually, I just continue and come back to the participant after the meditation has Read more…
Most people associate meditation with a monk sitting with a straight back and with his eyes closed. In the most popular form of meditation in the west, MBSR, they ask you to close your eyes. Even I, meditate most of the time with my eyes closed. Meditation with eyes open Read more…
People often wonder whether it is best to use guided meditation or rather go the unguided route. Both types of meditations have their own strengths. Unguided mediations are used mainly by beginners or to learn a new skill. it can also be used to bring structure in your mediations. However, Read more…
When you do a little research on what advice people give to someone asking ‘Why don’t I see progress in my meditation’, you will almost always find a number of people saying: ‘meditation is not about progress, do not track your progress, it is about being, not striving’. This is Read more…
So, you have read about the many benefits of meditation and you want to try it for yourself. A simple google search will reveal thousands of options. So where do you begin? The truth is that there is not single best option for learning meditation. Sure, having access to a Read more…
When you see all the images of monks and buddhas and gurus, one thing stands out, and that is that most of them are sitting cross-legged. So one might wonder if this is the only way to do meditation. In this post, I want to talk about an alternative: lying Read more…
You are sitting in your meditation posture and the end of your dedicated meditation session nears. The sound of the gong marks the end of the session and then … yes, what then? The best thing to do after the end of a meditation session is to try to consolidate Read more…
Recently, I have started to fast regularly. And I wondered how it would affect my meditation practice. Turns out that there are a lot of variables (surprise 😉 ) that affect meditation more than fasting. It is best to wait 2 to 3 hours after having eaten a meal to Read more…
Mindfulness and meditative practices are becoming more mainstream across the world as people are recognizing the vast mental and physical health benefits associated with these exercises. In fact, mindfulness has been shown to help improve cardiovascular health, reduce cognitive decline, improve the immune system, and reduce psychological pain. These are Read more…
Flow, just like mindfulness has become a buzzword. Unfortunately, this also means that a lot of people have misconceptions about what the words exactly mean. Flow is a pleasant state of mind when you are completely absorbed in a task where you tend to forget time and yourself. Mindfulness, however, Read more…
Meditation comes in many forms and varieties. I myself practice at least 10 different styles depending on my needs. This proves that meditation is a versatile tool that can be adapted to many needs. Meditation is used either to increase well-being or to gain access to knowledge that is not Read more…
The first real course on meditation that I ever took was an MBSR course. It was not a cheap one, so I hesitated for a long time. But I’m so happy that I did. I guess this is obvious since I’m now writing a blog on mindfulness. But what exactly Read more…
Many people doing meditation think they should feel or experience something special when doing meditation. I sure did for a very long time. I found out that there is indeed something to experience when in meditation. The telltale feeling that you experience when you meditate correctly is that you are Read more…
When doing a simple online search for meditation, you quickly find that there are many dozens of different meditation styles available. So how do you chose which type of meditation you should do? The key thing is to start to understand the differences between the different types and if they 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…
