You don’t need me to tell you that what is going on around many parts of the world is destructive, chaotic, unkind, and even sinister. All we need to do is turn on the news for five minutes to feel the weight of despair. Disease, war, oppression, discrimination, climate change, violence, intolerance, and unrest. What does […]
Are you feeling stuck, unmotivated and uninspired? Take your ego mind out of the equation! In Buddhism, all of the physical and emotional obstacles can be very powerful teachers. If we allow ourselves to get caught up in the daily minutiae and stressors in our daily lives, it can almost be impossible for us to […]
For a lot of us, we may not be skilled at entering new or unfamiliar social situations or environments. Someone might invite us to a gathering and even though we say we’d like to get out and meet new people or try new things, we simply can’t seem to bring ourselves to break out of […]
Oftentimes, people come to learn how to meditate because their lives have been overtaken by stress, they can’t focus, they can’t sleep, they feel anxious or depressed. These are wonderful reasons to begin a meditation practice. But meditation is much more than a good feeling. It is the union of body, mind, and spirit. Most […]
One of the greatest benefits of meditation is it allows us to stop the insanity of our daily lives. Have you ever stopped to notice how we are caught up in an endless tug-of-war with the way things are? Think about how easy it is to be driven out of the present moment by our own […]
Meditation isn’t about trying to stop thinking. Instead it’s about noticing the thoughts as they arise and allowing them to be. To be able to have access again to our ground state of being which is already whole and complete, we must recognize how we’ve allowed ourselves to be hooked by the stories and conversations we tell ourselves in our own minds. Most times, we don’t even question the thoughts, perceptions, judgments or beliefs and instead believe our own thinking.
People often feel intimidated by meditation, thinking there is a perfect way to join in this time-tested practice. But that’s simply not true. Each person’s practice is a reflection of their unique personality and mind/body connection. The biggest support for working with our minds in meditation is our body. Generally, I don’t think most of us are sensitive to how much our body can support our mind in meditation.
Mindfulness and Meditation go hand in hand. Meditation lays the foundation for you to go out into the world carrying a sense of peace and serenity within. While mindfulness is the integrated practice you can employ in all of your daily interactions and relationships. Establish a daily meditation practice with a little mindfulness sprinkled on top!
Stressed, unfulfilled, stuck? Do you have the feeling that there just has to be more to life than the way you are living it today?
Anyone who has had even the slightest introduction to Buddhist teaching is familiar with its starting point: the inescapable truth that existence entails "suffering." This is The First Noble Truth, one of the most central teachings of Buddhism. One of the fundamental teachings behind Buddhism, its ethics, philosophy, practices and community life, is the discovery that freedom and joy are possible in the face of the regular "suffering" of human life.