Meditation is about being different from who you usually are in your habitual patterns. It's about saying "no" to the way that you usually do things; reacting to anger with anger, reacting to disappointment with despair, reacting to joy with mindless abandon. Meditation is about saying "yes" to all that life offers, no matter how happy or sad you are.
When I woke up with throbbing in my mouth, I knew that I had to visit my dentist. By the end of the day, not only had I visited my dentist, I'd had over 7 injections into my mouth and gum to take care of the pain and I'd had a root canal surgery! And, when the pain medication wore off, it was time to practice meditation.
Do you ever wonder how to meditate and whether to meditate with your eyes open or closed? It's a great question and it recently came up in an online class that I'm teaching, NursingZen.
In meditation, Even if we’ve been practicing meditation for a while, we find ourselves returning to our thoughts, emotions, ideas, and distractions.
MEDITATION TIP OF THE WEEK Meditation ip of the week is a weekly series of very short, easy to remember, and basic tips on meditation. Please let me know what you think, is it helpful? (This week's tip is an updated, revised, renamed "replay" of an earlier tip that was the first in this series. I received a number of e-mails from readers asking me to include more content in this post. Soooooo, here it is! Enjoy.) This past February, while presenting to a group of hospital administrators, healthcare professionals, nuns, laypeople....you name it, at a Grand Rounds meeting at [...]
MEDITATION TIP OF THE WEEK MEDITATION TIP OF THE WEEK IS A WEEKLY SERIES OF VERY SHORT, EASY TO REMEMBER, AND BASIC TIPS ON MEDITATION. PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK, IS IT HELPFUL? While definitions and attributes of meditation may vary between different schools of contemplative and meditative traditions, it's generally agreed that a key component of meditation, if not the defining characteristic of meditation, is a state of non-distraction. I often find that the greatest obstacle to a meditation practice isn't the distraction itself, but my reaction to the distraction that occurs. Does that make sense? While [...]
MEDITATION TIP OF THE WEEK MEDITATION TIP OF THE WEEK IS A WEEKLY SERIES OF VERY SHORT, EASY TO REMEMBER, AND BASIC TIPS ON MEDITATION. PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK, IS IT HELPFUL? If you keep on doing what you've always done, you'll keep on getting what you've always gotten. Ever heard that one? You know what it means, but have you ever applied it to your mind? THE BLAME GAME When a thought or emotion arises in your mind based on something outside of yourself like a spouse or peer at work, or even a situation like [...]
TIP OF THE WEEK TIP OF THE WEEK IS A WEEKLY SERIES OF VERY SHORT, EASY TO REMEMBER, AND BASIC TIPS ON MEDITATION. PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK, IS IT HELPFUL? Too often we make time to meditate and then after our session, we get on with life. This week's tip is to do just the opposite; don't make any time for your meditation and just get on with your life. What?! Look, if you're just into meditation to take a break from the world then seriously, why bother? Meditation takes too much time to learn [...]
MEDITATION TIP OF THE WEEK MEDITATION TIP OF THE WEEK IS A WEEKLY SERIES OF VERY SHORT, EASY TO REMEMBER, AND BASIC TIPS ON MEDITATION. PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK, IS IT HELPFUL? Where is your mind...right now? Here, right? Great. Where else? Where is it going to be in, say, a few minutes? What's next? I'm not asking you these questions because I'm curious...even if I am curious. I'm asking you this because this site is about meditation and because meditation is about knowing where your mind is. And integrating meditation into your life, living your [...]
MEDITATION TIP OF THE WEEK MEDITATION TIP OF THE WEEK IS A WEEKLY SERIES OF SHORT, EASY TO REMEMBER, AND BASIC TIPS ON MEDITATION. PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK, IS IT HELPFUL? I'm not sure how many times during the day you find yourself thinking about something that's unrelated to what you're doing at the moment, maybe daydreaming, maybe distracted. For me, there are plenty of times when my mind isn't where it should be or could be. The "could be" is what this week's tip is about. When I find myself staring off into space, or waiting [...]