With time and repetitions, research will tell us whether it is possible to excise the spiritual components of meditation and still see the same benefits, but knee-jerk resistance to concepts that have guided meditation practices for millennia is unacceptable, especially when an effective process has already been established.
Well, it's that time of year again. Time to...meditate? No, shop! Or, is it time to meditate on why we shop, why we consume hoping to find some outer reward to our thirst for something...new, different? Time to find happiness in...Target? Nordstroms? Amazon? How often have you felt an urge to go out and buy something, only to find that after you'd bought whatever it was, there was still a hollow place inside? Have you ever been really stressed out and felt like a little "retail therapy" was just the thing that you needed to remove your negative thinking? What [...]
Walking meditation is a practice in many contemplative traditions. The object of this practice is to use the simple act of walking as an opportunity to practice moment-to-moment awareness. Meditation is moment-to-moment awareness. Meditation is about not being distracted in the moment.
Have you ever tried to meditate and found that while you weren't having much success in your meditation practice, you were getting plenty of practice in failing? Great, keep on failing!
While most spiritual traditions have contemplative or meditative practices, you don't have to be spiritual to use meditation. All you have to be is...human!
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 [...]