When you find that you've become distracted in your meditation...or in life, simply bring yourself back to the moment, gently, easily, without giving yourself a hard time. Without beating yourself up. And then...celebrate! Because you're back!
Distraction Isn't Your Enemy! Considering that the main objective of meditation is to arrive at a state of non-distraction without altering our mind, how do we deal with the fact that distraction seems to be the one thing that prevents us from meditating? Is there some easy way to deal with our tendency to get distracted? After all, we'd probably all be excellent at meditation if it weren't for the fact that we get so distracted during our meditation. And, it's this distraction that can become the most frustrating and cause us to abandon our meditation practice in favor of [...]
Use Meditation in Everyday Life When we think about meditation or mindfulness, it's easy to get caught-up in the belief that we need to be sitting on a cushion, cross-legged, or located within a monastery to practice meditation. While these aspects of meditation can provide us with the support necessary to achieve a stable meditation practice, and while a formal meditation practice is the only way to become familiar with our mind, the primary reason to meditate, especially within the context of caring for another, is to become familiar with our true nature within our ordinary daily life. In fact, [...]
COMPASSION ISN'T OUTSIDE OF YOU Compassion isn't something foreign to our minds and our hearts. It isn't something "out there" that we have to get or acquire. And, it isn't something that we need to learn (although we may need to remember it at times). Granted, there are times when we feel that to find even the smallest compassionate impulse for certain patients requires of us the most Herculean effort. There are also times when, either due to the amount of stress that we're experiencing, or the number of patients we're dealing with, it doesn't feel like there's "...enough to go [...]
By creating the third mind of nursing, that wonderful creatrix of possibility from which spring infinite possibilities for change, we can create an intangible force of awareness and compassion, and venture to bring the collective mind into a new era of nursing.
Don't have time for a meditation class? There may be a solution for you! What if you could take a class just once, and with practice, attain a degree of meditative skill that would positively benefit you?
It's time for Black Friday again. So, do you want to shop or meditate? How about both! Just don't go blank when it's time to shop, remember why you're there and don't get distracted.
Meditation can be used for many things. Today, I'm using it to prepare for surgery.
While this week's post is directed towards nurses and healthcare professionals, I encourage all of my readers to have a look. Since healthcare and its practitioners can impact all of us at some point in our lives, it's important to know what nursing is doing about showing up at the bedside, mindful and compassionate. Enjoy!
How to Meditate Every once in a while, I receive an email or correspondence from a reader that speaks to the heart of what meditation is or, oppositely, poses an important question related to what meditation isn't. Recently I received the following email from one on the readers of this site. I've changed it up ever-so-slightly to maintain the confidentiality of it. I never want to force any of you into the spotlight. Here's the reader's email: Hi Jerome, I have a question...how long does it take to see real lasting change of any kind. I am a healthcare provider [...]