Why Practice Meditation Every Day? Five Great Reasons

What Is the Benefit of Practicing Meditation? On this site, we've discussed how to deal with thoughts, emotions, sensations...even sleepiness while trying to meditate. Those are the "how tos," but how about the why? Why meditate? Or, even if we know the why of meditation, why practice? This question is partially answered when you consider the obstacles (mentioned above) to our meditation; if we don't practice, how do we know whether we're progressing on our path? Almost daily, I experience situations where I wish that my "meditative mind" was in charge instead of my habitually distracted mind. Does this ever [...]

2012-11-28T12:40:00-07:00By |Meditation|3 Comments
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Seven Things to Remember When Learning to Meditate

When we're first learning to meditate, we may find ourselves lost in thoughts, sensations and/or emotions. Previous posts on this site have addressed how to work with these distractions and obstacles and I encourage you to read them to find out more. There are some things that we can do to bring ourselves, immediately, back to our practice, whether that practice is a formal one, or an informal one. For the sake of ease, I decided to share the ten things that I remember when I become distracted by the many things that my mind seems to follow. I hope [...]

2011-09-13T20:08:03-06:00By |Meditation|0 Comments
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Minding the Bedside, Watching the Clouds. It’s All Meditation!!

In previous posts we've discussed how to work with the breath as an anchor for taming the mind, bringing our attention into the present, and maintaining an attention of moment-to-moment awareness. We've also covered how to work with thoughts, sensations, emotions, and...even sleepiness!! When caring for others, in this case, at the bedside, as a healthcare professional, we can use all of the methods that we've learned to ground out attention in the moment, for those we care for. Minding the bedside aware and compassionately comes from realizing the changing nature of our thoughts and from turning and returning the [...]

2014-09-08T23:42:42-06:00By |Nursing|2 Comments
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Meditating On…My Birthday!

Today is my birthday. I'll be celebrating by taking a day off from the blog and book-work. I'll be out in nature, meditating and relaxing. But, I just wanted to offer you this wonderful gem from Sogyal Rinpoche's Glimpse of the Day. Enjoy!   August 23 If you find that meditation does not come easily in your city room, be inventive and go out into nature. Nature is always an unfailing fountain of inspiration. To calm your mind, go for a walk at dawn in the park, or watch the dew on a rose in a garden. Lie on the [...]

2011-08-22T22:41:11-06:00By |Meditation|0 Comments
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Meditation in the Workplace…Meditating at the Bedside?

The topic of bringing our meditation practice into our workplace, whether as a nurse or as a supermarket cashier, requires of us an understanding of what we mean when we use the word, "meditate." For many people, meditation brings up images of monks or solitary souls seated on a cushion, mumbling "om" with incense and candles. Sure, that can be meditation, but more often than not, this isn't the case. And, in the case of how we bring our meditation practice to the bedside, these images don't represent what a meditative presence truly embodies when caring for another. As was [...]

2014-09-08T23:41:58-06:00By |Nursing|3 Comments
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Meditation With Death in Mind (memento mori!)

We’ve discussed and shared a lot of different aspects of meditation and how to work with the mind on this site. One topic that we haven’t strayed into is how working with one’s mind can not only affect the quality of one’s life and the lives of those around us, but also how the stability that we can find in learning to meditate can also help us when we or our loved ones approach the transition of life into death. The Latin words memento mori—“remember death” or “remember that you must die”—were used in ancient Rome and in medieval times [...]

2019-08-12T17:47:25-06:00By |Nursing|3 Comments
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Don’t Do Doubt! Four Steps to Work with Doubt When Meditating

Recently I participated in a bicycle ride, the Colorado Triple Bypass, which is a 120-mile ride with 10,000 feet of elevation gain, over three mountain-passes…all in one day! I've already posted on some of the experiences that I had in working with my mind while preparing for this endeavor. One challenge I didn’t share was my experience of doubt while training. When encountering my doubt, I came to realize that it was such a great lesson for me that it may be of some use to readers of this blog. There are many reasons that people meditate. Some meditate to [...]

2011-08-05T01:02:35-06:00By |Meditation, Mindfulness|2 Comments
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Returning to the Aha! of the Meditative Moment

Remember those "aha" moments you've had in the past? Maybe they've been moments of clarity about something that you said in a discussion, or perhaps you were struggling to make a decision about your career and a different, unique and creative idea sprang into your mind. While many of my formal meditation moments may be focused on working with remaining in the present moment and resting, as best as I can, in a state of non-distraction, without altering my mind, there are times when I'm suddenly presented with an idea worth noting or taking down for use later on, after [...]

2012-12-06T21:26:34-07:00By |Meditation|0 Comments
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