Victoria and Michael Imperioli with their son and Tsoknyi Rinpoche

Michael Imperioli on What Meditation Really Is

When you hear the name, Michael Imperioli, many of you may think of the actor who played the part of Christopher Moltisanti on the hit series, The Sopranos. Michael has also been in a number of movies, including (these are ones that I’ve seen and loved!) but not limited to: The Basketball Diaries, The Goodfellas, and The Lovely Bones. What many of you may not know is that Michael is also a committed practitioner of meditation and practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism.

Recently, Michael appeared in a short video-interview for the site, What Meditation Really Is, a site dedicated to the discussion and study of Buddhism, founded by students of my teacher, the Tibetan lama and meditation master, Sogyal Rinpoche.

I thought that I’d share this video with you because there are many people who forget that anyone can practice meditation, and because this video is a short explanation of how Michael derives benefit from his meditation practice I thought that it might be helpful.

In the video, Michael makes a statement that’s a great example of why you would want to meditate. It addresses the question of, “What kind of benefit can I get from it?” He says:

Mediation is looking at your mind and seeing how it works and if you see how it works and what it’s doing then you have a little bit of ability, maybe, to direct it in a positive way…Before I started meditating, you know, there were a lot of ways my mind would work that were not so positive but I wasn’t really aware of it, I just thought that’s just the way I behaved and that’s how I responded but meditation gives you an opportunity to take a little step back and gives you a little gap where you can see, “Okay this is my reaction to a situation do I want to act to that stimulus or do I want to maybe take a breath and think there might be a better way to react or act.”

Enjoy the video and let me know what you think. Oh and also, below this video, there’s some more information about this site, about some cool things that are happening, and an update on the Indiegogo campaign. Enjoy!

How Do You Meditate?

I assume, perhaps incorrectly, that those who read this blog know how to meditate. If you’re already familiar with how to meditate, then I hope that what I have to offer here is of some benefit to you in your practice.

If you haven’t meditated before, or are new to the practice, I suggest that you download the free ebooks that are available on this site and use them as tools to get started in your practice. Additionally, go to the tab for “Meditation” above (or click on this link) to read posts on meditation. If you’re a healthcare practitioner, I would (humbly) suggest that you consider purchasing a copy of the book, Minding the Bedside: Nursing from the Heart of the Awakened Mind, as a resource for learning to meditate as well as a lot of other great information.

As always, please feel free to drop me a note with any specific practice-related questions or if you need clarification on any of the information that I’ve provided in this post or anywhere else on this site.

Finally, please read the recent update on the Indiegogo campaign for this site, it’s important. Thanks.

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An Update on the Indiegogo Campaign (A small piece about paying it forward)

I’ve got less than two weeks left on the launch of my book’s Indiegogo campaign. The primary purpose of the campaign has been to help me to relaunch my book and to get it into the hands of as many nurses worldwide as is possible. But…

I’m doing a relaunch of this site which will provide even more great and FREE content to you, my readers.

For twenty months, I’ve been plugging away at creating content, posts, free ebooks, and even audios so that you can be supported in your meditation practice. Now I’m asking you to become part of a founding-community here to improve this site and all that it has to offer.

Since launching the Indiegogo campaign, I’ve found out that its success depends entirely upon a number of things:

1. How many people view and share my campaign
2. How many of these “shares” are through facebook, twitter, etc
3. How many people comment on the campaign, and lastly
4. How many people fund or contribute to the campaign.

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What these actions do is to take my campaign from the back pages of the site, where it’s buried among hundreds of other campaigns, and bring it to the front so that more people can see it and contribute to it. This is VERY important.

I’m asking all of my readers and subscribers to at least visit the site – found here: http://www.indiegogo.com/mindingthebedside – and share or comment on it. If you have the means to contribute, please do so. Even small amounts count (and you can get some cool gifts too!) But if you can’t contribute, I understand. Please at least check it out and make the “social links” that will help to bring it to the front.

***ALSO, please share the site with others and encourage them to do the same.

Thank you all in advance for doing this. I know that your lives are busy and full and that time management, physical energy, and finances are challenging to many people right now.

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This site has tons of tools for learning how to meditate and be compassionate.

I encourage you to look through the HUNDREDS of articles that I’ve written and especially check out my weekly meditation tips and other useful meditation materials provided for your health and well being. Please let me know if you’d like to discuss anything with me, have any questions or need clarification regarding anything that I’ve written about.

Other Great Meditation Resources and Information:

For More Information on How to Meditate

Please view the Related Stuff below for help getting started in your meditation practice! Also don’t forget to download my free e-book, Can Meditation Change the Way that You View Your World? and download the free e-book, How to Work with the Four Distractions to Meditation and get started learning how to deal with some of the major obstacles in meditation.