Do You Find it Difficult to Meditate? Don’t Fool Yourself, Meditation Isn’t Easy…Yet!

What you may find as you begin to meditate is that many of your habits of being distracted seem to get worse. You'll sit down to begin your daily practice of 20-minutes and before you know it, you've gotten up from your cushion or couch and are writing down your shopping list. Resistance happens because we're not used to just observing our usual mind, the normal mind that delights in being distracted with thoughts and emotions.

Meditate When You’re Broken…

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.

Meditation Tip of the Week: Meditate Now! Don’t Wait Until You’re Drowning…

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: Distraction Doesn’t Matter!

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: Stop Blaming the World for Your Anger and Jealousy

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 [...]

Meditation Tip of the Week: Stop Meditating!

    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 [...]

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