t's funny but there are so many concepts and ideas about what meditation is that we can get caught up in the definition of it all while forgetting to practice. Does it matter what you call it if you're doing it? Or, do you need to have a word for it to understand what you're doing?
Cultural anthropologist and writer Margaret Meade once wrote the oft-quoted line, "Never underestimate the power of a small group of committed people to change the world. In fact, it is the only thing that ever has." When we meditate on compassion and on how we, in our smallness, can make a difference in the world, let's embrace Meade's view of what a "small group of committed people..." can do to change our world. When we begin to practice meditation, we can find ourselves caught up in our claustrophobic sense of self, lacking compassion for ourselves as well as for others. [...]
There are so many ways to meditate, many of which have been discussed on this blog. And, there are so many reasons to meditate. What comes up repeatedly in discussions that I have with others is how our past and the emotions related to the past can intrude on our present life and within our practice of meditation. Since meditation is - essentially - the state of non-distraction, based upon mindfulness, meditative awareness and spaciousness - within this state, there is little room for ruminating upon past traumas, emotional injuries, and patterns that have predominated our lives with their insistence [...]
For meditators, old and new, expert and novice, thoughts arise within the landscape of the mind. The difference is in how the experienced versus the novice meditator deals with these thoughts. How we are with out thoughts when we meditate will determine, to a great extent, how our meditation can benefit ourselves and others. If we're intimidated by thoughts, or have a difficult relationship with what arises within our mind when we meditate, then our ability to take our "meditative mind" into our daily life and integrate meditation into our life will be a difficult journey. The whole endeavor of [...]
HOW DOES COMPASSION HELP YOU TO MEDITATE? Good question... Let's start this post with the wisdom of a wonderful writer, James Finley. I've used this quote in other posts and keep coming back to it because...it's so good! Our feelings of impatience and frustration with ourselves in meditation are certainly understandable, especially when they persist in spite of our best efforts to overcome them. But as we sit in meditation we can begin to recognize the subtle violence inherent in our impatience with ourselves. As our awareness and understanding of our limitations in meditation continue to deepen, we begin to [...]
There are so many methods of meditation, so many techniques and tips. By offering this post, I am offering to you the most significant advice that I've ever received on how to meditate and how to really be able to work with my mind.
Wow, I hope that this title doesn't seem out of place here. I mean, after all, I've been posting on meditation, on its benefits, and on research into meditation now for almost a year. So, why would I post something as "basic" as how to meditate? (and what does a picture of 1000 meditating monks have to do with anything?!?) The basics of meditation, while simple, aren't always obvious when we read about how to meditate. Nor are they obvious in how we engage in our practice of meditation. We've discussed a lot of the "how tos" of meditation in [...]
Frequently I'm asked what my day looks like and how I practice meditation in a busy life. Since preparing to publish my book, Minding the Bedside: Nursing from the Heart of the Awakened Mind, and starting my own business, the unfortunate fact is that the time for my "formal" practice has suffered. Yet, while I lament and moan about the lack of time to formally practice, it seems like the integration of practice into my daily life, and my ability to take life onto the path, has increased. While there really is no substitute for formal practice in terms of [...]
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 [...]
Daniel Goleman - Part 1 from WhatMeditationReallyIs on Vimeo. I just finished watching this video-presentation by Daniel Goleman and what strikes me most is the simplicity of the phrase that he uses, "attentional retraining." In these two words, we are reminded of what is is that we're working with during meditation - our attention - and what we're doing - retraining it. Sometimes, when we're working with our mind and practicing meditation, something as simple as remembering the phrase, "attentional retraining" is all that it takes to bring us back to our practice. Suppose that I sit down to meditate, [...]