MEDITATION TIP OF THE WEEK

…IS A  SERIES OF SHORT, EASY TO REMEMBER, AND BASIC TIPS ON HOW TO MEDITATE. PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK, IS IT HELPFUL?

Meditate When You’re Broken

In this post, we’ll talk about why meditation is the perfect remedy for dealing with life when it’s really difficult. Sure, it’s easy to meditate when you’re well, when life is great, when your health hasn’t failed you, or your bank-account is flush. But, what about when you’re sick (or dying?!), or when you lose your job? How about when life should be going well, but you have a gnawing feeling that something isn’t right…even when it is?

In an incredible testament to our ability to be with whatever is going on in our lives, the ecstatic poet Rumi writes:

Dance when you’re broken open.
Dance when you’ve torn the bandage off.
Dance in the middle of fighting.
Dance in your blood.
Dance when you’re perfectly free.
Struck, the dancer hears a tambourine inside her,
like a wave that crests into foam at the very top,
Begins.
Maybe you don’t hear that tambourine,
or the tree leaves clapping time.
Close the ears on your head,
that listen mostly to lies and cynical jokes.
There are other things to see, and hear.
Music. Dance.
A brilliant city inside your soul!

Rumi’s admonition to “dance when you’re broken open..” is a reminder to us all that even when things are difficult in life, there’s an opportunity to dance, to celebrate the “brilliant city inside your soul!” This “brilliant city” is what we find when we begin to experience glimpses of a mind that’s undistracted, resting in the awareness of meditation.

Dare to Be Different!

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.

So, this is a dare. I’m daring you to take your practice of meditation into what scares you, into the times when life feels like it’s trying to wake you up. Meditate there, and you’ll always have a way to live life, no matter what’s going on.

How To Meditate

Stay tuned for news about my newest ebook, Meditate Out of the Box! It’s a down-to-earth guide on how to use your everyday life experience as a means to meditate. And it’s coming out soon!

Maybe you’ve already got a meditation practice. If that’s the case, great! Keep it up. And feel free to use all of the content from this site to support you in your efforts. If you haven’t started to meditate, begin now.

Many people don’t meditate because they believe that they need to do “something special” in order to meditate, maybe you’re one of them. “Doing something” special isn’t the case. All you need is your breath, and a few minutes of time set aside to begin your practice. Here are some tools to get you started:

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

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. And 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.

Thanks for visiting and have a mindful day.