I have two anchors for my soul and sanity each day, and they are meditation and exercise. Every morning before I go to work I turn down the noise in my head on the meditation cushion and tune up my body at the gym. Until recently, I never thought much about the relationship between these […]
Hiking Mantra Meditation Experience
Yesterday I discovered the power of reciting a mantra to calm my mind and open my heart. The experience was spontaneous and empowering. And now, I am typing with aloe vera cream covering and cooling my shoulders and arms. I went for a hike and my skin burned in the sun (ouch!). But my mind is […]
A Little Known Secret about Sex and Meditation
Sex and Meditation When I first started meditating, I never thought that sex was going to play such an important role in my practice. Surprisingly, the sexual impulse has been the most powerful catalyst in helping me to see through the veil of the mind and establish a rich meditation practice. Indeed, there is new […]
10 Ways Meditation Enhances Creativity
Everyone knows that meditation can reduce stress and calm your mind, but the many ways that meditation enhances creativity is one of its lesser-known benefits. From liberating you from fixed habits of thought to reducing your need for sleep as you work on your latest masterpiece, there are many ways that practicing meditation can improve […]
Advanced Mindfulness Training: Can You Get Angry and Be Spiritual Too?
There are a lot of misconceptions in the world of contemporary spirituality when it comes to mindfulness training and attaining deeper inner peace. One of the most common seems to be the idea that people who take meditation seriously should never get angry, upset, frustrated, or have intense emotional responses of any kind. But as […]
6 Mindfulness Exercises to Lose Weight and Gain Peace of Mind
When you think about mindfulness exercises, you probably don’t think about the kind of exercise that helps you lose weight. But thankfully, there’s one new approach to mindfulness, which actually helps you slim down as you ‘wake up’! It’s called the meditation diet. We first heard about the meditation diet from Leo Babauta and the […]
The 4 Foundations of Mindfulness
Mindfulness, as explained by Jon Kabat-Zinn, a renowned mindfulness meditation teacher, “means paying attention in a particular way; on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgementally.” In other words, it is a conscious direction of our awareness. To be mindful, one must be purposely aware of oneself. Michelle Fajkus of Elephant Journal describes the four foundations of […]
Extreme Meditation: Vipassana
Most people associate meditation with sitting quietly for 20 or 30 minutes, silently focusing and gaining a new awareness of oneself. This can be a challenge in itself, so how do you think you’d handle 10 straight days of it? Now what if there could be no eye contact with others, no phones or internet, […]
Enjoy & Appreciate the Beauty of Nature: A Flower Meditation
The beauty of spring is upon us and summer is fast approaching. With more sunshine and longer days, now is the perfect time to take a mindful walk with nature. Be present with each step, enjoy and appreciate the delicate beauty and intricacies of your surroundings. Lilian Cheung penned this flower meditation for Huffington Post, […]
What is Mindfulness, Really?
Updated February 7, 2014. What is mindfulness? It’s often described as being “in the moment.” Yet it’s much more than that. Watch this short video (1.5 mins) and hear Jon Kabat-Zinn explain the concept of mindfulness. What is Mindfulness? [It’s] the awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgementally. BIO: Jon Kabat-Zinn, […]
Eckhart Tolle on Negative Thinking: The Ego's Trap
Updated February 19, 2014. Watch this exclusive interview with Eckhart Tolle (4 mins). Eckhart Tolle is a spiritual teacher and best-selling author, with well over 10 million books sold. He is most well known for helping us to focus on the here and now. In this interview, he sheds light on how discovering a different state of […]