I believe that spiritual growth, under the right conditions, is as natural as breathing. And the conditions of our world are the perfect conditions for spiritual growth. The person you are right now, with all of your challenges and strengths, pain and joys, failures and victories, is the perfect person for the journey ahead. And […]
How to Meditate When You Are in Pain
A few years ago, I herniated a disc. Of course, everyone knows that disc issues are painful but from my experience, nothing can describe what it actually feels like. It started with an ache in my back. Then there were shooting pains down my leg. Once when I tried to stand, I almost fainted. I’d […]
How Practicing Mindfulness Meditation Leads to Increased Well-being
This post originally appeared on Mindful.org. How does practicing mindfulness meditation lead to increased well-being? There is a lot of research conveying mindfulness meditation’s positive impact upon psychological well-being. In fact, a vast literature of controlled studies has found that mindfulness meditation is related to improved mental health across a variety of disorders, including different anxiety disorders, […]
How (And Why) To Say Yes To Negative Emotions
We say “no” all the time. Sometimes we do so subtly, as a way to deny an emotion, swallow our words, or feel the disgust of “Ugh! Not that again!” I don’ think I’m alone in this. No one likes to feel things which are uncomfortable…especially negative emotions. I was reminded of this recently when I made a […]
Tantra, Non-Duality, & The Practice Of No Problem
What is Tantra? I’ve noticed there’s some confusion about this. So here’s a simple way to think about it. In the East, Tantra is any spiritual path whose goal is to bring about the direct recognition of the immediate availability of our boundless nature. Tantric paths do not see the world, the mind, or anything else […]