Newsletter Articles

No matter how long you’ve been meditating, or even if you’ve never meditated at all, it’s inevitable that you’ll ask, especially at a difficult moment: what’s the point? Why meditate?

Summer! The perfect time for barbecues, beaches, and books you don’t tell other people you’re reading. Not necessarily the perfect time to meditate.

As with any long-term habit – a diet, an exercise routine, working on that novel – meditation has its ups and downs. In fact, there’s often a familiar pattern: struggles but enthusiasm at first, followed by some “aha!” moments when you finally figure out what you’re doing, and, eventually, some plateaus and troughs along the way when you don’t seem to be making “progress,” whatever that is, and wonder again why you’re carving out time every day to sit and do nothing.

You may have heard meditation called a “practice.” As in, “I practice mindfulness.” “I practice Zen.” And so on.

But this alone is a very narrow understanding of practice. Really, the point of practicing meditation is to practice being human: the way we see ourselves and the world, the way we form intentions and ideas, the way we speak to each other, the way we act, the way we make our living, the way we apply ourselves. Practice involves far, far more than just meditating.

Summertime, especially around the Fourth of July, is a time many of us in North America spend outdoors. It actually can be a hard time to sit indoors and meditate, because it’s so beautiful outside. Fortunately, being in nature can, itself, be a doorway to a valuable and refreshing capacity of mind that I call “natural awareness.”

Here’s the scene: I am standing on top of an overlook in the foothills of the Green Mountains. I can see a 180-degree vista to the West that features the Adirondacks, tinged in pink, as the sun gets ready to set. Vermont’s famous Camel’s Hump sits majestically to the south.

My mind, however, is not appreciating this beautiful experience, at least not consistently so, because I am frustrated and disappointed in myself. I want to get some pictures of this awesome scene, but I have forgotten my phone and thus have no camera.

A friend of mine works with a writer who constantly misses deadlines. In terms of work, it’s actually not that big of a deal, because my friend knows this about the writer, and course-corrects by giving him deadlines that are weeks prior to when my friend actually needs something turned in.

The challenges arise not because of the lateness, but because the writer can’t seem to accept this shortcoming about himself. He writes long emails with excuses as to why he’s late again—imaginative stories that my friend knows aren’t true.

For years, meditation was one more activity I packed into my busy day.

It was yet another thing to check off my to-do list, like going to the gym or buying groceries. I would skid into my meditation session, set a timer, and dutifully bring my attention back to my breath, again and again, with a kind of grim determination. It was really not that much fun at all.

I was, in other words, bringing my everyday habits to the cushion. My overdrive, my overachieving, my over-everything.

Then, a few years ago, I hit a wall.

When some people hear about meditation, they may imagine that it’s a cool, calm chill-out with no distracting thoughts or feelings disturbing the Zen.

And then, since that’s not what anyone actually experiences, lots of people become convinced that they can’t meditate because their minds are so busy and distracted.

The truth is, though, distractions happen! Whether out in the world or seated in meditation, the mind will pretty much always find something to do - and it’s not always going to do the thing we might hope.

What can you do?

Interruptions can be welcomed as a part of our mindfulness practice.

Mindfulness vs Meditation: Explore the difference between meditation and mindfulness at Ten Percent Happier. Learn about meditation and mindfulness exercises here.

I don’t know what I’d do without a meditation practice. 

These days, after many years, it’s a regular habit. But it wasn’t always that way. For years I tried to cultivate a regular practice, but I found it hard to stick to a routine. It was easier to hit snooze, or get up off my cushion before the timer went off, or skip the weekly gathering at the Zendo.

But I had an incentive: I was a hot mess.

According to neuroscientific research, you can change your mood simply by changing your body posture.

Of course, everyone knows that body posture can reflect our emotions. Picture an Olympic sprinter crossing the finish line with their arms in the air, and head thrown back in celebration. Or picture the audience in a horror movie, instinctively cringing and curling up when something goes bump in the night.

But can it also work the other way? Can body posture influence our emotional state, as well as reflect it?

May 13th is your starting line for a deeper connection with meditation, featuring 7 days of themed explorations led by incredibly inspiring teachers.

“You’re not listening!” my friend Jeremy shouted in frustration.

We were standing in his kitchen and Jeremy was upset. Though I can’t remember the details, what I do remember is that he was right: I was only half-listening. I was waiting for him to finish so I could explain my perspective. Even though I was completely silent, making eye contact, and hearing every word, Jeremy could sense that I wasn’t really taking it in. I was building my case, preparing to defend myself.

Develop healthy habits with the help of meditation. Find out how meditation can help improve sleep quality, eating habits, and more

Springtime!

For folks in most of North America, this is a time of stretching, opening, and awakening. In colder states, it might mean finally putting away those winter coats. In warmer states, it might mean the return of beach weather. Wherever you are, it’s an opportunity to notice how what we think of as “I, me, and mine” is actually… not us at all.

Contrary to how they sound, retreats are not about escaping life, but facing it more directly. It's in the silence that we hear the most.

Meditation teachers often talk about the value of compassion. But how do you actually develop it? Here, mindful leadership expert Rasmus Hougaard offers a four-step process for doing so.

It felt like stepping on the wrong end of a rake.

My relative had asked for my opinion, but when I gave it, he launched into what sounded like a well-rehearsed argument, taking issue with each thing I had said and critiquing my character. I felt like I’d walked into a trap.

When meditation is depicted visually, it’s almost always in a picture of someone sitting down, usually with eyes closed. And, it’s true, sitting and paying attention to your breath is probably the most common form of meditation today.

But sitting has a serious downside: it takes time and space to do it. Whether you’re devoting five minutes or forty-five minutes to meditation, that’s time you’ve got to carve out of your day.

In Vermont, where I live, there are six seasons—the usual four, plus stick season (that long stretch from mid-October to the first snows, when the trees are bare and the landscape grey) and mud season, which is now.

Author and meditation teacher Amanda Gilbert shares a simple phrase to help you meet every thought, every moment, and every person with kindness.

Studies in the field of neuroscience have shed light on the tangible effects meditation can exert on the brain and even help with reducing chronic pain. From the first studies in Western scientific literature in the 1950s and 60s to the present, scientists have investigated meditation’s effects on the body and mind.

Experiencing peace need not be an arduous journey of endless work, but rather a moment-by-moment effort of resting.