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Why Meditate?
Yael Shy
,
July 26, 2024
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?
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July
Why Meditate?
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How to Meditate In Summertime
Jay Michaelson
,
July 17, 2024
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.
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July
How to Meditate In Summertime
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Catching Doubt Before It Catches You
Jay Michaelson
,
July 12, 2024
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.
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July
Catching Doubt Before It Catches You
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Responding to Life, Instead of Reacting to It
Stephen Batchelor
,
July 5, 2024
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.
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July
Responding to Life, Instead of Reacting to It
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How Nature Changes the Mind
Diana Winston
,
June 26, 2024
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.”
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June
How Nature Changes the Mind
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Enjoy the View—Not the Commentary
Arnie Kozak
,
June 20, 2024
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.
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June
Enjoy the View—Not the Commentary
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The Risk of Honesty
Koshin Paley Ellison
,
June 12, 2024
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.
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June
The Risk of Honesty
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How to Not Meditate
Devon Hase
,
June 8, 2024
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.
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June
How to Not Meditate
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Is Your Mind an Amusement Park?
Grace Livingston
,
June 1, 2024
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?
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June
Is Your Mind an Amusement Park?
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The Case for Being Interrupted
Cara Lai
,
May 26, 2024
Interruptions can be welcomed as a part of our mindfulness practice.
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May
The Case for Being Interrupted
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Mindfulness vs Meditation: What's the Difference Between Meditation and Mindfulness?
Jay Michaelson
,
May 17, 2024
You may be confused: are meditation and mindfulness the same thing? If not, how are they different? Well, the good news – or maybe it’s bad news – is that you’re not alone. In fact, lots of people use the two words interchangeably, and mean different things by each one. Here, then, is our attempt to clear it up.
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May
Mindfulness vs Meditation: What's the Difference Between Meditation and Mindfulness?
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Why I Meditate
Sebene Selassie
,
May 11, 2024
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.
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May
Why I Meditate
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Change Your Posture, Change Your Mood
Joseph Wielgosz
,
May 3, 2024
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?
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May
Change Your Posture, Change Your Mood
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World Meditation Week: 7 Days of Practical Meditation
Ten Percent Happier
,
May 1, 2024
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May
World Meditation Week: 7 Days of Practical Meditation
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Everything You Wanted to Know about Meditation Retreats
Ten Percent Happier
,
April 5, 2024
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April
Everything You Wanted to Know about Meditation Retreats
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How to be Compassionate
Rasmus Hougaard
,
March 29, 2024
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.
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March
How to be Compassionate
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Defending Against ‘Predatory Listening’
Oren Jay Sofer
,
March 21, 2024
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.
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March
Defending Against ‘Predatory Listening’
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An Introduction to Walking Meditation
Jay Michaelson
,
March 15, 2024
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.
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March
An Introduction to Walking Meditation
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May I Meet This, Too, With Kindness
Amanda Gilbert
,
March 2, 2024
Author and meditation teacher Amanda Gilbert shares a simple phrase to help you meet every thought, every moment, and every person with kindness.
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March
May I Meet This, Too, With Kindness
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Sacred Rest
Zenju Earthlyn Manuel
,
February 23, 2024
Experiencing peace need not be an arduous journey of endless work, but rather a moment-by-moment effort of resting.
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February
Sacred Rest
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Caring for Trauma with Compassion
Dr.Susan Pollak
,
February 16, 2024
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February
Caring for Trauma with Compassion
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Lessons from a Year of Solitude
Cara Lai
,
February 2, 2024
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January
Lessons from a Year of Solitude
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What to Do When Your Mind Wanders
Cory Muscara
,
January 26, 2024
If you’ve ever meditated, you may have noticed that your mind likes to wander. In fact, many people who subscribe to this very newsletter tell us that they can’t meditate because their mind is always wandering.But this is a myth! And if it’s keeping you from meditation, please read on.
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January
What to Do When Your Mind Wanders
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Meditation in Troubled Times
Norman Fischer
,
January 19, 2024
There’s an old Zen saying: “The world is topsy-turvy.” Who is not aware of this today? The state of the world is painful to everyone. The world careens onward in its topsy-turvy course, causing a pervasive sense of inward dread many of us can’t afford to entertain.
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January
Meditation in Troubled Times
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4 Questions to Diffuse the Inner Critic
La Sarmiento
,
January 12, 2024
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January
4 Questions to Diffuse the Inner Critic
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Opening to the Fullness of Life
Ten Percent Happier
,
January 7, 2024
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January
Opening to the Fullness of Life