One of the fundamental characteristics of living a more present, peaceful life is not being bombarded and distracted by thoughts. Thoughts are fueled by stimulation, daily noise, interactions, and entertainment, whether wanted or unwanted.
While we can take breaks by shutting off devices, soothing ourselves, and vacationing, we cannot vacation from our minds. When we return from our break, we find our mental state has not changed, and we long for more soothing, instead of feeling contentment.
If we are interested and motivated to develop a calm-abiding mind everywhere we go, we must give our mind a place of space to focus.
Dr. Sharon Blackie offers a multidisciplinary approach in exploring various myths to help us navigate our complex world. She emphasizes the power of storytelling and its transformative potential, highlighting the need for a reciprocal relationship with the environment. The journey of the mythological seal women depicts the quest for harmony that urges us to embrace the completeness within ourselves. Her teachings reveal the power of narratives to reflect our complexities and invite inner harmony. Dr. Blackie’s exploration compels us to acknowledge our yearning for balance while embracing all facets of our identities.
There could be lots of reasons behind this image. I suspect it tugged at my heart because I read it as a statement that says, “I give up! I can’t meditate.” It’s a similar feeling I get when friends hear that I’m heading off to sit retreat and say “I could never do that,” or “Geez, I’d lose my mind with boredom.”
Maybe the first question to ask is, “Do you feel drawn to do that?” If the answer is “Nope, not my jam,” we need to respect that.
Without a doubt, if there is one tangible benefit that has emerged from my contemplative journey over the last decade, it has been in my capacity to be more honest with myself. Not honest in the conventional sense of not lying, but an honesty that is alive and active, a type of commitment to working with the real, mundane facts…
By Sharon Salzberg and Diana Calthorpe Rose This article originally appeared in Newsweek. It’s been a long plague year. COVID-19 hospitalization rates are declining, but the stress level of health care workers remains sky-high. We’re in the pandemic’s third wave, and only a few weeks away from peak hospitalizations in early January. New, more contagious strains of the virus could increase…
The COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped all of our lives. Not least of these, the lives of healthcare professionals working on the front-lines. Yet amidst the long, challenging days in the hospitals, the medical staff across the country consistently demonstrated care and compassion for their patients. How do they cultivate such enduring resilience?
Mind in Life by Dr. Rick Hanson The Seven Steps to the Highest Happiness I’ve hiked a lot in the mountains, and sometimes a friend farther up the trail has turned and looked back and encouraged me onward. Such a friendly gesture: Come join me . . . watch out for the slippery ice . . . you can…
Mary Anne Best, a practitioner of Centering Prayer, facilitated an hour of contemplation to help bind the wounds and anxieties being experienced right now. She opened with a quote from Fr. Thomas Keating: “By opening yourself in contemplation, you are praying for everyone past, present, and future. You are embracing the whole of creation. You are accepting everyone, everything, all…
