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Non-Striving
The practice of mindfulness meditation places us firmly in a paradoxical situation. Engaging in the practice requires setting an intention, as all activity requires intention. And yet, sustaining the practice works when we release that intention. This paradox describes an attitude or state that students of mindfulness meditation are encouraged to adopt – an attitude… Continue reading
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Formal and Informal Meditation
Many students talk about not really “sitting” for meditation practice, but rather checking in throughout the day to become mindful or take a breath awareness pause. Many students say, “I am mindful during my day, and I don’t sit for practice.” These students are describing informal mediation practices. Many types of informal practices range from… Continue reading
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How Can I Keep My Meditation Going?
I like to think in terms of supporting my practice. There are so many ways we can build a structure around our mediation practices to hold and support the building of the habit. Eventually we would like our practices to become second nature, a lot like brushing our teeth or getting dressed in the morning… Continue reading
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Impatience
Impatience is a way of life in our culture. Looking for a quick fix is the default method of approaching most challenges we face. We are always looking for an immediate solution to make the discomfort go away, to get the thing we most desire, or to correct a health issue. Making discomfort disappear is… Continue reading
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I can’t control my mind during meditation. What should I do?
Mind wandering drives more people off meditation than any other variable. Probably more than falling asleep, being disturbed, or feeling physical discomfort, not being able to “control” the mind seems to be the most discouraging. Newcomers to my meditation classes report that they have tried meditation in the past and couldn’t get their minds and thoughts… Continue reading
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Distractions
There are two main ways that distractions take hold of us, or we take hold of distractions, in our lives and our meditation practices. In our daily lives, we find that we seek distractions, especially when we are tired, hungry, aroused, frustrated, and experiencing strong emotions. We use distractions to take us away from where we… Continue reading
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Beginning again. Starting over. Returning.
There are so many things in our lives that we start, leave and return to again and again. Meditation is like that as well. Take dieting – one most of us can relate to – we start a diet with super good intentions and a plan. A few days or weeks in, we forget and abandon it,… Continue reading
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What is an “anchor” in meditation?
An anchor serves as a home for us during our meditations and acts as a steadying mindful home as we move through our days. Just as we seek out the same comfy chair each evening for relaxing and decompressing, we also seek a comfortable place to cultivate our attention and concentration during meditation. Cultivating an… Continue reading
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Being Present 