meditation

When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.

-Rumi

As a citizen of this world and member of society, it is highly likely that you have felt wronged by someone before. We humans are imperfect at best and at our worst can be selfish, cruel and act in blatant disregard of others. Of course, these wrongs run the gamut in both duration and gravity. Some of us may have had traumatic experiences in our lifetime that were inflicted by someone intentionally.

Mealtime Meditation Achieved in Three Steps

You have the ability to turn each meal into a gift for yourself. It’s a simple yet powerful practice that can change your relationship with food, improve your digestion, and enhance the balance in your life.

Have you ever wanted to meditate but didn't feel you could accomplish the task? Maybe your mind wouldn't stop jumping from thought to thought or you couldn't sit still for more than a few minutes without getting distracted? Perhaps you don't feel you can make time to meditate or it feels too boring to you. Whatever the reason for avoiding the meditation pillow up until now, fear not  - I am about to give you 5 easy ways to meditate – step-by-step - so you can reap the unending rewards from such a practice right away.

Things move fast during the course of a day, and sometimes you can barely stop to take a breath. Meditation is a surefire way to relieve some of these stressful moments, and it has many healthful benefits, too.

Meditation is a great teacher, but our internal chatter and distractions oftentimes hinder efforts to deepen awareness and mindfulness, let alone gain many insights. With practice, there are ways to overcome mind-created obstacles.

It requires patience and practice to access meditative mindfulness before upping the ante for insights. Letting go of obstacles is essential, and paradoxically difficult – especially for beginner meditators. We need to become aware of what’s hindering us from becoming more aware or mindful.

We all know the benefits of meditation--I personally use it for the best (and free!) stress relief, but it can be really intimidating and confusing to get started. If you are scatterbrained by nature, the very process sounds impossible.  How do I know if I’m doing it right? Is it working?  If you are new to meditation, it can seem like a super power rather than a skill--one that you build with practice. Here are three little things that helped me get started, and have kept me going, even when I was convinced that meditation was a waste of time.

Meditation is a great way to forget about you problems and just relax in a worry-free environment. But what do you do when your problems are too big to just forget about? Having these problems on your mind while you are trying to meditate can disrupt your practice and make it difficult for you to relax. Everyone has these types of large problems that are hard not to think about from time to time, but when you do have these problems, it is important to know how to handle them, and how to adjust your meditation practice accordingly.

Life is often hectic, and that can affect the way people meditate. If you are focusing on other things, you’re not really getting the most out of your meditation. When preparing for your daily routine of reflection, it is helpful to get yourself into the right mindset so that you can have a relaxing session that is free of stress and worry. As stated by Zen Master So Sahn, “The point of practicing is simply to cut off worldly thought.” So, by really focusing on your meditation, you are helping yourself cut off worldly thoughts, and truly relax.