People tell me they find it satisfying to pay closer attention to the sensory details of ordinary experience, but that they get frustrated with themselves when they forget to practice.
What makes it so difficult to establish a habit even when we’re convinced of its benefits?
Read More"Most people assume that meditation is all about stopping thoughts, getting rid of emotions, somehow controlling the mind. But actually it's. . . about stepping back, seeing the thought clearly, witnessing it coming and going. . . And it's only in learning to watch the mind in this way that we can start to let go of those storylines and patterns of mind."
~ Andy Puddicombe
Read MoreStories and our individual lives share the same elements: protagonists, antagonists, conflict, plot, action, climax, and resolution. What are the atomic components that make these narrative elements possible?
Read More"Getting lost will help you find yourself."
Read MoreIf worries were stones that could be polished by rolling around repeatedly in our minds, one of the shiniest rocks in my tumbler would have to be wondering where I really belong.
Read MoreMindfulness practice involves tracking aspects of ordinary experience as precisely as possible while allowing these observations to come and go with less interference. The noting technique creates a structure for maintaining both of these qualities of attention. Using mental labels is a technique that supports noting.
Read MoreOne good definition of suffering is the wish for our current circumstances to be different than they are, which means that most of us suffer a great deal of the time. The degree to which we suffer fluctuates based on the gulf between how things are and our idea of a more perfect set of circumstances. The resistance to accepting what is happening right now takes energy. No wonder why so many of us frequently report feeling exhausted.
Read MoreI recommend keeping your new mindfulness practice to yourself until the habit is established.
Read MoreMindfulness meditation uses ordinary sensory experience to develop skills of attention which can increase our baseline level of contentment. We take the world in through our eyes, our ears, and our bodies. We make sense of the world and our relationship to it through our mental images, internal conversations, and sensations in the body which seem to have emotional flavors.
Read MoreJust as physical exercise increases strength, flexibility, and endurance to support the regular activities of your life, mindfulness exercises develop skills of attention that nurture a deep and mature level of personal contentment.
Read More"Seeing for yourself, from your own experience, what works and what doesn’t is what meditation is all about."
~ Jason Siff
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