https://aboutmeditation.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/2024MeditationChallenge-Day4.mp3The Life-Changing Power of Letting Go [Today, in Day 5 of the 10-Day Meditation Challenge, we explore the practice and principle of letting go with a reading, a short talk, and a guided meditation.] I spent 14 years, from the age of 25 to 39, living in a spiritual ashram. That’s the Hindu equivalent of a monastery. Day and night, we practiced meditation like it was our job, because for us it was. And one of the core lessons I learned during my time on the cushion was that letting go was the key to unlocking ..read more

I don’t like it when the clocks change. It doesn’t feel natural to me.  I do love thinking about that liminal line that spans the turning earth at all times, rolling everything up in the tide of darkness on one end and spilling it back into light on the other. The progression of that line is constant, so I resist arbitrarily tinkering with the clocks–and our circadian rhythms–every six months. Embracing Change However, I do relish this time of year, when the transition from Autumn to Winter brings forth a host of scents and sensations that evoke deep currents of memory. It’s getting dark ..read more

What Does Self Love Look Like? I know. The idea of self-love doesn’t sit so well with our Western sensibilities. But it hits on a topic that I’m eager to explore with you. Recently, I had an experience around self-compassion and self-love that was kind of a revelation for me. As a Mindfulness Meditation teacher, a lot of what I teach and share with people has to do with developing and nurturing self-compassion and loving-kindness. The Buddhist term for this is Maitri. There are different ways that I feather Maitri into the teaching I do. Self-Compassion Takes Work But self-compassion is no ..read more

One of the first things we learn on the path of meditation is that desire is an obstacle to our progress. And its inverse, avoidance (aversion), is an equal barrier to our evolution. But today, I want to talk about desire in a different way. Because, we can actually harness desire to deepen and ripen our mindfulness meditation. That’s right, desire can help us live in the rich fullness of this very moment, undistracted and at ease. But first, let’s quickly review why the Buddha taught that desire is such a powerful hindrance to realizing our b ..read more

Break The Cycle of Self-Criticism In mindfulness circles, there’s a popular story about an encounter with His Holiness the Dalai Lama.  It goes something like this.  HH the Dalai Lama is taking questions at a conference and a Western meditation teacher asks him about how to help people who suffer from self-hatred.  There ensues a protracted and vigorous exchange between HH and his translator. The Dalai Lama looks confused and keeps asking questions. After some time, the translator reveals that there is no such word or concept in the Tibetan language, so he was having trouble ..read more

The Life-Changing Magic of a Morning Meditation Ritual Imagine this for a moment. You wake up and the first thing that comes to mind is not your to-do list for the day. Instead, you find yourself eagerly anticipating your morning ritual. After getting your tea or coffee you sit down on your meditation cushion with a selected reading. Occasionally your mind drifts, but you bring it back to the quiet atmosphere all around you. Undistracted, the words carry you deeper and deeper.  You finish the reading and listen to the early morning silence.  And just as if you were swimming in a co ..read more

Guided Focused Awareness Meditation Guided Meditation Audio Guided Meditation Video [I’m offering these free guided meditation in the lead up to the Coming Home Mindfulness Meditation Training Course starting Oct, 9th. More about that soon!] In this free guided meditation, we spend the hour doing a blend of mindfulness practices to ground ourselves in the body and connect to the heart before I lead you through 20 minutes of basic mindfulness meditation practice. In the last two community meditations, we’ve practiced a more blended technique of focused and open awareness mindfulness medita ..read more

About 10 years ago, my whole world turned upside down. All the stable ground under my feet disappeared overnight. Like that magician deftly whipping a sheet out from under the china set. But this time, imagine instead that the table itself disappears. Freefall… The contemporary spiritual ashram and community where I worked, lived, and practiced fell apart. I was a full time resident at that ashram for 14 years – much of my adult life. It was the source of my livelihood, my community, and the spiritual path and practice to which I’d dedicated my life. The reason for this conflagration? Our Gur ..read more

Video Audio In this guided meditation, we engage with different mindfulness practices to prepare for a session of basic mindfulness. We do this in order to ground our attention in the body. Specifically, in the heart center. As we engage with these embodiment practices, we slowly start to feel into our entire breathing body. This is incredibly important for meditation. Why? Because many of us just meditate from the shoulders up – in our heads. But meditation is a whole body activity. The more you can ground your attention fully in your body, the richer and more productive your meditation prac ..read more

Last month my life got temporarily turned upside down. My wife’s father is 89 and has late stage kidney disease. He’s very much in the twilight of his time here on Earth. And one morning we woke up to a text letting us know they found him unresponsive and took him to the hospital. He was stable, they said, but it wasn’t clear exactly what happened and why. We all expected he’d live for another 6-12 months at least.  His spirit was still bright and undiminished despite his condition. But as you know, at a certain point, things can happen quickly when it comes to terminal diseases. From De ..read more