Meditation is a Cup of Tea for the Soul

I grew up in England but my mother was not British so I was able to see some of their idiosyncrasies from a different point of view. One that bemused me was their obsession with tea. It acts as the social ritual on entering someone’s home, it acts as the primary caffeine delivery mechanism of choice, but it is also the solution to all problems. You’re feeling bored - put the kettle on. You’re feeling a bit tired - put the kettle on. You’re feeling a bit depressed - put the kettle on. Your best friend has just run off

2021-01-05T19:56:11-05:00By |

Tell me what to do. Don’t tell me what not to do.

It feels wrong to give direction by asking people ‘not’ to do something. You don’t throw a ball to a child and say ‘don’t drop it’, you say ‘catch it’. There are no posters saying “don’t be ordinary”, they say “Shoot For The Stars”. Nike’s slogan wouldn’t work as well if it said “Just Don’t Not Do It”. Yet I state half the foundational building blocks of meditation as non-something. Nevertheless, there are a some precedents where ‘nots’ are considered useful. Hinduism uses the practice of ‘neti neti’, meaning ‘not this, and not that’. This is considered the only way

2020-08-01T20:15:52-04:00By |

How FOCUS can change your life

Meditation is often thought of as a relaxation exercise. That’s great, it is. If that's all you want, you're in the right place. Meditate - it'll make you feel better. But may I suggest it also has the potential to transform your experience of life in a far more powerful way than just feeling less stressed. Concentration or Focus? Meditating on the breath is sometimes categorized as a concentration exercise. I think its should be categorized as a focus exercise. This may seem a tad semantic, but although it is true that this meditation improves concentration I am far more

2020-08-01T20:17:15-04:00By |

The Biggest Mistake I’ve Made

Today I have a good meditation practice. All I mean by that is that I meditate daily. But I’ve been meditating on and off for over thirty years, and most of that was pretty dreadful. I have made so many mistakes that when I think about it I’m embarrassed to call myself a teacher of meditation. People assume because I’m the one at the front of the class that I must have it all worked out, but I haven’t. In fact I am aware that I’ve thought before that I knew something about meditation and when I look back I

2020-04-18T17:40:27-04:00By |

Live Meditation Schedule on YouTube

Below are the YouTube links for upcoming live meditation events. All times are Eastern Daylight, i.e. New York. London +5 hours. California -3 hours. New South Wales, Australia +14 hours. Upcoming Morning Meditations Friday June 19th, 8:30am Saturday June 20th, 8:30am Sunday June 21st, 8:30am Monday June 22nd, 8:30am Tuesday June 23rd, 8:30am Wednesday June 24th, 8:30am Thursday June 25th, 8:30am Friday June 26th, 8:30am Saturday June 27th, 8:30am Sunday June 28th, 8:30am Monday June 29th, 8:30am Tuesday June 30th, 8:30am

2020-06-19T11:49:23-04:00By |

3 Things to Consider About Online Meditation Classes

Tonight, April 1st, 2020 we are doing our first ever live online meditation class. This is exciting (can I admit it’s actually somewhat terrifying). We can reconnect with the community that have been meeting weekly for several years but are now isolated and unable to meet in person because of the virus. We can reconnect with people that have moved away and been unable to join us because of the geography. And we can connect with people who have never, and maybe never would have joined us before. While there are many advantages to the technology that allow this, there

2020-04-18T17:40:32-04:00By |

Meditation for Pandemics – Part One

There are two ways meditation can help in a pandemic. And one important way it can’t. I’m writing this on March 23rd, 2020. The world is three months into the coronavirus crisis. It’s a scary world right now.  So far, to the best of my knowledge, I’ve not yet been infected. Some aren’t so fortunate.  This is a disease that kills too many and that threat to our survival exists for everyone; those already infected as well as those of us not yet infected. Our friends and family are threatened. Our personal finances are impacted or are going to

2020-04-18T17:40:34-04:00By |

Take a Breath

(Really! Please just go ahead and take a breath). Now, take another breath in through your nose and pay attention to the sensation of the air as it comes in and goes out. (Not so hard, right). This time take a breath through your mouth, and notice the sensation of the air on your lips, in your mouth, maybe it dries your tongue slightly. (Yes, this is going somewhere ... we hope anyway). Now take another breath and notice your body moving – either your chest or belly expanding and contracting. That’s it. That’s meditation. Congratulations. As we’re going to

2020-06-30T08:05:27-04:00By |
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