http://www.meditationoasis.com Companion to the Meditation Oasis Podcast Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:39:04 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en OasisBloghttp://feedburner.google.com Three years ago today our first podcast episode went up on iTunes. And now there have been almost 3 million downloads. We never dreamed that so much would come out of the podcast, for us and our listeners, and we're celebrating that today. Of all of the things we've done ... http://www.meditationoasis.com/2009/11/07/celebrating-3-years-of-podcasting/ In the swirl of activity and the intense demands of life, it's easy to lose ones center. It can be challenging to maintain a sense of stability and balance. Our latest podcast meditation is designed to help you experience stillness in the midst of busyness, and then to create a ... http://www.meditationoasis.com/2009/10/09/guided-meditation-for-stillness-stability-and-balance/ These words -- "in life, as in music, the pauses make all the difference" -- floated into my mind a few weeks back. I tweeted them on Twitter and started a post about them. The post has been saved as a draft since then, barely started and abandoned. Checking in ... http://www.meditationoasis.com/2009/09/30/in-life-as-in-music-the-pauses-make-all-the-difference/ Usually the term "effortless effort" is associated with Taoist philosophy and its concept of "Wu Wei". It has to do with how we act, or experience action, in daily life. I like the Wikipedia description of Wu Wei as "natural action" giving the example of a tree growing. It is ... http://www.meditationoasis.com/2009/09/17/effortless-effort-meditation/ Learning meditation is like learning ride a bicycle. Someone can demonstrate how to ride, tell you where to put your feet and hands and so on, but ultimately you have to get the hang of it yourself. A meditation teacher can give you a few pointers about how to start, ... http://www.meditationoasis.com/2009/09/08/no-one-can-teach-you-to-meditate/ Our latest podcast meditation is yet another variation on a theme. It's along the same lines as the Letting Go, Simply Being, Effortless, Let it Be and Trust meditations. Each has a slightly different angle that points the mind to the same place, a place which isn't really a place. They ... http://www.meditationoasis.com/2009/08/31/rest-in-the-source-guided-meditation/ . I just re-read a beautiful piece by Adrianne Murchison examining whether there is a difference between prayer and meditation. She questions whether there is a difference because she learned to meditate through prayer. Saying the rosary transformed into silent meditation and the experience of Oneness for her. Here is how ... http://www.meditationoasis.com/2009/08/24/are-prayer-and-meditation-the-same/ Was wondering what I'd blog about this week and a trip to our sunroom screamed "decluttering" to me. I hate to say why, but I'm sure you can guess. The sunroom has become a storeroom for our business -- full of boxes for things received, bubble wrap envelopes for CDs ... http://www.meditationoasis.com/2009/08/17/decluttering-and-the-meditative-life/ Something happened a couple weeks back that made a deep impression on me. I was walking a very familiar route I take around my neighborhood. I rounded a curve where I habitually speed up to get past a home where a dog barks loudly at me from a patio hidden ... http://www.meditationoasis.com/2009/08/10/a-sheep-in-wolfs-clothing/ Blackberries can be sooooo delicious when they're soft and sweet, and sooooo disappointing when they're not. I've been picking them on a nearby road where they grow on a fence by a field. It's a great summer for blackberries. There are tons of them, enough to lure me back into ... http://www.meditationoasis.com/2009/08/03/blackberry-picking-and-lessons-on-creativity/