i n t e g r a

Thriving in the Moment

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 16:38:00 +0000

By Martin Boroson

Stress is certainly an indication that you are having some kind of a problem with this moment. You are stressed because there is disharmony between you and what is happening—things are just not how you want them to be.

On one hand, it's important to respect your own feelings and needs, even if this means saying "no" to what's happening around you. If you don't pay attention to yourself, you can take on too much work, too many commitments, too much responsibility, or you can fail to set appropriate boundaries—all of which will cause you stress. So you might need to step back and unwind. Or you might need to eliminate some of the external causes of that stress.

On the other hand, resisting what is happening right now—wishing it would all slow down, speed up or just go away—can be even more stressful than going with it. In other words, stress can sometimes be a signal that it's time for you to rise to the occasion. It can be a sign that you need to develop new capacities within yourself. In other words, instead of pulling away from this moment, maybe it is time to dive in. Maybe you are all wound up because it's time to spring into action.

Life rarely unfolds in the way you plan. You can be overwhelmed by a string of setbacks—you can also be overwhelmed by a string of opportunities. But life throws challenges at you precisely when it is time for you to make radical changes, and precisely because it is the right time for you to learn something.These moments are invitations to live life from a new level, to develop new capabilities or ways of thinking or feeling.

In that spirit, whenever you feel any disjunction with what is happening right now—any desire to retreat from this moment—take a moment to consider that this moment might be perfect, just as it is. You may not like it, of course. You may think it is perfectly awful. But just consider that it might be perfect.

When you find yourself saying, "I don't have enough time," or "I don’t have enough help," or "Why does this keep happening to me?" or "If only this happened last week" or anything that suggests you are not accepting of this moment, try saying to yourself, "It's perfect just as it is."

I am not asking you to believe this. I am not asking you to put a brave face on your problems, or to smile when your heart is breaking. I am simply inviting you to assume that this moment is perfect, with all of its problems. It's a good time to do a moment of meditation. But then I want you to ask yourself, "If this moment is indeed perfect, what do I have to find within myself—what needs to change in me—in order to experience it as perfect?" In other words, in addition to it being perfect, it is a perfect opportunity.

You may not find an answer immediately, but just ask the question—because when you ask this question, you are meeting the challenge of this moment. And in meeting the moment, rather than retreating from it, you might find a whole new set of skills, a wonderful new idea, a release of tension, a brand new point of view. You are moving from resistance into flow. You are beginning to thrive.

I have seen some remarkable conversions through this exercise. I have seen people move from anxiety to joy, from denial to curiosity, from tension to relaxation, from anger to forgiveness, from depression to optimism. I have seen people shift from constant complaining to constructive engagement. I have witnessed some people simply break down and cry, releasing years of bottled pain. I have seen people move into a much more expansive and loving way of being. I have even seen entire organizations move from crisis to creativity. And it only takes a moment.

Too often meditation is seen as a way to retreat from the world—a kind of escape into a place of almost passive stillness, a place where you don't get stressed because there are no stressful things.

This is why I decided to give my book on meditation the subtitle, Stillness for People on the Go—a phrase that can be a bit jarring for those people who meditate just to slow down. But the point of this practice is not for you to stop the world, or hide from the world, in order to be peaceful. The point is for you to be more at peace in the flow of life, and to trust its intelligence.

So when you do a short meditation, please remember it is not about running away from what is happening. Even though you may withdraw temporarily from what is happening, you should return refreshed. In other words, the biggest release of stress happens by releasing the part of you that wants to run away.

You then become more honest about what is really happening right now, and more able to deal with it with a fresh mind. You become more present and awake. Through meditation, you become more and more able to respond to the constant changes of life, in the moment. You become response-able.

This is why the word "moment"—in addition to giving us the word "momentous"—also gives us the word "momentum." When you are truly in the moment—being fully yourself and able to respond to the world—and there is no stopping you.

So the next time you feel overwhelmed by what's happening, just take a moment to consider it perfect. Then ask how to get into that state of mind in which you really, really know this to be true.

Martin Boroson is a playful, practical new voice in the next wave of meditation teachers. Author of One-Moment Meditation: Stillness for People on the Go, he lectures on the benefits of a meditative mind for decision-making and leadership. Marty studied philosophy at Yale, earned an MBA from the Yale School of Management and is a formal student of Zen. Visit his website for One-Moment Meditation® help and resources, tweet him at @takeamoment or find him on Facebook.

The Five P's of Purpose

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 16:22:00 +0000

We are born to dream. Think about it. Where would we be, who would we be, without our dreams? Most of the great inventions of the world, much of the forward movement of human civilization, have been fueled by dreams. So it should come as no surprise that for many of us, finding purpose means putting our dreams into action.

For the past seven years, I've been interviewing people who later in life have done just that. And in writing a book about the experience, I realized a dream of my own.

Analyzing what I've learned in the process and how it mightapply to people of all ages, I've come up with what I call "The Five Ps of Finding Purpose."

Last month I spoke about these five principles to a variety of groups in Botswana and discovered that they pertain to all sorts of other endeavors. They could just as easily be called "The Five P's of Becoming a True Leader" or "The Five P's of Achieving Success." Although they're not sophisticated concepts, each presents its own set of challenges.

1. Possibility. Embrace it! Almost anything is possible if we're willing to let go of our limiting ideas of ourselves. (Ah, there's the rub!) Leaders and late bloomers alike begin their journeys by envisioning a future where their dreams have taken shape. Take Susan B. Anthony, who imagined women one day having the right to vote and spent her life championing the cause. Today we have a woman who is the Speaker of the House and another who is running for President. Or consider Linda Bach, who believed it was still possible in her 40's to become a doctor. At age 50, she graduated from the University of Miami Medical School. (Note: If you want to stretch your vision, I recommend reading The Art of Possibility, a wonderful how-to book co-written by Boston Philharmonic conductor Benjamin Zander and his wife Rosamund.)

2. Presence. Pay attention! If you want to discover a passion and figure out how to pursue it, pay attention to the opportunities and signs that present themselves in the here and now. Listen to your body. (A wrenching gut is often a warning cry.) Most of us spend too much time in our heads thinking about the past and theorizing about the future. We forget to breathe in the beauty of life. In doing so, we often miss the gifts that are right in front of us.

3. Passion. Explore it! Ask yourself what gives you joy. Our passions not only lead to our purpose, they're the propellant that allows us to surmount the obstacles that inevitably come between us and our goals. There’s no better example of someone following her passion than British singer, Susan Boyle. Last year, at the age of 47, Boyle became a contestant on "Britain's Got Talent," in pursuit of her goal of becoming a professional singer. She was catapulted to fame with an electrifying performance that was viewed by over 40 million people on You Tube. Since then she’s fulfilled her goal with the release of an aptly-titled album, “I Dreamed a Dream.” It ranked number two in album sales in the U.S. in 2009.

4. Practice. Do it! Whether you long to be a marathon runner, a writer, or a political activist, the pay-off comes with practice. Here in the States we tend to think that talent trumps all. But a studyof musicians conducted by British psychologist John Sloboda suggests otherwise. To his amazement, Sloboda discovered that the performers who scored best were practicing 800 percent more than the ones at the bottom. "People have this idea that there are those who ... can get further on less effort," Sloboda says. "On average, our data refuted that."

5. Persistence. Keep at it! Most people give up on their dreams too soon. But not Ed Viesturs. Determined to climb Everest, Viesturs was forced to turn back twice just short of his goal. The third time he made it to the top, becoming the first American to summit the 14 tallest peaks in the world. You may have no desire to climb mountains; but whatever your goals are, the way to achieve them is to keep moving forward. If you're not progressing as fast as you'd like or experiencing the results you've imagined, take an honest look at yourself and re-evaluate. Everyone makes mistakes. Chances are, the more successful you are, the more you've made. (After all, you've probably taken more risks.) Learn from your blunders and move on. Detours are often part of the journey. But as Viesturs says, "There are no shortcuts to the top."

About the Author:

Prill Boyle is a self-described late bloomer. At the age of 48 she left her teaching job to write a book about late bloomers. Defying Gravity recounts the stories of 12 "ordinary" women who have done extraordinary things later in life.

Today's Small Change: AIM for Success

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 15:50:00 +0000

by Ellie Krieger

Set Smart Short-term and Long-term Goals

As you work your way through the Healthy Living program, you probably have a long-term goal or two in mind. Whether these goals consist of losing weight, improving your fitness level, or finding balance in your daily life (or all of the above!), it's great to know what kind of "big picture" you're aiming for. But it's also important to set smaller, short-term goals that you can strive for and achieve along the way. Accomplishing these smaller goals will help you feel rewarded for your efforts, and it can help you stay motivated over the long haul.

The key is to set smart goals that you can realistically achieve. Your goals should be Attainable, In line with your priorities, and Measurable and specific (AIM for short).

You'll want to make sure that the goals you set are attainable, or realistic. Biting off more than you can chew will just set you up for failure and disappointment. So aim to set a goal you can actually reach. When you have success with one small goal, you can look forward to setting another.

You'll also want to make sure that the goals you set are in line with your priorities. Decide, for example, whether it's more important to incorporate your physical activity into time you spend with your family (in which case a nightly walk with your children may work nicely) or to use it as time for yourself (in which case a solitary jog or yoga practice may be a better fit).
Finally, make your goals as specific as possible. Rather than just saying "I want to get in better shape," aim to be able to walk a certain distance, jog a mile at a certain speed, or swim a certain number of laps. With specific, measurable goals like these, you'll know exactly what you're aiming for — and you'll know when you've gotten there!

Keep Your Head in the Clouds and Your Feet On the Ground

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 15:40:00 +0000

by Mike Robbins

A few weeks ago while I was on a run, the saying "keep your head in the clouds and your feet on the ground" popped into my head. I'm not sure why I thought of this, but once I did I couldn't get it out of my mind. And while I've heard this saying many times (and actually have always thought it was pretty corny and cheesy), I started to think about it more deeply and realized the true wisdom of this idea.

As I've been thinking about it more, I notice that while I often have my "head in clouds" (thinking about big goals, dreams, ideas, and more) and my "feet on the ground" (staying grounded in "reality," taking practical action, and keeping things "real"), I rarely do these things simultaneously.

I think most of us find ourselves on one end of this spectrum or the other (and some of us, like me, go back and forth depending on what's going on in our lives or how we're feeling at any given time). However, our ability to create an authentic sense of balance with our goals and actions (i.e. dreaming vs. doing), has a lot to do with not only how effective we are in making things happen in life, but also with how much joy and fulfillment we experience.

Here are a few things you can do and think about to balance the yin and yang energies of dreaming and doing in your life:

1) Notice where you are on this spectrum. Take some time to reflect on where you fall on the "head in the clouds, feet on the ground" continuum. While many of us move back and forth a bit on this spectrum, most of us have a natural place where we settle - i.e. we're more of a "dreamer" or a "doer." Once we recognize where we are, we have the ability to move and create more of a balanced approach - if we choose to.

2) Allow yourself to focus on your dreams.  What are some of your biggest dreams? What do you truly want in your life? Having passionate desire without attachment is one of the most important elements of us making our dreams come true. However, because most of us have been hurt, disappointed, or let down by goals that haven't been attained, we tend to hold back when it comes to thinking about, visualizing, and talking about our deepest desires and most important dreams. Having our "head in the clouds" is about giving ourselves permission to dream and dream big.

3) Take intentional and effective action. One of the biggest challenges we encounter in our journey towards our dreams is either not taking effective action (because we don't know what to do or we're too scared to do it) or taking too much ineffective action (because we're running around crazy or acting in an unconscious way). When we allow ourselves to dream big (with our "head in the clouds"), how we keep our "feet on the ground" is by coming up with intentional and appropriate actions to move forward with our goals, even if we're scared and not sure how things will turn out. We often need guidance, advice, and support in this process - because it can be confusing, intimidating, or both.

4) Get good support and feedback.  Support and feedback are essential aspects of life, success, and growth - as we all know. Specifically related to our dreams - it's crucial that we have empowering support around us. Some of us need people who can challenge us think big, focus on our goals, and dream. Others of us need people to help ground us, keep us in reality, and help us focus our energy, passion, and ideas in a practical way. And, all of us need people who can cheer for us, hold us accountable, and support us on our journey in an authentic and meaningful way. We can't do it alone - well, at least not nearly as easily of effectively.

5) Have fun!  It's important for us to enjoy the journey and not take ourselves or life too seriously. Sometimes, as you may have noticed, we get really intense, uptight, and stressed out about our goals and dreams - almost as if we're holding our breath, waiting to exhale once things all turn out. This creates a stressful dynamic in our lives and is not the most conducive environment (internally and externally) for us to create success and fulfillment. Having fun along the way ensures we keep things in perspective and enjoy the ride, regardless of the outcome.

Keeping our head in the clouds and our feet on the ground is a lot easier said than done. However, when we're able to do both of these things with passion, intention, and focus - we create a sense of balance and peace that can allow us to have what we truly want in life.

(For the audio message, click here.)

The Power of Desire Without Attachment

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 16:08:00 +0000

by Mike Robbins

For many years I've had mixed feelings about my wants and have been a bit confused about the true power of desire. While I know that desire is an essential piece of the manifestation process, I also know that focusing a lot of my attention and energy on what I want has caused a great deal of fear, pain, and disappointment in my life. Overemphasizing my desire has also gotten in my way of appreciating all that I already have and who I really am at the deepest level. Can you relate?

Last week, I started listening to the audio version of the classic bestselling book, Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill. While I was listening to the chapter on the importance of desire, I had some big insights and realizations.

I noticed that I often actually hold back, squelch, or minimize my deepest desires - waiting until things seem "possible" or even "probable" before I fully express (both to myself and others) what I truly want. I also realized that my rationalization that "it's more important to focus on what I have than it is to think about what I want," has more to do with my own fears that I don't actually know how to manifest my desire or that I will be upset when things don't turn out the way I want them to.

Most importantly, I saw that my issue with desire has to do with my attachment to the specific outcome I want, not with desire itself. I don't have much experience with passionately wanting something (a feeling, experience, material possession, accomplishment, or state of being), without being attached to it manifesting in reality.

Being quite competitive, goal-oriented, and achievement focused for much of my life - I've often related to my desires as specific challenges to conquer, goals to attain, or games to win.

What if there's no scoreboard, it's not a competition, and it doesn't really matter if something comes to fruition or not? In other words, what if we could want with deep passion and excitement, and without attachment? It's not that we wouldn't want certain things to happen or specific dreams to come true, we just wouldn't relate to our specific desires as if our life depended on them (which in most cases it doesn't).

As simple of a concept as this is to understand, at least conceptually, it's revolutionary when we consider its implications on our life, our growth, our relationships, our work, our dreams, and more. I've been talking about, reading about, and teaching people about desire without attachment for many years, but for the first time in my life in the past few days, I've actually been inquiring into it and speculating on what it would look like, feel like, and be like for me to live my life from this place of passionate desire and non-attachment, authentically. It's a whole new world of possibility.

What if we gave ourselves the permission to dream and desire in a big and profound way? What if we knew that whether or not we achieved, experienced, or manifested something that we really, really wanted - we would be okay either way (because we actually would and we have always been). The fact that we currently exist in life without many of the things we desire is evidence that we don't need many of the specific things we want.

However, the more passionate, bold, clear, and free we become with our desires - knowing them, feeling them, seeing them, and expressing them - the more likely we are to not only manifest them specifically into our lives, but to live with an authentic sense of passion, purpose, and power.

Here are a few things you can think about and do to expand your capacity for passionate desire, without attachment:

1) Notice your relationship with desire itself. How do you feel about your desires, dreams, goals, and wants (big or small)? Are you comfortable with having desires and with expressing them? Do your desires excite you? Do they scare you? Are you optimistic about being able to manifest the experiences, feelings, and outcomes you want in your life right now? How have your past experiences with your desires impacted your current relationship to wanting? The more you can get in touch with how you feel about and relate to desire in general and your desires specifically, the more ability you'll have to expand your capacity for passionate, non-attached wanting.

2) Allow yourself to want. Take some time today and this week to inquire about what you really want right now. What are some of your deepest desires at this moment in your life? Notice how easy or difficult it is for you to think about and imagine these desires. Without judgment, see if you can challenge yourself to push past any perceived limitations, judgments, or fears you may have about what you want. The goal is to practice wanting with passion and to let go of your need to know how something will come to fruition or what you think it will mean if it does (or doesn't) manifest.

3) Get support and encouragement from others. Getting in touch with our deepest desires and passionately expressing them is something that for many of us takes courage and support - and can also be quite vulnerable and scary. Reach out to the people you trust most in your life and those who truly have your back. Share with them both your fears and your desires - in a way that will support and empower you to focus on what you want with passion and authenticity. This is not about getting practical help and support to make your goals happen (although that may be something that comes out of this process naturally). Reaching out for support and encouragement from others in this regard is about allowing the love, support, and belief the people in our lives have for us to nurture us and give us the courage to dream and want with intensity and in a way that reminds us that we are not alone and that we're okay, just as we are (with or without manifesting what we want).

Have fun with this and, as always, be kind, appreciative, and compassionate with yourself in this process. For most of us, this is a big step to take and something we can and will continue to practice and deepen throughout our journey of life and growth. And, as we deepen our ability to want with passion and without attachment, our life can take off in magical ways that we didn't even think was possible.

(For this week's audio message, click here.)

RAIN for Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 16:05:00 +0000

Here is a practice excerpted from A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Workbook to help you gain control of situations and reduce stress.

The RAIN Practice
You can use the acronym RAIN as an informal practice for working with mindful self-inquiry:
R = Recognize when a strong emotion is present.
A = Allow or acknowledge that it’s there.
I = Investigate the body, emotions, and thoughts.
N = Non-identify with whatever is there.

RAIN is an insightful self-inquiry practice that you can bring into your daily life to help you dis cover deeper threads of what triggers strong emotional reactions. Throughout the next week, bring rec ognition to any strong emotion and allow it to be present. Investigate what you feel physically, mentally, and emotionally and see where it takes you. The last element, non-identification, is very useful because it helps to deflate the mind’s stories and cultivates the understanding that strong emotions are just another passing mind state and not a definition of who you are. It’s like going to a movie, where you sit back and watch the actors play out the drama. By seeing your story as impermanent and not identifying with it, you’ll begin to loosen the grip of your own mind traps. This will help create the space for you to be with things as they are and deepen your understanding of what drives, underlies, or fuels your fears, anger, and sadness. It also grants you the freedom to look at the situation differently and choose a response other than what may be dictated by your story. (more)

The Power of No

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 17:48:00 +0000

by Mike Robbins
How do you feel about saying "no?" I notice that saying "no" to certain people and in some situations can be challenging for me. Sometimes I find myself saying "yes" when "no" would really be more authentic. More covertly, I also find myself at times giving "half-truths" (which is quite an oxymoron if you think about it) to people when they present me with opportunities, engage with me about connecting, etc. You know what I mean, you run into someone and say, "We should really get together sometime," but you really have very little interest in or commitment to making that happen. Does this ever happen to you?

What is it about saying "no" that many of us have a hard time with? For me, it comes down to a few specific things. First of all, I get scared that people will get upset or disappointed if I say "no." Second, I'm not a huge fan of hearing "no" from others myself, so being the one saying it can be difficult for me. And lastly, I consider myself a "yes" type person. I pride myself on being open, willing, and ready to say "yes" at all times. In other words, "no" often seems like a failure, an admission of weakness, or just an overall negative thing to say.

However, saying "no" is one of the most important aspects of living a life filled with balance, integrity, and authenticity. Our ability and capacity to say "no" with confidence is one of the most important aspects of creating peace and power in our lives. This is about creating healthy boundaries, honoring ourselves, and being real - it's not about being closed, cynical, or unwilling.

The majority of people I know, especially these days, live their lives with a feeling of "overwhelm" that either runs them or at least gets in their way from time to time. If you think of the aspects of your life where you feel most overwhelmed, stressed out, or ineffective - there is probably a theme going on - you haven't said "no" when you needed to. If you also think about any relationships in your life where these is stress, struggle, or conflict - you saying "no" with honesty and kindness is also probably missing.

When we don't say "no" in an authentic way we end up feeling burdened, stressed out, resentful, and even victimized (although, ironically, we forget that we are the ones who said "yes" in the first place).

Saying "no" does have real consequences. Sometimes we will upset, disappoint, or annoy people. We may also have a significant amount of fear about saying "no" to certain people (our spouse, boss, co-worker, friend, child, etc.) or in certain situations (at work, with clients, with our in-laws, and more).

However, there are huge benefits to us enhancing our capacity and comfort with "no." Tapping into the power of "no" creates freedom, liberation, and a real sense of trust with the people in our lives. When we're someone that says "yes" when we mean it and "no" when we mean it - others know they can count on us to be real, tell the truth, and come through.

And, when we "no" with confidence, honesty, and compassion, we do one of the best things we can possibly do to honor and appreciate ourselves.

(For the audio message, click here.)

How to Open Yourself to Your Life's Purpose

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 19:34:00 +0000

In A New Earth, Eckhart Tolle writes that to awaken to your life's purpose, you have be ready for a change in the state of your consciousness. But how do you know when that time comes? And where can you even begin?

The one big question most of us ask ourselves is "What should I do with my life?" For most people, it's very difficult to answer. Use these simple suggestions from people who have successfully answered this question and are now living the lives of their dreams. Be inspired to pursue your dreams and discover the impact you are meant to have on the world!

1. Listen to your inner voice. It takes practice to hear your true desires. Your passion will often come as a whisper or serendipitous event that reminds you of what's important and what makes you happy.

This is similar to what is meant by trusting your gut or listening to your intuition. Award-winning actress Sissy Spacek has attributed her success to an experience she had as a young girl, attending a student performance at a neighboring school. Upon seeing a group of girls dancing on the stage, twirling batons and marching in line, Sissy thought to herself, "I could do that."

"Everyone has an inner voice; you just have to listen to it and trust it in order to be led by it," Sissy says. "I did that, and it gave me the ability to live a life that's true to who I am and what I really wanted."

Can you recognize what makes you happy?

Avoid These Pitfalls To Live the Life You Want

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:00:00 +0000

by Gilbert Ross, Soul Hiker

Have you ever wondered why your life didn’t turn out exactly the way you wanted it to be? I have been there a couple of times myself. One straightforward answer is that things don’t always turn out the way we expect them and that’s perfectly understandable. It stands up to us to adapt to those circumstances we don’t have full control of or accept them and let go of them to continue with our lives.

There are other moments however where we don’t quite take this down very well and peacefully. The idea that our paths have turned away from the life we once imagined haunts our heads from time to time. This can stir up and bubble a lot of feelings of regret, bitterness and resentment which can takes its toll on us over time.

We end up blaming many things inappropriately and at no benefit or consolation. We think that it’s our fault, or somebody else’s fault. We think that the world has turned against us or is conspiring against us. We thing that fate has given us its cold shoulder and let us brawl along against a set of unfavorable circumstances.

We can consciously create the Life we want

I strongly believe that we can consciously direct our life and design it the way we want it to be but before we have to learn to be aware of the underlying patterns of thought or behavior that keep us from doing this.

There are ten basic mistakes that we very easily fall into by default and that are an obstacle to creating the life we want. There may be more than 10 or some people may address the same issue with a different concept but I think the following ten are the main ones and most common:

1. Fatalism The first and most common mistake is the inner belief that we don’t have much of a say in our lives. It’s the idea that all that happens is pre-determined and that we have absolutely no control over it.

The locus of power and control, according to this belief, is shifted from inwards to outwards. Things happen because it is written in our fate, in our genes, in the celestial bodies or in the palm of our hands. We are hence disempowered.

This disempowering belief has long stretching consequences in all the things that we think or do. For starters, it takes away the trust we ought to have in ourselves and in our decisions and actions. Secondly it installs a false sense of responsibility.

Responsibility really is the realization that we have the possibility and the will to positively change our future and that of others. Responsibility is the awareness that we can consciously create our destiny but also the vulnerability of misplacing it.

2. Negativity & self-defeating thoughts This problem comes in many forms and disguises. In general it is the sense that we give more weight to the negative rather than positive aspects of things. This very often distorts our perspective on life.

Another closely related attitude is the self-defeating mode of thinking such as in “Everyone seems to be successful except me because that’s the way it is” or “I don’t think I can do it. It’s not my luck”. These are self-defeating thoughts which impede us from doing something because we ‘instruct’ ourselves that we can’t do it from start even though we have no solid foundation to prove this.

It’s only a belief without rational basis. These beliefs make us see life in a skewed way and not as it really is. It hinders us from really trying let alone succeed.

3. Guilt This is a hard one. We all had some sense of guilt in our lives. Some people though seem to be more enslaved by it than others. There are some who live their lives totally immersed in it.

Guilt is when we believe that some undesirable action we did in the past binds us in the present. It’s when we believe that there is an insolvable part of our past that we regret and that is tying us down even now in the present.

It is tightly linked to a sense of remorse. Whether this sense is real or justified is totally another thing. One thing that is for sure is that guilt is self-created and it immobilizes us. Guilt is very often an illusion and a distortion of reality.

4. Anger This one is really notorious. Anger is a very strong negative emotion. It comes in different grades but they all have one thing in common: They all make us blind to the present circumstances, make us lose rational judgment and create a strong emotional imbalance.

Anger is frowned upon by all religions and spiritual teachings. It is a very natural emotion but the problem comes when it makes us lose sight of ourselves and of others.

5. Envy Envy is very closely tied to belief that we are separate from each other and that we compete with each other in a limited and scarce pool of resources.

Envy is the disoriented belief that other people’s success is taken from ours. It’s also the misguided attitude of translating other people’s achievements into our lacks. This is upside down thinking.

We should first of all focus on our goals and achievement. We should also understand that other people’s success demonstrates that we can be as much successful. Life and the Universe are infinitely abundant. Resources are not scarce as we think.

6. Prejudice No need of any introduction. Prejudice literally means making a judgment of something or someone before having knowledge and understanding of it.

This isn’t always a result of mischief or ignorance. Sometimes the mind needs to make fast decisions and the only way it can retrieve information quickly is by packing it into categories and labels. Very often however we overdo this labeling in many circumstances. We apply it on people and to events even when not necessary.

Prejudice is locking our minds to predefined and limited modes of understanding. It is also an obstacle to creativity.

7. Self-Deprecation Low self-esteem is a common syndrome. It gives us a weak sense of trust and security in ourselves. It makes us vulnerable to the changes and movements in life and to the thoughts and reactions of other people.

It devalues our thoughts and actions which makes us less effective in changing and creating our future.

8. Self-Centeredness This is the realm of the ego. We very often see the world strictly through our own biases, our own needs and our own selfish desires. This makes us self-centered.

Self-centeredness is when we are blind to the needs of others. It is when we are locked into self oriented mindset wherein we think of ourselves as being cut off and separate from the rest. There is the “I and the others” kind of standpoint. It’s about Me, I and mine.

This is ultimately shallow because it fails to see the sacred interconnectedness between things. It also makes us fail to see that we are part of a larger whole and much of our success is dependent on this recognition.

9. Resistance to Change We all have encountered this problem either in ourselves or in people we know. Resistance to change is a very real and persistent obstacle if we want to redesign or transform our lives. In fact it is usually the first obstacle we encounter.

There is often that immediate inner objection when we try to change something in our lives. This is only natural. We like to stay in our comfort zone by default. That is a natural setting in us. It is also natural that change always encounters inertia especially in the beginning.

Being more conscious of this can alleviate a lot of trouble and friction.

10. The Scarcity Mindset I have already touched on this point with relation to envy. In short, this mindset makes us believe that things and opportunities in Life are scarce. This is not entirely our fault. We were brought up to see things in this way.

We were always brought up with certain notions such as “You have to strive hard and compete”, “You have to get there before the rest otherwise you’ll get less”, “life is hard and the means are limited. You have to work hard for it”…and so on.

The scarcity mindset limits us into believing that we can’t always get what we want just because we want it. Resources and opportunities are scarce hence what we want may not always be available and may be highly competed for.

This turns out to be an untrue preconception most of the time. The Universe is infinitely abundant and opportunities are endless if we really believe it.

By changing our mindset from scarcity to abundance, things will start changing in quantum leaps. We will start making more things happen and stumble over much more opportunities just because our mind is more open to those opportunities. We would be expecting them. As the saying goes “opportunity knocks at the door of the prepared”.

Redesigning our Lives = Reorienting our Beliefs

You can create the life that you want without any limits. This is a given truth which none of us gets to know from birth, from school or from any conventional wisdom. There are some successful no-limits persons that seem to know this intuitively or they have come to understand it at some point in their lives.

The fact still is that it’s not common knowledge. Most of all we seem mostly unaware that these common ten traits, which are very often unobserved or taken for granted, are real obstacles to creating the life that we want.

Redesigning our lives is absolutely possible but it would entail, first of all, reorienting some of the foundational beliefs mentioned above.

Recognition of them and the fact that most of them are unreal and self-created is the first big step towards the conscious co-creation of our lives.

How to Do Hard Things

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:21:00 +0000

by Suzanne Falter-Barns

One of the harsh little realities of pursuing a dream is that sooner or later, you’re going to have to do some stuff you don’t like very much. It’s just plain inevitable.

Enter procrastination. Dread. Meltdown. Complete inertia.

But the prospect of doing the tough stuff doesn’t have to stop you cold. To that end, I’ve been teasing out some different ways you can keep going. Here are a few of my favorites:

Play music. I learned this when I started running, or ‘jogging’ as we called it back in the 70’s. Clamping on the headphones made it go so much better. Even today, as I pound the treadmill, it’s just so much easier if I’ve got country music videos playing along while I work out.

In fact, there’s a remarkable moment in Michael Moore’s documentary, Fahrenheit 911, in which a soldier talks about overcoming his fear and going into battle by listening to heavy metal music piped into his helmet. Neurosurgeons, emergency room docs, and others in high-pressure operating theaters often play lightly upbeat, soothing music to keep stress under control as they work.

‘Bookend it’. This is a phrase the 12-steppers wisely use for calling up a supportive friend before AND after a tough task … just so you’re accountable out there to someone. Use the phone or email and make that connection. You’ll be less likely to procrastinate your way out of it.

Delegate. Got a task you just can’t somehow do? I always have three or four lurking around the edges of my desk, until the day I rise up and give it away. Hire a local teenager, elderly person who wouldn’t mind a little light work, a family member, or even a local odd-jobs person to come in one day and give you a hand with all or your ‘hard stuff.’ If the problem seems to be on-going, hire a Virtual Assistant, from one of the on-line sources like AssistU.com. This is a person you hire on an hourly basis, usually in some other part of the country, who helps you electronically with all kinds of administrative needs. If you can’t afford to find help, buddy up with a friend and offer to do each other’s ‘hard stuff’ in an even swap.

Plan a big, juicy reward. We’re talking one you seriously want …and the nastier the task, the bigger the reward. If you must, combine this with book-ending, to make sure you not only do the task, but reward yourself as well.

Dare yourself to not do it. Really imagine life without this particular task completed. Then see what the consequences are. Truly dire? If not, maybe you can actually drop the hard thing from your to-do list. On the other hand, will you be disappointed? Will things just not seem right somehow? Better use that image of disappointment to move your dream along.

Jump in, first thing. We tend to be fresher, and less conflicted, stressed or distracted first thing in the morning (post-coffee, of course.) That’s the best time to seriously seize the day and do the hard thing. Success manuals all preach doing it first, and they’re right. It works.

Envision the goal. Is it 1000 new subscribers to your ezine? Is it a potential big sale that will change your business, or leaving a job that will help you live your dream? Make a little note and park it somewhere that’s frequently in your line of site, such as a Post It on your computer screen. (You can word it obscurely to protect your privacy in an open office environment.) By keeping you attention on the big picture, you’ll naturally get less hung up on the day-to-day small stuff.

Impose a temporary goal. One of my dreaded tasks is vocalizing, or exercising my vocal cords every day in an effort to keep my singing voice in shape. Just about the only motivator I’ve found that works is always having a small performance just ahead … especially in times when I’m working on a long-term project that doesn’t ‘need’ my voice anytime soon. Knowing I have to perform, even at a dinner party, keeps me interested in staying in shape. The same would apply if you want to work out on a regular basis. Find a charity fun run or walkathon you can get yourself in shape for.

That should give you some fodder for facing the harsh realities of life, and getting on with those annoyingly procrastinated to-do’s. Feng Shui experts insist this ‘mental clutter’ keeps us small and inefficient; once we actually go through the hard stuff, and clear out our anxiety and procrastination, we thrive. And guess what? They’re absolutely right!

Suzanne Falter-Barns Barns is the author of the new book, Living Your Joy: A Practical Guide to Happiness (Ballantine) and How Much Joy Can You Stand? A Creative Guide To Facing Your Fears and Making Your Dreams Come True (Ballantine Wellspring.) You can learn more about guided visualizations at www.howmuchjoy.com/tangdysp.html.

12 Inspiring Quotes from Thich Nhat Hanh

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:04:00 +0000

Here, Thich Nhat Hanh shares a few words of wisdom

~ "Freedom is not given to us by anyone; we have to cultivate it ourselves. It is a daily practice. No one can prevent you from being aware of each step you take or each breath in and breath out." ~

~ "People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar." ~

~ "Enlightenment is always there. Small enlightenment will bring great enlightenment. If you breathe in and are aware that you are alive..”that you can touch the miracle of being alive...”then that is a kind of enlightenment." ~

~ "Many people are alive but don't touch the miracle of being alive." ~

~ "It is possible to live happily in the here and now. So many conditions of happiness are available ”more than enough for you to be happy right now. You don't have to run into the future in order to get more." ~

~ "People suffer because they are caught in their views. As soon as we release those views, we are free and we don't suffer anymore." ~

~ "Mindfulness helps you go home to the present. And every time you go there and recognize a condition of happiness that you have, happiness comes." ~

~ "Life is available only in the present. That is why we should walk in such a way that every step can bring us to the here and the now." ~

~ "When you love someone, the best thing you can offer is your presence. How can you love if you are not there?"

~ "To be loved means to be recognized as existing." ~

~ "Every thought you produce, anything you say, any action you do, it bears your signature." ~

~ "We have to continue to learn. We have to be open. And we have to be ready to release our knowledge in order to come to a higher understanding of reality." ~

Read Oprah's full interview with Thich Nhat Hanh

Who Do You Think You Are?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

by Mike Robbins

Sometimes when I m about to take a big risk, go for something important, or step out in a bold way in my life, I notice the judgmental question, Who do you think you are?, will pop up in my head. Does this ever happen to you?

This is one of the many ways that the feelings of not good enough or unworthy show up in our lives and get in the way of our success, fulfillment, and authenticity. Sadly, as most of us know, this question doesn t come from our true self; it comes from our Gremlin that little monster in our head whose only job is to keep us out of perceived danger. The more we listen to our Gremlin, the more allow him or her to sabotage our life.

However, this question, Who do you think you are?, while often asked in a negative, critical way and something that we allow to stop us from doing, saying, and going for important things in life - is also a very important question for us to ask and answer honestly. When we look at it on deeper level, we see that our answer to this question has a lot to do with how we experience life, in general.

How life is for us has a lot less to do with our circumstances or situations, and much more to do with how we relate to them and ultimately the thoughts we have. Some of the most powerful thoughts we think and the ones that have the most impact on us are the thoughts we have about ourselves (i.e. who we think we are).

Each of us has a story about ourselves and our lives. These stories are often dramatic, funny, scary, inspiring, sad, intense, boring, enjoyable, tragic, and more (usually a combination of many of these things). In most cases, the story we have about ourselves changes a bit depending on how we re feeling about life and ourselves at any given time.

One of the things we sometimes forget, however, is that we re the author of the story of our life not simply the main character. We often think that our story has to do with all of the things that have happened to us, the qualities we were born with or have cultivated, the stuff we ve done or haven t done yet, etc. But, when we remember that our story is a function of our thoughts, most specifically the thoughts we have about ourselves, we can be empowered to consciously transform not just our story, but our life as a whole.

Here are a few things to think about and do to enhance your thoughts about yourself, and therefore enhance your experience of life:

1) Notice when your feelings of not good enough or unworthy show up In other words, pay attention to when the question, Who do you think you are? stops you in your tracks and takes you out of the game of your life. As we re able to notice this, be honest about, and have some compassion for ourselves, we can take our power back from our Gremlin in those moments and step more fully into who we really are.

2) Ask yourself more deeply, Who do you think you are? Go deeper with this question, beyond the judgment and really inquiry into how you relate to yourself. What s your story? The more honest we can be about the story we have about ourselves, the easier it is for us to acknowledge it, own it, and ultimately change it. Remember, these stories are not true, they are simply our interpretations, judgments, and beliefs. We created them, so we have the power to transform them at any time.

3) Upgrade your story about yourself In the specific areas of your life where your story is not empowering, inspiring, or fulfilling see if you re willing and able to upgrade it in an authentic way. This basically means we change our thoughts, words, and feelings about it, genuinely. Because we often get so attached to our stories and tend to defend them passionately, this upgrading process can be challenging for many of us. It sometimes takes support, feedback, and coaching from others in order for us to move beyond our story and remember that we have the power to upgrade it whenever we re ready.

Who we think we are is one of the most foundational aspects of how we relate to life and ourselves. As Henry Ford said in his famous quote, Whether you think you can or you think you can t, you re right. This simple quote is so wise and profound. And, whether we think we re great or we re not, we re always right it s a function of who we truly think we are. - Mike Robbins

(For this week s audio message, click here.)

Look On The Bright Side

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 09:52:00 +0000

Look On the Bright Side. It's often said and often brushed off as almost too common a suggestion. Yet, I invite you to explore the meaning of those words and realize there's a lot of depth there.

We are the drivers of our own destiny and are propelled or limited by our thinking more than anything else. A positive attitude will bring about joy and abundance. Yesterday was my first day back in the mountains. A storm was brewing. Looking to the east, the horizon looked bleak, grey, lifeless. Looking to the west, the sun peered through adding color and life to a majestic but stoic scene. I chose to look on the bright side and went out for a long trek. I felt so fortunate to be where I was. I appreciated the light even more because of the dark. The contrast was incredible and rich. Had I looked only to the east, I may have been discouraged and missed the moment.

Don't let your life be made up of missed opportunities. There is something to be gained in every interaction, things to be learned from nature, beauty to be appreciated in silence. The world is abundant with opportunities as long as you are open to receive those messages. Look for them in each exchange, around each corner. Find yourself appreciative of little and big things. Listen to the people you love and those you don't. Your life will be enriched with goodness and you will feel ignited -- as if this were the first day you are truly living. These are the benefits of Looking On The Bright Side and they are encouraging. - Debra Riggs

Accept Resistance

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:13:00 +0000

Don't be afraid to meet resistance in meditation. Make the commitment to sit and meditate regularly. A willingness to stay present with the resistance that surfaces during mediation will help you cope with those complex emotions that continually arise in daily life.

While mediating, the mind starts to open; there's an expansion of awareness. Allow yourself to melt into that spaciousness. Sit slightly longer and meet the resistance that often stems from fear—fear of your emotions, fear of the unknown, and, lastly, fear of your own essence, your own grandeur.

Listen to your resistance—it almost always has something useful to tell you. Often resistance masks fear, an unwillingness to move deeper or to engage a block, a reluctance to explore an unexamined belief. Experiment with staying inside the meditation posture until you feel shifts—then try staying a little longer and feel the new level that has opened up. from Yoga Journal

Living A Strong Life

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 19:54:00 +0000

To get you started on your path to living your strongest life, Marcus Buckingham has written an eight-step Strong Life Plan to help you build both your career and personal life.

Step 1: Finding a CareerYou have a unique combination of talents and skills—but are you fully aware of what they are? Discover the strengths that will lead you to your ideal career.
The key steps to finding a career

Step 2: Switching CareersYou've been working hard as a lawyer, as a flight attendant, as an office manager, but now you realize—and perhaps you realized it long ago—that the job is depleting you.
How to dive into a new field

Step 3: Decision-MakingThe fear of making the wrong choice can be completely debilitating. We often get stuck living with the status quo because it is safe.
It's time to face your fears

Step 4: Problem-SolvingWhat is the most effective way to solve a problem? If you think the answer is "Find out what is wrong and fix it," you're only amplifying the problem.
The 5 steps to solving any problem

Step 5: Building Resilience
If you've suffered a setback recently, you may still be reeling, feeling helpless and hopeless. But a crisis can also bring you face-to-face with what really matters.
Find your true strength after a crisis

Step 6: Loving Connections
Choose relationships that leave you feeling stronger and foster those relationships by "supporting the being" of your partner.
6 steps to building a connection that will strengthen your life

Step 7: Resolving Conflict
Having a system or process for dealing with conflict or disagreements will enable you to spare your relationship from undue stress born from misunderstandings, assumptions and misinformation.
8 ways to resolve an argument

Step 8: Parenting
When it comes to raising your kids, you may be faced with some of the most challenging moments of your life.
Give your children a solid platform on which to build a strong, fulfilling life

4 Ways to Walk (Mindfully) into Mental Health

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 07:26:00 +0000

By ELISHA GOLDSTEIN, PH.D.

During the day many of us are moving so fast, sometimes physically, but almost always mentally. Our neurons are firing in hyper speed with so much to do and so much to pay attention to. I’ll often catch myself walking so fast to my car, head tilted forward, and eyes darting to the handle of the door where my next action will be. Sometimes, when I remember my practice, I notice that I’m “rushing home to relax.” In that moment I become present and realize that I don’t have to rush home to relax, I have arrived in the present moment and can choose to “be” different. Here is a way we can apply this to something many of us do every day…walking.

Appreciation - If you are fortunate enough to have the ability to walk, try and remember, it took you over a year to learn how to walk and these legs are often the unsung heroes that take you to and fro day in and day out. Thank your legs for all their efforts.
Grounding – Bring your attention to the sensations of your feet and legs as the heel touches the ground, then the base of the foot, then the toes, and then they lift. You can actually say to yourself, “heel, foot, toes, lift.” This is a way to connect to the action of walking in the present moment.
Open Awareness – Walk slightly slower and begin to open your awareness to all your senses one by one. Sight, sound, taste, feeling, smell. See what is around you, listen to the sounds, taste the air or whatever is in your mouth, feel the warmth, coolness, or breeze on your cheeks, smell the air. Then stop for a moment and see if you can take in all of the senses.
Mantra - As I mentioned in an earlier blog, you can also recite some sayings while taking a few steps. For example, take a few steps and during an in breath say to yourself, “breathing in, I have arrived, breathing out, I am home” or “breathing in, I calm my body, breathing out, I relax”. Or make up your own sayings.

You can do this while walking to work, running errands, or walking from the car to the door on the way home. Keep in mind this is a practice. So whenever you remember that you are rushing home to relax, or really rushing anywhere, you are now present and can engage in any of these ways of mindful walking. As always, don’t ever take my word for it, try it for yourself!

The Magic of the Olympics

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 07:28:00 +0000

(For this week’s audio message, click here.)

The Winter Olympics in Vancouver have captured the attention of the world. As a former college and professional baseball player (and a lifelong sports fan), I’ve always loved the Olympics and appreciated the incredible athleticism, competition, and passion of the athletes and teams, from a pure sports perspective. However, having been a live spectator at both the Atlanta and Sydney Summer Games, I’ve experienced first-hand the true spirit of the Olympics – which has been on display these past two weeks in Vancouver in a beautiful way.

There’s something truly magical that happens during the Olympics. While many of us are enjoying rooting for our country and we’ve seen some remarkable performances in Vancouver from people like Lindsey Vonn, Shaun White, Evan Lysacek, Bode Miller, and many others – the real magic of the Olympics is way bigger than any individual athlete or even any country. And, if we look deeper, there are so many aspects of the Olympics that can teach us, remind us, and inspire us on our own personal journey.
Here are some of the most important elements and lessons of the Olympics:

1) Ceremony. The Opening Ceremonies in Vancouver were breathtaking and spectacular (as was also true with the Summer Olympics in China in 2008 and with most of the Olympic opening ceremonies of the past few decades). Beyond the amazing technology, creativity, and spectacle of these ceremonies, there is a deeper commitment to beauty, ritual, and reverence. The Olympics are also filled with ceremonies throughout – medal ceremonies, the Closing Ceremonies, and more. For us to live lives of meaning, purpose, and spirit – it’s essential that we honor ourselves, others, and life in a ceremonious way.

2) Excellence. The Olympics, as much as any other sporting event, are all about excellence. The intense training, incredible competition, and extraordinary pressure of having to focus a lifetime’s worth of experience into one single performance, create an authentic sense of drama that is unique and exciting, albeit nerve-wracking. However, when we think of “excellence” in regards to the Olympics or other things in life, we often think about “winning.” While there’s nothing wrong with winning and our culture puts a high value on it (just look at the attention and adulation given to the gold medal winners in Vancouver), there is much more to real excellence than simply winning. Every athlete in Vancouver has made a commitment to excellence – even though the vast majority of them will not win medals and we’ll never even know their names. On our own path, it’s important for us to make a commitment to excellence – to go for it, dig down deep, and give it our best shot – whether or not we end up “winning.”

3) Passion. The Olympics are filled with passion – from the athletes, the host city, and the fans – in person and around the world. The emotions experienced and expressed during the Olympics, as we’ve seen these past two weeks, are intense and passionate. We’ve seen the “thrill of victory” and the “agony of defeat” on display each and every day. It’s this passion that makes the Olympics so intriguing, exciting, and fun to experience. In our own lives and on our own journeys, passion is a key component to growth, success, and fulfillment. So often we hold back our passion – waiting to see how things will turn out. However, to live life with depth, purpose, and aliveness, we have to tap into our passion in an authentic way and use it as inspiration, regardless of the outcome.

4) Play. One of the greatest things about the Olympics is that they are called “games.” This is a wonderful metaphor which reminds us that while sports (and life) can be intense and pressure-filled, they are really just games we are playing. The games played at the Olympics, not un-like in many aspects of our own lives, are played at a pretty high level and are done so with fairly high stakes. But, at the end of the day, they are all just games. Each athlete in Vancouver started in their sport as a child because it was fun, not because they wanted to win a gold medal, be on TV, or get big endorsement deals. This is a great reminder for all of us. We often get so serious and caught up in results, we forget to play. Play is essential. Scientific studies have shown that the same brain waves are generated in a high state of play as in a high state of meditation.

5) Unity. The athletes at the Olympics come together to represent their countries and to compete for something bigger than themselves. I had the privilege of playing for the USA baseball team in the World Championships when I was 18 years old. It was one of the greatest honors of my life and such a profound experience. And although in the Olympics there is a big focus, especially by the media, on individual performances as well as country competition (i.e. medal count), at the deepest level, the Olympics are about a greater sense of unity amongst all nations. There is a sense of mutual respect, admiration, and appreciation that exists at the Olympics – both with athletes and fans. I felt it on the streets of Atlanta and Sydney when I was there and see it on TV whenever I watch the Olympics now. The Olympics provide a stage for the world to engage, compete, and interact with one another in a beautiful way. One of the most important elements of our personal journey is to recognize that we are more alike than we are different. Those whom we compete against, have conflict with, and want to “beat,” are just people, like us, who have similar hopes, fears, and dreams. At the most basic and yet profound level, we are all one. Anything and everything we can do to see, remember, and remind ourselves and others of this innate unity – gives us access to deeper connection and truth.

I love the Olympics! Not only do we get to watch extraordinary athletes complete at the highest level – but we get to tap into something profound and magical that can remind us of our true power, passion, and oneness.

- Mike Robbins

Stress Reduction Powerful Enough for the US Military

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 06:14:00 +0000

By Gretchen Reynolds

A new approach to stress is bringing relief to U.S. soldiers—and shedding light on how we should all deal with life's obstacles.

Karen Reivich, Ph.D., sometimes finds herself awake at 3 a.m. filled with worry. But unlike most people, Reivich, a research associate in the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania and codirector of the Penn Resiliency Project, has learned how to shake off anxiety when it rears its frenetic head.

In fact, Reivich is so good at beating back angst that she and her staff were recently contracted to develop a curriculum for the U.S. Army to teach soldiers practical skills for becoming more resilient to stresses of military service. The rest of us, she believes, could benefit from similar resources. Here, her tips for handling whatever comes your way.

Get perspective.
"Most of us focus on the worst-case outcome in almost every situation," says Reivich. You don't need to shoo away those thoughts; instead, take a look at their opposite. Jot down the worst-case scenarios first, then the best-case scenarios; writing sharpens thinking and can jolt you out of a negative spiral. Then you can begin looking honestly at the most likely outcomes, which will probably be somewhere in the middle.

Don't wait for the sword to drop.
"The best way to undercut anxiety is to take purposeful action," Reivich says. Heard rumors about layoffs at work? Schedule a meeting with your boss about your company's—and your own—prospects in 2010. If the meeting is disquieting, start putting together an updated résumé and cover letter.

Look for joy.
"It's hard to talk about this without sounding glib," Reivich says, "but there is a large body of research showing that people who cultivate positive emotion generally deal much better with adversity." Look for—and highlight—one small, good moment in your day. "Joy and gratitude can help inoculate you against the paralyzing effects of anxiety."

Pool your resources.
Just as no problem is created solely by you, neither is any solution. "Identify your strengths and make a list of them," Reivich says. Then list the strengths of those you rely on. Now combine them. "When you can draw from your own strengths as well as those of the people around you, you're looking at a very powerful package."

10 Steps to Mindfulness

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 12:26:00 +0000

By Leo Babauta Third Age

"Smile, breathe and go slowly." - Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen Buddhist monk

The idea of being mindful - being present, being more conscious of life as it happens - may seem contradictory to those who are used to sacrificing living for pursuing their goals ... but cultivating mindfulness will help you achieve your goals and enjoy life more. In fact, you're more productive when you're mindful.

But more importantly, being present is undoubtedly the only way to enjoy life to the fullest. By being mindful, you enjoy your food more, you enjoy friends and family more, you enjoy anything you're doing more. Anything. Even things you might think are drudgery or boring, such as housework, can be amazing if you are truly present. Try it - wash dishes or sweep or cook, and remain fully present. It takes practice, but it's incredible.

Life in the Present: A 10-Step Approach

1. Do one thing at a time. Single-task, don't multi-task. When you're pouring water, just pour water. When you're eating, just eat. When you're bathing, just bathe. Don't try to knock off a few tasks while eating or bathing or driving. Zen proverb: "When walking, walk. When eating, eat."

2. Do it slowly and deliberately. You can do one task at a time, but also rush that task. Instead, take your time, and move slowly. Make your actions deliberate, not rushed and random. It takes practice, but it helps you focus on the task.

3. Do less. If you do less, you can do those things more slowly, more completely and with more concentration. If you fill your day with tasks, you will be rushing from one thing to the next without stopping to think about what you do. But you're busy and you can't possibly do less, right? You can. I've done it, and so have many busy people. It's a matter of figuring out what's important, and letting go of what's not.

4. Put space between things. Related to the "Do less" rule, but it's a way of managing your schedule so that you always have time to complete each task. Don't schedule things close together - instead, leave room between things on your schedule. That gives you a more relaxed schedule, and leaves space in case one task takes longer than you planned.

5. Spend at least 5 minutes each day doing nothing. Just sit in silence. Become aware of your thoughts. Focus on your breathing. Notice the world around you. Become comfortable with the silence and stillness. It'll do you a world of good - and just takes 5 minutes!

6. Stop worrying about the future - focus on the present. Become more aware of your thinking - are you constantly worrying about the future? Learn to recognize when you're doing this, and then practice bringing yourself back to the present. Just focus on what you're doing, right now. Enjoy the present moment.

7. When you're talking to someone, be present. How many of us have spent time with someone but have been thinking about what we need to do in the future? Or thinking about what we want to say next, instead of really listening to that person? Instead, focus on being present, on really listening, on really enjoying your time with that person.

8. Eat slowly and savor your food. Food can be crammed down our throats in a rush, but where's the joy in that? Savor each bite, slowly, and really get the most out of your food. Interestingly, you'll eat less this way, and digest your food better as well.

9. Live slowly and savor your life. Just as you would savor your food by eating it more slowly, do everything this way - slow down and savor each and every moment. Tune into the sights and sounds and awaken your senses to the world around you.

10. Make cleaning and cooking become meditation. Cooking and cleaning are often seen as drudgery, but actually they are both great ways to practice mindfulness, and can be great rituals performed each day. If cooking and cleaning seem like boring chores to you, try doing them as a form of meditation. Put your entire mind into those tasks, concentrate, and do them slowly and completely. It could change your entire day (as well as leave you with a cleaner house).

Keep practicing. When you get frustrated, just take a deep breath. When you ask yourself, "What should I do now, Self?" The answer is, "keep practicing."

"When you drive around the city and come to a red light or a stop sign, you can just sit back and make use of these twenty or thirty seconds to relax - to breathe in, breathe out, and enjoy arriving in the present moment. There are many things like that we can do." - Thich Nhat Hanh

Thich Nhat Hanh on The Practice of Mindfulness

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 12:10:00 +0000

“Breathing in, I know that I am breathing in.” It is such a simple practice, but it can transform your life. The great meditation master Thich Nhat Hanh teaches five mindfulness exercises to help you live with happiness and joy.

Our true home is not in the past. Our true home is not in the future. Our true home is in the here and the now. Life is available only in the here and the now, and it is our true home.

Mindfulness is the energy that helps us recognize the conditions of happiness that are already present in our lives. You don’t have to wait ten years to experience this happiness. It is present in every moment of your daily life. There are those of us who are alive but don’t know it. But when you breathe in, and you are aware of your in-breath, you touch the miracle of being alive. That is why mindfulness is a source of happiness and joy.

Most people are forgetful; they are not really there a lot of the time. Their mind is caught in their worries, their fears, their anger, and their regrets, and they are not mindful of being there. That state of being is called forgetfulness—you are there but you are not there. You are caught in the past or in the future. You are not there in the present moment, living your life deeply. That is forgetfulness.

Excerpted from the March 2010 issue of the Shambhala Sun.

The Meaning of the Dalai Lama for Today

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 23:09:00 +0000

By Robert Thurman

Lately when I have attended His Holiness the Dalai Lama giving Buddhist teachings to large assemblies, I have had an odd sensation: it feels as if I have entered a time warp, and am actually witnessing Shakyamuni Buddha himself in all his glory as a teacher. As the Noble Vimalakirti Sutra puts it, "Dominating all the multitudes, just as Sumeru, the king of mountains, looms high over the oceans, the Lord Buddha shone, radiated and glittered as he sat upon his magnificent lion-throne.

Over many years, I had attended His Holiness' teachings and found them informative and inspiring, but I had always felt that it was the Dalai Lama I knew sitting there before me. Buddha was often mentioned as a remote founding figure, far back in ancient history. Sure, this new sense I have is just subjective, my going "dotty," like a typical devotee. Maybe so; but it also gives me a clue about what the Dalai Lama has come to mean for the world.

I think the Dalai Lama has grown so close to Shakyamuni Buddha that their manifestations have become indistinguishable; the Dalai Lama has become a living proof of the Mahayana vision of Buddha’s inexhaustible compassionate presence. I think people sense that fact, each one according to their level of insight, as constrained by preconceptions, experience and understanding.

This does not mean that the Dalai Lama is a "God-king" or a "living God," as is sometimes written in the press. For Buddha is not "God," who, if He did exist as conceived by Western monotheists, would be absolutely unimaginable, forever trans-human. Buddha, though also inconceivable ultimately, on the relative level is a being who was thoroughly human at one time, like you or me, and then through many lives evolved into something more than human and more than any God. He is a wise and compassionate, omnipresent but not omnipotent, universal awareness and powerful energy called "Realized One" (Tathagata), "Blissful One" (Sugata), "Teacher of Humans and Gods" (Devamanushyanam Shasta) and many other names. He/she is everywhere embodied/disembodied as reality, manifesting as seeming individuals in sensitive response to the needs of beings. Any particular manifestation of Buddha is thus a kind of living doorway to each individual's own happiness, a mirror, to that individual, of the reality that must be understood for that individual to realize their own wisdom, freedom from suffering, immortality and supreme happiness.

It is natural that this might all seem merely hypothetical and unrealistic, the high-flown, challengingly optimistic philosophy (or Buddhology) of the Mahayana Buddhist sutras. It becomes concrete only in the live encounter with such a Buddha-manifestation. It takes a living personification of the Buddha-qualities to make our own freedom and enlightenment seem really possible, a live exemplar of the Buddha-happiness to make our own mouths water for the taste of our own real happiness. This is the real meaning of the Dalai Lama’s presence. It is felt by all who meet him, through whatever medium, consciously or unconsciously.

It is not merely that the Dalai Lama represents “Buddhism,” thought to be a distinct “religious system.” He is much more than a nominal leader of an organization. He does not seek to convert anyone to “Buddhism.” “Buddhism” is not a world organization, competing with other organized world religions, seeking strength in numbers. It is an age-old movement seeking to educate the heart and mind of any being for freedom and happiness, no matter what their ideology. It is a teaching of the reality of selflessness and relationality. The Dalai Lama is a simple monk, an adept mind scientist, a thorough scholar, a spiritual teacher, a diplomat, a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, an apostle of nonviolence, an advocate of intelligence and universal responsibility, and the living exemplar of what he calls "our common human religion of kindness."

We live in an era of extreme contrasts: Technology informs us more than ever and yet makes us feel weaker and more frightened than ever. The art of caring for the sick seems more sophisticated than ever, and yet the food-chain is poisoned, the environment polluted and good advice on how to live well is harder than ever to find. Pluralism on all levels seems more essential than ever, yet the cruelty of fanatics rages more violently than ever. Knowledge and technology have infinite potential to transform our world, potentially for the better, yet all around us devastation proceeds inexorably.

In this climate of manifold desperations, both quiet and shrill, the Dalai Lama seems to emerge from another civilization, to descend from a higher altitude, as if from another dimension, a living example of calm in emergency, patience in injury, cheerful intelligence in confusion, and dauntless optimism in the face of apparent doom. Inspired by Jesus, Gandhiji and Martin Luther King, Jr., he carries on that tradition under the extreme duress of the half-century-long agony of Tibet.

Especially since the emergency call of 9/11, the world seems headed into a tailspin. Instead of a post-cold-war century free of war, endless war is declared from several sides. Instead of increasing prosperity and joyful, optimistic sharing, the gulf between rich and poor grows cataclysmic, and the world economy seems heading for collapse. Instead of a scientifically sound era of healthy living, new plagues rear their terrifying heads. Hopelessness and fear send everyone rushing for an exit, diving into an isolated personal shelter. The West's Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are riding wild upon the range.

In the midst of this, the Dalai Lama remains undaunted, even cheerful. He doesn't give up the responsibility for his own people, a nation of six million very close to succumbing to systematic genocide with no one in official power to protect them. He doesn't revile the harmful leaders as "evil"; he calls for dialogue and reconciliation, still, after more than fifty years of violence and oppression. He insists on the message that intelligence and kindness together can solve any situation. He sees that all is possible, even the good, the true and the beautiful, and people therefore feel a huge weight lifted from them when they meet him. Though he is a simple monk, what the Zen people call a "true man of no rank," without any powerful organization, recognized nation, institutionalized religion or rich industry or foundation, he still stands out as a natural leader of the plain people, a living symbol of nonviolence. He looms head and shoulders over the crowd of political leaders who tend to parade themselves as masters of violence.

What does the Dalai Lama mean? He is a living prince of peace, a teacher of intelligence, an inspirer of goodness of heart, a reincarnation of the Buddha of universal compassion. He comes to join us in our world today, offering us hope and help in our stressed-out lives and calling upon us to take up our own wild joy of universal responsibility.

Robert Thurman is a professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University, and President of Tibet House U.S. © 2003 by Robert Thurman The Meaning of the Dalai Lama for Today, Robert Thurman, Shambhala Sun FREE TIBET

How to do Mindfulness Meditation

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 08:13:00 +0000

By Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche

“Mindfulness practice is simple and completely feasible. Just by sitting and doing nothing, we are doing a tremendous amount.”

In mindfulness, or shamatha, meditation, we are trying to achieve a mind that is stable and calm. What we begin to discover is that this calmness or harmony is a natural aspect of the mind. Through mindfulness practice we are just developing and strengthening it, and eventually we are able to remain peacefully in our mind without struggling. Our mind naturally feels content.

An important point is that when we are in a mindful state, there is still intelligence. It’s not as if we blank out. Sometimes people think that a person who is in deep meditation doesn’t know what’s going on—that it’s like being asleep. In fact, there are meditative states where you deny sense perceptions their function, but this is not the accomplishment of shamatha practice.

Creating a Favorable Environment

There are certain conditions that are helpful for the practice of mindfulness. When we create the right environment it’s easier to practice.

It is good if the place where you meditate, even if it’s only a small space in your apartment, has a feeling of upliftedness and sacredness. It is also said that you should meditate in a place that is not too noisy or disturbing, and you should not be in a situation where your mind is going to be easily provoked into anger or jealousy or other emotions. If you are disturbed or irritated, then your practice is going to be affected.

Beginning the Practice

I encourage people to meditate frequently but for short periods of time—ten, fifteen, or twenty minutes. If you force it too much the practice can take on too much of a personality, and training the mind should be very, very simple. So you could meditate for ten minutes in the morning and ten minutes in the evening, and during that time you are really working with the mind. Then you just stop, get up, and go.

Often we just plop ourselves down to meditate and just let the mind take us wherever it may. We have to create a personal sense of discipline. When we sit down, we can remind ourselves: “I’m here to work on my mind. I’m here to train my mind.” It’s okay to say that to yourself when you sit down, literally. We need that kind of inspiration as we begin to practice.

Posture
The Buddhist approach is that the mind and body are connected. The energy flows better when the body is erect, and when it’s bent, the flow is changed and that directly affects your thought process. So there is a yoga of how to work with this. We’re not sitting up straight because we’re trying to be good schoolchildren; our posture actually affects the mind.

People who need to use a chair for meditation should sit upright with their feet touching the ground. Those using a meditation cushion such as a zafu or gomden should find a comfortable position with legs crossed and hands resting palm-down on your thighs. The hips are neither rotated forward too much, which creates tension, nor tilted back so you start slouching. You should have a feeling of stability and strength.

When we sit down the first thing we need to do is to really inhabit our body—really have a sense of our body. Often we sort of prop ourselves up and pretend we’re practicing, but we can’t even feel our body; we can’t even feel where it is. Instead, we need to be right here. So when you begin a meditation session, you can spend some initial time settling into your posture. You can feel that your spine is being pulled up from the top of your head so your posture is elongated, and then settle.

The basic principle is to keep an upright, erect posture. You are in a solid situation: your shoulders are level, your hips are level, your spine is stacked up. You can visualize putting your bones in the right order and letting your flesh hang off that structure. We use this posture in order to remain relaxed and awake. The practice we’re doing is very precise: you should be very much awake even though you are calm. If you find yourself getting dull or hazy or falling asleep, you should check your posture.

Gaze

For strict mindfulness practice, the gaze should be downward focusing a couple of inches in front of your nose. The eyes are open but not staring; your gaze is soft. We are trying to reduce sensory input as much as we can. People say, “Shouldn’t we have a sense of the environment?” but that’s not our concern in this practice. We’re just trying to work with the mind and the more we raise our gaze, the more distracted we’re going to be. It’s as if you had an overhead light shining over the whole room, and all of a sudden you focus it down right in front of you. You are purposefully ignoring what is going on around you. You are putting the horse of mind in a smaller corral.

Breath
When we do shamatha practice, we become more and more familiar with our mind, and in particular we learn to recognize the movement of the mind, which we experience as thoughts. We do this by using an object of meditation to provide a contrast or counterpoint to what’s happening in our mind. As soon as we go off and start thinking about something, awareness of the object of meditation will bring us back. We could put a rock in front of us and use it to focus our mind, but using the breath as the object of meditation is particularly helpful because it relaxes us.

As you start the practice, you have a sense of your body and a sense of where you are, and then you begin to notice the breathing. The whole feeling of the breath is very important. The breath should not be forced, obviously; you are breathing naturally. The breath is going in and out, in and out. With each breath you become relaxed.

Thoughts

No matter what kind of thought comes up, you should say to yourself, “That may be a really important issue in my life, but right now is not the time to think about it. Now I’m practicing meditation.” It gets down to how honest we are, how true we can be to ourselves, during each session.

Everyone gets lost in thought sometimes. You might think, “I can’t believe I got so absorbed in something like that,” but try not to make it too personal. Just try to be as unbiased as possible. Mind will be wild and we have to recognize that. We can’t push ourselves. If we’re trying to be completely concept-free, with no discursiveness at all, it’s just not going to happen.

So through the labeling process, we simply see our discursiveness. We notice that we have been lost in thought, we mentally label it “thinking”—gently and without judgment—and we come back to the breath. When we have a thought—no matter how wild or bizarre it may be—we just let it go and come back to the breath, come back to the situation here.

Each meditation session is a journey of discovery to understand the basic truth of who we are. In the beginning the most important lesson of meditation is seeing the speed of the mind. But the meditation tradition says that mind doesn’t have to be this way: it just hasn’t been worked with.

What we are talking about is very practical. Mindfulness practice is simple and completely feasible. And because we are working with the mind that experiences life directly, just by sitting and doing nothing, we are doing a tremendous amount.

Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche is holder of the Buddhist and Shambhala lineages of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. He has received teachings from many of the great Buddhist masters of this century, including Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Penor Rinpoche and his father Trungpa Rinpoche. In 1995 he was recognized as the incarnation of the great nineteenth-century Buddhist teacher Mipham Rinpoche.

Accepting Personal Responsibility

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 08:01:00 +0000

Accepting personal responsibility is the first step in really taking control of your life. While it's important to understand the past, acknowledge any injustice there, release shameful feelings -- it's even more important to release it and move on. This is your survivor moment in which you become your own hero. That's where the personal responsibility comes into play. You have a choice of how you live your life. We become mindfully aware of the options that exist in every encounter and become the leader of our own ship. Lance Armstrong's Live Strong site had a really good overview on Personal Responsibility and I invite you to make these values your priorities.

What is accepting personal responsibility?
How can failing to accept personal responsibility result in negative consequences?
What do people believe who have not accepted personal responsibility?
What behavior traits need to be developed in order to accept personal responsibility?
What are the steps in accepting personal responsibility?

Distilling the Soul of a Nation

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 06:45:00 +0000

$30 million dollars and a dream backed by NBC and the Olympic Committee brought color and light to my television screen tonight culminating in the opening ceremony of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. I imagined all that went into producing such a spectacle and the pressure to distill a whole nation’s culture into an evening of premium prime-time television. Producer David Atkins had his work cut out for him as he and his team assessed an inventory of symbols, stories, messages, and themes. The goal was to communicate the new face of Canada which combines progress and reverence for the past. A particular highlight was poet Shane Koyczan’s We Are More.

We Are More by Shane Koyczan

when defining Canada

you might list some statistics

you might mention our tallest building

or biggest lake

you might shake a tree in the fall

and call a red leaf Canada

you might rattle off some celebrities

might mention Buffy Sainte-Marie

might even mention the fact that we've got a few

Barenaked Ladies

or that we made these crazy things

like zippers

electric cars

and washing machines

when defining Canada

it seems the world's anthem has been

" been there done that"

and maybe that's where we used to be at

it's true

we've done and we've been

we've seen

all the great themes get swallowed up by the machine

and turned into theme parks

but when defining Canada

don't forget to mention that we have set sparks

we are not just fishing stories

about the one that got away

we do more than sit around and say "eh?"

and yes

we are the home of the Rocket and the Great One

who inspired little number nines

and little number ninety-nines

but we're more than just hockey and fishing lines

off of the rocky coast of the Maritimes

and some say what defines us

is something as simple as please and thank you

and as for you're welcome

well we say that too

but we are more

than genteel or civilized

we are an idea in the process

of being realized

we are young

we are cultures strung together

then woven into a tapestry

and the design

is what makes us more

than the sum total of our history

we are an experiment going right for a change

with influences that range from a to zed

and yes we say zed instead of zee

we are the colours of Chinatown and the coffee of Little Italy

we dream so big that there are those

who would call our ambition an industry

because we are more than sticky maple syrup and clean snow

we do more than grow wheat and brew beer

we are vineyards of good year after good year

we reforest what we clear

because we believe in generations beyond our own

knowing now that so many of us

have grown past what used to be

we can stand here today

filled with all the hope people have

when they say things like "someday"

someday we'll be great

someday we'll be this

or that

someday we'll be at a point

when someday was yesterday

and all of our aspirations will pay the way

for those who on that day

look towards tomorrow

and still they say someday

we will reach the goals we set

and we will get interest on our inspiration

because we are more than a nation of whale watchers and lumberjacks

more than backpacks and hiking trails

we are hammers and nails building bridges

towards those who are willing to walk across

we are the lost-and-found for all those who might find themselves at a loss

we are not the see-through gloss or glamour

of those who clamour for the failings of others

we are fathers brothers sisters and mothers

uncles and nephews aunts and nieces

we are cousins

we are found missing puzzle pieces

we are families with room at the table for newcomers

we are more than summers and winters

more than on and off seasons

we are the reasons people have for wanting to stay

because we are more than what we say or do

we live to get past what we go through

and learn who we are

we are students

students who study the studiousness of studying

so we know what as well as why

we don't have all the answers

but we try

and the effort is what makes us more

we don't all know what it is in life we're looking for

so keep exploring

go far and wide

or go inside but go deep

go deep

as if James Cameron was filming a sequel to The Abyss

and suddenly there was this location scout

trying to figure some way out

to get inside you

because you've been through hell and high water

and you went deep

keep exploring

because we are more

than a laundry list of things to do and places to see

we are more than hills to ski

or countryside ponds to skate

we are the abandoned hesitation of all those who can't wait

we are first-rate greasy-spoon diners and healthy-living cafes

a country that is all the ways you choose to live

a land that can give you variety

because we are choices

we are millions upon millions of voices shouting

" keep exploring... we are more"

we are the surprise the world has in store for you

it's true

Canada is the "what" in "what's new?"

so don't say "been there done that"

unless you've sat on the sidewalk

while chalk artists draw still lifes

on the concrete of a kid in the street

beatboxing to Neil Young for fun

don't say you've been there done that

unless you've been here doing it

let this country be your first-aid kit

for all the times you get sick of the same old same old

let us be the story told to your friends

and when that story ends

leave chapters for the next time you'll come back

next time pack for all the things

you didn't pack for the first time

but don't let your luggage define your travels

each life unravels differently

and experiences are what make up

the colours of our tapestry

we are the true north

strong and free

and what's more

is that we didn't just say it

we made it be.

MLO sends condolences to the family of Nodar Kumaritashvili of Georgia.

Toward a Mindful Society

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 23:49:00 +0000

As creator of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, Jon Kabat-Zinn has brought the benefits of meditation practice to hundreds of thousands of people and inspired a movement that is changing our society in many ways. In this exclusive interview with the Sun’s Barry Boyce, he discusses the philosophy, goals, and promise of the mindfulness movement.

by Barry Boyce, Shambala Sun

Barry Boyce: Does mindfulness go beyond simply cultivating our attentiveness? Jon Kabat-Zinn: The ultimate promise of mindfulness is much larger than that, more profound. It helps us understand that our conventional view of ourselves and even what we mean by “self” is incomplete in some very important ways. Mindfulness helps us recognize how and why we mistake the actuality of things for some story we create, and then makes it possible to chart a path toward greater sanity, well-being, and purpose.

Based on that understanding, how would you describe the central mission of your work? The central mission of my work and that of my colleagues at the Center for Mindfulness has been to bring universal dharma into the mainstream of human activity for the benefit of as many people as possible. That’s a very broad calling, so I chose very consciously from the beginning to anchor it in medicine and healthcare. I thought that would be the most fertile ground for introducing meditation and the wisdom and compassion of the dharma in its universal aspect to a wider world, hopefully in an authentic and meaningful way.

Why do you think a scientific approach is important in spreading the practice of mindfulness? I am not really interested in “spreading” mindfulness, so much as I am interested in igniting passion in people for what is deepest and best within all of us, but which is usually hidden and rarely accessible. Science is a particular way of understanding the world that allows some people to approach what they would otherwise shun, and so can be used as a skillful means for opening people’s minds. By bringing science together with meditation, we're beginning to find new ways, in language people can understand, to show the benefits of training oneself to become intimate with the workings of one’s own mind in a way that generates greater insight and clarity.

The science is also showing interesting and important health benefits of such mind–body training and practices, and is now beginning to elucidate the various pathways though which mindfulness may be exerting its effects on the brain (emotion regulation, working memory, cognitive control, attention, activation in specific somatic maps of the body, cortical thickening in specific regions) and the body (symptom reduction, greater physical well-being, immune function enhancement, epigenetic up and down regulation of activity in large numbers and classes of genes). It is also showing that meditation can bring a sense of meaning and purpose to life, based on understanding the nonseparation of self and other. Given the condition we find ourselves in these days on this planet, understanding our interconnectedness is not a spiritual luxury; it’s a societal imperative.

What are some of the new frontiers that mindfulness has entered in recent years? The mindfulness work is spilling into areas way beyond medicine and healthcare and also beyond psychology and neuroscience. It’s moving into programs on childbirth and parenting, education, business, athletics and professional sports, the legal profession, criminal justice, even politics. For instance, Tim Ryan, a Democratic congressman from Ohio, has become a major advocate of greater support for mindfulness research and program implementation in both healthcare and education, based on his own experiences with ongoing practice.

Healing and transformation are possible the moment we accept the actuality of things as they are—good, bad, or ugly—and then act on that understanding with imagination, kindness, and intentionality. This is not easy or painless, by any means, but it is both an embodiment of and a path toward wisdom and peace.

What’s required to teach mindfulness other than a good human heart?

If we are teaching mindfulness in one setting or another, it really needs to be grounded in our own first-person experience. It needs to be grounded in humility and not-knowing, an openness to possibility but also a deep seeing into self and other. Since it’s available to all of us, it’s not really such a big deal or a special private possession.

One of the big responsibilities of those of us who are doing this work is to nurture and mentor the younger people and those who are coming to it for the first time. We can remind them, or clarify for them, that it is not just a fad or merely a smart career move at the moment to become a mindfulness teacher or exponent. The value of mindfulness is both profound and unique. It calls us to take a deep look into the nature of experience itself, and the nature of our own minds and hearts. All of this work hinges on appreciating how awareness can balance thought. There's nothing wrong with thinking. So much that is beautiful comes out of thinking and out of our emotions. But if our thinking is not balanced with awareness, we can end up deluded, perpetually lost in thought, and out of our minds just when we need them the most. From the March 2010 issue of the Shambhala Sun.