Dear Friends, On Sunday evening, I was driving to the airport to pick someone up. I figured I had timed things reasonably well to arrive at the airport about the time the flight would arrive. But of course, there was “that driver” on the road. You know the one – drives slow in the fast lane, takes up… Read More »
Dear Friends, Did you try the 10 bite experiment? I tell you how it went for me. The first bite, I really savored the fresh bread and nutty and subtly sweet flavor of the cheese on the sandwich I made for supper. The second bite was still good. But I’m not sure I made it to three… I… Read More »
Dear Friends, Here’s a short exercise to bring mindfulness to the changing nature of feeling tone. Mark Coleman, in week 8 of the on-line course Essential Buddhist Teachings 1, said, “Another thing about pleasant experiences is how quickly we acclimatize.” For this exercise, he suggests that you eat one of your favorite pieces of food, and notice the… Read More »
Dear Friends, Spirit Rock has an on-line video course with esteemed teacher Sylvia Boorstein called Everyday Life as Mindfulness Practice. In the videos, Sylvia takes us through her home and her daily activities and describes all the different ways she brings mindfulness into these “ordinary” things. She says “there isn’t any activity that isn’t a venue of training… Read More »
Dear Friends, Here’s a quick stealth meditation you can do anywhere and any time, from Sharon Salzberg’s Real Happiness at Work: As you sit down at your desk or work space, spend a few moments just listening to the sounds around you, and note your reactions to them. She has a brief guided sound meditation on her site… Read More »
Dear Friends, I bet a large majority of the people reading this email are reading it on a mobile phone or tablet… Right? And if not, then on a computer, of course… So a suggestion for today – bring embodied awareness to your interaction with your tech. The Cards for Mindfulness deck includes this suggestion: It is often… Read More »
Dear Friends, Andrea Fella led a series called “Introduction to Mindfulness Meditation” in 2012. Her week 5 talk included a handout on “Mindfulness Meditation Week Five: Daily Life Practice“. One suggestion from that handout is something I’ve picked for today’s “stealth meditation”: Choosing a Reference Point for Daily Life A main practice for daily life that helps to… Read More »
Dear Friends, One of Sharon Salzberg’s “stealth” meditations is Eat a meal mindfully, noticing the colors, the flavors, the texture of what you are eating. The first time I tried mindful eating was the “raisin meditation” in Jeanne’s MBSR class. Here are some instructions for that simple exercise (text; exercise takes ~5 minutes): http://hfhc.ext.wvu.edu/r/download/114469 Every time I try… Read More »
Dear Friends, It’s Monday, and I am back to the regular work routine. Many of my colleagues who were on holidays the last couple of weeks are back as well, so the office will be buzzing with activity. It’s on busy days like this that I often find I neglect to make space for mindfulness. So here’s a… Read More »
