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Twenty-five hundred years ago, the Buddha meditated under the Bodhi tree. He was outside, in nature, when he attained enlightenment – not inside a monastery or palace. Whether you believe the story to be myth or history, people have long known that there is wisdom, serenity, and balance in...

Call it a hunch, gut feeling, intuition – that immediate sense of truth, without words or reasoning, is one of your most important faculties. It can tell you where you want to move in life, what you need to let go of, and how to best relate to challenges. But how can you develop your...

How are you at dealing with uncertainty - that agonizing time during which you only have partial information and don’t know how things in your life, or the life of someone you love, are going to play out? For example, waiting for the results of that critical medical test, wondering if you...

The skill of mindfulness allows you to "map" the habit loop of anxiety to determine how it feels in your body and what reward you might be getting, or not getting, from worry.

In his new book, Unwinding Anxiety, Professor of Psychiatry, and Director of Research and Innovation at the Mindfulness...

Do you have a hobby, or an activity in which you can be completely yourself? Something that just makes you feel alive and happy and totally you? Are you aware of not having to put on any front or pretense when you're in that zone? How does that feel?

My "hobby" is swimming laps at the pool at our...

“Your copies aren’t ready.”

Many years ago, I was at an office supply store to pick up copies of class materials for a course I was to begin teaching that evening. But on this afternoon my copies weren't ready at the promised time. Not ready? What would I tell the room full of...

I’m rereading Pema Chodron’s book Start Where You Are. Pema is a Buddhist nun, meditation teacher, and best-selling author. She has a delightfully simple yet profound way with words. I feel she inspired an insight in my meditation practice today. She says that all the parts of...

Mindfulness means accessing the treasure of your physical experience

Ever feel like you’re not quite IN your body? Like your awareness is just outside it somewhere?
When you are new to the practice of meditation, or even if you’ve been practicing for a while, it can seem HARD to just...

Why is it so hard to get your mind to agree to sit quietly with you and meditate? I remember being befuddled by this reality when I first began trying to teach myself how to meditate many years ago. I would get up early, before the rest of my family, and sit in a comfortable chair and give my...

Recently I reconnected with an old friend over Facetime. We first met over ten years ago when we were both part of the same yoga teacher training. It had been quite a while since we had seen each other. As soon as I saw her face on my iPad I was instantly filled with joy! As we talked, we both...