Mindfulness Meditation Blog

Best Meditation Tips and Advice from Experts

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Mindfulness Meditation Blog2022-04-18T11:35:12-07:00

How Meditation Changes the Brain

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Did you know that simply sitting and breathing mindfully can significantly change the brain? It’s true! Meditation Nurtures the Brain We’ve all heard that meditation leads to greater mental clarity, lower levels of stress and [...]

How to Do Meditation at Home

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Meditation is an effective technique that has been around for centuries. People who meditate consistently find that there are short-term and long-term benefits. For instance, soon after they start sitting, meditators begin to enjoy [...]

Opening the Heart to Love

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4 Heart Practices Meditation I think when I first came to practice, probably for the first couple years, I sat there and I thought about meditation. I thought that was what I was supposed [...]

Meditation for Sleep

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Meditation before going to bed If you’ve been struggling to catch some shuteye lately, meditating before bed might help. Statistics show that more than 70 million people deal with sleep disorders - in America [...]

What Is Mantra Meditation?

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A mantra is a syllable, word, or phrase that is repeated during meditation. Mantras can be spoken, chanted, whispered, or repeated in the mind. Most mantra meditation techniques have two essential components: mindfulness meditation and [...]

What is Spiritual Meditation?

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At its core, spiritual meditation is the mindful practice of connection to something that is greater, vaster, and deeper than the individual self. It may seem paradoxical, but the path to that connection passes [...]

What Is Buddhist Meditation?

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There are many forms of meditation and many ideas about what meditation is. While different spiritual paths may associate meditation with contemplation, prayer or other practices, Buddhist meditation is generally associated with mindfulness and awareness. [...]

Mindfulness and Healing

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The importance of mindfulness to self-regulate and build resilience As a physician who practices mind-body medicine, I truly believe that mindfulness is the most powerful tool that I have. I share it with my patients [...]

Understanding Empathy and Compassion

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Compassion is a multidimensional process with four key components Compassion is the heartfelt wish to help others become free of their suffering. In Buddhist teachings on the Four Immeasurable qualities, compassion is the wish that [...]

The Meaning of Taking Refuge

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Seeking refuge and protection from suffering with the 3 jewels Taking refuge is a fundamental Buddhist practice. It may be considered the initial practice because it signifies that we want to engage with Buddhism. We [...]

Meditation and Physical Pain

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Physical Pain vs Suffering (optional!) - What are the key differences? By using physical pain as an object of meditation we can transform our relationship to pain and in doing so, free ourselves from the [...]

What Karma Really Is

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Planting Karmic Seeds (Can Meditation Practice Change Karma?) People often refer to karma as either warranted or random, depending on the circumstances. When someone we don’t like experiences the negative consequences of their bad behavior, [...]

The Kryptonite of Compassion

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What is true, unconditional, genuine compassion? Sometimes, when we witness a person or animal in a difficult situation, we feel magnanimous and imagine that this feeling is compassion. But in fact, this is not what [...]

Meditation for Uncertain Times

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The Challenge of Finding Stability In Times Of Change & Uncertainty Change is hard, even when it’s expected. In times of great uncertainty, stress and anxiety increase as we attempt to ground ourselves to anything [...]

Common Meditation Myths Debunked

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Mistaken assumptions about meditation, how it works, and what the outcomes should be can prevent us from starting a practice or may interfere with our current practice by creating unreasonable expectations. By debunking the myths [...]

What is A Bodhisattva?

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What is the Meaning of Bodhisattva? Definition, Origins & Practices The bodhisattva seated in meditation is among the most iconic Buddhist images. If you’ve been learning about meditation, you may be wondering what does bodhisattva [...]

The Benefits of Body Scan Meditation

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Promoting our body awareness, stress awareness, and overall relaxation Body scan meditation is just one type of mindfulness meditation. In mindfulness meditation, we often use the breath as an anchor for our distracted, wandering mind. [...]

What is the Meaning of Dharma?

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Defining Dharma (Definition & Deeper Meaning) In Buddhist studies and teachings, the term dharma is often referred to but left untranslated, as the all-encompassing concept is difficult to replace with a single English word. We [...]

Stress Reduction And Meditation

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How Meditation Helps Relieve Stress (Simple and Fast Improvements) When we’re faced with unexpected or challenging circumstances that we don’t have the resources to handle, stress arises. The stress response occurs on a physical, mental [...]

What is Buddha Nature?

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Buddha Nature Has No Simple Definition There are many benefits to meditation. Among them, you may have heard that with consistent meditation practice your Buddha nature is revealed. Buddha nature has no simple definition. It [...]

Mindful Listening

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Is there a relationship between effective listening and mindfulness? What is mindful listening? Mindfulness, in all its many forms, boils down to being fully aware in the moment, without judgment or expectations, with or without [...]

Morning Meditation

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Four mindful ways to wake up your body and energize your mind What are the benefits of morning meditation? As soon as the alarm goes off, we’re probably already thinking about work or study, the [...]

What is Selflessness?

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Developing a deeper awareness of selflessness through compassion When we think about our life, about our experience, who we are and how we interact, do we think that we are individuals? Or do we think [...]

Mindfulness Q & A

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Answering what is the meaning of mindfulness with Khaydroup Podvoll How would a seasoned meditation teacher define “mindfulness?” We wondered the same thing! We asked Khaydroup Podvoll, Mind Trainer extraordinaire, to give us concise answers [...]

Finding Your Mantra

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Personal mantras explained: their use and benefits What is a mantra? A mantra is a word or phrase that is repeated to bring out its positive, transformative energy. Mantras can be as short as one [...]

Compassion Overcomes Fear

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Freedom from fear comes from lovingkindness and compassion Compassion is the foundation of all goodness. It’s beyond culture, beyond language, beyond religion, beyond time, and beyond space. It’s also beyond humanity because other species demonstrate [...]

Self-Esteem and Meditation

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Discovering Genuine Confidence and Self-Worth through Meditation Self-esteem or self-worth come from knowing, unwaveringly, that you are who you are and that you belong. There’s a contentment, a confidence, not in an arrogant sense but [...]

Meditation Classes for Beginners

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Mindfulness-based meditation practice for beginners Wondering how to start meditating? For beginners, there are plenty of courses and classes that are designed to teach basic practices and theories. Many, but not all, of these will [...]

Overcoming the Grip of Social Media

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How meditation on basic goodness can keep it from controlling you Mindworks spoke with Mind Trainer Tsony Francis Devroux about understanding the connections between social media and stress and potentially negative effects on self-esteem. His [...]

Patience is Power

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What can meditation teach me about the power of patience? Modern society doesn’t know quite what to make of patience. On the one hand, patience may not seem to be assertive or driven enough, while [...]

Change is the Great Leveler

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Recognizing the law of impermanence: Come back to this present moment What meditation does, to put it very dramatically but, I think, correctly, is allow us to experience birth and death in every moment. Ordinarily, [...]

Meditation in Motion

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6 Easy-To-Apply Methods to Practice Mindful Movements Every Day Even the Buddha, who is usually portrayed meditating in perfect stillness, had to move from time to time. He and his followers walked from town to [...]

Can Anyone Meditate?

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Sometimes when people have tried to meditate and then lost interest, they wonder “Is it really possible for anyone to meditate? Or is it just the chosen few?” According to meditation experts, just about anyone [...]

This Precious Human Life

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We’re human—how fortunate and precious! Now what? Reflecting on the preciousness of being born human is an exercise in gratitude and in defining priorities. Here we are, human beings able to make life choices, to [...]

Meditation and Ethics

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The morality of meditation: enhancing our ethical decision-making At first glance, it may seem that meditation practice has very little to do with morality or ethical behavior. Mindfulness meditation in particular is often presented as [...]

Noting Meditation Practice

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How to use labels to make a busy mind more manageable Oh, those pesky thoughts. When we’re in deep meditation, thoughts, sensations and emotions can feel like the distant drone of bumblebees. They’re familiar and [...]

What is Vipassana Meditation?

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Vipassana meditation, also known as insight or awareness meditation, is best summarized by Socrates’s famous maxim “To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom.” The goal of vipassana is to give us insight into [...]

Mindfulness Exercises

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4 beneficial mindful techniques and activities you can try today Mindfulness is so popular these days that there’s no shortage of quick, creative mindfulness exercises available through websites, apps, and in print, not to mention [...]

Listen, Reflect, Meditate

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The Power of Contemplative Practice If meditation in general and mindfulness in particular are so popular nowadays, it’s because the cat’s out of the bag: meditative practices are good for us. They improve mental and [...]

Mindfulness for Kids

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5 enjoyable mindful moments for kids on the go Mindfulness exercises for kids provide a welcome breather in a day filled with activities and learning. Now that a number of studies have confirmed the benefits [...]

Meditation and Stress Prevention

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Preventing stress with regular meditation practice Did you know that meditation doesn’t only relieve stress? Science has shown that meditation prevents stress as well! It’s a practice that we can include in our lives so [...]

Unconditional Well-Being

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Our best qualities are revealed through meditation practice When we meditate, we’re training in being present to each moment without judging or allowing ourselves to be fascinated or repelled by what arises. We’re able [...]

Minding the Gap in Meditation

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Discovering a Spacious Mind through Mindfulness and Awareness In this mindful journey that we’re on, we work with qualities such as resilience and tools such as disruption. In this context, disruption is about disrupting the [...]

Mindfulness and Addiction Recovery

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Meditation as a path to understand addictive behavior Mindfulness is a centuries-old contemplative practice that can help you develop awareness, clarity and focus in your daily life. Today, therapies based on mindfulness are used [...]

Meditation for Children

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We all want happy, healthy lives for our children. Teaching kids how to meditate can give them a jump start to accessing the many benefits of meditation. Even though today’s kids exhibit elevated levels [...]

A Brief History of Meditation

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Meditators swear by the practice’s ability to bring enduring positive change into their lives. But where does meditation come from? What are its origins? Who thought it up? We don’t really know. The earliest [...]

Meditation for Students

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Many students are searching for healthy practices that relieve stress, calm frazzled nerves and help them relax. Mindfulness is a natural, easy-to-follow meditation method that offers college kids who are feeling the grind important [...]

Alcohol and Meditation

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Like other forms of addiction, addiction to alcohol causes great harm to those who are dependent and everyone connected to them. While there are many possible definitions of addiction and alcoholism, one that may [...]

Lovingkindness in Meditation

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Meditation changes our relationship to pain What is lovingkindness meditation?  While there are many different types of meditation, there are specific practices that we call lovingkindness where we actually train our hearts and minds to [...]

What is compassion meditation?

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All forms of meditation center on presence and focusing. When we practice compassion meditation, our focus is well-being: the well-being of others as well as of ourselves. Compassion is a quality that can be trained [...]

What is Meditation Used For?

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(Drum roll…) Meditation is everywhere: schools, community centers, medical centers, in the military, in churches, temples, and ashrams, and the list goes on and on. Seeing as how mindfulness and meditation seem to permeate our [...]

The Psychology of Addiction

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The intersection between modern trauma theory, addiction & mindfulness by Stephen Dansiger The problem of addiction is not just a problem for people struggling with addiction. It’s a problem of the ages, and at [...]

Mindfulness for Children

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If you’re a parent or children’s caregiver, you well know that caring for small children can be challenging. Moments of intense joy, closeness and wonder might be peppered with bewilderment and concern if the [...]

Health Benefits of Meditation

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For centuries, meditation has been used as an effective technique to work with the mind, and also to provide relaxation, well-being and better health. Long before the advent of modern science and medicine, dedicated meditators [...]

Meditation for Seniors

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We all dream of aging like good wine, getting better and better as the years progress. And we all know that this dream is rarely realized: growing old comes with its fair share of losses [...]

Guided Meditation for Kids

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Today’s kids lead extremely hectic lifestyles. Their days are filled with school, family and social obligations, sensory overload, and internal and external pressures. This can lead to a surplus of hard-to-handle situations that culminate in [...]

What Does Self Awareness Mean?

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“Awareness” is a buzz word in meditation talks and mindfulness conversations. But what, actually is awareness? Is it being mentally alert? Discerning? Well-informed? Is there a difference between awareness and consciousness? Being self-conscious and self-aware [...]

Guided Gratitude Meditation

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We all aspire to leading happy, healthy lives. To fulfill this yearning for well-being, we generally find ourselves actively trying to obtain what we’ve decided we need and steer clear of anything that might thwart [...]

5 Ways to Improve Mindfulness

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Awareness and appreciation of the present moment give life its fullness. Training in mindfulness fosters focus, clarity, and gratitude for the goodness of now. But distraction is such a strong habit that even while we [...]

ASMR in Meditation

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Autonomous Sensory Meridian Responses and Meditation Do you experience a pleasant tingling sensation (called ASMR) when someone whispers in your ear or gently massages your scalp? Does it send delicious shivers down your spine and [...]

Sitting Meditation Demystified

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Is strong determination required for sitting meditation? If determination spells persistence, then the answer is yes. Most everyone agrees that you’ll get the most out of your meditation practice if it’s regular – when [...]

The Benefits of a Meditation Chair

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For meditators looking to get comfortable with their practice, having the right meditation furniture and accessories is a big plus. A suitable meditation chair is especially helpful for people who need more back support, have physical [...]