Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) teaches us that what makes the stresses in our life particularly damaging is how we mismanage them. The tendency to resist or willfully ignore our situation, misperceive and have fixed ideas about who we are and the reality we inhabit, is slowly replaced with mindfulness...

Part of letting go into the flow of life lies in realizing that you have never really been in control of your life, at least not from the perspective of the conscious mind. You simply have been mak­ing choices based on a very limited scope of awareness dictated by...

Every meditation technique has its unique charac­teristics, and invites you to experience meditation in a different way. They all invite you to direct your attention at one focal point, but these focal points may be essentially different...

Identifying these wounds, our patterns of hurt and how we defend ourselves, is valuable. Knowing what we do when we feel threatened, we can begin to recognize whether we unconsciously perceive our meditation as a threat and defended ourselves against it with a resistance that prevents us from doing it.

In daily life, walking meditation can be very helpful. A short period -- say ten minutes -- of formal walking meditation serves to focus the mind, develop balance and accuracy of awareness as well as durability of concentration. Beyond this advantage, the awareness developed in walking meditation is useful to...

Here is something you can practice to connect with your inner guide. Find a quiet spot in nature and sit comfortably alone. Close your eyes and focus on your breathing. Allow yourself to fully feel your body and be present in the Now.

Having a quiet mind is lovely, and there are some simple man­ual tasks that you can do with a quiet mind: washing dishes, rak­ing leaves, sweeping floors. But there are other tasks that are a bit more complex, where keeping a perfectly quiet mind may be inappropriate or even unsafe.

Scientists have known for a while that both of these activities alone can help with depression," says Tracey Shors. "But this study suggests that when done together, there is a striking improvement in depressive symptoms along with increases in synchronized brain activity.

Learning to trust your intuition takes time. The only way to accomplish this is through meditation — by silencing the mind and listening inward. If you have meditated before, especially on a regular basis, you know how much the practice can improve your mental fortitude. As a medium, I recognize that it is absolutely critical for me to have a clear and open mind...

Bombarded by the intensity and complexity of our life, it is easy to feel overwhelmed: “How can I possibly manage this situation?” We all need help, guidance, and inspiration to find our way and to stay the course at times when we may become distracted or dis­heartened.

Meditation is receiving from God. Prayer is petitioning God — it is a giving out. Meditative prayers are a type of supplication to the divine. In this type of meditation, you are making a specific request to the Higher and then receiving the blessing that the divine wishes to give you.

Though there is some advantage in doing meditation practice now and then, the real benefits come through establishing the discipline and momentum of daily practice. This is analogous with physical training: intermittent exercise may feel good on occasion, but does little to really develop strength, health, or vitality...

Having taught meditation for over thirty years to thousands of people, I can really say that it is the sin­gle most important thing you can ever learn in order to expedite and enrich your spiritual life. Everything you learn in school, by analysis or by study, will be expo­nentially deepened because you meditate.

It is said that every tiny bit of restoration of wholeness within ourselves directly contributes to the restoration and awakening of all beings and of the whole world. The impulse of every movement toward healing, every moment of mind­fulness, every act of kindness we generate within ourselves, is directly shared or transmitted...

Finding and connecting with your spiritual core is both intensely personal to your beliefs, needs, and outlook as well as deeply necessary for strength and replenishment. Find time every day to stop, detach yourself momentarily from the hectic pace of ticking things off of to-do lists, and take part in a relaxing or meditative activity.

Vitality is natural to us. Vitality is an aspect of our life faculty. The word vitality stems from its root, “vital,” its two meanings applicable to our life faculty. Vital means “essential” or “necessary.” Vital also means “having energy” and “the ability to thrive.”

The subconscious is powerful but—by definition—not conscious. It has its routines, and it continues with them until something calls forth other reactions. That “something” can be an emergency of some sort, but it can also be us.

The meditation for the cultivation of compassion: begin by bringing to mind a person you know who is suffering adversity, whether physically or mentally. Bring this person to mind as vividly as possible, and picture the whole situation. Let a yearning arise for this person to be free of suffering and the...

We need the mental plane, and it can be our greatest ally; but it can be our biggest enemy. The mental plane has the capacity to take us to the past. It can also take us to the future, but the mind needs to be trained or it will...

You are blessed to be on Earth at this time, preparing for the new Golden Age. You are asked to make the most of this God-given chance. In order to be prepared you are expected to clear yourself of all fear and negativity and replace it with love, peace, joy and abundance...

While we all want to experience a deeper peace in our lives, most of us have little time to practice spiritual disciplines. As a teacher of workshops on happiness and spirituality, I’ve looked for quick ways to help people to quiet their minds.

Even brief sessions of mindfulness meditation—25 minutes for three consecutive days—can alleviate stress, new research suggests. “More and more people report using meditation practices for stress reduction, but we know very little about how much you need to do for stress reduction and health benefits..."

Very few people are sleeping well, so when you have not slept well in the night you are a little tired during the day. If that is the case, then do something with your sleep. It should be made deeper. You can sleep for eight hours, and if it is not deep you will feel hungry for sleep, starved...