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When we're excited, or stressed, we breathe faster and our breath becomes more shallow. When we are relaxed, we are actually breathing more slowly and more deeply. Often when we're stressed, there's increased chatter in the mind. People report feeling like their mind is "racing." It's like they're being flooded with thoughts. When we slow our breathing, our mind slows with it. We regain a more mindful space. We begin to relax. It's a great way to relieve stress.
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Mindfulness practice helps us see when our thought stream is taking us off the rails. We can pause, remind ourselves at any time, that what we’re thinking isn’t actually happening, take a few deep breaths and refocus on the things of the moment in front of us.
This is especially helpful if we’re experiencing difficult emotions. You can pause whatever thought train that’s telling you you’re not okay, and remind yourself you’re doing the best you can, this is just a difficult passage.
Read moreThere’s a popular misconception about meditation.
That is that we have to make our minds still, to silence the stream of thoughts that flow through our awareness and have a quiet mind. Otherwise we’re doing it wrong. This is simply not the case. It’s impossible for most people to quiet the mind. The mind generates thoughts, in the same way that the heart beats or the lungs breathe. The mind generates thoughts in the same way the the digestive system generates gastric juices so we can digest our food. Meditation is a gentleness practice.
Read moreBuddha, a fully awakened being, struggled with doubts and confusion throughout his life. And he always met them with gentle acknowledgement and kindness....Buddha teaches us to make friends with our doubts, our fears and our insecurities. Only by looking directly at these things can we heal them. For we can’t let go of what we haven’t embraced.
Read moreI have seen people reach into their deepest grief and trauma, and discover how good they are, discover their own inner compassionate Buddha, and heal their lives. Those people don't simply carry the message of healing and wholeness. They are the message.
Read moreThe art of anger is to be so angry that you can hit someone in the head, but you don’t hit anyone, or cause harm. Instead, you find a healthy way to express your anger, where nobody is harmed, including you. The art of anger is to experience it, and still make good choices - to use it as an opportunity for self-compassion.
Read moreThis essay will offer a meditation on the key line, “With our thoughts we make the world,” - to explore the kind of the world we can make - a world that can foster suffering or joy, depending on the thoughts we nurture.
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