Meditation 101: 7 Steps for Beginners
Source: Buddha Groove
Posts tagged with “meditation”
Why It’s Okay to “Fail” at Meditation 90% of the Time
“Giving up is the only sure way to fail.” ~Gena Showalter
So you want to meditate.
You can’t help but notice the benefits touted everywhere: a clearer mind, more focus, better sleep, and better health and happiness. What’s not to want?
But then you try it out. And dang, it’s not easy.
When you sit down on that cushion or chair, your previously normal human brain has turned into a crazy swirl of thoughts.
Did you have this many thoughts before? Isn’t this meditation thing supposed to be about clearing your mind and getting focused?
The next thought that …
How to Kickstart a Healthy Habit When You’ve Gotten Off Track
“Come, come, whoever you are. Wanderer, worshiper, lover of leaving. It doesn’t matter. Ours is not a caravan of despair. Come, even if you have broken your vows a thousand times. Come, yet again, come, come.” ~Rumi
Our spiritual, meditative, or other self-care practices can easily be interrupted, back burnered, or seemingly lost when one of life’s whammies happen.
Sickness has thrown me off track more times than I care to count. Coming down with something again, swirling in negativity because once again my body had failed me, my immune system weak, I could not perform in the world the …
Limited Edition Tiny Buddha “Just Breathe” Shirt (Supporting the David Lynch Foundation)
*Update: This campaign has ended. Subscribe to Tiny Buddha for daily or weekly emails, and to learn about future shirt campaigns!”
Hi friends! For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Lori, the founder of Tiny Buddha.
For the past two weeks, I’ve been offering a limited edition “Just Breathe” shirt, and I’ve been excited to see the response from the community! The campaign ends this Sunday, so if you’d like to grab a shirt, this is your last opportunity to do so.
A portion of the proceeds will go to the David Lynch Foundation, a nonprofit that …
Why We Don’t Need to Be Like Anybody Else
“The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself.” ~Anna Quindlen
When I first committed to becoming more spiritual, I decided that I wanted to be ‘perfect.’ I avoided red meat, cheese, alcohol, and sugar (and anything else that was considered “low vibration”), and ate organic food.
I never complained or uttered a negative word about anything or anyone. I meditated three to four times a day, when I woke up, in the afternoon, and at night before I went to sleep.
You’d never see an emotion …
Overcoming Fear-Based Thinking and Creating a Happy Mind and Life
“Everything you want is on the other side of fear.” ~George Addair
My parents were teenagers when they had their first of three children. I was the middle child. They were uneducated, poor, and had very difficult upbringings.
As I recall my childhood, most of what I remember is how fearful both of my parents were.
They were constantly stressed out about money, the kids, the tattered house, the rusty car, and everything else in their lives.
My mother, my first role model, was so scared of the world. She definitely had an undiagnosed anxiety disorder. She was afraid to …
How Meditation Calms Your Mind and Makes You Feel More Alive
“While meditating we are simply seeing what the mind has been doing all along.” ~Allan Lokos
People around the globe have practiced meditation for centuries upon centuries, and it’s quickly becoming one of the most popular pastimes in the modern world. It’s one of the most effective ways to find inner peace, relax, and cope with stress.
I’ve had my share of stress and troubles over the years. I remember one time, nearly eight years ago, when the stress and anxiety really got to me and made my life miserable.
I was facing the prospect of being made redundant at …
How to Get Started with Meditation
“Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.” ~Simone Weil
It’s so easy in our busy, results-driven world to lose track of ourselves in a drive to address the needs of others. What with your work performance demands, evening dinner preparation, the Facebook post from a friend that requires your response before the sender gets upset… Wow, I’m feeling overwhelmed just writing about it!
The world demands our constant attention, and we willingly give it. But what about attention to ourselves?
Underneath every hood is an engine, behind any piece of artwork is the artist, and beneath your ability …
How Meditation Can Help Us Heal from Trauma, Pain, and Loss
“In the midst of conscious suffering, there is already the transmutation. The fire of suffering becomes the light of consciousness.” ~Eckhart Tolle
I still remember the first day I met her.
I was running a bodywork clinic from home at the time, and she came to me one day for a treatment. Let’s call her Miranda.
Miranda had something about her that I noticed immediately, a palpable sense of peace and clarity that shone through her eyes and radiated out from her very core.
She seemed to be the most spiritually grounded person I had ever come across. I conveyed …
Get Mindful in May and Pause for a Great Cause
When your mind is scattered, your head full of worries, and your heart full of fears and doubts, the world is a stressful, sometimes terrifying place.
When you take time to clear your mental space, suddenly everything feels easier. Without the heavy burden of anxiety and rumination, you’re free to simply be—and to see.
It’s like cleaning a dirty window; all of a sudden, the light comes in, light you didn’t even realize was there.
What provides this cleaning, clarifying magic? Meditation, and even just ten minutes a day.
My whole life transformed when I learned that I could free …
Release Stress Through Mindfulness: 4 Steps to Emotional Freedom
“The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.” ~William James
I’ve been meditating for many years, but there are still days when I feel like it’s something I need to tick off my to-do list.
On some days, particularly when I’m in the middle of a big project, it can feel hard to put even ten minutes aside for meditating. The driven voice in my head tries to convince me that this practice of pausing and connecting with presence is a waste of time.
It’s a compelling voice, particularly on days when it feels …
The Power of Starting Small and Not Needing to Be the Best
“Better to do something imperfectly than to do nothing flawlessly.” ~Robert H Schuller
I have tried for so long to build a meditation habit. Seriously, it’s been one of my biggest goals for more than a decade.
And I’ve tried really hard. I’ve read books, I’ve taken classes, I’ve made accountability charts, I’ve set SMART goals; I’ve done it all.
Sometimes, I’ll fall into a good rhythm, and I might make it onto my mat three or four days in a row. Then sometimes, three whole months will go by without me managing to do it at all.
So …
One Mind Live: Free Holiday Week of Peace & Customized Meditation Giveaway
You’ve likely read about the benefits of meditation, and you’ve maybe even experienced them for yourself.
Meditation can help you:
- Reduce your stress
- Increase your focus
- Enhance your creativity
- Deepen your sleep
- Heighten your sense of presence
- Improve your mood and overall well-being
And yet knowing all these things, you may find it difficult to maintain a consistent practice. Even if you have the time, it be challenging to shut out distractions, shut off your brain, and simply be. I know I’ve struggled with this.
It can be even more difficult because it’s usually a solitary pursuit—but it doesn’t have …
4 Things to Keep You Going When You’re Stressed at Work
“Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.” ~Charles Swindoll
I remember working at a job where I absolutely could not do anything right.
This was one of those jobs where it was extremely fast paced and you received 100 tons of work that must be completed by an unrealistic deadline. And here’s the kicker: your time at work was spent in meetings, all day. I’m talking about four to seven hours of your day. You get the picture.
So you may ask when I had time to do the work. Unfortunately, after …
A Simple Technique to Quiet Your Mind and Be Present
“Get out of your head and get into your heart. Think less, feel more.” ~Osho
Meditating. It’s one of those things that we all know we’d be better off doing, but most of us struggle with it immensely.
It’s difficult. It’s hard to find the time. And it often doesn’t seem like it’s working.
For many years, I’ve tried to make meditation a regular habit. But rarely can I do it consistently. It’s almost always the first thing to go when I’m crunched for time or feeling stressed.
Of course, those are the times that meditation is best!
But, for …
How Meditation Can Help You Find the Perfect Friend
“When you love someone, the best thing you can offer is your presence. How can you love if you are not there?” ~Thich Nhat Hanh
I meet with a lot of people who say things like, “Oh, I’ve tried meditation before but I’m just not good at it.” When asked to explain, the most common answer is, “I just can’t make my mind get quiet.”
I’ve heard responses like this so often that I’ve come to realize that this is the single greatest misunderstanding about meditation. In truth, meditation is not about calming our mind or achieving a state free …
Be Present, Be Yourself: 5 Lessons from Dance Meditation
“While I dance I cannot judge, I cannot hate, I cannot separate myself from life. I can only be joyful and whole. This is why I dance.” ~Hans Bos
I am not a dancer. I was kicked out jazz ballet, and I am so clumsy that I once broke the mirror in an aerobics class. I don’t dance at parties, either, because to be honest I don’t enjoy it.
But turns out, just like everyone else, I am also a dancer.
A year and a half ago I was volunteering in the Turkish mountains, and after a rather upsetting situation …
5 Unusual Ways to Meditate for Simple Daily De-stressing
“Every day brings a choice: to practice stress or to practice peace.” ~Joan Borysenko
Meditating even for just two minutes every day could help reduce your anxiety, calm your mind, and energize the senses. That’s two minutes of your twenty-four hours. Two minutes that could lengthen your life as you get rid of the negative energy surrounding you and welcome the positive.
Contrary to what you may think, meditation doesn’t have to be in an empty house or room overlooking gorgeous scenery. It would be a bonus, yes, but I have proven that you can clear your mind …
Pause for a Cause with Mindful in May
Today’s video is more than a cute cartoon (though I find it adorable!)–it’s an introduction to a global meditation campaign for social good.
Mindful in May is a one month online meditation campaign delivered to your inbox daily in May, to motivate you to bring a new healthy habit into your life, while raising money to help nearly one billion people on the planet who struggle daily without access to clean, safe drinking water.
Starting on May 1st, participants will commit to regular meditation through a mindfulness program delivered by daily e-newsletters. This will include weekly guided meditation downloads, cutting …
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