We worked with a visualization practice called "Spheres of Mind" designed to strengthen concentrattion and stretch our ideas about the limits of the mind.
A few of the observations that came up were:
- It seemed more challenging to visualize behind our body than in front or beside.
- Some au...
After sitting and walking meditation, we used VOICE (Voice Of Innate Clarity Exercise) to work with our tendency to constantly seek - something different, better, faster, deeper. Tara Brach describes this state of mind as being "impatient for the next moment to hold what this one does not." Using t...
We read the rest of the Kristi Nelson conversation titled Ten True Things About Gratefulness, namely:
- Gratefulness can drive social action (Caring leads to action)
- We can reframe our everyday lives toward gratefulness ("I get to", instead of "I have to")
- The most meaningful mom...
We read a conversation with Kristi Nelson called Ten True Things About Gratefulness, Here is part of #5, for example:
5. Expressing gratefulness can change your relationships
Gratefulness has the potential to transform your intimate relationships with a partner, friends, or family...
After sitting and walking meditation, we watched part of a video with Tara Brach titled "What's It Like To Be You?". In it, she explores compassion, what blocks us from offering it, and what we can do to cultivate it:
Empathy is the ability to feel what other people feel… comp...
We used VOICE (Voice Of Innate Clarity Exercise) to explore how meditation and mindfulness relate to action, specifically action aimed at making the world safer and more fair for everyone. What does it mean to say each moment is whole and complete just the way it is, when there are people being...
We explored an article from The Interdependence Project after sitting and walking meditation, looking at how the way we see the world generates anxiety:
If we are discontent no matter what the external circumstances, why do we keep believing that the solution is something external? Pe...
After sitting and walking meditation, we read and discussed short Lion's Roar article (not available online as of today) by Zachiah Murray on gathas - short verses that can bring us into the present:
Reciting gathas is a good way to meditate while engaged in any activity, be it sacred or mundane...
We read and discussed a chapter titled A Bigger Container from Charlotte Joko Beck's book, Everyday Zen: Love and Work. She writes:
We can talk about "oneness" until the cows come home. But how do we actually separate ourselves from others? How? The pride out of which anger is born is what...
We read and discussed an article by Charlotte Lieberman on how self-criticism can take a toll on our minds and bodies. She writes:
Basically, beating yourself up for finishing only three of the five items on your to-do list is going to make you less likely to finish those last two items — and...