Archive for Meditation
Heart Meditation Now Has It’s Own Meditation School
Posted by: | CommentsNo kidding! I was so excited to listen to this video about the University of the Heart. A school that teaches much more than heart meditation. It definitely is a meditation school that goes way beyond anything I have ever seen. And I have seen a lot.
Meditation with the heart is familiar to most of us, but Heart Rhythm meditation is quite unique.
This is a short and informative video that should give you an idea of what they are offering.
Meditation for Performance with Actress Stephanie Nash
Posted by: | CommentsWell, my mindfulness meditation coach, who is also an actress works with actors to help them use meditation for performance. I am writing this blog post because Steph doesn’t have a blog as yet although she will be setting one up really soon.
To be honest, her webpage comes up #2 on google for meditation for performers, and I am trying to help her to come up for meditation for performance as well. However, in the process, I listened to her short mp3 where she is working with “actors” apparently, and it is quite good. You can find it on her webpage linked above.
Discovering her to he me with my meditation practice especially in life has been such a help for me. I can only imagine it would be extremely helpful for acting as well.
Free Mindfulness Meditation Guidance Video
Posted by: | CommentsWell, I am inspired to blog again. It’s been a while. For now nothing is more vital than my mindfulness meditation practice. And I assure you that not all mindfulness meditation guidance is the same. There is a preciseness which for me, after 40 years of meditating, has made all the difference. And the good news is that this practice and guidance is given for free on youtube. Do a search for Stephanie Nash and/or Shinzen Young. I keep being amazed at how much these brilliant teachers and guides give without any trappings at all.
I wanted to share this meditation guidance…it is good as are all of those you will find on youtube. 24 minutes long so be sure you aren’t gona be disturbed. Enjoy!
On another note, Steph is available for meditation phone sessions and Shinzen offers monthly Teleconference mindfulness retreats which are amazingly effective and affordable.
Shinzen Describes Mindfulness
Posted by: | CommentsAs someone said to me earlier: I am on a roll. Check out this description of Mindfulness on youtube. If you want to know how Shinzen Young compares to others this is a sweet one. You might see why I appreciate his clarity.
Santa Monica Mindfulness Meditation Teacher on “Ick”
Posted by: | CommentsWhat do you get when you cross “Ick” with Mindfulness Meditation teacher Stephanie Nash? Aaah, you get a really coool youtube video that instructs you on what you could do when “Ick” hits. What in the world is Ick? It is a word Stephanie uses to label the unpleasant experiences (thoughts & feelings) that come up in our lives.
You may remember Stephanie if you have watched any of the Shinzen Young interviews on youtube. (You will want to watches these for sure) Step is a mindfulness meditation and acting coach and is someone who has helped me more than I can say. I have experienced much generosity on her part too.Mindfulness meditation happens in style with Steph.
Oops, almost forgot the youtube video. I have watched it 3 or 4 times and absolutely love it. So…check it out–>
And click here to check out her site –> on acting.
Mindfulness Meditation Practice Retreat — Best Kept Secret!
Posted by: | CommentsA few months ago I discovered a teleconference mindfulness retreat! You might think I am kidding, but I kid you not. Mindfulness Meditation Practice Retreat home program now comes to you. I am very ” mindfully ” excited about this: a meditation retreat that comes to you. What a “best kept secret!”
Last night I discovered another best kept secret. The Senior Mindfulness Teacher, Shinzen Young, actually receives your calls and returns them. He then answers your questions and if you want he works with you on getting clear about your practice. Never have seen this kind of generosity. Does he do it for everyone? No, of course not. But he does do it for anyone who is on his home practice program or otherwise attends in local retreats. And, there is even another secret to tell, which I hope won’t be a secret for much longer. I just don’t know why the whole internet isn’t buzzing about this amongst those of use who have done some kind of spiritual practice in their lives.
What’s that other secret you say? Well, the 4 hour retreats are only $20! Usually on a Friday there is a 2 hour session and it is only $10! If you are like me and it is has been hard to impossible to get a way for a retreat, then you, like me, should be overjoyed to hear this. You can do more than one 4 hour retreat in the monthly retreat weekend. Last month I did 3 – 4 hour retreats and the 2 hour on Friday. I meditated for two hours–never before have I done that.
I know I sound a bit enthused here, but it is because I am honestly happy to know that any human who suffers needlessly can easily get affordable help. This has been a major search for me most of my life. I speak from experience too. And I have much I will be sharing about my experiences. Bookmark me or subscribe to my feed if you are interested. And do comment here and I will respond 
I have been meditating for years and Shinzen’s cd’s have helped me tremendously and have given me a big head start as well as much clarity and assistance. I actually listen to them everyday. However, I can tell you that the interactive practice brings so much more clarity and just catapults you up to a whole other level in terms of understanding what we do when we meditate.
You can still sign up for December 11th to 13th programs. Deadline is December 9th. For $20 you have a experience you will want to repeat. If you realize the need to practice for longer periods or if you just want to learn mindfulness practice this is your chance. If you can’t this month, they are held every month. Hope to “hear ” you on one of them soon.
Click here to learn more => Mindfulness Meditation Practice
You want to check out Shinzen’s youtube videos too. Here is one of my favs:
Surya Das & Meditation on Google University
Posted by: | CommentsI just love google–well most of the time. As a person who does SEO I sometimes get upset at the changes. HOWEVER, Google is very “evolved” and why do I say that. Well, their Google University rocks. They have speakers from all walks of life and all disciplines. I have watched their Brain research and mindfulness practice Google University workshops on youtube.
Today I found another great offering with Surya Das, a well known Meditation teacher.. I am not a Buddhist just to make it clear, but I have found such great help with the mindfulness meditation practice that I like to share what I can. Surya Das is great although he does come in the “clothing” of Buddhism much more than Shinzen Young for example. But we can learn from him and Google thought so too. Here is that video with Surya Das:
Surya Das says we can become enlightened. Interesting whether we agree or not.
Do We Really Know What Depression Is?
Posted by: | CommentsBefore addressing mindfulness meditation for depression, let’s take a look at the meaning of depression. What is it really? Maybe you have not considered this, depression has become medicalized, and a concept. So when we ask ” am I depressed? ” what do we really mean and how do we know that we are? Are we depressed as a concept? Isn’t there real “feeling” going on, not just thoughts? Is there a living, breathing “process” happening? If there is something called depression that could really be defined–wouldn’t it have to be a living process, since we are living beings? There can be no one-size-fits-all definition, although defining it this way, is the tendency for most of us, whether it a doctor, a psychologist, a psychiatrist, or a lay person..
So…what might depression as a process look like? Is it possible that the reason(s) for the depression does not really have to be to our detriment, and if only we would allow the process, it is actually for our good? Let’s use the words “depressive process” so as to begin to see it more as a dynamic process instead of a static list of symptoms. Consider the true undefinability of depression. If you have symptoms a, b, and d you are depressed, BUT if you have symptoms a, b, and c, you have something else wrong with you, and don’t worry we (the professional and authority), will come up with a name by next week. Because when we have a name, then we can find a drug to fix it, and the beat goes on!
There is help for depression, but in our normal silver bullet approach, it will not go to the crux of the problem. Mindfulness techniques are really an unsung hero in this regard. Lots of research has been done on it and this is really good and worth checking out. For me, as I am experiencing it, mindfulness meditation does not deal directly with a concept (diagnosis) called depression. Something much deeper is happening. (Incidentally, this is how it works for any issue in our lives.) I am addressing depression by writing this, not just to publish on my blog; as it turns out, it has become an inquiry that I seem to be doing here as I write this and “feeling” you who may read it. Maybe you wish to follow along with me in this post and the next.
As much as I would like to never feel depressed, I am more interested in going deeper and not just understanding this as a concept, as an idea or to seek some pat answer, but to understand it at another level where I no longer need answers. Sometimes I “taste” this, or I would not be writing about it.
The surface mind wants an answer, the deep mind and heart has something much more profound and real to give us and to help us release the unconscious pain that is there. I see the depressive process as Nature or God if you wish, taking us deep to allow that to happen. If we think something is terribly wrong then the process will go in the wrong direction. (Of course if you are suicidal or something like that, you need to get help, as you surely cannot wait for the meditation to work for you. BUT you can still meditate and work with it on a deeper level.)
Unless you think I am someone who has gone mad, this is what Psychologist Robert Sardello has said, “The depressive process is the very process by which we digest the meaning of events at a level deeper than words, letting things “get to us” and change us. It is the process of deepening.” This can sound like another concept, and in a way, it is.
So, I personally, don’t ask am I depressed any more. I have an opened question now. My quest is not to get final answers, but to explore, and to allow what just may have no answer to emerge from within. I know this is possible because I am, although to a very small extent, living it now. You have, in a way, lived some of this yourself. Haven’t you grappled with a problem and then just given up only to have the answer or the clarity you needed just come to you out of the blue sky?
As I have said elsewhere, I see the light at the end of tunnel for the first time in many years. I only share below what I have used myself. I hope you come back for my next post. Some friends have wondered whether it is a good idea for me to share my deepest feelings on the internet- such as my poetry- which I intend to do in the future. I feel I should since perhaps it may touch you or someone else. This post is not too personal, but it is a beginning and it feels right.
Not All Mindfulness Meditation Styles are Equal
Posted by: | CommentsAll mindfulness meditation is helpful and worth doing. But I have to say that in my experience they are not equal. This has a lot to do with what a person is attracted to, their personality, and may be even their particular needs. But I feel, for me, it has to do with clarity in the presenting of what it is and in the ability of the teacher to take you into a direct experience. I would not have known this had I not discovered Shinzen Young and his style of presenting and teaching mindfulness meditation. Check out this video so you can get a taste of what I mean
How to Treat Depression – Mindfulness My Biggest Help
Posted by: | CommentsWhen I started this blog, I was once more in my life slightly depressed to majorly depressed at many times. You can read back and see what was going on. I was the caregiver for my sweet mother and it was not easy. Later when she passed, well, the grief just seemed to dig me further into what I call “depression”.
How to treat depression has been a focus for a long time. I might have called unhappiness or traumatic symptoms or grief. But depression was definitely part of it. I am not talking about being clinically depressed. Although I wondered at times, but I truly felt as if I were dying. I found out that clinical depression means you are not taking care of yourself, not eating right, not resting etc. etc. That was never the case. Very trusted professionals and therapists have confirmed that mine is was not a clinical depression.
I have decided to share about my struggle with depression and my years of spending large amounts of money and time to get help without going the medication route. Although I have practiced some type of meditation for at least 35 years or more and I know it has all helped, even before the last years of caring for my Mother, where it was a majorly stressful situation, I still always battled with the question: ” Am I depressed ? ”
Now I have comprehended, that I didn’t understand it in the way I needed to, nor was I practicing meditation in the way that would finally dig me out of the hole. I have begun to see the light at the end of tunnel, with some very wonderful surprises along the way. More on this later.
I realized that 35 years of learning, studying, trying many modalities, therapy, bodywork, meditation has helped bring me to this point. It has all helped, but it wasn’t until recently that a light went off in my head about why mindfulness training and meditation has begun to make the difference. I have decided to write about it. In a way it is a daunting task, because I don’t want to overwhelm the reader with a lot of data, yet I want to present the viewpoints and the insights I have had that have brought me to this conclusion. Of course, besides the major changes in my behavior and my feeling states. For example, food cravings seem to have dropped away on their own! A very natural change, no forcing, manipulation or any thing of the kind. Just Nature working in me.
It doesn’t matter what your faith is. I doesn’t matter if you have none. We can all agree that there is love in the world and loving kindness, in spite of all the atrocities we may be subjected to by the bias news. Just this little bit can keep us going.
Probably the most difficult thing for me has been and still is allowing myself to not always think I have to have answers and allowing what is called the “don’t know mind”. This is a whole other subject. Well, this was going to be a short post and then I decided to revisit it. And this is what happened Please feel free to comment, if it is a real comment, I will approve it and even respond.
Please subscribe and come back soon. I am working on a short ebook which I will make available for just a few dollars. But I will also keep posting.
Meantime, if you are depressed, don’t give up and check out Shinzen Young and Stephanie Nash. For me my Mindfulness Meditation Training is what has made the biggest difference–not not all mindfulness training is the same.
Shinzen Young Mindfulness Meditation CD’s will take you deeper and give you much more than stress relief. It is his style of mindfulness that has helped me more than anything else with depression =>
I recommend all of his “stuff” but I am very partial to the Break Through Pain Series which is how I was introduced to Shinzen style mindfulness practice. I will share what happened on the nextpost and link it here after I do
Shinzen also offers Teleconference Mindfulness Training retreats! I feel like I have died and gone to heaven to have this available. Once you listen to the free interviews you will understand why I feel so strongly about it. There is help and it lies within us, in our own hearts and minds.
