the wisdom found in rice cakes and Thubten Chonyi

the wisdom found in rice cakes and Thubten Chonyi

The final of six Buddhist paramitas is wisdom. What a huge topic! Before writing about each paramita, I have read an article or two (or listened to a Dharma talk) to help me learn more about each transcendent action. Before writing today’s post, I listened to “the...
Practicing mindfulness of breath

Practicing mindfulness of breath

There is no better way of bringing yourself to this moment than to focus on your breathing. If you are upset or anxious, you can say to yourself “take a breath.” If you are practicing breath awareness meditation (shamatha or “calm abiding”), your breath become your...
Practicing Mindfulness of Body

Practicing Mindfulness of Body

My meditation teacher begins meditation by encouraging us to think “mindfulness of body, mindfulness of breath, mindfulness of mind.” Mindfulness can be defined as “the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly...
Mindfulness and illness

Mindfulness and illness

How does being mindful help you navigate the ups and downs of illness? Fear, anger, and grief ride in the slipstream of illness. It can be overwhelming. If you train your mind to focus on one small piece of reality, the overwhelm diminishes. While you’re holding...
Mindfulness enriches your journaling

Mindfulness enriches your journaling

I’ve been reading ”Effortless Journaling.” I decided that if I am going to be facilitating creative journaling classes, perhaps I should update and expand my skills. I was pleased to discover that there is much discussion, in this book, of mindfulness and journaling....