Tag: Mindfulness
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Your Mind and Unwelcome Guests
“The mind is not attacking us. It is doing exactly what it was built to do, rehearse old pain in the hope of preventing new pain. The freedom comes when we finally realize we do not have to invite every thought inside and give it the run of the house.”
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Metta: The Practice of Loving-Kindness
The Practice of Peace While Living in a Divided World When we talk about love, most of us think of affection, loving a person, a pet, or even a good meal. But metta, the Pali word for loving-kindness, points to something deeper. It isn’t the warmth we feel when life pleases us; it’s the deliberate cultivation of…
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Why Meditate When I Can Pray?
When I was young, a friend invited me to meditate with her. It was something her family practiced regularly, and she made it sound as natural as brushing your teeth. Curious, I mentioned it to my church youth pastor and was quickly warned that I was “opening myself up to the enemy.” At the time,…
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What if Beatles sang ‘Let it Go’ instead of ‘Let it Be’?
How different would the world feel if the Beatles had written Let It Go instead of Let It Be? Picture it: Paul at the piano, eyes closed, singing earnestly,“Let it go, let it go, let it go…” The song still tops the charts, but the message shifts.A generation grows up believing peace requires action, that…
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Zen and the Art of the Scroll
Slow Your Scroll – Wise Social Media Habits You open Instagram for inspiration. Just a quick look, you tell yourself. Ten minutes later, you’ve compared your writing, your breakfast, and possibly your entire life to three strangers with better headlines and a cat who somehow has better engagement. You’re not angry at yourself, just amused…
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The Science of Staying Awake While Trying to Sleep.
Or, “I Thought I Was Practicing Self-Care. Turns Out, I Was Practicing Insomnia.” For years, I believed I had the perfect bedtime ritual. TV until 10. Phone until 11. Fireplace blazing like a luxury lodge. Weighted blankets, flannel sheets, and a room warm enough to grow orchids. Two dogs, two cats, one husband, and a…
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Are Your Habits a Kind Way of Maintaining Your Addictions?
What if the routines we call healthy habits are simply a kind way of maintaining addiction? Questioning the Question There is no shortage of best-selling titles encouraging us to build better habits. Wake early, journal, meditate, work out, repeat. These routines can be helpful. But ask yourself: Can you easily say no to one of…
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Mindfulness in the Digital Age: Finding Balance, Not Escape
Digital communication is here to stay. Phones, tablets, and laptops keep us connected, informed, and often inspired. Yet they also compete for our most precious resource: attention. If mindfulness is the art of being present, what does that mean in a world built to distract? What the Research Says Studies increasingly show that how we…
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🌿 May All Beings Be Happy
A Practice of Radical Kindness So easy to say. Sometimes so difficult to do. Why does such a simple intention, wishing happiness for all beings, feel so distant in our daily lives? What stops us from extending it beyond our circle of comfort? Often it is the quiet walls we build: fear, judgment, pain, and…
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Painted Tigers: Meeting Fear with Mindfulness
When Joseph Goldstein speaks about fear, he often invokes a vivid image from Zen lore, the painted tiger. A monk once painted a tiger so lifelike that when he stepped back to admire his work, he became terrified of it. Goldstein says, “We paint pictures in our minds of what will be, and then become…
