Tag: meditation
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Breathing In… Breathing Out… One Movement
Read time 1 minute. A uniquely subtle but important reframing of breath awareness practice as movement and transition. Breath awareness practice. The foundation of mindfulness.There are many methods. Here’s one you might not have considered. Something simple: Forget counting breaths.Forget inhale.Forget exhale. Forget the names entirely. Consider, instead, the qualities within a breath. Pressure.A subtle…
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The Spirituality Problem— How To Avoid Endless Seeking
Read time 2 minutes. A quiet reflection on what often gets called “spiritual seeking.” The spirituality problem isn’t about presence or enlightenment, but the habit of standing outside our own lives, watching and trying to fix them Do you sometimes feel like an outsider in your own life?Do you find yourself struggling to feel complete?…
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Everyone Meditates: A Different Way to Understand Meditation
Read time 2 minutes. Meditation isn’t something you add to life. It’s what happens when you stop interfering. Do you meditate?Everyone meditates.Just not in the way we might think. If you’ve ever sat with a decision instead of forcing it—if you’ve ever let an idea breathe—if you’ve ever watched something unfold without touching it—you were…
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Just a Little Peace | A Greatfruit Meditation
Read time 2 minutes. A short meditation for when your mind refuses to cooperate. Just a Little Peace is a stand alone article in our BeToKnow series. You don’t need a quieter mind. You need a bigger cathedral. There’s a voice in your head.“In your head?”Says who? And that voice…Sometimes loud.Sometimes subtle.Always offering commentary no one asked for.And…
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Calming Breath Practice: Tongue Tricks and Tranquility Juice
Read time 3 minutes. A calming breath practice or three to help dissolve the ego. Long before I knew much about Zen, I stumbled upon an interesting practice. One night, for reasons I can’t remember, I tried to imitate Tibetan throat singing with childlike sincerity. The deep rumble filled me until it felt like my…
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Mindful Listening: A Meditation Game
Read time 4 minutes. Mindful listening is a stand alone article in our Blocked Energy series. We’ve spoken often about the importance of accepting and allowing. Most of the time the focus has been on mental attitude—how we relate to thoughts, how we lean into letting go. Today, let’s turn the lens slightly and look at the…
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Self-Inquiry: The Direct Simplicity of “Who Am I?”
Read time 4 minutes. Self-Inquiry is a stand alone article in our Who Am I series. In earlier lessons, I introduced the practice of self-inquiry and its central question: Who am I? Over the next few writings, we will explore the nuances of this approach, why it is so effective, and how it can be applied in practice.…
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Everyday Zen: 5 Tools Of Awareness Beyond Conditioning
Read time 7 minutes. Awareness Beyond Conditioning is a stand alone article in our Everyday Zen series. Today’s lesson is one we can get excited about. It’s where the knowledge we’ve been gathering begins to shift into practice—into something lived. Many of Charlotte Joko Beck’s teachings turn on Zazen, the seated meditation practice central to…
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Acceptance Meditation Practice: Die While You’re Alive
Read time 4 minutes. Acceptance Meditation Practice is a stand alone article in our series regarding Acceptance. Today’s lesson turns to an old and powerful meditation technique: the practice of contemplating death and mortality. On the surface, it may sound grim. Yet, as with so many Zen practices, what seems dark at first becomes a gateway…