Tag: neutral observation
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Sitting in Silence: Zen Drop 30
Very often when I’m alone I find myself sitting in the silence.Not because I’m meditating or trying to clear my mind but because I’ve come to truly love it. Of course it’s never completely quiet.Sometimes the birds are chirping and I hear them but don’t always listen.And the cars go by out the window.Some of…
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An Acquired Taste: Zen Drop 29
Everybody’s got a thing. What’s yours? You have to acquire a taste for cigarettes to enjoy them. And then you love them. Most of the time. And then you have to have them. Same with coffee. It goes beyond addiction. It happens with anything. The familiar. Routine. Comfortable. It’s something like a fake desire. Or…
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Don’t Poop on the Dog: Zen Drop 27
So you stepped in dog poop. Now what? For starters, the world has enough shit to deal with. Don’t track it all over town. You’ll figure it out. Sometimes people say to “lean in.”Lean into dog shit? No thanks. Sometimes people say everything happens for a reason.Fine. You can explain that while I dig crap…
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The Workout Makes You Stronger. What You Add Makes It Harder.
What story are you adding that is making your experience more difficult? What happens when you notice? This mindful exercise practice can open the door to a new relationship with your workout and your mind. Exercise provides a clean testing ground for mindful training. Consider it a two-for-one. You work out the body, and you…
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Are These Gas Prices High or Something? — Zen Drop 26
Gas prices keep going up.So you’re standing at the pump, watching the numbers climb like it’s a horror movie. Suddenly, a wise old monk walks up and says,“Your resistance is only making this worse.” “Great,” you say. “Does that mean you’re buying?”Because then we might be getting somewhere. We’ve all heard it: grin and bear it.Which…
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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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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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SexyIndifference: Zen Drop 016
Read time 2 minutes. SexyIndifference: All the effectiveness of dislike—without all that extra. Jason Bateman says it all the time on Smartless.“Sexy indifference.” You’re cool. You’re present.No applause expected, no applause required. That’s SexyIndifference. It’s presence without performance. But it’s warm neutrality.Not cold detachment. It’s the opposite of trying to act like you’re not trying.It’s just… not trying.…
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Active Awareness: Interested In Everything
Read time 5 minutes. Zen in not disinterested. Disinterest numbs. Active Awareness sharpens. Last week, while looking at acceptance, we discovered how easy it is to slip into subtle bias. We may force a kind of enthusiasm that isn’t really there, and when we can’t maintain it, frustration follows. Neutrality offers relief—but if we swing…