Read more“Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional. Say you’re running and you think: ‘Man, this hurts, I can’t take it anymore’. The hurt part is an unavoidable reality, but whether or not you can stand anymore is up to the runner himself.”
― Haruki Murakami
Read moreWhen I run a meditation class I usually ask participants what they hope to achieve, or learn, through meditation. Some will say that they want to learn to control their thoughts and emotions. I can understand this impulse. Indeed, many meditation traditions insist that this is just what we must do: because the mind is a wild and unruly beast, and it needs to be tamed.
Confused about Mindfulness and the Present Moment?
Jon Kabat-Zinn, the grandfather of modern mindfulness, defined it thus: “the awareness that arises from paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally.” While other definitions abound, this one is generally considered to be the...Newsletter Archive
Just a short thank you note from KS in Adelaide. Your newsletters are fantastic and I always feel inspired by the content. View current or past issues of our newsletter by selecting from below. If recent newsletters are not listed below, please visit the full...Read moreInstead of instructions (or rules) to be followed, there are three conditions influencing what one does as meditation. These three conditions are obvious, commonplace, and concrete, so much so, I will use the words my students have repeatedly chosen for them: gentleness, permission, and interest.