I learned about Smiling Mind from a neighbor who is 8 years old. This boy enjoys getting ready for school in the morning, being ready to leave for school 10 minutes early. Then he sits quietly on the couch waiting for his mother and older brother. He uses the Smiling Mind app to meditate.
Now the same organization has launched a website for parents of infants. In this video, they give a succinct, clear explanation of how mindfulness helps new parents foster their children's brain development.
Showing posts with label mindfulness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mindfulness. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
Saturday, January 31, 2015
Today only…
"Today only,
Do not anger,
Do not worry.
With thankfulness
Work diligently.
Be kind to others."
These are the Reiki precepts I learned a few years ago. I still find them useful.
They remind me of this prayer that I posted some time ago.
They remind me of this prayer that I posted some time ago.
Friday, July 25, 2014
Cut food into fun, heart shaped bites with less pain!
I'm adding this to my birthday wish list. Wouldn't it be fun to cut sandwiches, fruit, veggies, cake, meatloaf, bread, maybe even dark chocolate, into heart sized bites that are easy to eat mindfully?
Not sure how powerful this tool is, but it looks like a must for the discriminating person with arm pain. Not that I eat meatloaf more than once a decade, but still.
Not sure how powerful this tool is, but it looks like a must for the discriminating person with arm pain. Not that I eat meatloaf more than once a decade, but still.
Monday, July 21, 2014
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Photos from five-day retreat at Blue Cliff Monastery
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| Serene surface of circular lotus pond in front of Great Harmony meditation hall. Water is surrounded by flat stones, then rounded stones, then finely raked gravel. A feeling of calm. |
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| Photo by Helen Arnold |
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| Photo by Helen Arnold |
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| Photo by Helen Arnold |
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| Photo by Helen Arnold |
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| Photo by Helen Arnold |
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| Photo by Helen Arnold |
Saturday, June 28, 2014
Loving Speech and Deep Listening
At the Buddhist retreat, I learned the Five Mindfulness Trainings. The fourth one seems very helpful to me. these are guidelines, not commandments, and I'll try to read them over frequently and practice them when possible.
Fourth Mindfulness Training: Loving Speech and Deep Listening
Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful speech and the inability to listen to others, I am committed to cultivating loving speech and compassionate listening in order to relieve suffering and to promote reconciliation and peace in myself and among other people, ethnic and religious groups, and nations.
Knowing that words can create happiness or suffering, I am committed to speaking truthfully using words that inspire confidence, joy, and hope.
When anger is manifesting in me, I am determined not to speak. I will practice mindful breathing and walking in order to recognize and to look deeply into my anger. I know that the roots of anger can be found in my wrong perceptions and lack of understanding of the suffering in myself and in the other person.
I will speak and listen in a way that can help myself and the other person to transform suffering and see the way out of difficult situations.
I am determined not to spread news that I do not know to be certain and not to utter words that can cause division or discord.
I will practice Right Diligence to nourish my capacity for understanding, love, joy, and inclusiveness, and gradually transform anger, violence, and fear that lie deep in my consciousness.
Fourth Mindfulness Training: Loving Speech and Deep Listening
Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful speech and the inability to listen to others, I am committed to cultivating loving speech and compassionate listening in order to relieve suffering and to promote reconciliation and peace in myself and among other people, ethnic and religious groups, and nations.
Knowing that words can create happiness or suffering, I am committed to speaking truthfully using words that inspire confidence, joy, and hope.
When anger is manifesting in me, I am determined not to speak. I will practice mindful breathing and walking in order to recognize and to look deeply into my anger. I know that the roots of anger can be found in my wrong perceptions and lack of understanding of the suffering in myself and in the other person.
I will speak and listen in a way that can help myself and the other person to transform suffering and see the way out of difficult situations.
I am determined not to spread news that I do not know to be certain and not to utter words that can cause division or discord.
I will practice Right Diligence to nourish my capacity for understanding, love, joy, and inclusiveness, and gradually transform anger, violence, and fear that lie deep in my consciousness.
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Playing with babies brings me such joy!
Spent the afternoon hanging out with a 7 month old baby. His mother was teaching Indian classical voice lessons by Skype while his father was home for a brief break from the hospital where he does eye surgery.
I was completely engrossed in watching the baby gurgle, clap, lift his head off the floor, shake his legs in time to the music, reach for various rattles, and learn to make a scratchy dinosaur growly sound that I improvised.
Babies' faces change weekly. Their behaviors are unpredictable, yet I'm familiar with the general developmental journey from decades of playing with other people's children. Since my mother was a violin teacher who held all her lessons in our home, my brother and I played with all the younger siblings of her students who were aged 3-16 years old.
I am positive that if I continue doing what brings me joy, opportunities will present themselves for me to make my living in a related occupation. I might have to invent my own job description.
I was completely engrossed in watching the baby gurgle, clap, lift his head off the floor, shake his legs in time to the music, reach for various rattles, and learn to make a scratchy dinosaur growly sound that I improvised.
I am positive that if I continue doing what brings me joy, opportunities will present themselves for me to make my living in a related occupation. I might have to invent my own job description.
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Taking a break
I'm going on vacation and will stay off-line until the new year. I have a feeling things will be very different in 2014. It's time to let go of things that no longer serve me, and to listen to that little voice that keeps asking:
I believe it's a line from a poem by Mary Oliver. no time to look it up now. These days, my mantra is TMC: Too Many Clicks.
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
Sunday, November 24, 2013
My spiritual guide
Today I had the pleasure of playing with Buzzy, my spiritual guide. If you are a new reader, and have not yet heard about Buzzy, you can read what I wrote about spending my birthday with Buzzy.
Whenever I am undecided about what to do, I ask myself, "What would Buzzy do?"
Whenever I am undecided about what to do, I ask myself, "What would Buzzy do?"
Buzzy enjoys the present moment.
Buzzy sniffs around curiously and notices every small detail.
When he finds a stick that he likes, he grabs it ferociously and doesn't let go.
When he is hungry, he seeks food.
When his belly is full, he does not worry about his next meal.
When someone wants to play, he bends his front legs and wags his tail.
He makes his mark boldly on the world, letting everyone know that he's proud to be himself.
And when he is dog tired, he lies down to take a nap.
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
What's the best way to learn to practice mindfulness? One person's opinion
A colleague of mine asked me the following question and when I started answering, I realized I had a lot to say about it. So I'm posting my answer here in case it is useful to others.
Question: There is a class at the medical school near my University on mindfulness. I really want to take it. Need to figure out how to deal with the haters in my world. Class is pricey. They are offered face to face and online. Is this worth it?
Slowly Blossoming: First of all, to avoid giving the false impression that I am attempting to review a course which I have not taken, I'm just going to post a link which is similar to the one my friend was asking about. She was referring to the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) courses which are offered in many places.
In general, when learning mindfulness I would definitely recommend taking a face-to-face class rather than online. I have not taken one of the MBSR classes before. I did register for one that started meeting in September, but after the first session I realized that I was so tired from doing other stuff that I couldn't really focus for 2.5 hours on a Monday night after a full day's work. So I withdrew from the class and the teacher was kind enough to charge me just for the first session.
Honestly, one of the most difficult things about taking a class on mindfulness is that you have to find time to do the homework amid your daily routine. That could be one of the best things about it as well. I have a friend who took one of these classes in New Jersey with Ken Verni. She shared with us this website where he gives everyone free access to his guided meditation recordings, which are probably similar to the kinds of things you be doing in your class. I think everyone in the class gets a CD with these recordings and a book.
You could try listening to some of these tracks to get an idea of the type of exercises you'll be learning to do in the class. The big difference is that when you do it with the group and a teacher, you get to share your experiences with other people and you get a better sense of how to do it, because there are many different ways to meditate and different things work best for different people.
For example, I am currently teaching mindfulness exercises in my philosophy courses. I've been trying to figure out whether students prefer recordings with voice only, or with music. They're pretty much split down the middle: some find that the music helps them block out distracting noises, but others comment that they get carried away by the music so the voice alone is more helpful to them.
We recently did an exercise where we practiced for the first five minutes of class using four different recordings, one each day for four consecutive class meetings. On the fourth day I asked them to pick the most helpful and most difficult exercise, explaining why.
I was quite surprised to see that the survey results were evenly spread across the map. What is most difficult for one person is extremely helpful to the next, and vice versa. This is why I decided to post all four exercises (along with others that we have used in class) on my website so that students can use whichever ones work well for them.
Given that our daily lives are so busy and stressful, my top recommendation for learning mindfulness is to attend a 10 day meditation course in which you set aside everything else and just practice until you learn the technique. This may seem like an extreme thing to do, but as a lifelong student and teacher for the past 30 years, I believe it is the best way to learn mindfulness.
I blogged about my 10 day course experience here. The teachers use the analogy of learning to swim. You can read books, watch videos, listen to recordings, and hang out with swimmers all you want. You can practice for 2.5 hours, once a week, for eight weeks with a group and a teacher.
It stands to reason that a really good way to learn how to swim is to spend 10 days mostly in the water, focusing on learning to do it, step-by-step, without any other distractions like going to work, taking care of family, running errands, trying to have a social life, doing your academic writing, and all that stuff we try to do every day of our ordinary lives. :-)
You'll be surrounded by other people who are highly motivated to learn the same thing you are learning, you don't have to worry about meals because they are cooked for you with kindness and compassion by other meditators, you have a nice quiet room and a small suitcase with only the basics, and you will be asked to give up all your electronic devices, reading and writing materials, for the duration of the ten-day course. Yes. It's pretty hard-core, and it's totally worth it.
Now I of all people understand that it's very difficult to set aside those precious 10 days. I first learned about this opportunity in 1996, 17 years ago. A friend of mine from Montreal came to visit me in New York City immediately after finishing her first 10 day course in Massachusetts.
I could see that it had transformed her approach to life and given her relief from traumatic events (she lost both her teenaged younger sister and her mother before she reached her early 20s.) She had a quiet calmness about her that struck me as markedly different. In fact, although she had planned to visit me for a few days, she soon decided that New York City was too stimulating and noisy for her. She was no longer in the mood for sightseeing, and decided to go home to rest.
I didn't form a definite intention to take one of these courses until a few years ago, when one of my colleagues attended a 10 day course and returned similarly convinced of its efficacy. I registered a couple of years ago, then got cold feet and canceled. There is a long waiting list, especially for women, but there are also many cancellations, so sometimes the wait becomes shorter than you expect. All in all it took me 17 years until I finally made it to one of these retreats. But now that I've been there, I know that it was more effective than any of the other courses I took.
Also, even including travel costs, it was cheaper than the course you mention. Every Vipassana beginner student is offered the course for free. All costs are covered by former students who volunteer their time and donate money so that others can learn. All the teachers offer their time without receiving any payment either.
I know how it can sound. Before I went, I was worried it might be some type of cult. But it's November now, more than seven months after I took the course for free, and apart from receiving a few email newsletters with updates on upcoming courses, nobody has come looking for me. :-) So if it's a cult, it's a very benign one.
I hope this helps.
Question: There is a class at the medical school near my University on mindfulness. I really want to take it. Need to figure out how to deal with the haters in my world. Class is pricey. They are offered face to face and online. Is this worth it?
Slowly Blossoming: First of all, to avoid giving the false impression that I am attempting to review a course which I have not taken, I'm just going to post a link which is similar to the one my friend was asking about. She was referring to the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) courses which are offered in many places.
In general, when learning mindfulness I would definitely recommend taking a face-to-face class rather than online. I have not taken one of the MBSR classes before. I did register for one that started meeting in September, but after the first session I realized that I was so tired from doing other stuff that I couldn't really focus for 2.5 hours on a Monday night after a full day's work. So I withdrew from the class and the teacher was kind enough to charge me just for the first session.
Honestly, one of the most difficult things about taking a class on mindfulness is that you have to find time to do the homework amid your daily routine. That could be one of the best things about it as well. I have a friend who took one of these classes in New Jersey with Ken Verni. She shared with us this website where he gives everyone free access to his guided meditation recordings, which are probably similar to the kinds of things you be doing in your class. I think everyone in the class gets a CD with these recordings and a book.
You could try listening to some of these tracks to get an idea of the type of exercises you'll be learning to do in the class. The big difference is that when you do it with the group and a teacher, you get to share your experiences with other people and you get a better sense of how to do it, because there are many different ways to meditate and different things work best for different people.
For example, I am currently teaching mindfulness exercises in my philosophy courses. I've been trying to figure out whether students prefer recordings with voice only, or with music. They're pretty much split down the middle: some find that the music helps them block out distracting noises, but others comment that they get carried away by the music so the voice alone is more helpful to them.
We recently did an exercise where we practiced for the first five minutes of class using four different recordings, one each day for four consecutive class meetings. On the fourth day I asked them to pick the most helpful and most difficult exercise, explaining why.
I was quite surprised to see that the survey results were evenly spread across the map. What is most difficult for one person is extremely helpful to the next, and vice versa. This is why I decided to post all four exercises (along with others that we have used in class) on my website so that students can use whichever ones work well for them.
Given that our daily lives are so busy and stressful, my top recommendation for learning mindfulness is to attend a 10 day meditation course in which you set aside everything else and just practice until you learn the technique. This may seem like an extreme thing to do, but as a lifelong student and teacher for the past 30 years, I believe it is the best way to learn mindfulness.
I blogged about my 10 day course experience here. The teachers use the analogy of learning to swim. You can read books, watch videos, listen to recordings, and hang out with swimmers all you want. You can practice for 2.5 hours, once a week, for eight weeks with a group and a teacher.
It stands to reason that a really good way to learn how to swim is to spend 10 days mostly in the water, focusing on learning to do it, step-by-step, without any other distractions like going to work, taking care of family, running errands, trying to have a social life, doing your academic writing, and all that stuff we try to do every day of our ordinary lives. :-)
You'll be surrounded by other people who are highly motivated to learn the same thing you are learning, you don't have to worry about meals because they are cooked for you with kindness and compassion by other meditators, you have a nice quiet room and a small suitcase with only the basics, and you will be asked to give up all your electronic devices, reading and writing materials, for the duration of the ten-day course. Yes. It's pretty hard-core, and it's totally worth it.
Now I of all people understand that it's very difficult to set aside those precious 10 days. I first learned about this opportunity in 1996, 17 years ago. A friend of mine from Montreal came to visit me in New York City immediately after finishing her first 10 day course in Massachusetts.
I could see that it had transformed her approach to life and given her relief from traumatic events (she lost both her teenaged younger sister and her mother before she reached her early 20s.) She had a quiet calmness about her that struck me as markedly different. In fact, although she had planned to visit me for a few days, she soon decided that New York City was too stimulating and noisy for her. She was no longer in the mood for sightseeing, and decided to go home to rest.
I didn't form a definite intention to take one of these courses until a few years ago, when one of my colleagues attended a 10 day course and returned similarly convinced of its efficacy. I registered a couple of years ago, then got cold feet and canceled. There is a long waiting list, especially for women, but there are also many cancellations, so sometimes the wait becomes shorter than you expect. All in all it took me 17 years until I finally made it to one of these retreats. But now that I've been there, I know that it was more effective than any of the other courses I took.
Also, even including travel costs, it was cheaper than the course you mention. Every Vipassana beginner student is offered the course for free. All costs are covered by former students who volunteer their time and donate money so that others can learn. All the teachers offer their time without receiving any payment either.
I know how it can sound. Before I went, I was worried it might be some type of cult. But it's November now, more than seven months after I took the course for free, and apart from receiving a few email newsletters with updates on upcoming courses, nobody has come looking for me. :-) So if it's a cult, it's a very benign one.
I hope this helps.
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Poem: a new day
*
Today is a new day.
Exhaling fatigue
inhaling a fresh moment.
I am a human with flaws and weaknesses
who needs to rest.
It's okay if I only take a few turtle steps today.
*
*
Sunday, March 24, 2013
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