Interesting reading about the dark side of mindfulness and meditation, they can create unexpected problems.
Read the article at BBC: How too much mindfulness can spike anxiety
Tag: Meditation (Page 1 of 2)
One-Moment Meditation (OMM) is an interesting concept. Many, me too sometimes, claim there’s no time to meditate. OMM is
a simple form of meditation that you can do anywhere, anytime. It begins with an exercise that takes just one minute per day. With practice, this takes less and less time, until it takes no time at all. Then each and every moment gives you a chance to reduce stress, refresh your mind, and open yourself to new possibilities.
The video below turned up in my stream on Facebook. Social media does at times contribute to peace of mind.
Video: One-Moment Meditation
Source YouTube: One-Moment Meditation
Here is basic training in One-Moment Meditation – helping you reduce stress, focus better, and find a bit of peace … quickly.
It sounds so simple, just Do Nothing for 2 Minutes, but it’s not always that easy to just be.
Two minutes is a very nice break, don’t touch the mouse or keyboard because then it starts over. Enjoy your break!
I have bought Zen Brush and I really enjoy it.
Enjoy performing zen art on your iPad or iPhone.
Zen Brush is an app that allows you to easily enjoy the feeling of using an ink brush to write or to paint. It allows anyone to easily perform fluent strokes while not compromising on the fascinating texture of a real ink brush. Create works that radiate the right atmosphere by choosing the best background template from our large collection. You can even post your works easily on twitter.
So far what I do is more like doodle with a brush but it’s fascinating. It’s mindfulness, full focus on what you are doing, and work as a tool for meditation too. Since it’s digital it’s easy to erase and start over again. I practice with my non-dominant hand too, it’s good to use both hands.
I got a copy of LESS – Accomplishing More by Doing Less by Marc Lesser at Øredev 2009. The book is described like this:
Discusses the benefits of doing less in a world that has increasingly embraced more – more desire, more activity, more things, more exhaustion. This book is about stopping, as well as the possibility of finding composure in the midst of activity. It is also about the power of accomplishing more by doing less.
I like this book, it is well written and it’s summed up nicely in the epilogue:
This book is a collection of tools as well as a manual for doing more of what is important and less of what isn’t.
Another quote from the book that descibes what it’s about:
You will accomplish more of what matters to you. Doing less and accomplishing more is about aligning your actions with your values and your particular passions.
The book is about the Less Manifesto and has chapters on its five categories:
• fear
• assumptions
• distractions
• resistance
• busyness
I like the way Marc writes about these categories, I found inspiration and tools to work with. Marc brings up meditation and mindfulness as useful tools. The book also has some interesting exercises, questions to work with. Under busyness Marc writes that:
A life of busyness is often the result of trying to escape facing our fears.
One part of the book that stuck with me is about paradoxes, like Marc’s own example “I am shy and solitary, and I love speaking in front of people.” It’s an interesting way of seeing that it’s not either-or, we can be both without conflicts.
Embrace paradox and you increase self-acceptance, tolerance of others and your own possibilities.
A question from the book that’s worth thinking about:
What is one change you could make in your life today that would have an impact on the quality of your day?
Read more:
An 18 Minute Plan That Keeps You Focused
The jar of life – stones, pebbles and sand
Start Managing Your Attention
A while back I finished a book by Jon Kabat-Zinn, Wherever you go there you are – Mindfulness Mediation in Everyday Life. I love Jon’s low key style. The book which consists of very short chapters, most of them only a few pages long, covers different aspects of mindfulness and meditation. There are also practices in many of the chapters. The easiest way to describe the book is to take part of the introduction:
In this book Jon Kabat-Zinn maps out a somple path for cultivating mindfulness in one’s own life. It speaks both to those coming to meditation for the first time and to longtime practitioners, anyone who cares deeply about reclaiming the richness of his or her moments.
Here comes some quotes from the book, texts that hooked me:
Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment and nonjudgementally.
Meditation is not about feeling a certain way. It is about feeling the way you feel.
Non-doing simply means letting things be and allowing them to unfold in their own way.
Meditation means cultivating a non-judging attitude towards what comes up in the mind, come what may.
Being whole and simultaneously part of a larger whole, we can change the world simply by chaing ourselves.
There is no successful escaping from yourself in the long run, only transformation.
And finally this reassuring quote:
You are already perfect.
See also:
Mindfulness with Jon Kabat-Zinn
Mindfulness for Beginners
Arriving at your own Door
This was originally posted at another (now extinct) blog of mine.
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