As practitioners, we may have different motivations “to sit”. However, to sustain our practice, we need to clarify our intention… especially as “sitting” on a regular basis can offer both subtle and explicit challenges to our dedication and self-discipline. To overcome our difficulties in practice, our aspirations need to be honest, relevant, realistic, and purposeful. […]

We’re all on the same path as human beings simply allowing our ‘big questions’ to unfold with the spontaneity and uncertainty of life itself. Open-minded & curious, we’re free to ask- to experience- and to live the questions each and every moment of our lives…

The breath is not only an ‘anchor’ for our attention, it can be used skillfully to short-circuit our unconscious impulses to behave on ‘automatic pilot’- and to give in to our mind’s undercurrent of conditioning to act without pause, notice & reflection. REMEMBER to breathe into your habitual moments and to take notice of your […]

Life’s a matter of interpretation regardless of the “color” and “content” of the events we experience. Every day we make conscious and free choices to see, perceive, and relate to our lives in certain ways. To effectively adapt, we learn to make sense of our lives in new & fresh ways. To be mindful is […]

Just like me… you have a mind & body. You experience thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations; joy & happiness; pain & sorrow; love & anger; fear & courage; success & failure, etc. Together we aspire to love & be loved; to learn & grow; to be happy & fulfilled; to be free from suffering, etc. […]

To experience genuine clarity of mind, we need to cultivate relaxed self-awareness- an abiding form of attention that’s balanced with neither too much nor too little effort. We sustain our focused attention with an open, nonjudgmental attitude… receptive and non-reactive… curious and inquisitive to know the nature of how our mind works in creating our […]

Practice… practice… practice. Cultivating self-awareness can help ‘shift’ the way we experience and relate to the activities of our mind/heart and body. With the energy & light of mindfulness, we can awaken to realize that our thoughts & emotions are not existential in nature. They need not define us. We can simply experience them as […]

How do we view our failures? Can we honestly and confidently accept our failings as simply part of our recovery process? Through refined self-awareness of our cognitive & emotional patterns toward our unsuccessful efforts, we can begin to notice the conditions that feed into our inner response system. By paying close attention, we can recognize […]

This penetrating ‘light’ of awareness has the inherent ability to illuminate our patterns of mind when we can be still, relaxed, open, and focused with regular practice. In its refined state, it can generate a higher form of energy capable of penetrating and short-circuiting even the deeply ingrained patterns of thoughts, feelings, judgments, and convictions […]

Gentle, nonjudgmental observation is a practice that helps us to recognize and better understand the nature of our innate tendencies to ‘hold on’- and to attach to certain thought & feeling patterns that arise from our internal responses (or reactions) to situations. It is this relaxed, balanced and abiding attention that also helps us to […]