6 Magnificent Meditation Illustrations To Improve Your Practice Anxiety There is No Right Way to Meditate How to Be a Silent Witness to Your Thoughts Seven Simple Ways to Practice Peace Sometimes It’s Okay if the Only Thing You Did Today was Breathe 10 Ways To Get Rid of Your Bad Mood By Yumi Sakugawa. Republished here with permission. (She has many more amazing comics and illustrations, make sure to have a look!) Also be sure to check out her lovely book: I Think I Am In Friend-Love With You. Look Into Your Mind “Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes.” - Alan Watts Tweet I am a guest here, so I’ll start with this. The mission of HighExistence says the site aims to… When I first started learning about Zen Buddhist philosophy, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you whether or not it encompassed all of these things. Now, I definitely can. Why? Mindfulness (always being in the here-and-now)Compassion (generally being a nice, open person)Honesty (both to others, and also to yourself)Health (exercise, good food, and genuine relationships) Zen values experience over intellectualization; while it’s of high importance to learn, read books, and read stuff like this, you mostly need to get off your ass and really exist! Your happiness, freedom, and understanding of the mind– these all rely on your ability to not resist. Historically, people have worked on doing this in various ways. Don’t fear your own mind.
How The Brain Works During The Two Main Types of Meditation During meditation the mind may wander, but is that necessarily a bad thing? A new study on what happens in the brain when you meditate finds that more thoughts and emotions may be processed in ‘non-directive’ forms of meditation. All the different types of meditation can be split into two main types: In non-directive types of meditation, people focus on their breathing or a sound, but also allow their mind to wander where it will.In concentrative types of meditation, people try to focus closely on their breath, or something else, in order to suppress other thoughts and feelings they experience. To examine the differences, a Norwegian study had some meditators practising concentrative meditation and others non-directive meditation, while their brains were scanned (Xu et al., 2014). One of the study’s authors, Svend Davanger, explained the results: “The study indicates that nondirective meditation allows for more room to process memories and emotions than during concentrated meditation.”
100 Possessions: How Giving Up Everything Can Make Your Life More Full It was seven years ago and I was tired when it happened. I don’t remember what put me on tilt. I had spent too much time in one place. All the stuff I had collected was holding me down. No person needs three George Foreman Grills. Eight pairs of snowboard boots. I deleted it all. That night, using my shoes as a pillow, I slept on the floor in my empty master bedroom. The next day I went to the department store because I needed a fresh pair of socks. I needed a dam. The problems started with my stupid toothbrush. The logic I decided upon is not important. The Cost of Carry Beyond the cost of purchase there is the burden of ownership. Ego-Depletion Everything I owned could now fit into one bug-out-bag. Limits Inspire Creativity Creativity exploded in my life. Six years have passed since I deleted all my stuff. So travel light and become humble strong. My list lives here You don’t need it, but you have a dozen or more of it.
Lucid Dreaming - Gateway to the Inner Self > Home Meditation and Neuroplasticity: Five key articles | Meditation Research Meditation not only changes our mind but also our brain – this is what more and more neuroscientific research suggests. Neuroplasticity – the change of brain structures as a result of experience – is considered to be one of the most important discoveries of neuroscience. Over the last 10 years evidence has been growing that not only the acquisition of navigational knowledge by London Taxi drivers (see video) or learning a new motor task like juggling (see article), but also meditation practice can lead to significant changes to brain structures. Here I respond to a recent request and list five key articles on that topic. Article 1: Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness To my knowledge this is the first study showing differences in brain structure between meditators and non-meditators. Lazar, S. doi: 10.1097/01.wnr.0000186598.66243.19 Article 2: Long-term meditation is associated with increased gray matter density in the brain stem Luders, E., Toga, A.
5 Ways To Harness Neurogenesis: Boost Your Brain Neurogenesis is the birth of new neurons from neural stem or progenitor cells in the brain. It was long considered that the number of neurons was fixed and they did not replicate after maturity of the brain. It wasn’t until the 1990’s that neurogenesis was observed in the brains of humans, other primates and a number of other species that led to its widespread scientific acceptance. There are a number of behavioural, environmental, pharmacological and biochemical factors that affect this process, many of which we have considerable power to influence. Neurogenesis is also linked to changes in neuroplasticity, which is referring to changes in synapses and neural pathways in the brain. This area is an example of a complete scientific turn around. Neurogenesis has been found to occur in two brain regions; the subventricular zone and the hippocampus. To reverse this process we need to harness neurogenesis. Exercise Diet Diet plays an important role in brain health and neurogenesis. Meditation
The Nimatullahi Sufi Order Ommwriter Copernicus & Goldilocks: Doubting Our Horizons We are coming up on the end of the Copernican Revolution – which in typical human fashion we prided ourselves as having finished a few centuries early. “Everyone knows” that the Earth revolves around the Sun, now, but it still hasn’t sunken in to most people, it seems, that the real takeaway lesson with modernity was that in whatever inarguable ways we believe ourselves to be special – we’re not. The accepted story of physics right now is that we live on a miraculous, impossible planet where solar eclipses can happen because the Moon is the same apparent size in the sky as the Sun, and where our orbital wobble, the Precession of the Equinoxes, takes exactly as many years as we are light years from the center of the galaxy – which just so happens to be a cozy intermediate zone where core radiation won’t melt DNA and the frigid depths of space don’t render chemistry a moot point. (And all chemistry is biochemistry, it seems.) This is the Goldilocks Hypothesis, and it’s junk.
Mind Satori – Contemporary Zen. Instantly open your mind to the philosophy of enlightenment with our advice. Over 100,000 people received the same message you did—but you’re different. You acted, others didn't move. You’re about to access insider information. Just enter your name and email address below. Learn exclusive secrets of Quantum Physics, Mind Secrets, Psychic Powers, Real Magic, Astrology, Wealth Creation, Miracle Healing, The Meaning of Life... ...and many more Secret Topics that may Not be mentioned above due to lack of space! Sign up now before it's too late, or you may Miss out on the very Thing you are looking for...
Creative Meditation Creative Meditation © 2005 by Corinne McLaughlin Developing a regular meditation practice over the last 30 years has been the most important aspect of my life, both in terms of my spiritual growth and the effectiveness of my service in the world. I’d like to share with you some of what I’ve learned about types, benefits and techniques of meditation, especially the Creative Meditation approach: What is Meditation? Meditation is a journey deeper into your true self, your true home. Meditation is the mind’s power to hold itself steady in the Light and in that Light to become aware of your higher purpose, your life’s mission. An especially powerful time to meditate and invoke higher spiritual forces is each month at the time of the full moon. Meditation is called a “practice” -- because it improves with practice. While prayer is often called “talking to God,”-- praising God or asking God for something, meditation is called listening to God -- deep inner listening. Types of Meditation
How to Perform Astral Projection: 10 Steps Steps Part 1 Preparing for the astral projection <img alt="Image titled Perform Astral Projection Step 1" src=" width="728" height="546" class="whcdn" onload="WH.performance.clearMarks('image1_rendered'); WH.performance.mark('image1_rendered');">1Start in the morning. <img alt="Image titled Perform Astral Projection Step 3" src=" width="728" height="546" class="whcdn">3Lie down and relax. Part 2 Moving the soul from the body <img alt="Image titled Perform Astral Projection Step 4" src=" width="728" height="546" class="whcdn">1Reach a hypnotic state. Part 3 Exploring the astral plane Community Q&A