By guest author Carmen Howell of The Sadhana Studio These days meditation and yoga are my vices - positive habits which have evolved and have slowly woven into my bodily intelligence. When I find myself transforming and experienceing the discomfort that can often be present with transformation, rather than slipping back into the grip of unsupportive habits - such as enslaving myself to a diet, convincing myself that vitamins are the cure for my lack of energy, punishing my body by over … [Read more...]
Mind the Gap and It Will Set You Free. Promise
by Gabrielle Harris When I was about nine, Dad bought a strange woman to our house. She was dressed in white and had an exotic name. Our sleep-out was turned into a shrine. Suddenly suburban life was looking up. The lady was handed some cash and I had to give her something of value to myself. I gave her my teddy. I didn’t want to give her my teddy as I was attached to it. It’s good to have attachments when you are nine; it gives you something to work on in later years. Little did I know … [Read more...]
Treading water on the void – an interview with Zoë Wild
by guest author Peter Fernando, A Month of Mindfulness This interview is part of a one hour conversation I had with Zoë, a former Buddhist nun, in April 2012. You can the rest of her insightful and heartfelt reflections on the Month of Mindfulness blog, here. Peter: You seem to have a fluidity in terms of your relationship to spiritual forms. Looking at your path so far, there seems to be a real sense of an understanding of the transparency of forms, as well as a great respect for them. … [Read more...]
How to Meditate in Four Easy Steps
by Peter Fernando, Meditation and Mindfulness I like to consider what 'meditation' is, from the perspective of a beginner, or someone who's never heard of it. Sometimes the more I think I know about something, the further away I get from really knowing the heart of it! So, having reflected on it, from an experiential place, I reckon this thing called 'meditation' actually just consists of four qualities, or skills in the mind: 1) Focus Take an object, such as the feeling of the breath in the … [Read more...]
Breaking down my self-made prison through truth
by guest author Seka Ojdrovic-Phillips The practice brought me to Denver for 27 days of karmic hell and dharmic euphoria. The practice reincarnated 28 years of emotional bullshit compost into rich spiritual soil. The practice destroyed the facade of "reality" in terms of conditioning and societal truths. I died in the practice. The practice brought me back to life. I realized this all at about 5:30 in the morning on Week Two of my Forrest Yoga Teacher Training. It was finger-numbingly … [Read more...]
An interview with Swami Samnyasananda, a consultant neurophysiologist
Article courtesy Anahata Yoga Retreat Swami Samnyasananda is a consultant neurophysiologist whose research explores the effects of pranayama, meditation and relaxation on the heart, brain and autonomic nervous systems. He is a Certified Yoga Teacher, Life Member and Fellow of the World Society for Clinical Yoga (Lucknow, India), and has over 30 years of experience in classes, personal tuition & clinical counselling in yoga, meditation, relaxation and stress management (M.B.T.I. … [Read more...]
What’s Love Got to Do with Meditation?
by guest author Peter Fernando, Meditation and Mindfulness In many traditions, the practice of kindness and love is an integral part of the meditative journey. You may wonder, 'why?' Sometimes the way that the concept of 'mindfulness' is presented can make it seem like a utilitarian technique to become more efficient, or more functional in the world. This is certainly a part of it, of course. But then there's the love thing. You can't go too far into any authentic contemplative tradition … [Read more...]
The joy hidden within chaos
by guest author Peter Fernando, Meditation and Mindfulness On the surface of things, spirituality can seem to be about control, right? 'Mind Control' perhaps. Or 'Body Control'? On the far end of the spectrum you even get teachings suggesting that the point of life is to have ultimate control over the universe. Sounds good, doesn't it? But is that what 'spirituality', or more accurately, freedom is about? I personally wonder if it is. What could be more gratifying to our ego than … [Read more...]
Why ‘Letting Go’ and ‘Detachment’ Can be Pitfalls on the Spiritual Path
by guest author Peter Fernando, Meditation and Mindfulness I received this honest and moving question a few weeks back: If you have never bonded with your mother and so have never experienced secure attachment in a primary relationship, how can you work with non-attachment? And letting go? When you have never really experienced having anything to hold onto? The first thing I should say is this: I am no expert in this field, so please don't take my word as gospel. I can only reflect from … [Read more...]
Starting a Home Meditation Practice
by guest author Peter Fernando, Meditation and Mindfulness Are you wanting to start your own home meditation practice? The number one piece of advice I have for you is: Just do it! Having said that, a recent question that came in asked for more details, so in response to that reader, here's... Six Useful Home Meditation Tips 1) Don't meditate in front of the TV (even when it's off), or in front of the computer. If you take some time to create a meditation-only space in your home, it's … [Read more...]