Although I’m a certified meditation teacher, I grew up a skeptic and I understand where the skeptics are coming from. I respect their wariness of various spiritual practices, especially if it falls into the “new age” category—I once was very wary too. And in fact, I still remain skeptical of certain modalities. I don’t blindly…
As a reformed, natural-born pessimist, I am keenly aware of the power of positive thinking. How we think and how we feel are inextricably linked. For most people—unless dealing with hormonal imbalances in the body, or chemical imbalances in the brain—our thoughts usually determine our feelings. Therefore, to feel good, we must reframe negative thoughts into…
When we're stressed and anxious our breathing tends to become shallow. We may even unconsciously hold our breath. A simple way to restore a sense of calm in our bodies and minds is to deliberately and consciously breathe fully and deeply. With thousands of students in Ireland beginning their state exams tomorrow morning, I did…
The short and simple answer: yes, absolutely. There are some schools of meditation that are more austere than others, where meditators are encouraged to sit in absolute stillness for the duration, in order to facilitate the mind reaching deeper levels of stillness. And that is a wonderful ideal to aspire to. However, we often find ourselves unable…