The Mediocre Meditator

A Meditation Reset

A Meditation Reset

I've been meditating for years, but like a lot of things we do routinely I think I've gotten a little sloppy with it lately.  So, I'm hitting the reset button, trying to put a little more intention behind the mindfulness part of mindful meditation....

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AI is not invited to my Morning Pages

AI is not invited to my Morning Pages

I’ll never ask AI to summarize my morning pages. Of course I repeat myself - my worries - my dreams That’s the point.  The repetition is the key to what is unresolved, to what is important. The path to change - from the pen - to the page - to the...

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Quieter outside than inside

Quieter outside than inside

What could this picture possibly have to do with meditation, mediocre or otherwise? Well, this is the view I have from my little nest, the comfy chair big enough that I can sink in to it with my legs folded up and meditation every morning, usually...

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Feeding Your Demons

Feeding Your Demons

My personal meditation practice took an interesting turn when I came across this book recently.  It talks about a modern interpretation of an ancient Tibetan practice called Chöd. I'm pretty sure we have all had thoughts, feelings, or even physical...

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Where do I begin?

Where do I begin?

Once in a great while, when I am meditating and I do that body scan thing . . .      I can’t find all the edges between me and everything else . . .           Like, where do my  hands begin and end . . .                  And it’s amazing and...

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Find the Signal in the Noise

Find the Signal in the Noise

It’s a noisy world, and I think a lot about trying to find the signal in all the noise that matches the rhythm I want for my life. And that’s why I meditate.                         

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Floating Meditation

Floating Meditation

Anything involving water - me in the water, me around the water - just makes meditation better for me. That's why I have to share this experience even though it was years ago - it was called a Himalayan Sound Bath. It took place in a swimming pool...

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Stimulus and Response

Stimulus and Response

At our house, this quote from Victor Frankel is often repeated: Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.      Cultivating that space, and the...

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It’s the Exhale

It’s the Exhale

Do you have a favorite kind of breath work?  There are lots of patterns that help to regulate, stimulate, and relax. What I've noticed, though, is that left to my own devices I spend far more time taking in than letting out,  so when I have a...

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Eyes Wide Shut

Eyes Wide Shut

Many experts who know a lot more than I do about various schools of meditation practice believe the best posture is one that includes open eyes, downcast gaze. According to Pema Chodron, author of “Uncomfortable with Uncertainty” and many other...

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